New post on IGN full of info!
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1196964p1.html
One of the biggest gameplay elements in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was the idea of an actual brotherhood of assassins. In the game, Ezio was able to recruit, train and call upon a league of followers. These soldiers were invaluable, allowing players to strike difficult targets from a distance, even clearing out encampments that would otherwise have been incredibly difficult.
I laughed. 
wow that was laggy even when i took it out of HD
In Brotherhood, Ezio could have fired everybody and been fine 
LMAO. The Brotherhood was a complete waste of time. It was quite cool to be able to use an arrow storm every so often but it was wholly unnecessary
I agree. Recruiting your apprentices and sending them to fight with you is indeed an excellent idea, but rather unneccessary. The game makes you believe that recruiting people is neccessary for competion, and that it's tied to the story. It sort of is, for 100% synchronization, and it fits with the theme of arming those who have been disarmed.
But it just feels...contrived. It just feels loosely tacked on, not integrated into the Assassin's Creed franchise.
In Brotherhood, Ezio could have fired everybody and been fine
i put all my assassins on missions to keep them away
this is why people call IGN .... IGNORANT
IGN-orant yeah i've heard that, and I agree.
I didn't exactly love the recruit feature in Brotherhood, but it helped add to the feel of the game, Ac2 was a revenge story. AcB is more about united a fallen Rome, and recruiting Assassins really make it feel complete
IGN commented on the fact that the recruits made the game too easy in their review. Don't go patting your backs because you think you noticed something they didn't. Recruits were fun if nothing else and if the missions have more opportunity for creative use of them, they could be invaluble.
As for what recruits are gonna do now, a screen has been linked showing you can assign assassin recruits to carry out different tasks when you summon them, such as one recruit killing a guy from range with a crossbow, one doing a hidden blade assassination, one attacking with a heavy axe, ect.
After replaying some of the towers again for some videos, i thought it would be interesting to use the recruits since I never show them. There are some pretty cool stuff you can do with them if you actually think creatively.
Also on the mission for the DLC where you have to steal a painting on that boat from Florence, I used the recruits to take out the guys on the boat. What I didnt expect was that the recruits spawned outside the map on some rock and killed them with throwing knives. Another time they once spawned near the top of a borgia tower and took people out with knives.