Quote Originally Posted by TinCow View Post
Overall, people need to be aware that the draft system ties you far more closely to the Seneschal then the Merc system. Under the draft system, you need to have at a minimum a well-upgraded settlement, which means sucking up to the Seneschal because there is no independent prioritized construction system. Those that have been out of favor with the Seneschal for a while will be more vulnerable to losing a Civil War under the draft system than under the Merc system. The Merc system doesn't negate any advantages held before the war begins, but it keeps the situation relatively even after the war has broken out. Under the draft system, the stronger party will keep getting stronger the longer the war goes on.
That's possible but it is not necessarily how I see things playing out. What will happen over the course of a long civil war is that drafts will start to be more important than starting armies. With mercenaries, that will happen much more slowly. The difference is not so much drafts vs mercs, but the rate of recruitment: a potential 10 drafts per settlement per term vs each noble's prioritisation of mercs (1-3) per term. It's not clear to me that the party with more settlements will start as the strong party, but if it is, so be it - land is power. What the rules were designed to counter was the "civil war as coup" threat that seems implicit in the current Seneschal recruitment rules. You build up a strong army through a supportive Seneschal and then blitz while your opponents are powerless because they cannot recruit. I am not sure 1-3 mercs per term will do much to reduce that risk. Drafting won't either, unless you have a lot more settlements on your side than the coup plotters have on theirs.

The rules do favour castles (which I suspect will mean Dukes), but again, so be it - castles are supposed to give better troops. But with LTC, the differences between castles and cities are less than people are used to in KotR because spears have received a major boost and missile attacks left alone, while cavalry and foot knights have been nerfed. (Armoured spears and DFK now have the same attack and defence stats). I can see the drafting rules giving rise to an interesting "Spanish civil war" type situation, with hastily raised levies trying to fend off a military coup.

I'm open to tweaking the rules, but whichever we vote for, I think - like the Risk movement poll - we can just say it is the ground rules for the first civil war. When the dust has settled, we will have learnt from the experience and can re-evaluate whether it is still people's preferred system.