Early Campaign

[ConjurerDragon]

As I have lost Agincourt another 3 times I need some diversion and started a new early campaign as Germany.

What would be a better unit to use for garrison duty - the +1 valour peasants from Provence or the Slav Warriors from Bohemia that Germany can recruit? Both have the same number of soldiers and the same upkeep and the Slav Warriors would normally have better stats than Peasants, but would the +1 valour change that?

[Gilrandir]

I use garbage units for garrison duty only in emergency - for example if you have an imminent rebellion and you can't pull in reinforcements from anywhere. I believe that you will use these garrison units some day, so there is no need to train those who are likely to fail you in a future battle.

[ConjurerDragon]

I use garbage units for garrison duty only in emergency - for example if you have an imminent rebellion and you can't pull in reinforcements from anywhere. I believe that you will use these garrison units some day, so there is no need to train those who are likely to fail you in a future battle.

Sure, I would love to have great units everywhere but at the start how could I afford that? I already need combat ready units in the borderprovinces so to get very high taxes from all provinces I always filled them with lowcost support units with a high number of soldiers.
And combat troops have not only the disadvantage of a higher support cost / turn, but most have less soldiers so that they are actually less good at quelling unrest than the cheap bulk units.

[Gilrandir]

Sure, I would love to have great units everywhere but at the start how could I afford that? I already need combat ready units in the borderprovinces so to get very high taxes from all provinces I always filled them with lowcost support units with a high number of soldiers.
And combat troops have not only the disadvantage of a higher support cost / turn, but most have less soldiers so that they are actually less good at quelling unrest than the cheap bulk units.

I still try to produce quality troops, even at the outset of the campign - your provinces tend to stay loyal even if the taxes are high. For some time. Later they may change their mind. But you know better with the campaign map before your eyes. Yet I would like to offer some tips you might find useful (if you aren't aware of them).

1. If I don't plan any immediate offensive I don't keep combat armies in border provinces - that is if I can't afford them. In such a position I keep a good army in a hinterland province adjacent to as many border provinces as possible. Thus if anyone attacks one of those border provinces you can withdraw your garrison force to the fortress and come back with a vengence the next turn. Moreover, this tactics will help you to keep your enemies at unawares as to your real strength - without agents they won't be able to see beyond your border provinces. They say it works especially well if you play the Northumbrians in VI and keep the bulk of your army in Elmet.

2. There are other ways to keep the provinces loyal without garrisoning them heavily. The first is to place a spy in it. The second is to appoint a governor with a high dread rate (two or more).

[macsen rufus]

Yep - what Gilrandir said.

I NEVER train a single unit of peasants in any campaign, unless I have a severe emergency and no other choice. I generally use spearmen for 'bulking up' numbers, because they at least have some combat role.

They say it works especially well if you play the Northumbrians in VI and keep the bulk of your army in Elmet.

Exactly - this is my strategy for running a Northumbrian campaign - weak border garrisons attract weak invasions which are easily repelled, strong border forces invite a strong invasion... I did a long post in the Guides subforum about this for Northumbria.

+1 for spies and high-dread governers. Also religious buildings, town watch etc which add to happiness. I also tend to build only watch towers and not border forts - the happiness boost is the same, but border forts tend to catch all the enemy spies and assissins. Without a border fort then your own agents get the credit for the enemy agents caught, and valour up quite nicely....

[ConjurerDragon]

But how does that work regarding terrain? Normally I would defend borderprovinces that are favourable for a defence (e.g. bridge, mountains). If I garrison the border only with a token force and keep the real army in the 2nd row, won’t I be the attacker (and thus suffer from my own provinces terrain advantages) if I send the army to take the province back that is being sieged by the invader?

[drone]

What would be a better unit to use for garrison duty - the +1 valour peasants from Provence or the Slav Warriors from Bohemia that Germany can recruit? Both have the same number of soldiers and the same upkeep and the Slav Warriors would normally have better stats than Peasants, but would the +1 valour change that?

To answer your stat question, each valour level adds +1 to attack and defense, and +2 to morale. So the Slav Warriors are still the better unit overall.