Faction Politics

[oneah]

Sorry its a short question but.. how does politics work exactly in this game? So far I haven't seen what having influence matters for.. or the number of senators. Yes you make these decisions from time to time but what exactly is the underline system for this? Why should I care in particular about my generals? This is honest question.. I don't have a clue and would like to know because it might help become invested in my characters. Thanks

[karamazovmm]

tis simple, once you gain or lose too much popularity, your characters from your faction will begin to suffer sudden accidents, for no apparent reason, and that would lead you to lose them, if its a good general you are in trouble

[VektorT]

Really hoping to see an awnser here...
I'm totally ignoring faction politics most of the time 'cause it seem to have no relevance at all...

[DeaDBolT]

Really hoping to see an answer here...
I'm totally ignoring faction politics most of the time 'cause it seem to have no relevance at all...

From what i can gather, there are your faction, which consists of your generals and several politicians at any given time, and opposing factions, just think of these as opposing political parties.
Each faction has support from a number of Warlords from all tribe, or senate members of your faction. given in percentages.
As your generals gain ranks, they become more famous, which increases their gravitas. Gravitas helps sway senate/warlord support to a faction's side each turn if it is high enough, so it is basically a tug of war.

You have actions you can perform, like spread rumors about an opposing warlord/senate member, assassinating them or marrying them into your faction. All these actions cost a certain amount of money and generally decreases enemy members' gravitas, which decreases support for them and, indirectly, increases yours. However, these actions are all frowned upon, so they lose you some senate/warlord support in the short term, which you gain back in the long term by decreasing enemy members' gravitas.

The point of all these politics seem to be control of your faction, from what i can gather, though I've never experienced it, losing too much political support can cause a civil war, which basically spawns full stacks of rebels outside your settlements.

That's a brief explanation of it, hope it helps you and others enjoy the game more, it's actually an intriguing system once you get into it.

Cheers,

[Shadow the Barbarian]

Yeah I've got some questions related to this. It's my understanding you want to control a high percentage of the senators/chiefs/families/whatever if you're a tribal society / monarchy, and a balanced percentage if you are a republic. Is that right? Also...what is the case for Pontus.. I'm assuming they are a Republic?

But more importantly, what the hell would I ever Marry, adopt, assassinate, or spread rumors for? Every single one of those actions shows it has the same affect, I lose X number of supporters.... So what would be the benefit of losing support to move a general/admiral to your household? As far as I can tell their is no bonus for doing so.

[keith moons liver]

But more importantly, what the hell would I ever Marry, adopt, assassinate, or spread rumors for? Every single one of those actions shows it has the same affect, I lose X number of supporters.... So what would be the benefit of losing support to move a general/admiral to your household? As far as I can tell their is no bonus for doing so.

Marriage will give you support if your faction has less than the other party. Adoption is really the key if you want high support-the initial cost is trivial compared to what a successful commander will net you, and you also reduce your rivals ability to gain support.

[Pnutmaster]

Before the game was released, I said it was disconcerting that the Greek City States were being sold as DLC despite the fact that they existed in-game as AI factions and were therefore, theoretically, unlockable out of the box. The CA party statement to this was, at the time (and still is, from what I've gathered), "Oh, well, you're paying for the depth of the political factions". Because of how dreadfully simplistic the political mini-game is, all we're left with is the privilege to play these "DLC factions" in custom battles/MP.

Faction politics should be about inter-marrying for political gain, the threat of Civil War, and factions interacting with your enemies (i.e., enemy AI factions) for their own political gain. Regrettably, they're nowhere close to this. Imagine how much more threatening the prospect of Civil War would be if, in the midst of a Roman campaign, the rebelling faction offered all of South Italy to the Greeks if they aided in overthrowing you.

[cevap]

The faction system seems like a placeholder for something they didnt have time to do. Ive read a review where they said no matter what you get a civil war dont know if thats true or not.

I ignore it for the most part and sometimes when I remember I maybe get a promotion for one of my generals, I hope Im wrong and there are some deep choices that impact your game more than +3 growth for 2 turns but there probably isnt.

[beksibeksi]

i just promote commanders from my own party and it's all fine

[VektorT]

Yeah, I understand those mechanics... but they all seems so simplistic.

I made someone from my family a general or admiral and that's okay. If I want someone from another family I just adopt him and it's over. Most political actions are expensive and dont worths the cost at all.