let us choose the size and pick our own troops for caravans + no companion needed. Please.

[limier]

"Kun the swift has been taken prisoner by the steppe bandits" how many times did we see that message...

This could be solved by allowing the player to choose the size and the type of troops, like a garrison.

Why do we need to take a companion to operate it? Why don't we just have a caravan master like the other lords? And if you are concerned about balance issue, just add a limited number instead, like workshops. Please.

 

[archaicwarrior]

YES! I paid 22,000 for better troops Caravan ONLY To hear they have been taken prisoner by .. wait for it ... can you guess ...YES! .. looters! . This has happened MANY times !!

Better troops caravan are a CONN job !

.

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

Yeah I agree. Notables don't send clan members n caravans why should we have to? You could make it optional and give us skill ups and boons for doing so, but it's a waste of a clan member usually. "Oh but if they have 100 trade you get +2% more money" go to math class please, you could get more money then that just fighting looters for the same amount of CAMPAIGN TIME instead of tracking down a trade member just for a caravan leader. Let alone if you're competent player and can crush like 20 lords in that amount of time. It's a noob trap!

 

[Antaeus]

I'm OK with companions leading. It is an easy way to buff their stats - particularly trade and steward if you want to use them as governors or leaders later.

But I've said it over and over - the best way to deal with bandit inflation as your level grows, is to be able to build better caravans. Caravans become cost ineffective after the player passes about level 15. They are pointless, and never earn their purchase price back. Ever.

What I really want, is to be able to manage their troops - like I do for my other parties.

 

[Danny5]

I would prefer to assign your troops as a leader of the cravan rather than your companions. The higher tier they are, the better they'll survive against bandits and such.

 

[Sir Squirrel]

I think more troops is preferable to higher quality of troops. Because numbers seem to have more weight in simulations. Notice how your tier 6 units gets killed by 5 Looters in auto resolve.

 

[archaicwarrior]

I think more troops is preferable to higher quality of troops. Because numbers seem to have more weight in simulations. Notice how your tier 6 units gets killed by 5 Looters in auto resolve.

This seems to be true, I've noticed my caravan trapped against a mountain, and Oh boy, AI caravans run away from bandits STRAIGHT into mountain traps (ravines) . When watching the fighting, numbers seem more important than quality. In Player battles, Looters rout easily, in AI battles, Looters never seem to rout ?

.

 

[Sir Squirrel]

When watching the fighting, numbers seem more important than quality. In Player battles, Looters rout easily, in AI battles, Looters never seem to rout ?

.

Moral doesn't seem to play a role in simulation battles. It goes on until one side is out of combatants.

Unlike in field battles where moral and player perks (like Terror from Two-handed weapon). You can snipe enemy Lords and cause low-tier troop to run away sooner.

I've even seen Lords run or stay at the edge of a map when they're low on health. It's mostly the high-tier troops that stand their ground only to perish while their liege retreats.

 

[Antaeus]

Also...

I captured my thoughts on this earlier here: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/improving-trade-caravans.442898/

 

[limier]

I'm OK with companions leading. It is an easy way to buff their stats - particularly trade and steward if you want to use them as governors or leaders later.

But I've said it over and over - the best way to deal with bandit inflation as your level grows, is to be able to build better caravans. Caravans become cost ineffective after the player passes about level 15. They are pointless, and never earn their purchase price back. Ever.

What I really want, is to be able to manage their troops - like I do for my other parties.

I think in the end, giving some freedom to the player is always the right thing to do. I'm not against the companion caravan system, and even more, adding a way to operate the caravan with one or without one would be a way to make it even better. About the fact that we can't manage the caravan garrison, it seems that we all agree that this is very frustrating for late game progress.

 

[The_lol_King]

great idea! Caravans dont seem to be a worthwile investment at the moment

 

[archaicwarrior]

Also...

I captured my thoughts on this earlier here: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/improving-trade-caravans.442898/

Excellent post.