What influences Captains deserting?

[Aymer de Valence]

I just wanted to know, since it is not always possible to send an army off to war led by a family member. I couldn't bear losing a full stack to desertion because a captain got big headed, so i would just like to know what influences the rate of this desertion? Size of army perhaps? Advancing into enemy territory?

thanks ^^

[danny X]

im not totally sure, but it could be; distance from the capital and how much authority the FL has...

it may even have something to do with the morale of the captains unit!!

[Sweger]

His loyalty level.

One thing I thoguht about was if the sheer number that the captain wields plays any role. I get the impression that fulls stack armies tend to desert more often than just two units you're moving to the bordering settlement, which of cours is a PITA ()

[.L.]

Mercenary and Peasant units desert more often IME

[Double A]

It's probably safe to say that you should have no more than 2 units under a captain's command per every point of authority your FL has.

[Saint Nicholas]

As far as I know the Faction Leader's Authority is the biggest influence on the loyalty of your Captains and even Generals/Family members. I think the unrest in a province is a big factor too. It increases not only the chances of rebels spawning but makes stacks of units standing outside a settlement more likely to rebel. That's why whenever I see a rebel stack just mosying around my territories I always try and kill them off asap. Rebels unchecked cause devastation and unrest penalties in your provinces.

[Rougeman]

you could just split up the full stack into like quarters, then send them all on the same path, if one of them revolts then the other three quartes could keep on moving, and then join them back together once they reach an enemy army/city, although ive never tried this before

[Sweger]

you could just split up the full stack into like quarters, then send them all on the same path, if one of them revolts then the other three quartes could keep on moving, and then join them back together once they reach an enemy army/city, although ive never tried this before

I also thought about that, but lazy as I am, I haven't tried it either

But yes, then they can of course revenge before moving on
But then you have another problem at bottlenecks, when one of your quarter armies gets attacked by an almost full stack enemy army, and no support is available, you find yourself in not a too good situation.

And then you have to balance the quarters unitwise, if you e.g. put all cavalry and all siege weaponry into one stack, the cavalry stack will be far ahead, and the siege weapons far behind and exposed to ambushes. Nevertheless the AI seem to do this, bringing me to what I actually wanted to point out (); the AI seem to do this alot, they seldom have any full stacks (except for Mongols and Timurids), actually they always have "mini armies" with 1-5 units spread across everywere in their kingdom, and sometimes just have one mini army outside a settlement eventhough it's not full. And some turns they just seem to split and unite armies, with a little or no difference as result. Could this be to reduce the AI armies rebel as much as possible? (But it does happen, mainly during sieges for some reason). But then again, I've only played on e/e and m/m this far.

[The Kybrothilian]

I also thought about that, but lazy as I am, I haven't tried it either

But yes, then they can of course revenge before moving on
But then you have another problem at bottlenecks, when one of your quarter armies gets attacked by an almost full stack enemy army, and no support is available, you find yourself in not a too good situation

Maybe you could have them moving in quarters, while in friendly territory, and then combine them in enemy regions. If they rebel, then it's still the enemy's problem

[AJStoner]

FL authority and distance to capital seem to be the only factors since captains don't have traits. I personally never use armies without a general in them unless I'm just moving some men from one place to another or it's an emergency.

[Doge Domenico]

As has been stated, Faction leader Authority, and distance to friendly territory. So if you are the Mongols, dont send captains on campaigns to france.

[Aymer de Valence]

Ah, thanks for the answers guys, i'll keep a limit on my Captain armies from now on (i only use them to destroy rebels)

[Sweger]

Ah, thanks for the answers guys, i'll keep a limit on my Captain armies from now on (i only use them to destroy rebels)

And just after defeating the last rebel army, your captain desert on the wayback to the settlement

Can you actually defeat the rebels as a faction, or will they always spawn new armies? Otherwise they always seem to be able to spawn heretics and witches, and survive through them. I know, the question IS noobish, and I kinda now the answer, but just wanted to verify this...

[Aymer de Valence]

And just after defeating the last rebel army, your captain desert on the wayback to the settlement

Can you actually defeat the rebels as a faction, or will they always spawn new armies? Otherwise they always seem to be able to spawn heretics and witches, and survive through them. I know, the question IS noobish, and I kinda now the answer, but just wanted to verify this...

I don't think you can destroy the rebels You can capture all of their settlements, but their armies will still spawn. More unrest in a region = bigger rebel armies spawning

[PrestigeX]

Distance to Capital, and the Quality of your Faction Leader. .. The Faction Leader's attributes affect A LOT of things in the game, thats why I always use my faction leaders in battle and get them to be chivalorous, high command, and usually lot of authority too.

I never noticed the size of a Captain's army affecting the chances of rebellion, its just obviously more painful to see a well-balanced and large force turn rebel, compared to say "3 spear militia".

IF you want to use Captains, it's good to use them in regions right close to your own lands -- as others have stated don't send them halfway around the world. Get them to targets and engage them quickly (within 1 turn distance), if they have to spend 3 turns marching to a destination then it will make it more likely for them to be traitors.