Just out of curiosity, how do you guys role play garrisons, if at all?
I used to just be utilitarian, trying to get as many troops in an area to make it happy. However, I started finding a good balance of troops to effectively hold off an invasion. That has now morphed into my current RPing of garrisons.
Since each faction has "noblemen," I have each province have a nobleman retinue in the garrison to represent the "baron" of the province. So, fo my Russians, in the early game I have a unit of Druzhina in each city/fortress to represent the baron and his bodyguard. In the late game, I make it one unit of Dvor cavalry and one unit of dismounted Dvor to represent the baron and his "household troops." Then, in each castle, I have about 5-6 peasant archers, two units of Dismounted Boyar Sons for wall defense, and two units of Spearmen for gate defense (mostly to be as effective as possible without a high cost of garrison). This represents the amount of troops the nobleman needs to be able to raise from his area in return for his land. For cities, I usually have the baron and his household troops along with militia for city defense, usually about 6 peasant archers, 4 crossbowmen, and whatever other troops I find necessary for a good defensive mix.
It makes it kind of fun to play, especially in the inward provinces. Local barons can then take forces out to deal with rebels in their own provinces instead of taking professional armies to complete the task, etc.
How do you guys do it? Are you strictly utilitarian, or do you add some RP elements for fun?
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