Squalor?

[Foz]

I was asking myself what would be the best unit for garrison :
I'm playing as Venice and after some research I found this (I'm not playing the English version so the translation may not be the same) :

PO---Peasants--Crossbow--Archer-----Italian--Spearman--Crossbow--Mounted
----------------Peasants---Peasants--Militia---Militia------Militia------Militia
5%-----5----------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------5
10%----8----------5---------5---------4---------4---------5---------7
15%----12---------8---------8---------6---------6---------8
20%----15---------10--------10--------8---------8---------10
25%----20---------13------------------10--------10
30%----------------15-----------------12--------12
35% ---------------17-----------------14---------14
40%----------------19,20--------------16 --------16
45%-----------------------------------18---------18
50%------------------------------------19--------19


The table isn't complete and maybe so already did a better one.
Each Public Order percentage is achieved by putting the number of indicated units inside a Huge City. I can't figure out how the PO is calculated but it can't be a function of the number of units only (compare peasants with militia)

Does someone know a thread that explains how PO is calculated ?

I've been thinking on this all day, and would guess 2 things from the data available:

1. Peasants are less effective at garrisoning than any other unit. This was recently confirmed in another thread, where someone explained that the is_peasant ability was given to them because they were by far a too cheap way to garrison, and so they now each count for ~1/2 a man.

2. I think the rest of your difference is all down to the number of men that are in the given unit. You will notice that 2 spear units with 75 men are giving the exact same effects, in spite of having decidedly different unit stats. Next best were crossbow units, which have 60 men. Again they perform the same, while having different stats. Then come the mounted militia, which have only 40 men per unit, and are only slightly better than peasants. Makes total sense since peasants would count for ~1/2 * 75 = 37.5 men for garrison purposes. Note that the unit numbers I quoted are from the setting I'm using, which apparently are 1.25 times the base unit size numbers listed in the file.

So what appears to be the case to me is that each individual man garrisoned in the city grants a given amount of public order bonus, though likely it is only allowed to take effect once it covers a 5% threshold. This means in practice that to gain the maximum PO at any given time, you must use the unit(s) available that have the most men per unit, which for a great many factions is some kind of spearmen. Cavalry and peasants in particular should be avoided due to their poor unit sizes, though it is not necessarily a bad idea to have some cav around to help in sieges - it just must be understood that the compromise is they are less efficient at providing PO.

[TancredTheNorman]

I don't know if this at all aplies to MTW2 but it does to RTW.

Just have your diplomat give the city as a gift away to someone you are at war with, then invade the city which lacks a garrison or governor and after no opposition you can enslave the city (taking on 50% of the population) or if you are not feeling chivalrous massacre them and get a great economic bonus.

It doesn't work in Barbarian Invasion so might have been done away with in MTW2.