Shouldn't rebellions mostly be armed citizenry?

Just a quick one, how would the uprising secure so many organised troops in time?

A better question would be "How do rebellions secure a larger, more experienced, better equiped army than the nation had in the first place?".

Who knows, perhaps every nation has a back up plan where they hide their best troops and equipment during the war (like Saddam!) in the hope that the overpowered rebellion will catch the invaders by surprise?

maybe foriegn countries supply the rebels with arms and equipment

Originally Posted by Rougeman

maybe foriegn countries supply the rebels with arms and equipment

Would be nice if only it was actually possible to fund rebellions and actually be answerable to them in the event it's found out it was your nation that supplied the rebels with professional weapons and training.

Short answer to OP is: You're right, that's what it should be. If it were done correctly rebellions would have armed citizenry, militia, and a very small number of professional troops, and with no technological advantage. However CA in this case didn't consider this and rebellions are more like instant risings of armies that could not only rebel in one region but then start a campaign against you to the very gates of your capital.

Good thing the AI is idiotic and easy to defeat else it would be a more major gamebreaker.

Originally Posted by Communist Nazi Republican

Would be nice if only it was actually possible to fund rebellions and actually be answerable to them in the event it's found out it was your nation that supplied the rebels with professional weapons and training.

Short answer to OP is: You're right, that's what it should be. If it were done correctly rebellions would have armed citizenry, militia, and a very small number of professional troops, and with no technological advantage. However CA in this case didn't consider this and rebellions are more like instant risings of armies that could not only rebel in one region but then start a campaign against you to the very gates of your capital.

Good thing the AI is idiotic and easy to defeat else it would be a more major gamebreaker.

That would be great!

The most likely explanation is that these are military units rising up against their own governments. This was essentially what happened in France, where only the foriegn troops remained loyal, and when Napoleon returned from Elba practically every regiment sent to arrest him changed sides.

However, that doesn't explain why the rebel army gains units that never existed prior to the revolt. That is a bit dumb, unless they were paid for by rebelious nobility.

Originally Posted by Communist Nazi Republican

However CA in this case didn't consider this

Don't be silly, of course they considered this. They tried it out and found that a rebellion of ACs only doesn't have any impact, so they decided against it.
It is really obvious this is a gameplay only decision.

Rebellions should be composed of mostly rifle-equipped units, guerillas, and light cavalry, plus militia.
And they should appear on different places with many full stacks every turn. This should deter the conqueror as much as the vanilla version did.

Possibly, but then if that was the case, then historically how did revolutions succeed?

Perhaps, the answer to that question would have produced a better gameplay solution.

Originally Posted by Didz

Possibly, but then if that was the case, then historically how did revolutions succeed?

Mostly, pure mass. Think 20 stacks of Armed Citizenry.
Plus, government troops deserting and joining the revolutionaries (you can actually see that in Egypt right now).

Perhaps, the answer to that question would have produced a better gameplay solution.

I really don't think so.
It may be possible to dispose of the 20 stacks of AC, but it won't be a gameplay experience I'd cherish.
Also, it is kind of frustrating to see armies changing sides like in the previous TWs. I personally liked it happening from time to time, but on a scale that would be required for a revolution... bit too much, especially since the player is still supposed to have the choice whether to go with previous government or revolutionary troops.

Yeah, I didn't like the whole rebellion situation. I usually don't use "cheats" but found a file in these forums that changes the rebellions to suit what I expect. All it does is change the troops to mostly militia. There is still the full stack/s and there are experienced but the troops are not of the same high quality. It was a game saver when I took London at the beginning of my French campaign, still nearly got massacred but managed to survive

Well when napoleon returned form exile and created a rebellion in france, he created what was probably the most experienced and best equipped army in europe. Also from a gameplay point of view, if rebellions were staged by stacks of armed citizens you would be able to crush them with 4 cav units and there would be no real incentive to maintain public order.

Originally Posted by [BsA]Dave

Well when napoleon returned form exile and created a rebellion in france, he created what was probably the most experienced and best equipped army in europe.

Well, he didn't really create it ... at least not upon returning to France. They just defected to his side.

There was royalist rebellion in the south after he returned but that was the only rebelion he cause on returning from Elba.

Its actually REALLY easy to mod this. Even I can do it

1) Get PFM (Pack File Manager)...search the forums for it. If it is made for ETW it will still work for NTW.
2) Use it to open data.pack in your NTW data folder
3) Open the "db tables" section, scroll down to something like "faction rebellion" something
4) Open that table. Now it will show you the units for all rebellions. To change, just delete all the cannons and overpowered units they get and replace that with "Inf_Mob_Armed_Citizenry" or, for Ottomans, "Inf_Mob_Armed_Populace_Firelock"

I just took Vienna and they obviously rebelled as I held it. The rebellion had SIX groups of hussars and FIVE 12lb cannons, not to mention the rest of the slots filled with line-infantry. Not a single armed citizenry or low infantryman. Mikhail de Tolli handled it though.