Do hired swords count towards objectives?

I was playing a game of breakthrough with my brother, in which we were aloud 80gc To buy hired swords,
and he just won with one warband member and a hired sword crossing my side of the board.
So I was wondering if hired swords count for objective based games?

Part of me wants it not to count, just to keep my winnig streak(his only other warband members were in combat)

And part of me wants it to be ok, just because he hasn't won a game in nearly 2 years

I'm pretty sure Hired Swords are counted in that case... But I'm not 100%

For that game, the HS counts as a member of the warband for routing purposes and for the combat rating of the warband; I can't think of any argument for him not counting toward counting toward the scenario's objective.

Well, their leadership can never be used for rout tests (so if only hired swords remain they auto-rout). However, they can do things like pick up wyrdstone, search buildings in Hidden Treasure, carry the chest, etc. Basically, they seem to be able to do everything a regular type warrior could do, just never lead.

That was a long way of saying I think they do count for leaving map edge.

the rule for ending a game of breakthrough says:

2 or more standing warriors. HS are warriors, so yes they would count...

Ah, thanks for clearing that up guys.
I did think that they did, but wasn't sure

So would animals count?

Animals are technically a warrior. So i would say so. The rules never say animals cannot complete objectives (other than the fact they have no thumbs so no picking up of objects usually)