Scripted Garrisons

[DimeBagHo]

Currently there are garrison scripts for Rome and Carthage. I'm not planning to make a general garrison script to cover all settlements, but I will be adding a few more. Here's your chance to vote for the cities that will get garrisons, or make new suggestions.

You can select multiple options in the poll. In the case of Athens/Sparta it will probably be one or the other, rather than both. Antioch/Seleucia is a somewhat different case because Antioch is the key strategic point, while Seleucia is the source of the Seleucids economic bonuses, so I might do both.

[Jacob Debroedere]

A garrison script for all capitals would be logic, but I don't know how this could work if the capital is moved. Antioch and Alexandria should have a garrsion script. How important was Athens in those days? Had it still a lot of economical/military power or was it just another Greek city state? If it's the first option it should have a garrsion script.

[DimeBagHo]

I don't think there is any way for a script to detect where the current capital for a faction is located. In terms of gameplay the starting capitals are more important anyway - because they provide the AI economic bonuses.

Athens was still a large city, with considerable economic power and cultural influence, though IIRC the Chremonidean War (c. 268 BC) was the last time Athens played a significant military role.

[LucretiusTC]

That´s a good selection of cities. I like the idea that those major capitals (e.g. Rome, Carthage, Alexandria, Antioch, Seleucia) are ready to fight till the bitter end (or the final victory) when they are put against the wall. Those scripted garrisons can be seen as the last mobilization of all the resources that are left to use.....rather than surrender.......


If there are need for some other locations, Numantia could be a good choice because of those long Celtiberian wars against the Romans. Another good choice could be Bactra that resisted successfully a Seleucid invasion about 210-206 BCE, or Bactra could have one of those cities with a little better defence. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom also protected Central Asia against the nomadic invasions.

Luc.

[Schwarzenegger]

Since I haven't had a chance to play the recent updates much I haven't experienced the "garrison scirpts"
Any chance on a basic rundown on what they do? My guess is that they spawn an army when a certain settlement is attacked?

I would say that all cities with founding monuments should get it along with settlements that historically were very important or difficult to conquer.

For example the Romans had trouble with the barbarians in Scotland. Perhaps putting a script there could symbolize the difficulty of conquering the region?

I'm sure there are more areas that were very difficult/impossible to conquer but then I don't know how many cities you want to have garrison scripts.

[Kara Kolyo]

If it's possible to make script for all capitals would be good.

[Unknown Soldier]

I voted for all thoug I can't play at the mo.

[DimeBagHo]

Schwarzenegger: If the player moves an army next to the city (whether the player attacks or not), the script fires at the start of the following turn. The script then spawns units in the city, up to the maximum of 20, and it reduces the population of the city by 2000.

Ideally the script would fire immediately, so that the player could not avoid the garrison by attacking on the first turn (with onagers, or by spies opening the gates). Unfortunately I haven't found a way to do that well (i.e. without an absurdly complex script, or without a background script).

As of version 5.7.15 these scripts will only fire every 4 turns, so the player will have some time to lay siege and assault the city without having the script fire multiple times, but if they go away and come back a couple of years later the script will fire again.

Kara Kolyo: A garrison for every starting capital is certainly possible, though that might take a while to do.

[Scutarii]

I voted for all but Sparta and Rhodes... Sparta was in a state of decline, would it have been able to field a large army on its own? Athens should get one to reflect its better ecnomic state in the game's timeframe. Rhodes... I didn't feel needed one, but I don't really care either way.

[LucretiusTC]

I voted for all but Sparta and Rhodes... Sparta was in a state of decline, would it have been able to field a large army on its own? Athens should get one to reflect its better ecnomic state in the game's timeframe. Rhodes... I didn't feel needed one, but I don't really care either way.

I voted Rhodians mainly because the Siege of Rhodes (305-304 BCE) and their heroic resistance against Demetrius Poliorcetes who was a very interesting character too: http://www.historyofwar.org/articles...liorcetes.html

If we want to give the Germanic tribes a scripted garrison, then Teutoburgum could be a good place as a reminder to those who invades to the Teutoburg Forest...

Luc.

[Suppanut]

I support for Numantia and Teutoburgum since both are very long bloody fight especially against romans.

[stormer]

What is a scripted Garrison?

[Kara Kolyo]

@stormer - since the AI usually leaves it's cities defended by 1-2 units, for the player it's very easy to capture let's say Cartage with a sudden attack. The garrison script is a code that activates when a city is besieged and spawns certain ammount of units in the besieged city, so the attack won't be a walk in the park.

[Schwarzenegger]

Another question. What type of units are spawned? Is it relative to the city level or is it completely random? It would be stupid to spawn a stack of doriphorois in the late game but then again if it's the early game and you have a stack of sacred bands spawn on you it wouldn't be much better.

[Zarax]

I wonder why Alexandria has been voted so much, the city could have high unrest (it was not the easiest place to rule) but historically it never was so hard to take.

[DimeBagHo]

Schwarzenegger: At present the units that spawn are fixed. In Carthage it's a mix of Sacred Band (up to 3) and Civic units. In Rome it's a mix of Praetorians, Urban Cohorts, and Auxiliary units. It would be possible to randomize the units that spawn to some extent, or to spawn tougher garrisons later in the game.

However, I think that early in the game these garrisons should be practically unbeatable by the player, so that the player has to build up a significant force before even considering an assault. Later in the game, they just need to be powerful enough to put up a good fight.

Zarax: I think it often happens that Alexandria is too easy to capture, and once captured all resistance from the Ptolemies collapses. In terms of gameplay I think a garrison script for Alexandria would help a lot. Same goes for Antioch - especially if the player is advancing from the south or west - it's the strategic linchpin that holds the Seleucid Empire together.

[hacon]

I use a garrison script that is triggered when a settlement is under siege. The units generated are low level militia depending on the existing garrison to settlement population ratio.
What I'd like to do after the siege is over is get these part time soldiers to go back home instead of the AI using them later in field armies.
Is their any way to kill off these units and recover the population?

[DimeBagHo]

hacon: In a scripted battle you can use 'kill_unit', but I doubt if that would be much use. Otherwise the only way to do it I know of is to use 'kill_character'. You would have to make the garrison units a type of general unit, spawn each unit as a named general, and then kill all of them after the battle.

[Strotha]

Having played as the Ptolemies a couple times I can say that the capturing of Antioch is rather easy but I guess that is somewhat of a reward if you manage to fend off the enemy armies of the Seleucid Empire.

Capturing Alexandria is very easy and this is where I think the garrison should be scripted since it would limit the riches a player gets by going on to conquer the neighboring cities.

Sparta is the other city that needs garrison. It is almost always limited to a few troops when I play and a lack of a wall makes it so that capturing the settlement is very easy.

If I could officially vote in the poll I would vote for Sparta and Alexandria but alas I can only voice my opinion and hope no one publicly calls me an idiot.

[Centurion44]

I vote Sparta since they have always been easy to capture. If Sparta is given the garrison script, could it be possible to make it walls can't be built in Sparta since the Spartans felt that a wall made men weak?