Region Wealth instead/proxy for population?

[Ichon]

I noticed some statement by CA about not having population being focus in Rome 2 and at first it sounded bad but in Warscape the trend has been to make growing region wealth more important mechanic anyway and perhaps make easier sense with larger tax base/economic benefits without even having to introduce population which is difficult to simulate even authentically vs accurately.

Then region wealth could be a proxy for population class in some ways that are probably better than actual population without getting into separate population types. For example Greece in heyday had a population and wealth boom allowing it to field large armies and navies for its land area and sustaining the aggression of Alexander as well aiding in spread of Hellenic culture through numerous colonies.

For example if there is base number of units supported per region which depends on majority culture of the region (with replenishment/recruit time better the larger a minority culture). So Rome could have conquered Cisalpine Gaul and have 20% Roman culture but 80% Celtic which allows Romans to recruit 1 unit from their roster every 30 turns with 1% replenish per turn (relatively low but still could be militarily useful). Some mid/low tier Celtic auxillaries might then be available in the region every 6 turns with 5% replenish for unit recruited there. Over time culture % changes and more Roman and less Celtic unit become supportable.

Secondly the wealth of a region could impact- so if on turn 1 Rome can support 4 Triarii in Italy and 8 each Princepes and Hastati but in 30 turns region wealth grows 40% then base doubles so 8 Triari, 16 Princepes, etc. So wealth becomes a proxy for population and if raided constantly or devastated by plague/war region wealth lowers until eventually fewer units can be recruited.

Actually seems it could be a better system than population classes though I somehow doubt CA did this exactly it would be nice to have some more dynamic system tied to unit availability than hard caps. It also makes trade/income management more important and integral to game. Trade in Shogun 2 was often choice between +wealth growth or +income. Choice is also between raising taxes first few turns to support larger army to conquer more regions quickly (at slow or even negative wealth growth) but longer term gain or focus on turtle and build up wealth in already owned regions by lowering taxes which is possibly even longer term strategy but by mid game could make a very secure core able to field better quality armies on less regions.

[Argon Viper]

I sort of understand what you're driving at here, but I'm not sure if I'm completely on board with this mechanic. While wealth is a useful proxy for population (more people means more farm work getting done), I'm not sure it fully represents everything.

Historically, Rome (and most other empires of the time as well) would recruit their armies from among the citizenry; who would compose some percentage of the overall population. Since citizens could not be female or slaves, and since not all who lived within an empire were citizens, we can safely assume that we are recruiting troops from among less than 30% of the whole population. A high population of citizens, therefore, means more access to your factions troops.

However, that's not the only variable. The higher class form the elite troops, the middle class forms the "meat" of the army, and the lower classes provide the skirmishers. This is more flexible than most systems, because if a lot of the higher class gets killed (or fails to repopulate), the upper-middle class will become the upper class with some delay.

Finally, the overall wealth of the faction will determine exactly how heavily armored each class is. In a very poor nation, even the elites will be equipped with relatively light armor, while in a rich nation they will glitter with armor. It would also determine the quality (and number) of horses they could field as well as the quality of their middle and lower class's equipment.

I like the idea of some focus on wealth (a wealthier nation is always more powerful than a similar one that is poorer), but I think that's only a part of the equation.

[Kinjo]

Honestly I don't know what to expect, I just hope it isn't a dumbing down arcade solution where you can recruit unit after unit with no restrictions as long as you can afford them. Personally I would like to see the factions infrastructure tied to how large of an army you can raise. Without getting into too much pointless details the level of farming infrastructure could be tied to how many levy type troops you can raise and the city size plus barracks level could determine the size of the professional core and elite units. I have always wanted a true levy system in the TW series, where you are able to call up large amounts levy type troops to bolster you armies size in times of war so you don't have to have large standing armies all the time. It would be perfect for this time period Campus Martius anybody?