Governor candidates

[ferndaleguy]

I asked this in another post but didn't want it to get buried. What makes a good Governor? I recently stripped a six star General - his province was always revolting (which was easily destroyed) but it nagged at me so. I went in and realized I had given the office to a military genius who was very loyal but had low acumen, piety and no dread.

I replaced him with a 3 star general who had 3 dread - 4 piety and low acumen. The turnout was a much more stable situation.

If you could create a realistic governor that you wouldn't hesitate to put in - or at least the minimums you look for, I'd appreciate it.

[katank]

4+ acumen, 3+ dread ideal gov.

acumen most important

dread next

command if title gives boost

piety

acumen boosts income so very good and priority for rich provinces.

dread keeps em in line, esp. early on when you recently conquered the land and want your armies to keep steam rolling instead of keeping little peasants happy

if the province is poor but gives command stars, consider giving it to your main combat generals.

piety could be good for boosting zeal etc. to help increase size of crusades/jihads from the province.

[VikingHorde]

Piety is very good to have in provinces with high zeal. A Governor with no dread and only +1 piety has a negative effect on the province (more unhappynes). A governor with +5 piety adds happynes in the province.
High piety is only needed in high zeal provinces.

[katank]

oh yeah, a governor with no dread actually lowers loyalty compared to having no gov.

otherwise, 1 dread is +5% loyalty.

I love my butchers

[PseRamesses]

Besides the good advice you´ve got already I like to say that farming gov´s is a really good idea. I use to build peasants in one or two provs throughout the game to replace older govs with better ones. This meas deleting about 80-90% of the ones you build to get a really good one.
So let´s say it costs you 500 fl to build 10 peasants but one is an acc 5 so you delete the other 9. If gov a prov like Tripoli you´ll raise the prov income with some 3-500 fl by replacing a 4 gov with a 5 one. Good economics
Sometimes I also use a high acc, 6 or 7, obsolete unit like a militia in high. I´m done fighting with that guy so why don´t reward him a gov-ship for his faithfullness?

[ferndaleguy]

The information has helped me greatly, I'm about to start a new campaign - Danes/Early is my choice.

The only additional point I'd add about Governors - it seems that an ideal candidate will grow in abilities including acumen if they have stars and are active - both in military affairs and have major development within the territory they oversee - building lots of financial and agricultural upgrades appears to change acumen - I'm going to put it to the test this time.

I like the idea of building a trade empire and seeing what can be developed with strong governors. Also interested in seeing if it's possible to control the seas - avoiding blockades with better battle strategies to keep the f*&#@ing French and English from blocking me in.

Cheers

[Lord Ovaat]

In the US, actors and wrestlers seem to do OK. Or are you talking about MTW?

[Kommodus]

The advice given in this thread has been good, but I can usually avoid rebellions no matter who the governor is, provided I adjust taxes properly and keep the standard 100-peasant garrison in the province. (This doesn't mean I micromanage taxes; I just lower them when the province is first conquered and then raise them after a while.) To increase loyalty quickly in conquered provinces, I simply convert the populace and build stuff there. I don't like to let loyalty drop much below 150%.

I've never put a great deal of time into selecting governors. I always pick highly loyal individuals. If it's a rich province I try to find someone with 4+ acumen; if it's poor this is not so important. If the governorship gives command stars, I try to reserve the title for a general I'll be using in battle. I don't pay much attention to piety or dread, and even on expert this doesn't seem to pose a problem. It seems to me that the factors that influence a province's loyalty most significantly have nothing to do with the governor.

Of course, my playing style is designed to be less detail-oriented, so that less economic micromanagement is required on my part. This certainly isn't the most economically efficient way to play; it keeps me safe from rebellions but doesn't sqeeze every florin possible out of my kingdom. I'm more careful in the early game, when my kingdom is small and I need more money to survive. However, once the Empire has grown large and is agriculturally upgraded, cash is flowing in faster than I can spend it and I don't need to pay much attention to the details.

[gaijinalways]

Something else to keep in mine, in the later stages of the game you may give titles to good generals as if you have a civil war, you don't want good generals revolting aganist you.

So acumen is important (for income) as well as dread (put down revolt) and possibly piety (depending on the zeal of the province), but spies help for that occasional 'happiness problem too. Religion plays a a part as well, make sure the religion matches your faction's.

[ferndaleguy]

I always worry about having peasants as a garrison - Do you build them just to have bodies under the governor as a garrison that you never intend to press into service? It makes a ton of sense in non/border, landlocked spaces where you just need numbers to keep the population under control.

If you have a border, even with an ally, I'm always leery of having peasants there to defend - especially after the first 100 years when upgraded troops are all over the place. Even a spearman or urban militia has a better chance (at a higher cost of course).

Most of my reason for this post came from rebellions late in the game - especially when I have a ton of momentum fighting off an enemy - all of a sudden, I have 3 provinces revolting on me.

Usually a governor with dread and some garrisons can keep the peace it seems.

[VikingHorde]

Quote[/b] (katank @ April 13 2004,22:50)]oh yeah, a governor with no dread actually lowers loyalty compared to having no gov.

otherwise, 1 dread is +5% loyalty.

I love my butchers

I don't disagree with you, just saying piety is allso good to have. In provinces like lithuania, its best to have high dread. In Denmark, high piety is allmost as good as dread. High zeal provinces don't like low piety gov, but having high dread helps this. Hope you can see what I mean.

[Demon of Light]

I once saw a Russian general that was Charismaic (+30 happiness), Affable, (+30 happiness), Charitable (+10), had Builder (+10), Steward (+10) and good dread, acumen and Piety. The bugger was also a good general but he died in a siege before I could bribe him

[Kommodus]

Quote[/b] (ferndaleguy @ April 14 2004,09:25)]
I always worry about having peasants as a garrison - Do you build them just to have bodies under the governor as a garrison that you never intend to press into service?

Yep. In fact, I sometimes assign governorships to peasant units that I just hired for garrison duty, if the unit leader is suitable. (Curiously, it's not uncommon to find peasant units with decent acumen and dread.) That way I don't have to worry about governors getting killed in battle because I needed their unit to fight.

Quote[/b] (ferndaleguy @ April 14 2004,09:25)]
If you have a border, even with an ally, I'm always leery of having peasants there to defend

In border provinces, I always post an army there in addition to the garrison. When my army advances, I simply leave the garrison behind. You are quite right to never expect peasants to defend.

Quote[/b] (ferndaleguy @ April 14 2004,09:25)]
Most of my reason for this post came from rebellions late in the game - especially when I have a ton of momentum fighting off an enemy - all of a sudden, I have 3 provinces revolting on me.

Yeah, I've heard of this happening, and to be honest I don't know the best way to stave off late-game rebellions, since they don't seem to be precipitated by a drop in loyalty in the province. As long as I keep happiness high, though, I've never had much of a problem with this.

[Doug-Thompson]

Quote[/b] (Kommodus @ April 14 2004,09:15)]The advice given in this thread has been good, but I can usually avoid rebellions no matter who the governor is, provided I adjust taxes properly and keep the standard 100-peasant garrison in the province. (This doesn't mean I micromanage taxes; I just lower them when the province is first conquered and then raise them after a while.) To increase loyalty quickly in conquered provinces, I simply convert the populace and build stuff there. I don't like to let loyalty drop much below 150%.

Agreed. The answer to the question depends on whether you manage your own taxes or not.

Finding high-acumen governors is a chore. Finding high acumen governors that also have high dread is a nuisance.

I leave my taxes on very low until the taxes can be raised to normal and still keep loyalty within the 140s with only a minimum garrison of 100 or so. I rarely take the taxes off very low on provinces on the border with other factions.

Having big garrison stacks is counterproductive. That usually leaves you with big armies of lousy troops that can't move off their province without causing a tax revolt. That's also more potential traitors if a civil war breaks out.

The reason for the 140 loyalty limit is because a famine, flood or disease outbreak lowers loyalty by 20 percent. With 140 or more, two disasters in a row still won't cause a revolt.

[Grand Warder of the Kremlin]

Some of the more complex governing theories tend to confuse me, so I have boiled my particular philosophy down to a simple equation:

HIGH ACUMEN = MORE MONEY = BIGGER GARRISONS = NO REBELS

Works for me. Most of the time there is substantially more income than expenses once raids, tax levies, and trade duties are considered, freeing up the checkbook nicely.

[katank]

once you have big empire, peasant building for purposes of good govs is very important.

everyone gets bad vices and needs to be swapped often.

BTW, if using VI, autotax keeps loyalty at 120, don't worry about tweaking taxes.

[Doug-Thompson]

Quote[/b] (katank @ April 14 2004,20:35)]BTW, if using VI, autotax keeps loyalty at 120, don't worry about tweaking taxes.

Here's my problem with autotax.

I conquer Constantinople. I have a huge army sitting on it. Autotax keeps the loyalty level at 120.

I move my huge army to attack the infidels in Greece or Bulgaria. Oops Province loyalty just fell through the basement. I have to find an equally huge garrison army or my taxes fall to the floor, or both.

===============

Here's another problem. I lose Constantinople, despite having an enormous army there. Since I had an enormous army there, taxes were very high until I left. So, there's very little loyalty to me in the province. My enemy can hold Constantinople with a small garrison and attack me in another province.

[bighairyman]

All my governors needs to have at least 4 acumen or above, stars are a plus but not necessary. If i want military stability, i will move a good star commander there to command the soldiers there.

[Lord Ovaat]

I've noticed a few times when purposely dropping a Gov with 3 or 4 dread on a nuisance province (Portugal, Switzerland) to help increase loyalty, the loyalty actually LOWERED. And the acumen was 3 or 4 also. It's almost like the Swiss AI is screaming, I'll teach you to send us a tyrant

Anyone else ever notice that? Is that a glitch or a difficulty penalty?

[katank]

I think there's other factors like piety which can play a big role