how many generals?

[dulciusexasperis]

When I read a topic on economy generals always pops up, because as we know generals to take up quite of bit of money. So just curious on what you guys think is a good number of generals to have., but when you do reach that limit what traits do you look for before adding another one? A superior general or a genera that has high economic status.? I currently have 7 generals and I'm thinking that's about enough, unless a adoption pops up that has great command traits. To me that's what matters most, command and morale on the battle field.

[Cyricist]

In this mod, I don't ever need battlefield generals. No matter which faction I'm playing as, I'm good on commanders, with the important people like Imrahil, Boromir and Faramir for Gondor, or Aragorn, Halbarad and Gandalf for Eriador, etc. So when/if I adopt generals, I'm specifically looking at them as governors, and want them to have good chivalry, and ideally some other traits that aid with income/keeping peace in cities. I think the only faction(s) where I may actually wind up using adopted generals would be the Silvan Elves and the Elves of Lorien factions. The generals for them are the badass Sindar Archer bodyguards, which auto-replenish for free over time, so it'd be tempting to field a bunch of them.

EDIT: That all said, to answer your question, I keep accepting (good governor) generals until I have enough for every province I own, which is never. So... I get a lot of generals, I guess.

[Galain_Ironhide]

I started with way too many Generals in the beginning of my Gondor campaign, I think in the first 50 turns, the ratio would have been 1 General to every Settlement (perhaps something like 16 Gen's, 16 Settlements) which is WAY too many for a weak economy to prosper - if I had redone things I would have kept that number down to let the economy grow easier.

However as the game progressed and I took more Settlements, I stopped adopting and without realising it until recently I had 24 Generals for 46 settlements (something like 37 cities and 9 castles).

Thats not a lot when in a lot of cases (I'm now fighting on 3 fronts) I'll have between 2, 3 or even 4 Generals bunched in each of my main 4-5 stacks - more than half of my total. So Governers are very sparse, I think maybe 9 or 10 full time governers at most. Still, I think I have a good mix.

Playing other mods though, the ratio would be higher all the way through the game (1 General/Governer to nearly every settlement) and I would not stack generals due to a greater availability of cavalry.

I've never adopted a general in TATW so far and I won't do it until I'm really screwed

I was adopting any poor beggar, it was like a sickness. Cured now though. XD

[Mhaedros]

I've never adopted a general in TATW so far and I won't do it until I'm really screwed

[dulciusexasperis]

I have the same problem. I used to adopt left and right thinking to myself ill find some place for you, but that was before I knew generals eat up so much income, I don't usually keep generals in towns or cities unless its in bad shape, if newly conquered. Everyone else is out on my fronts fighting.

[Jojobobo]

Playing as the Dwarves, I go for as many generals as I can get my hands on. Their upkeep is only slightly greater than that of dwarvern warriors, and though they are a smaller unit size their quality usually makes up for that. Plus they replenish unlike other units. I guess the only down side is if the general in the unit dies the unit is completely gone, but they usually don't as the general has more hitpoints typically. The trick to solving the upkeep problem is to make enough money to keep them!

[dannyalex]

believe me u dont need extra generals at turn 300 u have enough to do ur job( more than enough i say) stick to the family tree only

[dulciusexasperis]

believe me u dont need extra generals at turn 300 u have enough to do ur job( more than enough i say) stick to the family tree only

so you count on your skill of directing your army then the kind of general it has?

[dannyalex]

could u rephrase ur question pls,english not my best part

[cahaya]

It depends a lot on the faction being played, but in general (no pun intended!):

1) Each major stack should have a leader with command stars and leadership traits and lacks in economic traits.
2) Each major economic/recruiting center should have a leader as a governor, whose economic traits will likely start with Skilled Bureaucrat and improve during their governorship. This will allow large towns and cities to grow much larger and faster, improving the economy sooner and enabling the recruit of second and third tier units sooner. As a general rule, I will only put governors in locations that will eventually reach Castle/Citadel or City size, and not leave generals in villages, small towns or small mottes/castles. I'll usually pull up the Settlements list, sort by income (also population), and make sure that I have governors in top several locations.
3) Turn down generals for adoption unless you really need one and they have the right traits to lead a stack or act as a governor.

[Dude with the Food]

I normally keep whatever I have at the beginning, If somebody really great comes along, or his traits fit my faction and he doesn't mess with my line of heirs, I adopt. Though, then, he doesn't marry so he can't continue his own line. If he's marrying in however, I can't really prevent kids there.

[dulciusexasperis]

It depends a lot on the faction being played, but in general (no pun intended!):

1) Each major stack should have a leader with command stars and leadership traits and lacks in economic traits.
2) Each major economic/recruiting center should have a leader as a governor, whose economic traits will likely start with Skilled Bureaucrat and improve during their governorship. This will allow large towns and cities to grow much larger and faster, improving the economy sooner and enabling the recruit of second and third tier units sooner. As a general rule, I will only put governors in locations that will eventually reach Castle/Citadel or City size, and not leave generals in villages, small towns or small mottes/castles. I'll usually pull up the Settlements list, sort by income (also population), and make sure that I have governors in top several locations.
3) Turn down generals for adoption unless you really need one and they have the right traits to lead a stack or act as a governor.

That makes sense, ill give that a try I haven't adopted any generals yet I've just been going down the family tree. What would recommend for dwarves and also do you keep your faction leader in your capital?

[cahaya]

That makes sense, ill give that a try I haven't adopted any generals yet I've just been going down the family tree. What would recommend for dwarves and also do you keep your faction leader in your capital?

It depends on the faction, initial set up and where the key growth and recruitment settlements are. Aragorn, for one example, can accelerate the creation of Arnor by governing Annúminas, while Gandalf leads the troops. In another example, the Silvan elves' Legolas leads at least one stack, while the remaining elves will serve as skilled high-growth governors in Thranduil's Halls, Caras Galadhon and Cerin Amroth as the three key long-term economic and recruitment settlements.

As far as dwarves go, the key trio of settlements are Erebor, Azanulimbar-Dûm and Dain's Halls which should all have strong governors, plus new governors for places like Moria. The western dwarf settlements start out small and grow slowly with the leaders already there. As others here have noted, the cost is often worth it for additional dwarven leaders mixed into their armies, with them being elite defensive combat units, tougher than nails. In the last scenario I played, King Dain governed Erebor the entire game, and it was by far the top city at 15K and still growing 1%. So, in this case, yes, the leader remained in the capitol.

[Wolfeson]

As a couple people have mentioned, Dwarves are one faction where their generals lend themselves more to being in armies, due to the power of their bodyguard units, and the fact that their upkeeps aren't that much higher than the normal units for that faction. Keep in mind, though, that with generals you're stuck with them once you have them; you can't disband a few of them if you run into money problems.

If you only use a few generals in armies, the faction leaders/heirs are often good ones to use because they have special abilities that can be very useful in battle. Exceptions to this depend on faction, as some factions have leaders that are either particularly good in settlements (Aragorn), or just don't have good traits for a general (Denethor). Particularly true for factions who start with other generals that are better in battle (e.g. Gandalf, Faramir, or Imrahil).

[dulciusexasperis]

[QUOTE=Wolfeson;12480969]As a couple people have mentioned, Dwarves are one faction where their generals lend themselves more to being in armies, due to the power of their bodyguard units, and the fact that their upkeeps aren't that much higher than the normal units for that faction. Keep in mind, though, that with generals you're stuck with them once you have them; you can't disband a few of them if you run into money problems.

If you only use a few generals in armies, the faction leaders/heirs are often good ones to use because they have special abilities that can be very useful in battle. Exceptions to this depend on faction, as some factions have leaders that are either particularly good in settlements (Aragorn), or just don't have good traits for a general (Denethor). Particularly true for factions who start with other generals that are better in battle (e.g. Gandalf, Faramir, or Imrahil

Is it a good idea to keep your faction leader in your faction's capital or does it bot make a difference?

[Galain_Ironhide]

Is it a good idea to keep your faction leader in your faction's capital or does it bot make a difference?

Generally faction leaders have added traits which makes them better governers than your normal General however mainly on a "role-play" basis would you ever really consider keeping your general in your capital.

Of course as Gondor with Denethor as my Faction Leader, I have him sitting in Minas Tirith, however imo he makes a fine General and in the earlier part of the game I used him heaps in many defensive battles around Osgiliath. Now that he's much older I wouldn't think to use him out of Minas Tirith. All comes down to your desires.

[dulciusexasperis]

Generally faction leaders have added traits which makes them better governers than your normal General however mainly on a "role-play" basis would you ever really consider keeping your general in your capital.

Of course as Gondor with Denethor as my Faction Leader, I have him sitting in Minas Tirith, however imo he makes a fine General and in the earlier part of the game I used him heaps in many defensive battles around Osgiliath. Now that he's much older I wouldn't think to use him out of Minas Tirith. All comes down to your desires.

Thanks man, is it true that generals can get bad traits if they just sit in a city their entire life, I never really paid much attention to that, but that's what I've heard.

[Galain_Ironhide]

Thanks man, is it true that generals can get bad traits if they just sit in a city their entire life, I never really paid much attention to that, but that's what I've heard.

It can happen yes, Lazy is one trait I can think of however there are more AFAIK. More so your generals can get bad traits in cities / castles that have the Brothel line of buildings in them. I generally only have 2-3 places where I can train sies and assassins for that reason.

[Wolfeson]

There are a number of negative traits that generals can get for various reasons. I don't know all of them or their triggers offhand, but a couple of people have written some outstanding guides about the triggers for various traits and how to "raise" good generals for combat or for governing.

[son of romans]

If you wont to win this game only with heroic victories,and to advance in enemy teritory fast you need max nummber of generals,so keep every general alive !