A quick question about garrisons...

[Jason]

Does it matter what type of unit is used to garrison a city? I have not had a chance to do much testing on this (mostly because my life has been a bit hectic lately) and Im kinda lazy so I was curious. Ex. Does having a city garrisoned with 7 units of peasents have the same effect as garrisoning the city with 7 units of Urban Cohorts?

Jason the Newb

[Kagemusha]

The qualitu doesnt count.only the number of men.

[Jason]

Awesome! Time to trim the fat from the budget!

Thanks Kagemusham



Jason the Newb

[Kagemusha]

At your service.

[Jason]

I just realized I messed up your name.

Im sorry about that Kagemusha.

My Newbishness strikes again. *sigh*

Jason the Newb

[Kagemusha]

Believe me. You are not the first one.

[InsaneApache]

I believe peasants are good for garrison duty....

[gardibolt]

What's a good ratio of garrison to population without a governor?

[Kagemusha]

What's a good ratio of garrison to population without a governor?

There is a good thread about garrison sizes at Ludus Magna.

[Viking]

What's a good ratio of garrison to population without a governor?

I don`t follow a certain ratio, but keep the settlement at the very limit to a red face so that I earn more money

[Brave Sir Robin]

Yes, i keep the taxes mean - blue faces the best - don't dally to long in the red or they'll stab you while you sleep in your bed.

Be generous though if you want your population to grow - low taxes are best to relieve your populations stress - more time for frolics and a greater strike rate from the dudes in men's ........

[professorspatula]

Peasants are particularly good for garrison duties. Throughout history, entire cities were often kept in order by a bunch of flea-ridden, filthy faced peasants wielding blunt knives and pitchforks. The sight of such an armed rabble would oft quell any thoughts the populace might have about staging an uprising, hence the TW series reliance on using peasant garrisons.

[Jason]

Well that is my plan. To leave peasent garrisons on places I know wont be attacked. Such as if you are the Scipii, Capua and Cicly (as long as you have an army in carthaginian territory to harrass them) are never going to be attacked and so peasents are cheap and easy.

I was reading the Garrison thread in Ludus Magna and I *think* I understand what they are saying. I shouldnt have eaten so much food at lunch
So far it looks like peasents are worth the money until your cities reach the 14.5k to 16.8k range depending on whose math you trust Then games become more monetarily efficient.

[pezhetairoi]

I use peasants all the time because I use mobile armies to defeat besiegers. I keep my cities in the green all the time because if one of them revolts in my rear I'll have to stop my campaign and rerout armies to solve that problem. Usually with a maximum law and order building I only need one peasant unit, rarely more unless culture penalty and distance from capital coexist at high levels.

[Lancome]

I'll rather Have town watch/Militia Hop as Garrison, Just incase the city revolts. When it does you come make the city green again By Capturing it and just Exterminating them (E.I. Throwing their 1st born child of the City walls.)

[Jason]

I started a Brutii game last night (I know I suck and Im a complete n00b for playing the roman factions all the time as they are easiest but I've played most of the others already and Im coming back to the romans for some fun cause I realized that I kept winning the game before the maruis reforms and Id like to play with those units for once ), and I realized that if your Roman the best garrison troops are in fact town watch as Lancome says. They cost 50 more denarii to build but they have the exact same upkeep as peasents and are much better units. So I have taken to making town watch garrisons these days. It pays off when you have to run down annoying rebels and such.

[Mahrabals apprentice]

Town watch may have better stats than pezzies but have you used them in battle? THEY ARE USELSS.

Actually they are good for 1 thing, absorbing any missile fire thrown at you, apart from that useless. I garrison with pezzies everywhere, and i try to keep taxes as low as possible to have uber growth in my cities. You get the better buildings faster and having loads of cash left over = corruption :(

And if you ever need a shot of ca$h just jam up the taxes as far as you dare and refill your coffers

[Kagemusha]

Yes for Romans i would also go with the town watch ,instead of peasants.I play the game so that i fallow AI characters.If you have four stacks of town watch and a general in a city you dont even have to worry about a little enemy army.

[Jason]

Town watch may have better stats than pezzies but have you used them in battle? THEY ARE USELSS.

Actually they are good for 1 thing, absorbing any missile fire thrown at you, apart from that useless. I garrison with pezzies everywhere, and i try to keep taxes as low as possible to have uber growth in my cities. You get the better buildings faster and having loads of cash left over = corruption :(

And if you ever need a shot of ca$h just jam up the taxes as far as you dare and refill your coffers

Town watch are not very good units in the grand scheme of things, that I will grant you. However they are not useless. In the past I have managed to defend a number of towns and eliminate small groups of rebels with only Town Watch. I defended Caralis against Carthage no less than 8 times in a Julii campaign with only 5 units of town watch and a general.

Town watch are by no means troops of the line and should never be taken out into the front lines as anything less than fodder but they do serve a good use as garrison defense in towns that will not be bearing the brunt of your enemies attacks.

Jason the Newb

[professorspatula]

Tis very true that Town Watch have their uses. They aren't as cost effective as a unit of Peasants for strictly Garrison duties, but they do have other uses.
They can support your early armies against weaker enemies, when numbers matter more than quality. They're cheap fodder and can be sacrificed at will. Or better still, you can stick them on defence mode in front of gates during siege defence battles, and have them absorb as much of the initial enemy charge as possible when the gate is forced open. Sometimes they hold their own for a bit, allowing the legionaries and other units to pelt the enemy with pila and so forth, although they're unlikely to get more than a handful of kills between them. I almost feel sorry for the poor beggars - thrown into battle without consideration, and without any hope. Who'd be a Roman!

[Jason]

Tis very true that Town Watch have their uses. They aren't as cost effective as a unit of Peasants for strictly Garrison duties, but they do have other uses.

I thought they both cost 100 denarii for upkeep. Am I, in all my newbish splendor, mistaken again?

Jason the Newb

[Conqueror]

Town watch has less men/unit than peasants. So to get the same effect as X units of peasants, you need more than X units of town watch. That's why it becomes more expensive to use them. And a full garrison of peasants is more effective at keeping peace than a full garrison of town watch.

[Kagemusha]

When defeding with my town watch and general.I use my town watch to keep the enemy in place while i hit them in the rear with my generals cavalry.Let the enemy come in to your town block some key street and ambush them.

[Jason]

Town watch has less men/unit than peasants. So to get the same effect as X units of peasants, you need more than X units of town watch. That's why it becomes more expensive to use them. And a full garrison of peasants is more effective at keeping peace than a full garrison of town watch.

Ahhhhh a brilliant light shines down from above and understanding alights on my head like a dove crapping on a statue.

I seen now about the cost effectiveness of peasents/town watch. I think though even considering that I would rather have the town watch as they have the ability to deal with most rebels without having to detail an army to do the job and can at least put up a reasonable defense in most cases, with out actually costing me any more in upkeep.

Though to be fair I crushed an army of 2 greek militia hoplites and 2 peltasts last night with creative use of 4 peasents hehe. I got lucky though as the Macedonians were a bit smarter and took the same town away from me with better use of militia hoplites

Jason the Newb

[Afro Thunder]

It might not be a very good idea to use peasants or even town watch for garrison duty on border cities. You never know when those factions you're not currently at war with may back-stab you, so it always pays to be prepared.