Mikal Manfriedson
Veteran
In another thread I had an idea of introducing - or better: expanding the mechanism, troops are upgraded to higher tiers. The mechanism already exists in its bones when it comes to cavalry units: we need a (war) horse or it won't happen.
Now the 'what if':
What if we are to buy the weapons and armor ourselves for upgrading troops instead of paying a flat tiny sum of gold?
Consider the following model:
Imagine you recruit a [faction] recruit that comes with his own equipment (mostly some kind of tool used as weapon and civillian clothes/tunics at best). Let's take a Vlandian Recruit for instance.
Upon leveling we are required to have the following items in inventory to make it work:
- for infantry branch we need a level 1 shield, a level 1 SH weapon, a level 1 head armor and some lvl 1 cloth armor.
- for the levy crossbowman we would need similar armor, no shield, a light X-bow and 2x bolts and a lvl 1 SH weapon
Unit wage would raise from 1 gold per day to 2 gold per day as for the assumption unit tier/level (for companions) equals gold costs per day.I think the current daily costs are too high as the units are fed as well (which usually they had to pay for from their wages themselves). So it might become a bit easier to maintain an army, but raising it to higher levels will become harder so we eliminate the spamming of high quality troops as equipment is limited.
Loot will become more important as it offers higher quality gear and not just another gold token for paying your army. Carpenters, Tanners and ironmongers will become more important as they supply the towns with needed weapons and will make more income in times of war.
Also persuading prisoners to join your forces will be a good thing to get higher-tier units without the need of buying their equipment. It happens slowly currently which is fine.
Yes, this is micromanagement, but meaningful micromanagement as you will really look what you will do. Imagine going to war with a Vlandian warband - you gain enough XP but are in empire lands. Problem: you might not get the proper equipment to level up your troops in the field but need to return to Vlandia to buy the correct stuff. Or you recruit auxilliar units from the empire or have them ready before campaigning.
This alternative changes the way, armies are built and gives trade a bit more muscles on its bones. Of course, silly prices like 30.000 gold for a T6 bow must go now. Equipping the player should not be ridiculously expensive. Balance is not in order for making T1-4 items overpriced while we equip T5 and T6 troops with lordly armor for only 100 gold if WE have to pay 30.000 gold alone for the helmet they wear.
The problem is: is there enough of the high level gear the player wants to buy? Maybe only available in certain cities and not when a lord recently has bought the market empty because he upgraded his army. Maybe we should be able to order stuff at a smithy so he can tell us: your weapons and armor will be ready in 6 days - you can get retrieve them once you visit the city again. Maybe make an order and pick a destination castle so items are shipped to castle stash (AND can be intercepted by looters).
For us currently it is just pay X (usually a very low number) gold and occasionally have a horse/war horse present.
This idea might as well improve trade and campaigning a lot and give smithing a good reason to exist (What? You don't have sturgian axes? Gimme your mallet and let me at the anvil, will ya?). You will use smithing to make equipment not available at the market. Maybe add some other smithing option 'repair weapons', which will restore weapons from rusty, cracked and other negative conditions to normal.
For peasant units I additionally would offer the following mechanism:
- they are non-combattants and cannot be used in offensive battles but will form their own group when defending. They cost 1 gold per day and can be used to handle 5 animals of any type but use a slot in your army versus troop count.
- they can be upgraded to either their culture specific recruit or to a mercenary recruit with slightly different armament/stats which will result in merc style troops ending in merc cav, hired blades and hired crossbows
That way peasants are somewhat useful as they resemble camp followers increasing the number of horses, mules and other animals.
Give this idea some thoughts and time, please. I am happy to get your feedback.
Now the 'what if':
What if we are to buy the weapons and armor ourselves for upgrading troops instead of paying a flat tiny sum of gold?
Consider the following model:
Imagine you recruit a [faction] recruit that comes with his own equipment (mostly some kind of tool used as weapon and civillian clothes/tunics at best). Let's take a Vlandian Recruit for instance.
Upon leveling we are required to have the following items in inventory to make it work:
- for infantry branch we need a level 1 shield, a level 1 SH weapon, a level 1 head armor and some lvl 1 cloth armor.
- for the levy crossbowman we would need similar armor, no shield, a light X-bow and 2x bolts and a lvl 1 SH weapon
Unit wage would raise from 1 gold per day to 2 gold per day as for the assumption unit tier/level (for companions) equals gold costs per day.I think the current daily costs are too high as the units are fed as well (which usually they had to pay for from their wages themselves). So it might become a bit easier to maintain an army, but raising it to higher levels will become harder so we eliminate the spamming of high quality troops as equipment is limited.
Loot will become more important as it offers higher quality gear and not just another gold token for paying your army. Carpenters, Tanners and ironmongers will become more important as they supply the towns with needed weapons and will make more income in times of war.
Also persuading prisoners to join your forces will be a good thing to get higher-tier units without the need of buying their equipment. It happens slowly currently which is fine.
Yes, this is micromanagement, but meaningful micromanagement as you will really look what you will do. Imagine going to war with a Vlandian warband - you gain enough XP but are in empire lands. Problem: you might not get the proper equipment to level up your troops in the field but need to return to Vlandia to buy the correct stuff. Or you recruit auxilliar units from the empire or have them ready before campaigning.
This alternative changes the way, armies are built and gives trade a bit more muscles on its bones. Of course, silly prices like 30.000 gold for a T6 bow must go now. Equipping the player should not be ridiculously expensive. Balance is not in order for making T1-4 items overpriced while we equip T5 and T6 troops with lordly armor for only 100 gold if WE have to pay 30.000 gold alone for the helmet they wear.
The problem is: is there enough of the high level gear the player wants to buy? Maybe only available in certain cities and not when a lord recently has bought the market empty because he upgraded his army. Maybe we should be able to order stuff at a smithy so he can tell us: your weapons and armor will be ready in 6 days - you can get retrieve them once you visit the city again. Maybe make an order and pick a destination castle so items are shipped to castle stash (AND can be intercepted by looters).
For us currently it is just pay X (usually a very low number) gold and occasionally have a horse/war horse present.
This idea might as well improve trade and campaigning a lot and give smithing a good reason to exist (What? You don't have sturgian axes? Gimme your mallet and let me at the anvil, will ya?). You will use smithing to make equipment not available at the market. Maybe add some other smithing option 'repair weapons', which will restore weapons from rusty, cracked and other negative conditions to normal.
For peasant units I additionally would offer the following mechanism:
- they are non-combattants and cannot be used in offensive battles but will form their own group when defending. They cost 1 gold per day and can be used to handle 5 animals of any type but use a slot in your army versus troop count.
- they can be upgraded to either their culture specific recruit or to a mercenary recruit with slightly different armament/stats which will result in merc style troops ending in merc cav, hired blades and hired crossbows
That way peasants are somewhat useful as they resemble camp followers increasing the number of horses, mules and other animals.
Give this idea some thoughts and time, please. I am happy to get your feedback.