Army Size

[TheBMeistor!]

Having a job and a family doesnt leave me with enough time to play big battles all night so I recently started a new game with units on small size. It makes maneuvering really easy and the fights seem to go a lot quicker.

Are there any side effects of changing the army size that I might overlook?

i.e. will the AI alter its unit selection the smaller or larger the units are?

On early Danes I like to make money by quashing rebellions that I start on purpose. I have noticed the message that tells you there is a rebellion says something to the effect that the province had less that 100 men or no fortification.........so are rebellions based on loyalty or can I have a rebellion in a loyal province if I leave a garrison of only 50 peasants (on small size) or no fort?

Does changing unit sizes change the amount loyalty changes per troop? Will 50 peasants on small give me as much loyalty as 100 on normal?

I'm pretty happy with the small sizes I just don't want to have to garrison with twice as many rubish units.

tia
-B

[Papewaio]

I think rebellions still trigger the same. They have the same number of units too I believe... rebellions always seem nastier on huge... so effectively you halve the size of the rebellions by playing with smaller unit sizes.

Don't use rubbish units to garrison. Use spears or crossbows, as they get outdated slowly swap them into your attacking army and let them be used up or just get rid of them. Another thing to look at is that it is not the cost of creating the unit but its upkeep you should worry about. As such some of the more expensive units are more cost effective (Saracens cost as much as humble spearmen).

[Waterloo]

I believe rebel size is effected by garrison size only in the Papal states and Rome. (or wherever the pope reappears.)

[Doug-Thompson]

The number of troops in a province effect province loyalty, so I'm sorry to have to tell you that you will have to garrison 2x50 to get the effect of 1x100.

At least it doubles your chances for getting a high-acumen governor.

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

Small unit size makes quality of troops much more important. Suppose, for example, that I had 600 Vikings and was fighting an army of 1,600 Byz Infantry. With 30-man units, that means Vikings alone take up all 16 slots on the tactical map, and I have four more in the reinforcement pool. My opponent has 16 slots full of Byz infantry but half his units are stuck in the reinforcement pool. I stand a good chance of routing his initial army and killing his general, winning before reinforcements arrive.

However, look at the situation on regular unit size. All the units are on the board -- and my Vikings fill up only 10 of the available 16 slots. The Byz can engage me unit-per-unit and still have six units to work around my flanks.

[TheBMeistor!]

Thanks for all the fast replys, I'm enjoying my current game on small. Not really happy about the double up on units for loyalty but as Doug said it will boost my chances of high acumen. Normally I delete most of my peasants when they have low acumen anyways.

[katank]

also, BG unit sizes are still fixed so your RKs etc. are far more powerful on small as they are no longer so badly outnumbered.