Feudal or standing armies?

[Leodegar]

hi all,

i think one important concept of medieval times is (sadly) not included in the game: feudalism. that means the soldiers were just peasants or anything, and were just called to arms in times of need. there were only very small numbers of full time soldiers. the supply of large numbers of men over a longer period was very difficult. especially when operating offensive in foreign lands. in medieval times much more soldiers died of hunger and diseases than through the hand of enemies.


now here´s my idea how to add this to the game:

1. feudal forces
every province should have a feudal force which is called to arms when attacked (or perhaps to attack neighbouring provinces itself).
it could consist of different units depending on the province (more rural or urban), the time and the faction.

2. standing armies
if you build standing armies you should have to supply them, which should be kind of difficult especially when they are abroad...
in fact, i have in mind some sort of more complex economy and more economy aspects at all.
one benefit would be, to make it more difficult to conquer foreign provinces and to prevent that there survive only few huge fractions in campaign game...


i know it would significantly change the game. and i don´t know if it would be more interesting. but i would give it a try at least...

so, i´m interested in what others think about it...

[ThijsP]

I really know nothing about modding the game so i wont say anything about that.

The first problem i see is that not all factions were feudalistic: like the moslim factions and the byzantines~http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-confused.gif

An other problem: I think no faction could really dominate Europe with your modifications(just like the real thing), but it takes away an important thing in the game. Maybe allot GAs will make your game really fun.

But the idea of it I really like. I hope your modifications can be made.

[MonkeyMan]

Hi Leodegar welcome http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

Not sure how you could implement this into the game, but i particularly like your first idea, the idea that a province that comes under attack could field a militia & peasant force in support of any troops currently there sounds great. Perhaps its size and composition could be decided by the relative wealth and fortifications of the province itself. It always has seemed a bit odd that an undefended province would just roll over and die when attacked even by a small force rather than making an attempt to defend itself using local resources. I think this would make the game much more challenging and encourage much more slow and steady gameplay and have the advantage that the ai might not fall behing so badly tech wise later in a game.

[Lord Ovaat]

Isn't that the purpose of peasants? They ain't much good for anything except garrisoning a province behind the lines, so to speak. They're a pretty cheap police force.

[Gregoshi]

I like the feudal army idea too, but I think the game system would have to be drastically altered to make such a thing work. With the year long turns and one province per year movement, you can't raise an army in the spring and campaign around France until Autumn.

I also like the standing army bit. Support costs for units should go up as distance from your capital increases. Perhaps there should also be desertions for distant armies especially if defeated. This would probably kill the Total Domination game, but that is unrealistic anyway.

[Lord Ovaat]

While not addressing your exact suggestion, MED MOD does implement some changes which are similar in nature. You can only recruit troops in your homeland provinces, making it exceedingly more difficult to invade distant provinces and maintain your troops. Peasants are also cheaper to build and maintain, but require far more facilities to actually make, limiting somewhat, the AI preference for cheap troops. It's gotten pretty difficult to actually win on expert. It makes for a longer campaign. My concept of winning has always been the standing of my faction at the end, anyway, so that doesn't make much difference to me. I think CA did address the supply idea in a sense, by requiring monetary upkeep on all active troops. At least it forces you to consider what you're recruiting as far as initial cost and your ability to maintain the unit.

[katank]

yep medmod is cool in that aspect altho I don't agree with merc policy.

mercs were important part of war back in da day. desertion rate should be especially high for them though if they do badly.

I like the concept of defense forces. militia/peasants that only appear when their home province is under attack and cannot be used elsewhere.

[Tricky Lady]

Quote[/b] (Lord Ovaat @ April 07 2004,17:53)]While not addressing your exact suggestion, MED MOD does implement some changes which are similar in nature.
just a question, Lord Ovaat... How much did you get paid for advertising for MedMod in every thread on these forums? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

By the way... Should consider downloading it & try.

So ... I'm susceptible for advertising... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wacko.gif