How to get veterans?

[Panpiper]

I've been roaming about with my companions and a stack of swadian men at arms for well over 100 days. I've got my companions fairly well equipped now, and my swadian men at arms are all elite. But I also have an approval rating of 25 in Pravden and would much prefer to be running around with knights. The problem is that in the entire time I have been playing, not a single 'veteran' recruitable has shown up in any city or castle in the game.

What is the trick (are the tricks) to getting veteran units? Is there any way to turn my elite men at arms into veteran recruits so they can be transformed into knights?

 

[jericson112]

The only way I have noticed since tournaments no longer do it is to build the Training Grounds improvement in a town. It has a percent chance to convert a peasant recruit into a veteran recruit. I don't remember if this can only be done for a faction you are a part of or not.

 

[Windyplains]

The only way I have noticed since tournaments no longer do it is to build the Training Grounds improvement in a town. It has a percent chance to convert a peasant recruit into a veteran recruit. I don't remember if this can only be done for a faction you are a part of or not.

Tournaments should still provide veterans, but only do if you are a vassal or king.
If you're a king then you gain free veterans in each of your castles / towns per week based upon your right to rule.  I will be extending this to vassals in the future.
If you successfully siege a location you'll gain veterans as well.

 

[UniversalWolf]

IMO the best, most efficient way to get them is to capture veteran units and recruit them into your party, or to free them if they're prisoners.  If you rescue or recruit 10 Nord Huscarls, you can disband them in Praven for 10 veteran recruits.  Then you can recruit 10 Praven Knights, if that's your thing (and assuming you have the required mounts).  You'll frequently see the following veteran units:

Swadian Sergeants
Vaegir Knights
Khergit Veteran Horse Archers
Rhodok Arbalestiers
Nord Huscarls
Sarranid Mamlukes

So you probably don't want to sell these if you take them prisoner.  There are others (like Praven Knights), but you don't often seem them.

 

[Panpiper]

IMO the best, most efficient way to get them is to capture veteran units and recruit them into your party, or to free them if they're prisoners.

That is exactly the sort of advice I was hoping to get. Thank you, that should do the trick. I don't mind working for my reward.

 

[Kinsume]

I'm not entirely sure if that is intentional though and may be fixed in the future. As this mod seems to be aiming for a more realistic view on things, disbanding someone of that caliber doesn't necessarily mean they can just pick up a completely different gear set and be as good as someone who has trained with that gear their whole lives. Essentially its just exploiting the system rather than playing with a lack of veteran troops like the mod is meant to.

 

[askmax]

The only way I have noticed since tournaments no longer do it is to build the Training Grounds improvement in a town. It has a percent chance to convert a peasant recruit into a veteran recruit. I don't remember if this can only be done for a faction you are a part of or not.

Tournaments should still provide veterans, but only do if you are a vassal or king.
If you're a king then you gain free veterans in each of your castles / towns per week based upon your right to rule.  I will be extending this to vassals in the future.
If you successfully siege a location you'll gain veterans as well.

Are the veterans that join your cause suppose to join your party or the recruitable units in the town? Because they never join my party.

 

[Windyplains]

They become available recruits in town.

 

[askmax]

Thanks

 

[UniversalWolf]

I'm not entirely sure if that is intentional though and may be fixed in the future. As this mod seems to be aiming for a more realistic view on things, disbanding someone of that caliber doesn't necessarily mean they can just pick up a completely different gear set and be as good as someone who has trained with that gear their whole lives. Essentially its just exploiting the system rather than playing with a lack of veteran troops like the mod is meant to.

I don't think it's an exploit.  You're just converting one type of veteran unit into another, and you have to pay a hefty price to do it.  That's after you've won a battle to free them in the first place.  If you capture them you also have to convince them to join you and take a morale hit.

Anyway, it's not like you're swimming in veteran recruits, even by using the recruit/release method.  In my current game I'm cheating my arse off with uber companions and unlimited money, and I still spend lots of time hunting for more veterans.

This is also not unique to veterans.  You can gather Watchmen and convert them into Mercenary Cavalry, or Sarranid Recruits and convert them into Swadian Men-at-Arms.  It's an integral part of the whole system.  Works well, as far as I can see.

 

[Windyplains]

I don't think it's an exploit.  You're just converting one type of veteran unit into another, and you have to pay a hefty price to do it.  That's after you've won a battle to free them in the first place.  If you capture them you also have to convince them to join you and take a morale hit.

I wanted to chime in here and say that this was left in as an intended option until more stable means of veteran acquisition are put into place.

 

[Theo H]

I don't think it's an exploit.  You're just converting one type of veteran unit into another, and you have to pay a hefty price to do it.  That's after you've won a battle to free them in the first place.  If you capture them you also have to convince them to join you and take a morale hit.

I wanted to chime in here and say that this was left in as an intended option until more stable means of veteran acquisition are put into place.

Max veteran "storage" based on renown and veteran gain rate based on fief holdings?

 

[zapbib]

a bit like the AI i guess you would get a couple veterans per week. I do like that fact we can rescue veteran and give them better equipment however.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Max veteran "storage" based on renown and veteran gain rate based on fief holdings?

Not a bad idea.

Keep this in mind: in my current game the Nords were rolling, and when they declared war on me the first time Ragnar besieged one of my towns with an army of over 3000 soldiers.  Of the 3000 soldiers, 500+ were Huscarls.  I don't know whether that may be tweaked in the future, but at present there's simply no way you can match that kind of veteran troop production without rescue/recruit.  At this point in my game I hold Curaw, Khudan, Sargoth, Wercheg, Reyvadin, Rivacheg, Tihr, Dhirim, and Shariz, along with lots of castles and villages, and I doubt I have many more than 500 Knights in my whole realm.  Almost all of them are from rescue/recruit.  And I haven't left a whole lot of veteran recruits un-Knighted.

I had the thought that it might be cool to have Veteran Mercenary Recruits as well as Veteran Recruits.  That would keep you from converting Watchmen into Mercenary Cavalry.

 

[askmax]

Max veteran "storage" based on renown and veteran gain rate based on fief holdings?

Not a bad idea.

Keep this in mind: in my current game the Nords were rolling, and when they declared war on me the first time Ragnar besieged one of my towns with an army of over 3000 soldiers.  Of the 3000 soldiers, 500+ were Huscarls.  I don't know whether that may be tweaked in the future, but at present there's simply no way you can match that kind of veteran troop production without rescue/recruit.  At this point in my game I hold Curaw, Khudan, Sargoth, Wercheg, Reyvadin, Rivacheg, Tihr, Dhirim, and Shariz, along with lots of castles and villages, and I doubt I have many more than 500 Knights in my whole realm.  Almost all of them are from rescue/recruit.  And I haven't left a whole lot of veteran recruits un-Knighted.

I had the thought that it might be cool to have Veteran Mercenary Recruits as well as Veteran Recruits.  That would keep you from converting Watchmen into Mercenary Cavalry.

Knighted as in a praven knight troop? Or can you actually knight a vet troop some how.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Knighted as in a praven knight troop? Or can you actually knight a vet troop some how.

If you start your own kingdom, and change the culture to the custom setting, you get generic "Knights" as your veteran unit.  They're a lot like the old Swadian Knights.  What I mean is, I've turned almost all my veteran recruits into "Knights."

There's no way to "knight" your veteran units, as in bestowing knighthood upon them.  Not that I know of, anyway.

 

[askmax]

Knighted as in a praven knight troop? Or can you actually knight a vet troop some how.

If you start your own kingdom, and change the culture to the custom setting, you get generic "Knights" as your veteran unit.  They're a lot like the old Swadian Knights.  What I mean is, I've turned almost all my veteran recruits into "Knights."

There's no way to "knight" your veteran units, as in bestowing knighthood upon them.  Not that I know of, anyway.

Ahh okay, I stuck with swadian default culture anyway seems like they are much much better then pretty much everyone else with praven knights + swadian serjeants and sentinels as infantry they can hold their own against huscarls and the crossbowmen are not bad in bulk or you can get just some archers or rhodoks .

 

[UniversalWolf]

Ahh okay, I stuck with swadian default culture anyway seems like they are much much better then pretty much everyone else with praven knights + swadian serjeants and sentinels as infantry they can hold their own against huscarls and the crossbowmen are not bad in bulk or you can get just some archers or rhodoks .

Don't forget to try out the Dhirim Captain!

 

[zapbib]

Suno master archer also boost your other ranged units, they are pretty fun.

 

[Leifdin]

I'm glad that they turned out well!