My soldiers are cheap.

[Wanderer]

It costs me almost nothing to keep up my giant force of knights. Rediculously low. I understand we balance this with the 'loot' being split out to them, but those are spoils of war. My army costs me about 2500 a week. That's 68 knights of Swadia and Sword Sisters. It's a pittance. One fight and I can get that from just selling off the arrows.

Throw in 3-4 pieces of meat a week, and it's about 3300. Still a pittance.

If I'm going to raise and lead an army, I should have to pay for it.

Also, when I disband an army early, I should owe them a week's wages. Otherwise I'll hire 'em on Monday and fire 'em on Saturday.

The base prices on a per week basis should be more expensive, as should hiring prices. Alright, maybe not peasants, give the lowbies a chance in heck, but we seriously need some troops who value the price of their equipment alone, never mind their lives... and horses... and replacement swords... and... BEER.

 

[Keemo]

What is your leadership skill?

I think the beer slot is coming. That should raise the prices a bit.

 

[Wanderer]

What is your leadership skill?

I think the beer slot is coming. That should raise the prices a bit.

Leadership 8, prisoners 4, trade 8, Tactics 6.

If yer gonna be a merchant, be one. Sad part is this character's not even level 30 yet.

 

[okiN]

It's true, all troops are ridiculously cheap. I think either you should bring down item prices and job payoffs (less money circulating) or raise both recruitment and upkeep costs.

 

[JohnathanStrange]

It's true, all troops are ridiculously cheap. I think either you should bring down item prices and job payoffs (less money circulating) or raise both recruitment and upkeep costs.

Yeah, maybe an optional mode for more difficult play would adjust either costs or rewards.

 

[Skyrage]

Yaya, I've been saying it for a while now...high tier troops need a major salary raise...

 

[UberFly]

I agree, that troops must be more expensive. If you are peasant, and want to become a knight, you need ~100 000 denar$ ( or maybe even more ). So 100000 denars when 100 in a week = 20 years of hard work ...

 

[GreenKnight]

I suppose I wouldn't mind some pay increase, though I'd prefer it not be a giant one. Right now, my character is working on his second million, so money isn't really an issue, but he wasn't always so well off. I'd definitely prefer the item prices not be dropped, however. A sword or good piece of armor was quite valuable back in the day. I want more than flea market prices for turning them over. And of course, making this dependent on setting you choose is fine with me.

 

[redcoat]

I dont think they need a pay increase at all, IMO a good solution is to have us pay for thier equipment... that would make it much more reasonable. A peasant would not come to you equiped for battle.

 

[Wanderer]

I dont think they need a pay increase at all, IMO a good solution is to have us pay for thier equipment... that would make it much more reasonable. A peasant would not come to you equiped for battle.

... which is why, if you watch 'em, they're wearing rags and wielding pitchforks and cleavers.

 

[Cleitan]

Peasants are not equipped fr battle they have pitchforks and cleavers

 

[redcoat]

Yes, but when you upgrade them from footman to knights its costs you nothing. That is what I meant.

 

[Destichado]

The thing is, soldiers WERE paid with the loot from men they killed.

Solders were cheap. Rediculously cheap. Knights in the High Middle Ages served their lords for a rediculously low sum, because they KNEW that they were going to make wagonloads of money by knocking some rich guy senseless and ransoming him back to his family. Even if the fellow died, well, the knight still got his horse, his weapons, his armor... do you know how much that cost??? Today, it would be very much like our solders getting paid "only" $2 an hour, but getting to keep trucks and tanks every time they killed an enemy!

Soldiers who survived wars became fabulously, fantasticly wealthy in very short order.


I do think logistics should cost more, though.
Reqire pack wagons for ever five solders, force us to hire cooks for every ten, enlist harlots, camp-followers and solder's women to keep up their moralle, find priests to shrive the solders before battle to up their attack rating... make all of these things cost money... things like that.

 

[Santtuvaltteri]

Support forces would be marvelous, if only as a money-drain. Dishonest people selling your stuff, thieves stealing your stuff, gate guards asking for ridiculous sums to get your troupe into a city...

 

[Destichado]

Support forces would be marvelous, if only as a money-drain. Dishonest people selling your stuff, thieves stealing your stuff, gate guards asking for ridiculous sums to get your troupe into a city...

Money-drain, yes exactly!
wagons breaking down, whores running away after a battle goes bad, forces coming down with something when the cook fixes the pork badly...
More "things to go wrong"

 

[Wanderer]

Support forces makes sense to me, however, 'whores' and 'camp followers' were just that, taking the soldier's money, not me paying them to keep them happy.

Fletchers, armorers, cooks, tents, horse feed, so on, so forth... these make sense, and would go a long way to making an army (at least for this game) into the expense an army truly was at the time.

 

[screwtype]

One thing's for sure, it's just too damn easy to make money in this game. I've already suggested having to share battle loot around equally with your party members (which is similar to the idea someone else suggested of having to equip them yourself), but cranking up the pay of soldiers would be another method of doing it.

I also agree with the guy that upgrading your soldiers should cost dough - a LOT of dough. After all, you've got to buy him all that expensive equipment, right?

I don't agree with the idea of camp followers, they would just clutter up the game and add nothing to gameplay. You might as well just assume the camp followers are there and that their pay is factored into the soldiers upkeep. But something needs to be done to make it harder to earn big bucks IMO.