SSHIP - General Discussion

[Jurand of Cracow]

In a simplified and concise manner; what is new with version 0.9.6 ? What are the most ? What are the least ?


Personally, I only had a short time to test the campaigns. I notice the disappearance of the choice of heir and perhaps a slight positive difference in the negotiations with the opposing factions. Some bugs, like the absence of voices with certain factions, other bugs still present (like that of the peasant archers who explode the screen when they die in battle ).
I cannot say more at this time.

I think the changes concerned mainly fixing the existing mechanisms so that they actually work. I think the SSHIP has a great potential and great promises but generations of modders would introduce their changes that would make the former mechanisms not working. Easy to grasp is that case of Provincial Titles. They're perfectly working in the SS6.4 but later changes in the provinces or names of the settlements would break the triggers etc.

So the list of changes consists mostly of fixes, I think:

• Reputation mechanisms tweaked – many details changed or introduced (eg. Ecumenical patriarch for making reputation between orthodox factions better, or mechanisms to avoid punishing for waging a war that was started by the enemy).
• Loyalty mechanisms tweaked and to make civil wars less pervasive and their causes more relalistic. It based on the observations described in this thread. It also includes the Loyalty adjustments as partially described here.
• Starting generals, traits and family trees upadated (in the earlier SSHIP versions they reflected 1100, not 1132 – it was he inheritance of the SS6.4) - this was quite laborious, I think. (done by VineFynn).
• Princess spawning script so that after turn 60 the player has a chance to marry off heir / ruler. It's worthy to marry as each Royal relation provides (again) +1 popularity. Given the unrest mechanisms in the SSHIP, growing your family relations is crucial to keep those cities (eg. an Aragon general whose mother was French, grandmother Pisan, grandgrandmother English will have +4 popularity: crucial to keep eg a conquered Palermo under control).
• Education of Generals – implementation of the submod making the education system that existed in the SSHIP (and also the base SS) actually working. It makes the educational buildings much more useful: you really need that school and library in your capital so that your Administratively Minded teenager generals can educate there.
• Generals Traits fix – triggers and effects for many traits that existed in the SSHIP (and also the base SS) were modified to provide balance or start working: see the details here. They concern mainly economic effects (so that the governors have significant impact on income), the Fog of War adjustments to the traits (Line Of Sight restrictions for not experienced generals), sometimes Loyalty.
• Provincial titles fix: 32 titles (from Central and Eastern Europe) have been updated: names, pics, effects, descriptions; in some cases also triggers or the very existence. After a patch, the number will rise to 67. The other also work as mechanism (see below), but they're not balanced in benefits, and some may be missing.
• Ministerial Offices fix: 8 types of titles have been made working: triggers, also existence of a few muslim and greek versions (details are here). There're now over 50 offices in the game (if you count the Byzantine ones).
• Crowns fix - these are fixed in the patches to 096: lists of provinces fixed so that they're actually obtainable, some pic made historic.
• Gameplay: Loyalty - Offices - Titles - Crowns - Education - Other Traits - what really matters is their interaction, not single fixes. Swapping Offices and Titles is crucial for having your generals not deserting at medium-size kingodom (each provides +1 Loyalty). If the faction grows bigger, at certain size it's no longer possible to keep the generals loyal if they're far away. In this case getting a crown is crucial. To get it, you need to conquer the historic territories or have a great legacy from father (kill a faction or have maximum Piety, Authority etc.). Und so weiter.
• FogOfWar made sligtly more significant: Watchtowers made more expensive, initial Watchtowers removed (everybody needs to build up the infrastructure from scratch), the characters and agents have less LineOfSigth that makes scouting with agents more important. It makes also the initial expansion more difficult - instead of hiring your feudal troops, you need to pay for the watchtowers.
• Priests, Spies and other agents: the pervasive antitrait bug removed, effects and triggers modified to provide balance and evolution in their lives; the pagan priests fixed (frankly speaking, they didn't work before: the triggers were broken), some information messages fixed.
• in-game information through historic events mechanism on a number of topics that already were in the SSHIP but either were not fully explained / understood, or didn't actually work and have been recently fixed and balanced.
• map adjustments in Bulgaria, Anatolia, Poland;
• adjustments of the names of the provinces in Germany, Poland, Anatolia and some other places;
• number of various minor fixes.

troop replenishment i believe could play a bigger role in stoping player from blitzkrieging the map and i think it would be more fun than unrest

I actually agree that the replenisment should be lower to make the early blitzkrieg less likely. The AI is already tamed in the international relations that it can be accomodated.

settlement titles should atleast describe of which settlement they are. I having hard time differing then apart. It would be great to see this fixed.

It'll we the case now with the new fix: each will name the fiefs granted, eg:
Jarl í Borgarthingslog - Granted fiefs around Oslo.

The aim is also to balance all the titles:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[RodriguesSting]

So my new Scottish playthrough is going much better overall. My diplomat was immediately sent to Rome to butter up the pope with 1500-2000 gifts (after my economy was mostly settled, it was trivial, even supporting some Gallowglasses) and trade deals (which didn't do much as my ports don't seem to be leading outside the Isles and the channel, so whatever). The positive relationships with the pope eventually allowed for an alliance (which I couldn't get with the French), so hopefully my reputation will start normalizing up. The big thing is, with high relationships, the pope still requests ceasefires. The difference is that they are often *after* taking a settlement, rather than after sieging it, and the penalty for failing is reduced relationships, rather than a full excommunication. So things are looking pretty bright on the diplomatic front.

Now, as my newfound diplomatic capabilities accelerated my war against the Normans, I am finally finding an use for their castles. Gallowglasses and Huskarls are still very superior, but I am not getting quite enough numbers to overcome the battle losses (more on that on the next paragraph), so the Scottish Peasants and Clansmen are comming in handy to swell my ranks, and finally even some Hobillars, for all the good they do.

The only thing I have to complain is that I got ***not a single good general*** in the realm. My FL has been leading the campaign since the start to build up, but he got the bad battle traits, so I guess this is the reason he is not gaining any command at all, which is influencing my auto-battles quite harshly. Still, the fact I am even winning this war with only auto-battles say a lot about my strategic situation and preparation, so I am quite content. PS: Maybe my failure to acquire good command traits is due to not playing battles manually?

Edit: And before I forget to add, turning the Scottish capital/castle into a city turned it into a ludicrously profitable city. Over 4K a turn right now, with no governor, and booming non-stop. Scots really benefit from cities early on, as local recruitment allows for them to spit out Chieftains pretty much everywhere that I conquered so far. That, plus mercenary reliance, plus mediocre castle recruitment, might be to emulate the tribal society, relying on semi-professional warriors rather than periodic levies? Anyway, it works, and works well.

[Jurand of Cracow]

The only thing I have to complain is that I got ***not a single good general*** in the realm. My FL has been leading the campaign since the start to build up, but he got the bad battle traits, so I guess this is the reason he is not gaining any command at all, which is influencing my auto-battles quite harshly. Still, the fact I am even winning this war with only auto-battles say a lot about my strategic situation and preparation, so I am quite content. PS: Maybe my failure to acquire good command traits is due to not playing battles manually?

Indeed, the triggers for the traits are set in such a way that they benefit most those playing battles, and especially with weaker forces than the AI.
This is the main thought behind the SSHIP: you do something for a reason. So you fight battles to get very good generals to be able to develop your economy. Usually, without a very chivalrous general it's not possible to upgrade a settlement.

BTW, what difficulty level do you play?

[Jurand of Cracow]

turning the Scottish capital/castle into a city turned it into a ludicrously profitable city. Over 4K a turn right now, with no governor, and booming non-stop. Scots really benefit from cities early on, as local recruitment allows for them to spit out Chieftains pretty much everywhere that I conquered so far. That, plus mercenary reliance, plus mediocre castle recruitment, might be to emulate the tribal society, relying on semi-professional warriors rather than periodic levies? Anyway, it works, and works well.

4K is a lot. Perhaps thanks to maritime trade?
I also re-built my castles into the cities for money - in the SSHIP you've got feudal troops from the cities, so the loss of manpower is not so acute.

btw - how do your numbers compare to my Polish campaign (played on vh) ?

[RodriguesSting]

I play on normal/normal with the balanced AI. As I am not a great player, and being mostly unable to participate on manual battles, I really am not trying to push my luck. And as I didn't keep a register of what was going on every few years, I can't really compare. But I can say )that the over 4.5k the capital was making (with a governor, my mistake) probably had a lot to deal with trading, despite the fact none of my routes seemed to lead much further than the isles.

Anyway, to shake things up, I decided to give a good try with the Lithuanians, as they are interesting, being the last pagans in the game. I thought Scotland was a backwater in a difficult position, and while I am still on the opinion it is not easy, considering the existential threat of a Norman invasion just down the borders, I say Lithuania is hell. Only one under-development settlement as your capital, your most likely expansion routes are between three well garrisoned wooden castles (peasant tier troops mostly but... that doesn't help you at all), two similarly garrisoned villages, or Poland. To top it all off, your capital is a city, you only have access to the Baltic militia (that I didn't compare to Spear militia yet, but other than impressive numbers, my guess is that they fare poorly on the upkeep) until you get a castle (by taking one or converting one of the villages), there are fairly impressive roving bands of rebels around that will eat one of your half stacks (Prussian Auxilia and Axmen), your family tree is tiny (and all military minded, to make sure you can't benefit out of a city at all),and your mercenary pool is horrible. Unlike the Isles, where you get access to semi-professional mercenary troops that you don't have access normally, being the Gallowglass and the Huskarls, in Lithuania, what you get access to are the Eastern Spearmen, that are recruitable normally. That is not too bad on itself, as it can be considered an alternative source for these feudal-type troops to complement your conventional recruitment. The bad thing is, as they are normally recruitable, for balance sake, they need a upkeep that is costlier than mercenary types. End result, despite the upfront cost not being too high (2kish), their stats are worse than the Mercenary Spearmen, who are the worst mercenaries you can get in the isles, and have a higher upkeep.

So unlike Scotland, you can't build a good core out of mercenaries to help you out, you are restricted to either Peasant Infantry and Baltic Spearmen, and if you convert one if the villages into a castle, Archer Levies and Lettish Crosbowmen. I will not even talk about the Levies, but the Crossbowmen, despite their horrendous upfront cost, are pretty decent defensive troops, with their bolts hitting hard, accurate, and far, with decent defensive and offensive (compared to what else I have) to top it all. Problem is, the numbers in the units are really not great, so they will get mosh pitted by even the lowliest dedicated infantry they will find.

Overall, I think I could actually pull out a decent expansion if there was a Huskarl-like troop in the region, which seems likely, as 1 - European Tribal societies very often semi-professional warrior cadres working for pay for warchiefs, and 2 - the Baltic underwent a lot of Viking influence due to the various colonies, including the fabled Jomsborg. All that adds up to the likely possibility of nordic/baltic huskarl brotherhoods forming there.

As it is currently, I am pushing through, but found a bug that is crashing after a battle to finally take my first castle. I am doing a lot of manual battles now to improve my trait acquisition, and it really sucks the game rewards my effort with this. But, other than that, while far from comfortable, expansion is possible, and if I restart, I will consider marching my initial army to Polish lands to see if I can get a better result. For now they take the north village on turn 2 (very doable with manual battle, although fairly exploity), disband all the spearmen on my capital to boost the pool, and just wait up, building my economy and churning out as many Lettish Crossbowmen as I can to support my forces (2 usually). The cash reserves allow me to siege without going red, as wlel.

[RodriguesSting]

I restarted after that issue because the game was crashing in that battle regardless if I fought, fled, or used auto battle. I decided that the best route is, indeed, to take Riga up north on turn 2 with all your forces and commanders, and then turtle up in your capital building up your economy and a sizable force of Baltic Spearmen to take the castle right on south, which is the least defended province (not settlement, necessarily) in the vicinity. You will face Lithuanian militia tier troops there, so sieging them out will more or less assure a victory, made smoother by a quite simple manual battle. I am more impartial towards the Baltic Spearmen now, their stats are fairly good considering they replace spear militia, and having a 25% larger unit size does help them out a lot, so overall, I think their relatively high upkeep is somewhat justified, although I would be hesitant to use them for garrison duty. They would more than hold themselves against rich militia around (Eastern Spearmen) with a armor upgrade and take very little infrastructure. But this somewhat more in-depth analysis was made thanks to my utter lack of alternative units early on, so the strategical situation is really not good.

Furthermore, I would like to eco the points of my previous post, adding that I found out that the large prussian rebel army is not the only one, having another considerably group up north, on the province just across the sea from Finland and bordering Novgorod, having quite some viking troops to top it off. So considering that the first Prussian army often patrols the ways to the village West, and you have to face large, good quality garrisons further north, that leaves as the last alternative route of expansion to take the large rebel Rus city East, so your situation is as dire as it will get without a hostile neighbor.

Finally, considering this and a few bugs (inconsistent Priest trait acquisition, HORRIBLE pagan conversion in my own goddamn homeland, every recruited Priest being a High Priest and only the starting one being a Shaman, the recruited high priests having a bugged title upon hovering in the strategic map with plenty of "_" so a localization issue, and utter vulnerability to Heretics [Arian Conversion Part Deux Vult]), I think Lithuania, at least on Early period, might be somewhat half baked. I think I will leave them alone, despite even... starting to appreciate them, despite their weaknesses. Their horse archers are probably the best troops you will have access in the early game, so I strongly recommend to try to recruit them after you take the southern castle. Also, don't convert the villages or your capital into castles, your economic situation is already bad enough as it is, you will need the cash, even when you start feeling like you're making too much.

Anyway, as an aside, is there a good guide for trait acquisition/general education?

[Jurand of Cracow]

Guide on some traits is here. There's no guide on education yet, but you may conclude something from the modding design, as described here.

I wonder why you've chosen the perhaps weakest and most difficult faction at the begining. There're plenty other factions, some very developed from the begining, some less, some in dire situation, but Lithuania is the weakest, I think.

[RodriguesSting]

I wonder why you've chosen the perhaps weakest and most difficult faction at the begining.

I love underdogs. If there's a weakest/most challenging choice to play in a game, I will gravitate towards it. I just think, from what I managed to gather, that while Scotland has some diamonds hidden on its mud (great potential economy, semi-professionals), Lithuania just seems hard and, honestly, kinda bad. I have no negative impression of the mod at all due to my choices. Anyway thanks for the guide, and I will move on to another faction.

[Jurand of Cracow]

don't try Pisa or catholics around - the Pope will wreck your nerves.
Portugal might be very difficult, hmm.
Georgia might be interesting but it's surprisingly strong.
France is in difficult position, I think.

[RodriguesSting]

don't try Pisa or catholics around - the Pope will wreck your nerves.

The pope game was quite enjoyable as Scotland, so I really don't mind it all. Regardless, I am trying Novgorod, to get a feel of what it is to deal with large cities. And it is hard, I can tell, but at least it is refreshing to not be stuck to tiny villages around. Maybe I will even get my first crowning.

[officialdeo]

don't try Pisa or catholics around - the Pope will wreck your nerves.
Portugal might be very difficult, hmm.
Georgia might be interesting but it's surprisingly strong.
France is in difficult position, I think.

I always blitz Florence as Pisa, preferably under 15 turns. Let the Normans take control of Ancona so the Pope is cornered and usually tries to invade Florence. While he's sieging Florence, I try to blitz and sack Rome as fast as I can. Rinse and repeat.

I don't have a better strategy for Portugal than turtling and counterattacking the Moors for a few decades while racking up money from merchants. Any tips?

[kostic]

My campaign with the kingdom of France reveals improvements in titles, family tree and better diplomacy. Thank you for this work !

[Lifthrasir]

I always blitz Florence as Pisa, preferably under 15 turns. Let the Normans take control of Ancona so the Pope is cornered and usually tries to invade Florence. While he's sieging Florence, I try to blitz and sack Rome as fast as I can. Rinse and repeat.

I don't have a better strategy for Portugal than turtling and counterattacking the Moors for a few decades while racking up money from merchants. Any tips?

You definitively need to use your diplomacy here. Best way is to accept to become a vassal of one of your neighbours. At least, it gives you some time to develop a bit and to be able to gain your independance. Note that Portugal is one of the most difficult faction to play with

[RodriguesSting]

So been playing with Novgorod. I think this game is lost (20 turns to take Kiev, and we have been besties since the start of the game. I presume the idea is for us to break the alliance early on and Novgorod to do some early aggression), but I loved it. My merchants are making good money (and even been microing them to avoid expert in local market), my capital's learning institutions were giving good traits, my reputation was middling for most of the time, my armies were pretty varied (lots of dismounted Druzina + Axemen, with some Junior Militia to add to the line, backed by Archer Levies [who are kinda bad but do a good job on unarmored troops] and Crossbow Levies).

In fact, other than the Junior Militia and the Crossbowmen, I have been avoiding to field Urban Militias if possible and trying to use Rural Levies instead. I am not completely sure about how the unit types affect some hidden stats like Morale (maybe the more detailed units card script would come in handy), but I noticed that Urban Militia troops do a MUCH better job at keeping the order in my cities than my previous choice, peasants. For example, filling Novgorod with Peasants and Archer Levies would neat me up to 20% Garrison bonus, which is garbage. 10 Bardiche Militias were netting 60%, allowing me to keep milking the city dry with taxes without the risk of it activating the rebellion script (I presume), and is more cost effective thanks to the added taxes. So, considering that, I think it is reasonable to assume that, despite being more cost effective and powerful than my shoddy Levies, these Urban Militias would have lower morale on the field (as the card states), and thus, would be unreliable to hold the line. A use for the castles, I guess, although big cities can, thankfully, supply you with early professional Feudals. I was just using a lot of Juniors because the city (which name I forgot) didn't need many to keep good order, and I need some sort of line for my skirmishers to hide behind. Seemed like a lesser risk than relying on goddamn Peasant Infantry.

Finally, I really liked the Mercenary Axeman. They have some Huskarlite vibes, are on line with the others (Gallowglass and Saxons) in performance and upkeep, and their text doesn't necessarily imply them to belong to any faction, so I think making a pool of them in the Baltic (in place of, say, the awful Eastern Spearmen that the Lithuanians can't even recruit in castles anyway) would give the Lithuanians the tribal professionals they need to have an easier expansion. At least, it would be easier than making some sort of new unit, a Baltic Huskarl or whatever.

And finally, a few questions: How many people do I need living in a city with Wooden Walls in order to upgrade it to Stone Walls (as I never managed to get the upgrade in my game, even tanking a general to get Bad With Taxes just to try to go above 12k)? What actually happens if I run out of time to grab one of the objective timed settlements? And my reputation tanked badly when I invaded the Lithuanians, even with Christians, so why is that? Was it because I had a trade deal?

Finally, the guides provided were indeed useful to me, so I was wondering if you also happen to have a diplomacy guide here.

PS: I also can't understate how powerful are knights and bodyguards. I killed so many small rebel stacks with only the bodyguards. Kinda sucks that it almost always result in Dread Knight for me, which more or less permanently excludes that general from governing a settlement, but still, it was impressive. I can do manual battles better now, and I am taking advantage of it. So I think I will actually start grabbing a few knights around to do these battles for me in which I don't want to risk Dreading a general. While they can be shockingly effective (my Bodyguards vs Mercenary Axemen, I killed half the unit in the first charge and the rest on the second, no losses), heavy spearmen, specially ones capable of Shciltron, will be able to win, despite HEAVY losses, as it happened when I matched a unit of Druzina against some rebel Senior Militia. Considering the gap of quality, though, it may not be a bad trade for them, in the end.

[Jurand of Cracow]

I noticed that Urban Militia troops do a MUCH better job at keeping the order in my cities than my previous choice, peasants.

Historically, peasants were not the best people for keeping order in the cities ;-) It's militia that was supposed to do the job (well, professional troops as well, but these were too expensive.
In the SSHIP such units get "is_peasant" attribute that makes them 50% efficient as garrisons.

A use for the castles, I guess, although big cities can, thankfully, supply you with early professional Feudals.

This is indeed one of the best solutions in the SSHIP. In the other mods (well, I've never played vanilla), the problem for weak factions is they cannot recruit heavy troops needed to deal with armoured opponents. In the SSHIP this problem is solved by "Local guards" - the feudals are expensive but for a few turns they can defend the country.

some sort of new unit, a Baltic Huskarl

you've got Lithuanian Ducal Axe, mercenary Axemen, or also mercenary Woodsmen. That's more than enough, I think.

How many people do I need living in a city with Wooden Walls in order to upgrade it to Stone Walls

huge city (5) 80 000
large city (4) 32 000
citadel (4) 30 000
minor city (3) 12 500
fortress (3) 12 000
large town (2) 5 750
castle (2) 5 000
town (1) 1500
wooden castle (1) 1500
village (0) -
motte & bailey (0) -

tanking a general to get Bad With Taxes just to try to go above 12k

this is a bad strategy. Far better is to fight battles as an underdog, win and release the prisoners. High Chivalry is the key to upgrading the cities.
The sources of population growth are as follows:\n- the innate fertility of a province (usually between 0,5 and 2.5%, but there're a few breadbasket provinces giving much more);\n- farms, especially their higher levels;\n- buildings providing Health give around 0.5% growth per 1 health point (they also make plagues rarer);\n- buildings providing Growth give the expected 0.5% per 0.5% described on their cards;\n- buildings providing Happiness also give growth: 0.25% per 1 point described on the card;\n- buildings providing Law and reducing unrest do not have any impact on growth;\n- Chivalry of generals can have a very significant impact: 1 point gives 0.5% or 1% (up to 6.5% for 10 Chivalry); it's worth noting that Dread doesn't make any difference in this respect (in particular: no penalties);\n- squalor in the settlement lowers growth;\n- generals may get traits that negates some of that squalor;\n- trade with the other provinces give between 0.5 and 3% growth (you don't need to have road connections, it's enough just to have a border;\n- switching taxes in cities makes 0.5% difference per level (but watch out the impacts on the traits of the governors!);\n- plagues have extremely negative consequences - they occur occasionally in the settlements with: large populations, little health, bordering provinces afflicted by plague, visited by infected characters or armies.



Diplomacy: I don't have a diplomacy guide, but I think this one is good, even though it's on Rome Total War - but the engines are similar. However, many facets are modded in the SSHIP.

[RodriguesSting]

you've got Lithuanian Ducal Axe, mercenary Axemen, or also mercenary Woodsmen. That's more than enough, I think.

But in Lithuania proper, in the mercenary pool, I just saw Hunters, Crossbowmen, Eastern Spearmen and Mercenary Spearmen. I just think the Merc Axemen being added to the pool (with a good replenishment rate) would help the faction to do the backwater build up I do with Scotland and make expansion easier.

this is a bad strategy. Far better is to fight battles as an underdog, win and release the prisoners. High Chivalry is the key to upgrading the cities.

But I tend to have a bit of a problem. When my generals take active part in the battle, they tend to gain Dread Knight as I mentioned. If they don't, they sometimes get Coward. But my field battles have been just against Rebels so far, so maybe things could be different against an AI, specially considering that you don't make prisoners out of independents.

[Jurand of Cracow]

But in Lithuania proper, in the mercenary pool, I just saw Hunters, Crossbowmen, Eastern Spearmen and Mercenary Spearmen. I just think the Merc Axemen being added to the pool (with a good replenishment rate) would help the faction to do the backwater build up I do with Scotland and make expansion easier.

But I tend to have a bit of a problem. When my generals take active part in the battle, they tend to gain Dread Knight as I mentioned. If they don't, they sometimes get Coward. But my field battles have been just against Rebels so far, so maybe things could be different against an AI, specially considering that you don't make prisoners out of independents.

Yeah, I've actually introduced Axemen to the Lithuanian pool recently, so it'll be in the next patch. But no Crossbowmen - they're not present in these lands in this century.

Dread Knight - yes, 25% chance to get it if you're not chivalrous. But the generals who kill so many people in battle deserve such a companion...

[RodriguesSting]

Dread Knight - yes, 25% chance to get it if you're not chivalrous. But the generals who kill so many people in battle deserve such a companion...

So the takeaway from that is, least your general is already chivalrous (at least 1?), you have no risk of gaining Dread Knight from massacring these tiny rebel stacks?

[Jurand of Cracow]

So the takeaway from that is, least your general is already chivalrous (at least 1?), you have no risk of gaining Dread Knight from massacring these tiny rebel stacks?

To be precise: he needs to have a positive chivalry in one of the two main branches for chivalry:
and WonBattle
and BattleOdds < 1.2
and PercentageEnemyKilled > 66
and not Trait BattleChivalry > 0
and not Trait StrategyChivalry > 0

However, he may have Dread from other sources (eg Kernave Provincial Title provide for 2 Dread, iirc), so he can have 1 Dread, but still don't get a Dreaded Knight.
Conversly, he may have chivalry from the other source (Krakow PT ;-), have positive Chivalry, and still get the Dreaded Knight - if both those traits are not positive.

The best way, I think, is to make the rebels routing but not pursuing them - let them flee, don't get that 66% killed condition. And release prisoners.

[nvm]

Tried to start as England. This was surprisingly more difficult than I expected, with starting ruler quickly replaced by an usurper. I was initially upset given that the "usurper" actually had a claim, but after reading about it I found out that's actually historical. London rebelled soon afterward, which deprived me of much needed income, but the garrison was filled with Hunters for some reason. I seem to recall this is not the first time something like that happened in the mod, maybe it's better to define the rebel forces for such rebellions? Either way, this could have easily complicated the campaign greatly, if not outright end it right after the beginning.