Recruitment and garrison discussion

[wulfgar610]

JMJ -
Also, I can only recruit units with a general?

Actually this probably an improvement over the old style system of simply raising new units in centers of civilization. All armies, even Barbarian ones were built around a central command. It was at their camps that new recruits were taken in and taught the ropes. Of course it is a bit simple minded in that large armies can't be split into smaller commands with junior officers, but most likely the AI wouldn't handle it well.

[wulfgar610]

Doesn`t change th fact that you should be able to make armies, General or not.

Well no, every force in history requires command and a command structure at some level. Otherwise one simply has a body with on head. TW doesn't give much allowance for lower tier command.

If it can be done in reality it should be possible in game. Just make the AI able to utilise it.

That's an interesting assumption that because it appears in reality it will not work that well in a computer program. I don't know the reason CA created the limitation, but I assume they did have a reason. Presently one is limited to so many mobile armies, to make up for this, there are now efficient garrison forces. In the latter case it's obvious the AI would be running garrison forces around unless they were tied in place.

[RedGuard]

Well no, every force in history requires command and a command structure at some level. Otherwise one simply has a body with on head. TW doesn't give much allowance for lower tier command.

well to be fair the old system did have a command structure. the companies of men (120 is generally considered a company of men at its basic level) were led by captains, and captains leading multiple units had the chance to be promoted to generals if they got a victory (man of the hour)

That's an interesting assumption that because it appears in reality it will work that well in a computer program. I don't know the reason CA created the limitation, but I assume they did have a reason. Presently one is limited to so many mobile armies, to make up for this, there are now efficient garrison forces. In the latter case it's obvious the AI would be running garrison forces around unless they were tied in place.

I feel like the perfect system would be to have armies meet each other in the feild inside your own territory, but when the player or the ai leave their own territory to attack that army must be led by a general (ie a army led by a captain can't leave its own territory) this would both cut down on the ai stack spam and allow players to better micro-manage their armies. as it is right now it really sucks when you get that new barracks built and you have to take your battle-hardened army out of the fight to bolster it with new units.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

It really is silly, though, and I see no way that it is superior to the old system.

Why can't I build more garrison units? My town is small, but it's on the border with my enemy. So why does it have a small garrison, while my protected capital has a gigantic, unnecessary garrison?

If there's a small band of barbarians raiding and pillaging in the region, why can't I command my garrison to march out and defeat it? Why are they glued to the settlement?

M2TW had a far superior garrison and recruitment system. The current system works perfectly for the AI. AI garrisons can be determined by the buildings and such. But players should handle that on their own.

[Garensterz]

It really is silly, though, and I see no way that it is superior to the old system.

Why can't I build more garrison units? My town is small, but it's on the border with my enemy. So why does it have a small garrison, while my protected capital has a gigantic, unnecessary garrison?

If there's a small band of barbarians raiding and pillaging in the region, why can't I command my garrison to march out and defeat it? Why are they glued to the settlement?

M2TW had a far superior garrison and recruitment system. The current system works perfectly for the AI. AI garrisons can be determined by the buildings and such. But players should handle that on their own.

Here'a a suggestion though. Since this new system helps the AI actually defend it's garrison, why not add a new feature that forces each regions to have mass recruitment ( doubles the amount of units in a region ) for garrisons for only a few turns? Lets say, 5 - 10 turns, depending on the region's population surplus?

[wulfgar610]

It really is silly, though, and I see no way that it is superior to the old system.

Why can't I build more garrison units? My town is small, but it's on the border with my enemy. So why does it have a small garrison, while my protected capital has a gigantic, unnecessary garrison?.

Well you can build a specific garrison building that adds more garrison units along with a public order bonus. The upside is no monetary upkeep, the downside is you use a scarce building slot up.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

Well you can build a specific garrison building that adds more garrison units along with a public order bonus. The upside is no monetary upkeep, the downside is you use a scarce building slot up.

You can do that as the Western Roman Empire. I have yet to see it as any other faction, even the ERE.

But even then it makes far less sense.

This new system is simply inferior in every way, save for the fact that it acts as a bandage to cover the fact that the AI can't protect it's towns. Used to, I could build garrisons to complement each other. For instance, if an enemy army broke through my outer ring of heavily fortified towns, then the garrisons from multiple towns could come together to form a defensive army and take the fight to the invaders, in the field. That doesn't exist anymore.

Used to, I would store my army piecemeal in several forts to lower upkeep. Whenever they prepared to march out, or had to fight a battle, they would all form up into a single force and then attack the enemy. Can't happen now. Can't leave units behind to garrison a newly conquered settlement while still advancing with the rest of the army.

Just recently I had a situation where I conquered a settlement, and lost a couple of units. An enemy army was in the region, so I had to keep my army inside. I would either have to send reinforcements by forming up an army under a general, (and paying a few hundred for the general if I didn't have any family members) or... That's it. If I didn't have an extra army slot? No reinforcements. That's ridiculous.

In the old system, I would have raised the units I need, put them on a ship, and had them shipped over within three turns. In that time I could also have sent the wounded units back to the homelands to get new recruits and get back into the fight.

[Vanders]

I find it in no way an improvement, it just seems like such an unnecessary change to the game.

Command structure is provided by a garrison commander like a captain of one of the garrison units.

It's also restrictive, you can't break up units without marching a general all the way to wherever it is you wan't them. What if you wanted to leave a garrison force behind in a settlement and move the main army on to capture another settlement or provide support for another settlement/army?

I still don't quite understand why there hasn't been a mod to change this, I'm assuming that perhaps the system may simply be too important to the games infrastructure.

[Humble Warrior]

Actually this probably an improvement over the old style system of simply raising new units in centers of civilization. All armies, even Barbarian ones were built around a central command. It was at their camps that new recruits were taken in and taught the ropes. Of course it is a bit simple minded in that large armies can't be split into smaller commands with junior officers, but most likely the AI wouldn't handle it well.

Doesn`t change th fact that you should be able to make armies, General or not. If it can be done in reality it should be possible in game. Just make the AI able to utilise it.

[lolIsuck]

Thread split. You can use this thread to discuss Atilla's recruitment and garrison system.