So many rebel armies :(

[Aymer de Valence]

What is it exactly which makes these rebel armies spawn???? I'm playing as Gaul on H/H difficulty and I control quite a fair bit of western Europe. Outside about half of these settlements is a rebel army, even though the population happiness is in green, and once i destroy one another spawns in it's place a few turns later. Do barbarian factions have some sort of disadvantage when it comes to managing settlements?? I also have an alarming lack of family members who can be good governors, all of them that come of age are good at command Any way to help them gain management skills??

[SakyaIllidan]

you can modify the rebel values on descr_strat.txt in your campaign folder

[Brusilov]

I tend to use a lot of watch towers to 'light up' my territory so there is no place for the rebel armies to hide. Also the watch towers attract the rebel armies to them - so when one stops revealing the territory there is either a rebel army of one of your enemies armies next to the watch tower.

I've been told that forts near where the rebels spawn will reduce their spawn rate - I'm not sure if that is true. I do use forts with the cheapest unit (only one unit in each) I can recruit at choke points around the map - river crossings, mountain passes etc. The idea is to not stop an enemy army (or even capable of fighting) but to give warning of their presence and maybe give you time to move an army to attack them before they lay siege to one of your settlements.

I've been told that if your settlements are unhappy then the rebel armies will spawm more frequently. So try and keep the population happy. Temples and entertainment buildings will help there but also buildings to redquce squalor. Look at the information screens to see what is causing the unhappiness - the other thing that can cause this is the presence of a enemy army (so the watch towers will warn you of any hidden army).

You can see the rebel armies as one way to 'train up' your next field army or simply use a number of small mobile armies to attack and destroy these rebel stacks.

I will usually have a half stack wandering around my territory in case a decent sized rebel army is spawned and needs to be dealt with.

A governor/family member can also improve the happyiness and performance of the settlements. In order to improve these build up your education buildings - such as academies. When a governor/family member is in such a setltement they should gain better retinues/traits.

You may find that a family member/general has retinues that are no use for running an army (ones that imrprove trade) or a governor/family member may have retinues that are not useful for govening (increased morale for cavalry, better siege craft etc). One thing you can do is to move the retniues from one character to another by dragging them from one character to another. A characyet can only have one retinue of each type - so they can't have two that means casualties are healded after a battle.

[tudor93]

A governor/family member can also improve the happyiness and performance of the settlements. In order to improve these build up your education buildings - such as academies. When a governor/family member is in such a setltement they should gain better retinues/traits.

unfortunately, barbarians can't build academies, so, Mercenary Crossbowman, you should try and capture as many cities with an academy already built as you can

[Aymer de Valence]

It'll be hard to take the fight to the Roman lands, but i guess its the only way, thanks for the answers guys

[Brusilov]

The other cause for unrest is different culture buildings that your own culture. Basically, if you can't upgrade it (and in doing so change it to your own culture) then destroy it!

[Aymer de Valence]

Ah yes i always do this, but i only rebuild shrines. Does the culture penalty come from other buildings like for example: a trader (Roman style)?

[tudor93]

Ah yes i always do this, but i only rebuild shrines. Does the culture penalty come from other buildings like for example: a trader (Roman style)?

AFAIK , yes

[Stingray970]

I thought the culture only came from Government buildings?

[Brusilov]

Ah yes i always do this, but i only rebuild shrines. Does the culture penalty come from other buildings like for example: a trader (Roman style)?

Yes, if you can't upgrade it destroy it - unless you really need it (like an academy for instance).

I thought the culture only came from Government buildings?

No, all buildings.

If you take over a settlement and the government building can be constructed always do that first. It can cause unrest even if it's one of your starting settlements......