Some help with the recruitment viewer

[fritsje5]

Hi guys. First off, I installed this mod a couple days ago (as a grizzled M2TW mods player) and I must say that I'm impressed with the level of detail and the balancing of the mod. Now, I have a question for you EB pros. I don't really understand how the values for MIC and 'level' in the recruitment viewer translate to gameplay. For example, I'm playing as Epeiros and I have conquered Thessaly. The unit info in the recruitment viewer for Hippeis Thessalikoi state the following figures for Epeiros:

MIC: 9
Level: 4
Province: 1. This one I get, it's the amount of provinces the faction could theoretically recruit the unit from.

Now, I want to be able to recruit this unit and, as I understand it, different government types influence what units a faction can recruit from a province. Is the MIC value some sort of indicator of what government needs to be installed for the unit to be able to be recruited? Also, I was wondering if the EB pros here tend to think one should mostly build the highest level government (government 1) wherever it's possible, or if it would be not be wise to do this.

So, in summary, I would like to understand the system that could help me determine what sort of government I need in a region to be able to recruit certain units from said region. Also, I would like to know if the consensus on these boards is to build the highest level government wherever possible.

Thanks guys!

[Entropy Judge]

I don't really understand how the values for MIC and 'level' in the recruitment viewer translate to gameplay.

Look at Rome's - that one is fun to figure out. Anyway, I'll skip your actual question and get back to it later ...

Now, I want to be able to recruit this unit and, as I understand it, different government types influence what units a faction can recruit from a province.

Close. Which government type (and which faction you are) determines which level of what MICs you can build in a given region. For example, Homeland regions let you build Type I governments, which let you build the highest-level Factional MIC, but restrict you to level 2 for the Regional MIC. Type IV inverts that - you get the highest Regional MIC available, but are restricted to the first two levels of the Factional MIC.

The distiction is important because you can, if you really want to, build a Type IV, build up the Regional MICs to whatever level you desire, and then tear down the Type IV, build a Type I, and do whatever you want, while maintaining the ability to recruit all the Regional units.

Is the MIC value some sort of indicator of what government needs to be installed for the unit to be able to be recruited? Also, I was wondering if the EB pros here tend to think one should mostly build the highest level government (government 1) wherever it's possible, or if it would be not be wise to do this.

As above, the MIC is simply whether it's Factional or Regional. Some factions (ROME!!!) have more than two values for the MIC - that's because they have Reforms that significantly change their unit recruitment options, and the Reformed Barracks have different MIC numbers. Generally, though, the higher number (25, 26) simply means that it's the Regional MIC you need, while the lower number indicates that it's the Factional MIC.

As for the government of a given region .... It depends. Type I gives you the most economic/civic options, while Type IV is easiest to build and usually gives units trained there an XP boost. Generally speaking, I tend to build the highest-level Govt building I can, although if there's a particularly nifty Regional unit in a location, or I want to abuse XP (fresh recruits with 4 XP? Yes, please!), then I'll build the higher govt *first*, upgrade whatever economic buildings I can, then tear it down and build a lower level govt. However, you also want to pay attention to the govt benefits, which change depending on the faction, as well as the regional units available, as sometimes there isn't an effective difference between Type I/II or III/IV, in which case I tend to use whichever is more useful.

For example, I'm playing as Epeiros and I have conquered Thessaly. The unit info in the recruitment viewer for Hippeis Thessalikoi state the following figures for Epeiros:

MIC: 9
Level: 4
Province: 1. This one I get, it's the amount of provinces the faction could theoretically recruit the unit from.

It means you need a Factional MIC (MIC 9) at level 4 (obvious) to recruit them. Another thing you could do is make sure the selected faction is Epeiros, click on Thessaly, and open up Province Data (under View), making sure to Check "Detailed Info." This shows you what units are available to the faction (Epeiros), and at what MIC/Level. So you know you don't want to build a Type IV, because you won't get any benefit, since the highest-level Regional you can train is the Classical Hoplite at Regional MIC 3.

[fritsje5]

Great answer EJ, you got it all in one go! So, MIC 9 refers to factional, MIC 25 refers to regional, and what are the values in between? Also, is there any place where I can look up what the limits on both MICs are for the different government types? It's not in the recruitment viewer, is it?

[Entropy Judge]

Great answer EJ, you got it all in one go! So, MIC 9 refers to factional, MIC 25 refers to regional, and what are the values in between?

The values are different for each faction. For example, the Aedui have 4 and 5 for their Factional MICs (differentiated by Reforms) and 21 for their Regional; the Sweboz have 7 (Factional) and 21; the Seleukids have 10 and 24. The Romans have 1 and 2 for Factional, and 26 for Regional ... but they also have a bunch of levels for their Factional Barracks (in Apulia, most Camillan units are in 1-5, but Camillan Equites are level 14, and Polybian Infantry are level 12-13; Imperial Legions are Factional MIC 2, Level 14.).

Also, is there any place where I can look up what the limits on both MICs are for the different government types? It's not in the recruitment viewer, is it?

It's strictly counting back; IIRC, there are 5 levels of the Factional MIC (so if you're in Type I, you can build up to level 5) and 5 levels of the Regional MIC (so if you're in Type IV, you can build up to 5):
Type I, you can build Level 5 Factional and Level 2 Regional;
Type II, Level 4 Factional and Level 3 Regional;
Type III, Level 3 Factional and Level 4 Regional;
Type IV, Level 2 Factional and Level 5 Regional.

(If I've messed up on the number of levels, though, the logic is still the same, so if there are 6 levels of an MIC, you can builld up to Level 6 in that MIC type's 'Extreme,' and would be able to build up to Level 3 at the other extreme.)

[yuezhi]

MIC 25.

seriously what is with these nonsensical numbers?