Camp followers

[quickzombie]

Hello I've just noticed camp follower section on my army sheet and wondered how you recruit these? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ivan Khan]

Hello I've just noticed camp follower section on my army sheet and wondered how you recruit these? Thanks in advance.

They appear when you have over 300 in your army. Also, some requirements on morale and such, but for me they always appear a day or two after my army goes above 300.  I do not think you can rest in towns or castles though or they will not appear.

 

[quickzombie]

Is there any way to recruit these?

 

[kalarhan]

Is there any way to recruit these?

you can have followers as troops: priests, woman, etc. Usually you get them as prisoners or when you rescue them from bandits. No matter your army size.

The automatic camp followers requires you to have a huge army tho like @Ivan explained.

 

[kraggrim]

Do you need space in your army to hold them, or are they added in anyway? And if so, how much space is needed?

 

[quickzombie]

Do priests, women and bearers have different effects?

 

[Ivan Khan]

Do you need space in your army to hold them, or are they added in anyway? And if so, how much space is needed?

For the "Camp Followers" it is a separate menu that gives you options like a priest, smith, slavetrader, mules, and physician. It slows your army down to about 75%, but then when your army is that big you do not move fast anyway. It has huge benefits for morale. You also take a -25 morale hit when you disbanded it or it leaves as you stayed below 300 for more than a day.


Priests, Gothi, and women are unique units that cannot be trained. They must be rescued from other parties, or recruited from other parties. Same with Standard Barriers and Hornmen. They take up space in your army, but all have very beneficial bonuses.

Women I think you need 10 of to get a morale boast from them, and it maxes out at 30. Camp Women can also give you 3 morale pints for 450 -- never use it as it is expensive.

Priests, give you the option to get 2 morale points for 200 -- the standard price, use it often when morale gets low, or I recruit from my prisoners. They also give you surgery bonus if you have 10 with 30 giving you the maximum +3 surgery. They also have a morale effect in battle -- though you want to keep them out of it as they die easy.

Standard barriers give you a morale boost in battle, they also add leadership bonuses, 10 for 1, 30 for 3. it can make your army huge. they do well in battle but I consider them too valuable to risk.

Hornmen add to tactics, same thing 1 for 10, 3 for 30. The also add morale in battle.


Incidentally, if you kill your enemies Standard Bearers and Hornmen they will lose morale and may start to run, which makes slaughter easy.

 

[kraggrim]

Thanks for the info, that's much clearer. I wondered why I occasionally got the 'killed a leader' message after I'd already knocked out the lord.

 

[GuardianOfBlind]

The followers you get after 300 army size have more advantages too, they offer services that you would normally only find in towns:

Slave trader - you can sell all your prisoners instantly, without looking around for one, useful when you need to fight several big battles in row.
Blacksmith - sells you weapons and repairs them, but his best use is that you can sell some of your loot right away if getting too full.
Mules - they are like extra bag, you can transfer some of the loot on them and free your bag space. Not sure what happens with the loot if you disband followers though.
Priest - it is nice to have easy access morale boost at any time, pay him 200 money for 2 morale, without looking for one in town or searching for Happy Widow.

The only two disadvantages of followers are, firstly, they make your army so slow that you are not going to catch up on anyone. With them I almost exclusively sail to places over sea, the ship repairs don't compare to the amount of food such army eats during a week of marching.
Secondly, you get massive morale hit if your army goes far beyond 300 size again, as they get disbanded and you lose the morale bonus you had.

In general, if you are going on a long siege spree, blitzing place after place with intention to conquer, they are a must have,  as you can easily keep morale to at least average.
But if enemy lords are invading your kingdom, burning villages, and you want to beat them, you are better off without them. You wont catch even a much larger army if you have these followers.

 

[joelkrause35]

Camp followers historically referred to individuals who supported military campaigns by providing various services such as cooking, nursing, or even entertainment. These often unsung heroes played a crucial role in sustaining armies, highlighting the importance of the broader community in the success of any mission, both on and off the battlefield.

 

[Tasak]

Camp followers historically referred to individuals who supported military campaigns by providing various services such as cooking, nursing, or even entertainment. These often unsung heroes played a crucial role in sustaining armies, highlighting the importance of the broader community in the success of any mission, both on and off the battlefield.

Good bot.