Kingdom Management

[macsen rufus]

If you don't of course, you suddenly discover that all of your nobles get their kicks from eating babies...

Is there a way around this?

Yeah.... make more babies

I generally find that by the time the empire is too big to micromanage, it's also big enough to cope with the odd screaming cissy, embezzler and sheep-botherer in positions of power. If the vices get so bad as to make a guy useless I'll find someone better and strip titles (or maybe use a more ... entertaining.... agent than the emissary), but if I'm in a hurry I just disband the hapless dimwit.

I have never, ever used auto-tax, and never will. Tax is always screwed up as high as loyalty will allow (sometimes it allows only "very low" of course...), until such time as cashflow is no longer a major concern in which case I turn it down to "normal" everywhere but the top five provinces. My first "state of the empire" check each turn is to press "shift" - a good green map is what's called for, and any yellow or red spots get immediate attention, as trouble will be brewing. Stamp on the peasants before they stamp on you

If I have to keep it tight, I'll be sure to only train in valour-bonus provinces, or with the best upgrades, but if I can keep building and training in every province permanently, then I will. It means the economy is good, and you can get some serious infrastructure down

[Jxrc]

A really easy trick not to get an bad random V&V once the empire is to big is to avoid puuting a general's unit in a stack. Left on its own he will not get any good or bad V&V. Specially useful when you start being big since that about at the same moment that the computer "decides" to turn your best generals into hedonist crazies.

[sharpshooter]

Ahh Riblet - the problems of empire. I found the amount of administration a hassle when I first got into the game, but you get used to it. As you gain experience you get a good sense of what's happening where, and a lot of it becomes automatic. I think you're right to do it methodically - and I'd even add a couple of things to what you've suggested at the start. Basically it's bringing up each of the screens in turn - heirs, agents, income, alliances and maybe generals. In line with most of the posts here - I do more or less of the following each turn, depending on the phase of the game:

- Switch on the autotaxer when the empire gets to a certain size. This is usually around 15 or so provinces, or earlier if the cash is pouring in.

- Check the income vs expenditure, and keep the expenditure under half the income. That seems to avoid the Drinker vice , which is annoying in heirs and top generals, and from my take is mainly caused by overproduction of troops - ("never knows when to stop"). I see how much profit I have and what I can afford to build. I use this screen to check the loyalty levels of the provinces, and see if there are problems - especially when a king dies, a lot of provinces have been conquered in a short time, or the enemy has ships that may isolate islands or make other provinces feel cut off.

- Scroll through the provinces with the buildings parchment and maybe the province description parchments open. I don't queue until I'm rolling in cash, except maybe for key provinces. If I don't need it I don't build it - and that goes for Merchants and Farmland. I have the feeling that the AI prefers a lean style, and gives Materialist and Gluttony vices for raking in too many florins.

- Check the agents screen, and use the Valour link to order them if I have missions. Generally I'm using Emissaries to charm neighbouring factions, and Bishops to blackmail others or convert - again this is my take on their non-published abilities. Typically they don't need much movement. At peak times of agent activity, or when hunting for princesses, I'll use the Z and C keyboard controls so only the agents are showing. I try and keep up with what other factions agents are doing.

- Check the heirs screen to see if anyone is due to mature, in which case I'm careful about what I'm doing that might affect their stats and v&v's. Likewise I keep a track of aging princesses, and marry them off to generals at 30.

- Check the Alliances screen if I'm preparing to attack someone, or wanting to prevent a key ally from allying with a target. Sometimes I'll start a war early by launching a peasant unit or similar at the target and withdrawing from the battle in order to prevent these alliances, or simply to let the other factions know where I stand. I use princesses and bishops to target in the same way, especially putting them on rebel provinces to let the other factions know I'm interested in them.

- I check the loyalty of generals at the death of a king, and regularly click through the stacks to see what stats the unit commanders have. Ideally I'll do this when they're first trained ... but ... I get carried away with the rush of the campaign sometimes. I'll also check this when I'm assigning titles.

- As mentioned in another post, I'll click on the relevant v&v on the advice parchment as it comes up in the end turn sequence to see where particular v&v's have landed.

In other words, I check some or all of the screens each turn, and I haven't found a way around this. Heh. This seems the case with most here. You're probably doing something similar anyways, and were wondering if there were shortcuts - in which case my post hasn't much helped, but at least you know there are others doing the same thing.

[King Kurt]

Hey Sharpshooter - next campaign, take a few chances - the game becomes a bit more of a rollercoaster but much more exciting. Expenditure about half of income - you haven't lived until you get the insufficient funds message on a regular basis!!!!!!!! Find me a real life medevial King who lived within his means - give me glory rather than a full treasury.
I always try to never have a bigger treasury of 20,000 florins - handy for a bribe, but no army is worth more than about 15,000 florins.
So next time - give it a go - you might enjoy it!!

[predaturd]

order i do things in
check happiness (shift zoom out quick scan 4 seconds)
make units in army bases (40 seconds)
check income vs expenditure (5 seconds)
make my economic base get built (1 minute
mobilise armies for next conquest (2.5 minutes) (make sure i attack with best troops and make the armys evenish so i can attack in more places)
check most profitable provinces have high acumen governers (2 minutes)
move boats (20 seconds)

has anyone ever had the you are the richest nation come up when they were in the minuses before? i have and the comment is hilarious (not saying youll need to do it yourself :P)

[Peasant Phill]

The 'richest' comment refers to your anual income, not your treasury. So you can be the richest and still be in the red because your expenses are to high.

[Tony Furze]

In reply to Riblets topic:

I find it really difficult to handle the detail and the big picture; then , of course, there is also the battle side of things...

Im only just know realizing with my lateness in coming to such a fine game + my age, I lose concentration/forget things easily. I never remember to check on my emissaries/ agents before ending the year, for example. Then I make too many of things-agents or spearmen, then I forget to put a defensive army in my best province, etc , etc.

The result can be a mess.

Soooo, recently I decided to really narrow down my goals. It really is best to manage everything yourself rather than handing over to the AI.

Recently I decided to play the Danes so I limited a lot of things to make it easier for me to work out and manage things.