One thing I think is somewhat of a flaw in M&B, is how your enemies play by completely different rules in regards to troops.
Even if they loose the whole army, the magically get troops back really fast, including elites.
Meanwhile, the player has to painstakingly fill back losses in a slow and expensive manner.
There is no meaningful economical or war of attrition to be had.
So here are a few thoughts on the matter:
- mecanriers, leavy and standing military troops - could be aquired differently and have different pros and cons
- Similar to how PoP does knightly orders, maybe a different way to get troops - by making the supporting infrastructure and personnel to get a professional army going.
- basically, build structures and find training personnel and you can get weekly/monthy troops. Getting the gear and training done is expensive and time-consuming, but once done you get a source for a professional army
- conscripts are cheap and plentiful, but they also weaken the local economy. Farmers pulled form the field cant work on the crops, so conscripting (and loosing) too many or keeping them conscripted too long can have negative consequences. From rebellion, desertion, economical collapse of your fief to rampant brigand activity (especially if the people of your fief hate you)
- more expensive troop upgrades, but less severe trade penalties. In other words, more money, but bigger expenses. It is kinda silly that upgrading your knights is only 150 denars or so when their gear is worth tens of thousands.
So, to recap:
- mercanaries: comparatively cheap and fast solution, can get elites immediately, hard to replenish
- volonteers: like now, few in number, require upgrades to be any good
- conscripts: low quality, but in good numbers. Can be upgraded like volonteers, but they are not a constant army and have to be disbanded after a set period or run an ever increasing chance of bad consequnces.
- professional army: requires expensive set-up, but creates capable troops
Even if they loose the whole army, the magically get troops back really fast, including elites.
Meanwhile, the player has to painstakingly fill back losses in a slow and expensive manner.
There is no meaningful economical or war of attrition to be had.
So here are a few thoughts on the matter:
- mecanriers, leavy and standing military troops - could be aquired differently and have different pros and cons
- Similar to how PoP does knightly orders, maybe a different way to get troops - by making the supporting infrastructure and personnel to get a professional army going.
- basically, build structures and find training personnel and you can get weekly/monthy troops. Getting the gear and training done is expensive and time-consuming, but once done you get a source for a professional army
- conscripts are cheap and plentiful, but they also weaken the local economy. Farmers pulled form the field cant work on the crops, so conscripting (and loosing) too many or keeping them conscripted too long can have negative consequences. From rebellion, desertion, economical collapse of your fief to rampant brigand activity (especially if the people of your fief hate you)
- more expensive troop upgrades, but less severe trade penalties. In other words, more money, but bigger expenses. It is kinda silly that upgrading your knights is only 150 denars or so when their gear is worth tens of thousands.
So, to recap:
- mercanaries: comparatively cheap and fast solution, can get elites immediately, hard to replenish
- volonteers: like now, few in number, require upgrades to be any good
- conscripts: low quality, but in good numbers. Can be upgraded like volonteers, but they are not a constant army and have to be disbanded after a set period or run an ever increasing chance of bad consequnces.
- professional army: requires expensive set-up, but creates capable troops
