Eliminating the little grey people!!!

[katafraktos79]

I always felt that rebels where a somewhat non realistic nuisance as brigands and other sort of robbers in the ancient and medieval era,interfered with trade and other economical aspects but in a subarmy level.So I eliminated pirates and rebels from the game(spawn rate 9999).What I found out at my surprise was that those pests interfere mostly with the AI.The result of there absence was a more aggressive AI with better and bigger armies and most of all an AI which constructed big fleets and invaded my lands via sea in a constant manner making holding islands more challenging and having to garisson parts of my empire that otherwise were not threated by anyone(for example playing as the english I faced a lot of invasions in england and ireland).Concluding I don't know what your opinion is about the realism level of a campaign without rebels spawning here and there but it sure is more challenging and more fun as you get to fight more faction armies instead of the little grey people.Not to mention that the seas are on fire

[assimilateur]

That's some good stuff right there. This means that these brigands really must have done a number on the AI's scripting, because surely these robbers couldn't have been much a threat to the AI on a military level.

And I kind of agree, now that I think of it, that "brigands" spawning in the hundreds and requiring standing armies to get rid off seem odd. I still probably wouldn't eliminate them from my game, since I can just make-believe that these are rebels preparing for overthrowing the local government (seeing how they rarely, if ever, move on their own).

[Xamt]

its an interesting observation that you made there.... are you playing a mod? or vanilla??

my opinion about rebels is that they arent there to represent brigands, thieves and pirates... rebels represent those rebellious barons/lords or even peasants of your empire who have had enough of your rule and decide to take things into their hands. alternatively they are disgruntled subjects of an area you just conquered and they decided to become guerrillas and harass your supply lines and trade...

my only wish about rebels is that they were a little more realistic... i.e. they should be attacking cities instead of just sitting around (if a city is garrisoned lightly enough) and they should only spawn if there is little public order or big cultural/religious difference in the area... for example i had a 1/2 stack of troops spawn at the region of my capital, which had low taxes and over 90% "state" religion - i mean, why would they rebel?! :hmmm:

[assimilateur]

my only wish about rebels is that they were a little more realistic... i.e. they should be attacking cities instead of just sitting around (if a city is garrisoned lightly enough)

I agree wholeheartedly.

and they should only spawn if there is little public order or big cultural/religious difference in the area...

With this however, I do not agree. When MOST people are happy, there may still be minorities which aren't, and they might radicalize themselves and form a militia or guerrilla; I don't think they need the support of the majority for that. It might be over the top to have this type of rebellion happening too often, but I don't think we can realistically rule that out.

[Theseus1234]

With this however, I do not agree. When MOST people are happy, there may still be minorities which aren't, and they might radicalize themselves and form a militia or guerrilla; I don't think they need the support of the majority for that. It might be over the top to have this type of rebellion happening too often, but I don't think we can realistically rule that out.

well an organized defense consisting of 2 units spear militia and crossbowmen standing in plain sight is not exactly what i call an effective guerrilla group.

i like Xamt's idea of limiting rebel spawning when, lets say, PO is at about 125% and brigands spawn if you lose a battle, and some soldiers desert

[katafraktos79]

I play all types of games (vanilla,light mods and more heavy ones especially DLV).I agree with grey faction spawning as a rebellion in a place that has low public order and being aggressive but I don't like their random spawning outside core cities of my empire and disrupt the rallying of my newly formed campaign armies plus when an empire grows you must play tens of battles every turn just to keep your trade going which utterly raises the time needed to play.

[Ojf]

So if i do this, then i should prepare for navel invasions in RTW?

[katafraktos79]

in rtw I played only 1 campaign with this setting as the julii and i faced constant invasions from the carthaginians at Caralis and from the gaul on my core regions.

[shkibeta]

It is pretty nice to have countries invade you using boats. In my HRE campaign the Byzantines landed a half-stack right next to Venice.
Strange that they are not moving. This is with the first patch and no other modifications.

I use missile units to wipe the rebels out. Most of them anyway. EXP!!

[Shadow8]

THE MOST ANNOYING THING IN THE GAME IS WHEN ANOTHER FACTION PARKS HIS ARMY OUTSIDE YOUR FRICKIN CITY...

i might try this out, when pressing toggle_fow and seeing that 110 turns into a game france has one more province than it started with it takes the fun out of the game.

[Ambiorix_thijs]

how did you delete those rebels?
its a nice idea btw, cool to face bigger AI armies

[Viking Prince]

I wished the rebel settlements would grow and progess just as the other settlements -- tougher troops also.

Even sending out an expedition into the next settlement on occasion.

I would also like to see rebels reinforce settlements more often. It happens, but it seems like a rare thing.

The little tiny stacks are a [ain but probably necessary to keep you honest with the garrisons. If they would attack -- this would really keep you honest.

[knight of poland]

Most rebels in a city are just waiting at the moment that you kill then

[The Sixth Wizard]

I love rebels because a regular stack of rebels can be taken out by a large general's bodyguard if you play smart. As Hungary, King Laszlo the Honourable gained Excellent Attacker and Dangerous with cavalry (+6 command all up) just from taking out four rebel stacks on his own.

[Hungary Horace]

I agree with Wizard, good way to get your generals better. Also if there are just archers, militia and peasants then 1 or 2 units of light cavlary can attack them and you are quite likely to get a man of the hour ( a free General ) provided of course your family tree isn't too big.

[Sorkenlol]

I think your right OP, not sure tho, but I have noticed slight differences to naval attacks after I changed pirate spawn value to 1000, england and scotland attacked Eikundarsund at the SAME TIME with full stacked armies when I played denmark. A few days ago when I played england I had spain attacking me constantly (every second or third turn) with small armies, like 3-4 troops at Exeter.

[RusticDeaTH]

every post about rebels I read say that rebels do not attack or siege cities well I have to disagree since the rebels actually move and attack other cities (usually mine and fail) even if the chances for them to win are slim to none.

[France]

Nice idea, those rebels really get annoying when they just sit in that part of your city's region where you can't see. Especially with the Moors' big regions o.O. How do you change spawn rate anyway?

[Mithrane]

The most annoying thing about the rebels, imo, is that they spawn with stronger units than exist in the game. More than once I've had a 5+ stack rebel army appear in the first 30 turns with Fortress and Citadel level knights and infantry.

Not much one can do with spearmen and peasant archers vs dismounted knights and top-notch cavalry.

[StalkAndStrike]

I agree with Mithrane, I mean if you where to gather a bunch of angry peasants in a city, would they just all of a sudden become futuristic elite warriors? not to mention they must have the paticence ofa holy man to just sit there for hundreds of turns on end with rebellion in mind dont you think? XD