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Thread: Client state levy troops.

  1. #1

    Default Client state levy troops.

    So I decided to try and do a persian style empire in my latest game as Athens and use levy troops from client states in my armies with low numbers of real Athenian troops but have run into a small snag in the form of those troops I'm able to levy being about as dangerous as a wet paper bag.

    I took a full stack of troops levied from epirus, macedon, thrace and 5 athenian regulars against a combined 2 1/2 stack of rhodians in a siege to take rhodes and my allied units got eaten alive by the hoplite regulars so fast it turned into the battle of the hot gates with my 5 Athenian regulars forming a line across a courtyard to repel massed waves of rhodian hoplites and listening to 10 minutes of thumping as every slinger in northern greece tried and failed to break my phalanx until the enemy morale broke. ( Thank god they were veterans of the armies I used to subdue those allied nations and were all 2 silver chevrons or higher and my general is a military legend by which I mean I've had him leading my frontline army for 26 years of constant war and he outranks every other general on the map with all his traits devoted to my mens morale and combat effectiveness and my armies got 8 legacy skills all devoted to morale and combat effectiveness. )
    Now just to be clear, I didn't feed them into the grinder storming the walls or anything I lured the enemy off to one side then used siege weapons to smash 3 breeches in the walls so that I could use my lighter units in flank attacks but it made a grand total of 0 difference when the enemy hoplites got stabbed in the back then proceed to kill my men by farting in there general direction.

    Is it possible to get higher tier units from allied nations or do any nations give you actual useful units or should I just take pity on my pore vassals and honorably curb stomp them so I can train my own units? I've been working on bringing sparta in line but so far after more then 15000 spartan dead for 2300 athenian they're still resisting and if they won't give me any useful units I'm just going to squash them and be done with it before the roman armies massing across the ocean decide it's time to invade.
    I wasn't expecting to get royal peltasts or foot companions or anything but I was hoping for more then militia hoplites.

    I guess the most important thing I need to know is do any factions give you valuable units to levy from them so I know who to subdugate and who to just use as throughly confused punching bags for my smaller future minions so I can help them win the war and get them to agree to be my minions.
    Last edited by mesor; June 05, 2014 at 02:22 AM.
    I am the shadow, and the smoke in your eyes I am the ghost, that hides in the night.

    We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
    we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
    we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
    we shall fight on the beaches,
    we shall fight on the landing grounds,
    we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
    we shall fight in the hills;
    we shall never surrender.

    " The dark is generous.
    Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from the truths of others.
    The dark protects us from what we dare not know.
    Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night’s embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in the day’s harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it’s the day that is temporary.
    Day is the illusion.
    Its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self.
    With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins.


    The dark is generous, and it is patient.
    It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt.
    The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout.
    The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light.
    The dark’s patience is infinite.
    Eventually, even stars burn out.


    The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins.
    It always wins because it is everywhere.
    It is in the wood that burns in your hearth, and in the kettle on the fire; it is under your chair and under your table and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun, and the dark is with you, attached to the soles of your feet.
    The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.


    The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
    Love is more than a candle.
    Love can ignite the stars."



    Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end.

    You began the war.

    I am going to end it!

  2. #2
    D E C's Avatar Miles
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    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    I don't understand what is the point of having a vassal in this game if you can't annex it diplomatically later on.
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  3. #3
    14182's Avatar Miles
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    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    Yes, I did recruited some Cappadocian Cavalry after making Cappadocia my client state. But this levy system is somehow useless as there is only ONE random unit available each turn, so it had taken me like 10-12 turns just to get 4 units of Cappadocian Cavalry.

    And I believe the unit type is depending on the client state's buildings, thus you may have a chance to get Indian War Elephants from Seleucid if they have already built the particular building in the region.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    The client state need sufficient military infrastructure for you to be able to recruit anything but basic stuff. Also the more regions your satrapy/Vassal have in one province the more units you will be able to recruit.

    You can levy 3 units out of Libya at turn 1 for example and as soon he reach another tier of military infrastructure those units will be added to the random pool that is recruit able each turn.
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  5. #5

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    That's unfortunate, I tend to pick my subjects early on and conquer them in quick and bloody assaults but that seems to almost completely halt my new subjects advancement most of the time leaving me stuck with levies, the best I've ever managed to recruit was in my spartan campaign I was able to recruit hastati 39 years into the game.
    I am the shadow, and the smoke in your eyes I am the ghost, that hides in the night.

    We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
    we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
    we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
    we shall fight on the beaches,
    we shall fight on the landing grounds,
    we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
    we shall fight in the hills;
    we shall never surrender.

    " The dark is generous.
    Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from the truths of others.
    The dark protects us from what we dare not know.
    Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night’s embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in the day’s harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it’s the day that is temporary.
    Day is the illusion.
    Its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self.
    With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins.


    The dark is generous, and it is patient.
    It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt.
    The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout.
    The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light.
    The dark’s patience is infinite.
    Eventually, even stars burn out.


    The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins.
    It always wins because it is everywhere.
    It is in the wood that burns in your hearth, and in the kettle on the fire; it is under your chair and under your table and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun, and the dark is with you, attached to the soles of your feet.
    The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.


    The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
    Love is more than a candle.
    Love can ignite the stars."



    Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end.

    You began the war.

    I am going to end it!

  6. #6

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    In a roman (DeI, though) campaign, i managed to make egypt a vassal state while they had a rather large empire... Didn't check their barrack level but their cities were quite well developed. I was able to levy a mid tier unit, like thurepohoroi or thorakitai hoplite each 2 turn.

    But don't expect client states to offer you enough troops to make whole armies from them, in reality large empires didn't recruit the finest noble warriors from their protectorates.
    "They make a desert, and call it peace" - Caledonian chieftain Calgacos' personal opinion about Pax Romana

  7. #7

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    Thats why I tend to take a few close together like Macedon. Thrace and Epirus. I can recruit 10-14 units in about 6-7 turns which is time enough to train the AThenian core and get a good idea of my enemies borders and military strength from my spies.
    I am the shadow, and the smoke in your eyes I am the ghost, that hides in the night.

    We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
    we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
    we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
    we shall fight on the beaches,
    we shall fight on the landing grounds,
    we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
    we shall fight in the hills;
    we shall never surrender.

    " The dark is generous.
    Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from the truths of others.
    The dark protects us from what we dare not know.
    Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night’s embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in the day’s harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it’s the day that is temporary.
    Day is the illusion.
    Its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self.
    With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins.


    The dark is generous, and it is patient.
    It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt.
    The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout.
    The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light.
    The dark’s patience is infinite.
    Eventually, even stars burn out.


    The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins.
    It always wins because it is everywhere.
    It is in the wood that burns in your hearth, and in the kettle on the fire; it is under your chair and under your table and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun, and the dark is with you, attached to the soles of your feet.
    The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.


    The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
    Love is more than a candle.
    Love can ignite the stars."



    Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end.

    You began the war.

    I am going to end it!

  8. #8

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    Quote Originally Posted by mesor View Post
    Thats why I tend to take a few close together like Macedon. Thrace and Epirus. I can recruit 10-14 units in about 6-7 turns which is time enough to train the AThenian core and get a good idea of my enemies borders and military strength from my spies.
    The ones from thrace should be able to supplement your armies quite well. Both Tylis and Odrysian Kingdom have access to Thracian warriors without any sort of military buildings present.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaiser View Post
    The ones from thrace should be able to supplement your armies quite well. Both Tylis and Odrysian Kingdom have access to Thracian warriors without any sort of military buildings present.
    Yeah, falx/rhomphaia infatry rocks!
    "They make a desert, and call it peace" - Caledonian chieftain Calgacos' personal opinion about Pax Romana

  10. #10
    EmperorBatman999's Avatar I say, what, what?
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    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    Thrace must be the best vassal to have because of their base warriors. Spaniards are also good to take too if you want some meat that is expendable but able to hold its own against against levies or tribesmen. One tipis to check what the settlement has for buildings before annexing or vassalizing. Vassalize if it has good military buildings.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Client state levy troops.

    Thracians pair best with a hoplite army. Your hoplites can pin just about anything when in phalanx and nothing can survive a Rhomphaia charge from the flank or rear (I've only seen pikes stop them cold from the front).

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