How do I Manage Governors? [KB issues]

[DonkeyStrider]

Hi there everyone!
I just moved from EB I and I'm finding the transition quite hard... no more forts? How am I going to guard my boundaries?... Units throw javelins running? Well, it's more realistic... Leaders have authority? Just wonder... er... erm... better to walk with my back to the wall... ... and so on...
I took my first step with the Pritanoi (in EB I I began with the Casse), but I stumbled on a new generation of weak Kingetos, then I tried an ancient dream of mine: the Kimmerios Bosporos (or Koinon Barbaron as my mind keeps on thinking).

And here are my issues.

Is there a way to soften the trait "lives on the move"?
That's because I have an entire branch of the royal family cursed with that trait, and the Heir (the game chosen one) developed the subsequent trait "Nomadic Nature", which is great for cavalry but not for governing the capital...
So, have you any general clue to sort out this situation? Any advice will be helpful.

Is there any general rule for managing governors?
In EB I I used to have lots of great governors, now i find it hard to sort out a motivation for my incompetence in forming decent rulers. Some have no influence, others have it but they have that Lives on the Move trait which undermines my economical growth, the remaining ones are too young or have a "sadistic" opinion about what ruling really is (harsh rulers and so on).
To straighten things up I built some schools... guess what... 2 of my new pupils got a Geomancer... (+5% costs on building and -5% something good)... no other relevant ancillaries... others than physicians and mistresses...
I don't rightly know how to move... please, pretty please... give me some tips!

Am I extremely unlucky or am I doing everything wrong???
If you have any useful thread to point me at it would be great, for I couldn't find an answer where I always could.

Thank you so much in advance.

[nvm]

In general, governors in EB 2 get good traits depending on their stat rating. {Sharp/Charismatic/Vigorous} These with better stats will get better traits and faster. Also Influence is not the most important stat for a governor.

What can you do - set taxes to High/Very High to make them better administrators, make young generals be educated in a town with a School until they become Erudite or Cultured, just keep them ruling a city until they get good. The lives on the move trait depends directly on whether you keep your general in a city, especially governing it. If you keep them on the move or in a camp, they will slowly turn nomadic, and if you keep them holed in a city they will become Settled instead which gives bonuses to governing, although I think when they already have Nomadic Nature it's already too late.

If you keep people governing a city long enough, they will get the Governor in Training trait, which, if you keep that up, will eventually turn them into aa Supervisor, making them better at managing cities, but despise fighting.

Leaving your taxes low to grow your cities is viable in EB2 too, however, but it will turn your governors Lenient - which will help promote growth even more at the expense of them getting a tax penalty and them getting debuffs if you ever feel the need to increase taxes after they get the trait.

The general rule is - try to look for Sharp and Languorous governors, {Vigorous ones are good as well but are more likely to get bored sitting in a city, be inclined to be nomadic, and overall make better generals} educate your FM's from about 16 to 20, then just have them govern a city and hope they will turn out good over the course of their lifetime. Most of them do.

I highly recommend cities with mines and academies in them for governing as these may give you Mining Engineers. Cities with mines can really be a gold...mine with a governor sitting in them.

[DonkeyStrider]

Many thanks!
I read some things you said elsewhere, but I didn't know tax ratings were so influential... in fact I keep taxation as high as I can but, since there are no public health buildings, I always keep pop growth to +0.5%, maybe the fact that I have more camps than cities is not on my side... Anyways, my family members are almost all Sharp/Char/Vig, didn't know about the Langourous trait being so helpful...

Talking about Influence influencing cities management, probably I got a little lost when I saw the Management scrolls missing... Patching my brain to work with EB2 is more complicated then I thought...

Thank you again... The Bosporan Empire awaits!

[rhavviepoodle]

Some of the nomadic factions have more developed traits which interact with nomadic and settled nature. For example, Malkuta Nabatu and Sarmatia governors get tribute collector traits. If your governor is settled, there is a high chance he'll end up becoming corrupt, while nomadic tribute collectors are more likely to be efficient.

Taxes definitely are important, as Nvm pointed out. There are a few traits which represent governing style, as previously mentioned. Benevolent comes from having low taxes and a very happy population (green face, I think). It provides a hit to income, but makes the province happy and increases growth.

Heartless ruler comes from running high taxes and the population being relatively unhappy. The first level is ok, but when it progresses it makes just about any city ungovernable.

Just is perhaps my favorite, which comes from running normal taxes and having a happy population (yellow face). It provides a significant bonus to law, which helps reduce corruption, among other things. I'm fairly sure just does something else, but I don't recall off the top of my head what it was.

I have grown cities too large with benevolent governors, and there's a point at which they require too large a Garrison and it stops being feasible. Or more likely, an attuned benevolent ruler (of a prominent city like, for instance, Pergamon) dies. No matter what, chances are that city will lose population and it may even begin rioting because of how unhappy it is. In my opinion, just governors lead to more stable settlements, and it generally makes quality of life easier.

Running high taxes will make a governor a good administrator (eventually, depending on his stats), but only if the population is happy (yellow face, I think). I recommend training up the just trait first, and afterward you should be able to manage your FMs to govern a province with high taxes and decent public order. Do it the other way and you end up with heartless rulers!

[Paulthradates I]

Glad to see another EB I player trying the sequel. I love both games and encpurage you to keep at it. Such a good friggin mod!
Great tips so far, all I can add is that keeping your faction leader in the capitol gives all your generals a small trickle of loyalty. Also if someone does get "bored" you can send them out to build a few watchtowers and that can remove the trait for a few years. Just fighting in a battle also gets rid of boredom, the general with the trait doesn't even have to be in command. Wandering rebels are great for this.
Early game I like to build a lot of client states and recruit new generals for them as a nomadic faction. This frees up your nomadic natured family to fight battles and expand. Later in the game you can pick and choose FMs with the best governing traits to run cities.
Its rough not being in control of everyone's attributes but it's also extremely historical.
Keep at it and someday a dude will be born who is the perfect gov. Good luck and happy conquering!

[nvm]

You can remove the trait if someone gets bored easily, it's mainly used as an indicator for who has high vitality, so if they don't seem to make a good governor, they will definitely make a good general.

[DonkeyStrider]

Let's see if I can revive my old post...
Cutting this short, now I'm around 200 BC with 21 settlements spreading from the north of the Caspian sea to the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea, I just got rid of the Sauromatae and the Getai, and I'm thinking about my next move. The problem is all my new settlements are low on taxes with blue faces. During my expansions I usually gather the territories in Provinces with a central city garrisoning the provincial army and the territories bordering other factions fielding a little army of 6 units. In the main City there is the main Governor and an army General, other cities have local rulers or training governors... Recently I'm trying to boost happines with lesser units... but I find it too expensive for most cities... I miss so much the health buildings from EB I... lots of the high tier buildings give lots of penalties to public order, and, even if I'm much more selective with my governors, It's really hard to manage all the settlements... comparing it with EB I I find that the true core of the game is managing settlements, not winning battles...

Anyway... a new issue showed up, I don't know if it's a bug or anything... I have no more marriages... lots of my FM are single at the age of 50... and there is no trait saying they are extremely ugly... I had a huge spring of newborn babies during my earlier years but now... it's difficult to think how I'll be able to renew my governors... It's been a lot of time since I saw a notice of marriage not concerning a one of my "daughters"... male character just don't marry... And I don't know why...

Can someone help?

[alex33]

Do you decline the marriage proposals for your daughters?

[DonkeyStrider]

Do you decline the marriage proposals for your daughters?

Yes, when the man who proposes is not what I'm searching for... is that wrong?

[alex33]

Sadly yes. Thats a hard coded problem of medieval 2 it seems:

The only thing to beware of when refusing suitors: the engine seems to fixate on a particular daughter, repeatedly offering her suitors until one is accepted. Which means if you go years on end without accepting anyone, you may be too late to give other daughters good matches by the time their "turn" comes around.

this whole marriage system always cocentrates on one member at the time

[DonkeyStrider]

Ouch... this explains everything... I think I'll start a new campaign keeping all this pretty things in mind... after all I can say I won the short campaing with Sauromatae, Getai and Pontos gone and 21 territories...

[Genghis Skahn]

Just wanna pop in and mention, on a non KB-related note, that if you don't want Weak Kingetoi, then you need to train your FMs by active service in the field(eg. serving as an auxiliary general, fighting battles, devastating enemy territory, avoiding spending turn after turn in a settlement if they havent become a Kingetos yet and etc. etc. etc.). Although sometimes Languorous characters can automatically become a Weak Kingetos(whilst Vigorous characters have a better shot at becoming a proper Kingetos).

[Gunydii]

Another thing to bear in mind playing as a Greek factions is what I'm going to call the Greeks dislike Greeks mechanic (-20% happiness and/or law unless its an allied state).

The -20% law in particular is a real pain for economic purposes, basically means you never have the chance to use buildings to decrease corruption, and the happiness means 'top end' happiness will be lower (although you get a big benefit from shared culture earlier on).

You can of course go for allied state, but that'll just be an economic pain from a different perspective (restrictive building options).

[nvm]

Another thing to bear in mind playing as a Greek factions is what I'm going to call the Greeks dislike Greeks mechanic (-20% happiness and/or law unless its an allied state).

The -20% law in particular is a real pain for economic purposes, basically means you never have the chance to use buildings to decrease corruption, and the happiness means 'top end' happiness will be lower (although you get a big benefit from shared culture earlier on).

You can of course go for allied state, but that'll just be an economic pain from a different perspective (restrictive building options).

You could establish a factional government first, then replace it. Although somehow that feels kinda gamey.

I feel an important part here is that ports are better than markets, and not just because maritime trade is better - ports also open up the Coast Guard building which will reimburse you the public order from law and also further enhance such trade.