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Thread: How do you deal with big empire problems?

  1. #1
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default How do you deal with big empire problems?

    Controlling a big empire can be challenging. Rising corruption and the loss of trading partners (for example, if they're conquered by rival factions) reduces your income. Your expansion may cause neutral nations to become hostile, so you may need to fight two or more wars at the same time, so you need more armies. The enemy are more likely to bring high-tier units, so you might recruit elite units to counter them. Having more armies and using elite units increases your costs, at the same time as your income is dropping. At the same time, rival parties may threaten secession or civil war.

    How do you handle these problems? I've noticed that ancillaries, agents (if they have the right skills) and research can reduce corruption. Sometimes factions have units that aren't the strongest, but which can be very cost-effective - such as Scythian Hoplites for Cimmeria, which are almost as good as regular hoplites with lower upkeep (especially when given better armour and weapons, when trained for a long time by attaching a champion, and giving the champion skills to give your units as many experience chevrons as possible and when the army has traditions which improve the effectiveness of your units).
    Last edited by Alwyn; May 21, 2022 at 05:47 AM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: How do you deal with big empire problems?

    Corruption and loss of income can't really compete with a good snowball effect, in my experience. Maybe it's the way I turtle-rapid expansion (a province at a time)-turtle, but as long as you don't stretch yourself too thin too quickly, you should have enough time to kickstart culture conversion, rebuild and specialize regions, and allow your units to replenish and fend off retaliation. My invasion forces always include a dignitary, champion, and a spy to cushion the unrest and dip to the economy, and I make sure I've prepared for a complete takeover of the province (in late game, anyways) within a few turns. However, upkeep costs can really only be managed by agents or if you choose League and max out your Military Tech Tree.

    Trade partners get replaced by settlement wealth, so no issues there. Also choosing Republic to max out the Civil Tech Tree will fight corruption and improve the worth of your settlements.

    When it comes to large scale war, I keep at least one full stack at the most vulnerable points for each border. These stacks are customized for the potential opponent as well as the terrain.

  3. #3

    Default Re: How do you deal with big empire problems?

    Do the rebellions that occur because of public order deterioration ( because you switched from Republic or Kingdom to Empire ) have full-stack armies right from the start of the rebellion? If so, I think a walled city would stand some chance ( by itself ) for repeling an attack of a rebel full-stack army if the city is upgraded to level 3 at least. Level 3 walled cities have some scorpions and onagres installed upon the walls. And if the city has at least one military building. Both Greek and Roman barracks ( from level 2 and up ) provide with 4 extra units for the garrison. And if it's a coastal city, then the odds go a little higher for winning because the city would have more extra units for the defense.
    And if it's a non-walled city ( and neither a coastal city ) in that case the city should have 2 military buildings. 2 military buildings ( in Grand Campaign ) would provide a total of 8 extra units plus the default 7 city garrison units which most are crap.
    However, you should be able to find a way to fund your fortress cities. Most gamers maybe don't think about fortifying some of their cities so that they are capable of defending themselves. In this case at least you should evaluate where you'd need those fortress cities. However there is a setback in adding extra military buildings to some cities: military buildings consume food. You should be careful so that there is no food decompensation in your whole empire. One way is to also build extra farms in all your provinces and any kind of buildings that provide food in order to balance out things.

    Also choosing Republic to max out the Civil Tech Tree will fight corruption and improve the worth of your settlements.
    That's a good idea. Then it is better to research the civil technologies that fight corruption before switching to Empire Government mode.
    Last edited by twgamer20197; May 23, 2022 at 05:57 PM. Reason: Accidental spelling mistakes

  4. #4

    Default Re: How do you deal with big empire problems?

    The RTW2 empire management revolves around provinces. Always conquer whole provinces! Next things are food and money: build a farm in every minor settlement, and upgrade your ports for commerce; depending on your faction, build up either mines or commercial buildings. What you need next is public order: without public order, you will have much lesser income and you will face constant rebellions. If you successfully built up an empire with easily defensible borders, build research building everywhere. The research rate should be 3-400% as soon as possible. Then research everything, starting with pubic order, taxation and anti-corruption bonuses. Start to max out agents as well.

    After a while nobody wants to attack you and it makes no sense anyway. So start to focus on internal issues: politics, mostly. In order to handle civil wars, you need to appoint loyal family members to your best armies and navies, and you should be able to move in and pacify potentially rebellous provinces in a few turns. Rely heavily on mercenaries where needed.

    Always change your government form to empire.

    After a while the game deteriorates into a cycle of civil wars with nothing to do. I used to entertain myself with expeditionary armies (golden equipment high-end units with 9 experience) jumping into conflicts abroad, or reshape the map with the barbaric factions' liberation option. But usually I take a much smaller part of the world (let's say Iberia) and I campaign from there.

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