Howe can I reduce revolts?

[Sir Chauncy]

When you say revolts do you mean the Revolution! tyos that lead to the creation of the Roman Rebels or are you just talking about the odd town jumping up and down and knicking old women over?

For the full scale munity of some forces I really don't know the answer as I have never played with the Roman factions in BI but I would suspect that as generals get more and more famous, they become more and more likely to revolt, yes?
The answer to this would seem to encourage using generals only once or twice and then getting someone else to fight for a while, this means that your armies would not be lead by a general and would definately have some downsides, but on the other hand they would be far less likely to revolt.

As for towns, I find that spear or peasant garrisons coupled with a few temples (of whatever religion) do wonders. One mistake that people often make is to expand too quickly. This means thatthe religion in an area they have is nothing like theirs. I noticed that even if you butcher a population down to the bare minimun (400 people) and have the maximum possible stability that a garrison can provide (80%) religion can cause [I]enormous[I] problems with like 50% drops in town stability.

Reading that last paragraph back it's a little tricky to follow even for me and I just wrote it. If you don't get it, ask again and I'll see about changing my hyroglyphics into something resembling English...

[gmjapan]

Well the WRE is in a poo state of affairs when you get it BUT there are some keys things you can do to avoid any revolts at all, no need for cheating / modding:

1. Peasant garrisons in every city: every city should be building peasants and a temple on the first turn. You cant afford it so sell every building not to do with happiness and trade in your more isolated parts of the empire (like spain) where you dont need to build any fancy units ever.

2. Move your capital: somewhere central like Caralais or Arles solves some of the biggest problems in one little click.

3. Lower tax: in the majority of cities this will raise happiness just enough to get you thru that tricky first turn.

4. Get your characters in the right place: this is the biggest factor in the remaining troublespots (like next to franks). Everyone, your family members, your diplomats, spies and assassins should be moved ASAP to a region where they match the local religion or into another factions region. This is mega important as there are at least two areas where this is the real issue and you cannot solve the unrest any other way. One general even has a christian retinues. Next to the Franks you have lots of Christian traits in a pagan area and on your western front the town bordering the sarmatians (i think). Move them, right now. I had my most western general sitting just over the border in enemy territory because of this. Also it gives your initial unrest to the competition.

5. Keep the local religion: find the locally supported religion and keep it that way. There is no reason to change, the towns that are pagan can get troop bonuses. If your want to convert later (either way), go for it. Its quite an interesting dynamic in the game. But wait until you can handle it.

6. Not all towns are needing a governor: you may find that the governor causes unrest or loses you money if you put him in a town so dont! Take some time moving the generals out of towns and watch the money / happiness go up or down and decide if they are better suited not being in charge. To keep them safe or breeding make them garrison an already governed city that matches their religion.

7. Make peace with neighbours: you start at war with some so get a ceasefire to get your trade up and secure your border towns from attack for a short while. You only need to do this while you consolidate your position. i.e. solve unrest and move troops around into worthwhile armies. Then feel free to take them over for the glory of Rome.

7. That outta do it! There is no need to get revolts and rebels as the WRE. And there is no need to mod the revolts out.

My first WRE game I played like RTW and it went to hell in a handbasket on turn 2, but it was loads of fun trying to sort out! My second WRE game didnt see any revolts or the rebel WRE faction just by using the advice above, but it was like a babysitting job the first dozen turns or so. Kinda boring.

Its up to you if you want to use a general to lead your army. The more successful he is in battle, the more likely he is to turn against your faction. Just like a True Roman actually!

One last bit of advice: if you are struggling for cash after turn 1, (likely!) disband your units. In places like Spain you only need peasants so get rid off ALL your comits and cav as you build peasants. The unit upkeep is nothing like RTW, these guys cost over 330 a turn and you start with loads of them! They are destroying you so turn them into tax paying citizens instead. OR use them to secure your borders like North Africa. Take the places that dont border any other factons and you can garrison with peasants and improve your war chest for little worry.

Wow, this turned out like a post for the guide. Oops.

[Furious Mental]

Don't secure your borders in North Africa. Eliminate your enemies in North Africa. If you consolidate all your armies in Libya, Africa, Sicily and Sardinia and hire some mercs you can pretty much wipe the Berbers out immediately. You could probably do it even faster with the help of all the troops in Spain but I haven't tried. Once you've done that you could either disband the armies or send them to other frontiers.

Oh yeah, and get rid of all those useless navies.

[gmjapan]

That is in fact what I meant for North Africa. I think I need a better choice of words in future. For now though, your post can correct my mistake!

[Furious Mental]

One of the best things about opportunistically attacking the Berbers (or anyone else, for that matter, with care) is that the cash you make from exterminations can be invested in much needed economics buildings.

[DensterNY]

Well also with the WRE you can expect a revolution to occur within the first few years so simply decide which cities will do so by adjusting the garrison, tax rate and religious aspects. Obviously try to limit the revolt to about five cities and then simply attack them and eliminate the populace which should decrease future problems there and also generate some cash.

Oh, one bit of advice is to also strip these cities bare of their buildings which will give you cash and also taking out their military buildings means you won't face a revolt with anything higher than a peasant unit.

[Trithemius]

Well also with the WRE you can expect a revolution to occur within the first few years so simply decide which cities will do so by adjusting the garrison, tax rate and religious aspects. Obviously try to limit the revolt to about five cities and then simply attack them and eliminate the populace which should decrease future problems there and also generate some cash.

Oh, one bit of advice is to also strip these cities bare of their buildings which will give you cash and also taking out their military buildings means you won't face a revolt with anything higher than a peasant unit.

Another advantage of clearing the settlement of buildings is that you get to rebuild them later! This might seem a small advantage, but when you are trying to keep your treasury down to preserve your carefully trained governors it can be really handy.