AI lords clearly need a buff, but giving them free troops goes against the grain and back to warband doesn't it? Instead, make the policies do more than just free party size which the AI will either fill with chaff or not use at all. Noble Retinues should give the tier 3+ noble clans an elite retinue of 20 men. 10 of them tier 6 nobles, 5 of them tier 5 infantry and 5 of them tier 5 archers of their factions. Of course, some factions like battania do not have archers in their common line, so replace them instead with their spearmen. The downside to this policy should be a 10% reduction to taxes and -1 influence to the ruling clan, as those are going into a retinue for the nobility. Royal Guard should have a similar but much larger effect for the ruling clan - all parties of the ruling clan get a retinue of 100 men. 30 of them tier 6 nobles, 50 of them tier 5 infantry, 20 of them tier 5 archers (or spearmen for battania). The downside to this one is a further 10% reduction to taxes and a -2 influence, but not for the ruling clan. Now that these free troops are tied to policies which the AI should prioritize passing, it will greatly help the game while staying true to the core plan of creating a realistic world that can be interacted with rather than a throwback to the party templates we had in Warband.
And what about training? Make combat tips more like training skill from warband, but based off level and leadership skill. I'd recommend (base 10xp + level X leadership skill), and then move "raise the meek" further down the line, while making it much more effective at training large groups. This will help alot more than nerfing autobattle XP and making looters kill units.
Of course, these balance changes will definitely require changes in other areas, and if the AI over recruiting garrisons in 1.3 IS intentional, then taxes need to be 50% of prosperity, and food consumption needs to be drastically altered. Governors are currently pointless and do nothing - make them powerful and vital assets that can take care of the day to day operations that we currently have to do ourselves. I'd like to see governors actually govern, by going from the market and storing food in the granary (which needs to be 100-200-400, and accessible like in the open granary mod - THIS NEEDS TO BE VANILLA). Make them manage recruiting from the garrison, doing issues, doing quests in the villages tied to the fief, and patrolling around, dealing with bandits.
On the subject of bandits, these boys need an overhaul in the hideout department. Some things have been touched on before, they don't make sense, they're too hard, they could be mini-sieges, etc, so I won't bring this up again, but one thing needs to be brought up. Taking out a bandit hideout needs to be PERMANENT. PERMANENT. A hideout that is only temporarily destroyed is detrimental to a game that is always living, caravans always running, villages always trading, and making only the player capable of this makes it so the only safe places in the game are places that the player is physically taking out a bandit hideout every month or so. Its a tedious grind that needs to be sorted out. If hideouts are going to be a player exclusive thing, then let us at least let us be able to command our clan members to do it for us. Now, in a game that is always living, would bandits go away forever after being defeated? No. Make hideouts tied to the security, prosperity and loyalty of the closest fiefs. Many of the reasoning behind organized banditry is poverty, war, and hatred towards the ruling nobility, all of which can be tied to in game systems. If they cross below a certain threshold, ONLY then the bandit hideouts should respawn.
I've noticed that every bandit faction has a "leader hero" in the troop menu. These guys should be implemented and procedurally generated. All should be spawned in the beginning to be killed (or dealt with peacefully/recruited?) later on either in a battle or hideout assault, which will mark a bandit faction as being defeated and no more hideouts will respawn until a fief becomes disloyal, impoverished and dangerous, causing a bandit hideouts to respawn. Once they are able to reach a certain level of power (maybe give bandits tier system similar to clans?) a new bandit hero will spawn in and have to be dealt with.
And what about training? Make combat tips more like training skill from warband, but based off level and leadership skill. I'd recommend (base 10xp + level X leadership skill), and then move "raise the meek" further down the line, while making it much more effective at training large groups. This will help alot more than nerfing autobattle XP and making looters kill units.
Of course, these balance changes will definitely require changes in other areas, and if the AI over recruiting garrisons in 1.3 IS intentional, then taxes need to be 50% of prosperity, and food consumption needs to be drastically altered. Governors are currently pointless and do nothing - make them powerful and vital assets that can take care of the day to day operations that we currently have to do ourselves. I'd like to see governors actually govern, by going from the market and storing food in the granary (which needs to be 100-200-400, and accessible like in the open granary mod - THIS NEEDS TO BE VANILLA). Make them manage recruiting from the garrison, doing issues, doing quests in the villages tied to the fief, and patrolling around, dealing with bandits.
On the subject of bandits, these boys need an overhaul in the hideout department. Some things have been touched on before, they don't make sense, they're too hard, they could be mini-sieges, etc, so I won't bring this up again, but one thing needs to be brought up. Taking out a bandit hideout needs to be PERMANENT. PERMANENT. A hideout that is only temporarily destroyed is detrimental to a game that is always living, caravans always running, villages always trading, and making only the player capable of this makes it so the only safe places in the game are places that the player is physically taking out a bandit hideout every month or so. Its a tedious grind that needs to be sorted out. If hideouts are going to be a player exclusive thing, then let us at least let us be able to command our clan members to do it for us. Now, in a game that is always living, would bandits go away forever after being defeated? No. Make hideouts tied to the security, prosperity and loyalty of the closest fiefs. Many of the reasoning behind organized banditry is poverty, war, and hatred towards the ruling nobility, all of which can be tied to in game systems. If they cross below a certain threshold, ONLY then the bandit hideouts should respawn.
I've noticed that every bandit faction has a "leader hero" in the troop menu. These guys should be implemented and procedurally generated. All should be spawned in the beginning to be killed (or dealt with peacefully/recruited?) later on either in a battle or hideout assault, which will mark a bandit faction as being defeated and no more hideouts will respawn until a fief becomes disloyal, impoverished and dangerous, causing a bandit hideouts to respawn. Once they are able to reach a certain level of power (maybe give bandits tier system similar to clans?) a new bandit hero will spawn in and have to be dealt with.
