Give region unit type

[Cuong Vu]

Whenever you give a region to another faction via a diplomat, you will notice the computer automatically spawn a number of units in that region's city or citadel for that faction. I wonder what scripts determine the type of unit spawned by this process. Can someone who is well-versed in the Kingdom system give me a hint?

[Byzantineboy]

It gives recruitable troops:

It explains why it usally spawn catapults and aor units, because they are the only one able to be recruited by the new faction.

[Trueman.]

I also believe that the units spawned aren't of high quality, even if the AOR has high quality units. It usually just spawns catapults, sometimes ballistas, levy units, militia units, and sometimes mid-tier units like kurdish swordsmen, that's what I've seen because I usually give regions then take them back immediately.

[k/t]

Well, you're a nice person...

[Cuong Vu]

I have done a couple of experiment. I am playing right now as Khwarezmiashah, I have destroyed almost all the Mongol armies except their last two stacks. Before taking their last settlement which is Termez, I gave them Damghan, which I captured recently from the Seljuk of Iraq. The funny thing is this:

1) I have adjusted the descr_buildings.txt file so that the Mongols could now recruit their own native Mongolian units in seljuk area (which is Damghan, Hamadan, up to Kermanshah). The funny thing is the AI didn't spawn the native Mongolian troops, but instead units that available in that region, such as those Daylamite tribemen (they are mercenaries), or those Seljuk light regular horse archers.

2) If you do not destroy those buildings that produce ballista and trebuchet, all the Mongols ever has will be a bunch of siege engines. I have tested destroying and after destroying these buildings to see what unit types are spawned when I give them these regions.

So is there any script to determine what kind of troops they spawn.

The reason I care about this is: The Mongol AI is pretty ed up. They can't recruit units on their own, and they are always bankrupted.

The second reason is I usually give regions to a third faction so that they serve as a buffer state between me and another powerful faction. The garrison should be strong enough to avoid unrests.

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

The units spawned generally are AOR units and mercs recruitable from that region. It is unclear what happens to buildings of a settlement when taken over by an AI faction, but possibly some buildings become destroyed because of the way the engine resolves sieges. So the AI has to recruit units from what it is left with, which tend to be basic units, just like the human player's. On the other hand, the Mongols at first get scripted units with triple golden chevrons of experience. Even without the experience, these are some of the best units in the game. But that is not how the game engine naturally works. It is a scripted exception to the normal way things are done.

There are some scripts that let some AI factions get better units, irrespective of what is actually locally available, some scripts for Crusades for example. It is possible to script in this way better units for AI factions but it is not so simple because the AI factions have to pay upkeep and so you would need all kinds of backups for the economy and to balance other AI factions against the ones getting the high quality armies and the associated money bonuses.

Mongols get bankrupted because they have a military as expensive as those of all other factions put together, which they have to supply from a single settlement when they get one, or a small set of settlements. They get bonuses, but only enough to keep them afloat. It could be tweaked a little because in reality they had more than what is on the map. But then, their main supply had been from looting - exterminating in the process all future taxpayers and disrupting trade, which has its consequences. Even the most hardened warrior nomads cannot live indefinitely on grass, especially in the desert.

Rebels can also be a buffer faction, why not? If you need higher order, gift the settlements to a faction of the same religious affiliation.

[Cuong Vu]

Rebels can also be a buffer faction, why not? If you need higher order, gift the settlements to a faction of the same religious affiliation.

Neutrality is the key here, and rebel is the enemy of everyone.

Regarding the Mongols, I have noticed that in the current descr_building.txt, they cannot recruit any other units except native Mongols in the Khwarezmian regions. It looks like we have to give them the ability to recruit even militia units such as Kabuli axemen or Afghani tribemen just like any other faction.

On the other hand, the Mongols at first get scripted units with triple golden chevrons of experience. Even without the experience, these are some of the best units in the game.

Haha, really? My sughdian assault infantrymen took a good care of them. Great Mongol generals, one by one fell under the axe of the Khwarezm-Shah. I can't hold my laugh anymore.

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

Haha, really? My sughdian assault infantrymen took a good care of them. Great Mongol generals, one by one fell under the axe of the Khwarezm-Shah. I can't hold my laugh anymore.

The problem is not the units the Mongols get but the battle AI. If it was the human player who had those 20 stacks of triple golden chevroned horsemen, the best in the game, and high dread generals and the AI had a few Sughdian axemen, I do not think I need to continue ...

Let us know how your campaign goes. It would be helpful in understanding what might need tweaking.