What constitutes an army?

[MarkQuinn]

I've been asking my fellow lords how the wars are going, and they've been saying "We have 8 armies, they have 7," etc.  I never really paid much attention to what an army actually meant or was, until suddenly I was told "We have 0 armies, they have 5".  If an army is just a lord with troops, then we should have more than 0 because I've just been talking to a lord (in other words he wasn't captured or anything). 

So what does it mean?

Note: I tried to look this up on the forum, but you can imagine how helpful the word "army" would be in such a search.

Many thanks.

 

[Magorian Aximand]

I managed to find this thread on the topic, along with a few others. I think the general consensus is that the lord's party must be in the field and ready to fight.

 

[noosers]

Not in the field but at least ready to fight. And I think the report is referring to the day before, so your information is a day behind.

 

[Magorian Aximand]

If you search for the topic, most people agree that they don't count lords that are sitting in their castles. So yes, in the field.

 

[MarkQuinn]

Thanks all for the answers.

If I understand this correctly, then, the information is basically meaningless.  At least if I want to use it to get a general idea of how many troops we have vs. them.  Indeed, our armies might be ten times bigger than the enemy's, but if we're all resting in castles, the report will say "We have 0 armies and they have x", giving me a completely erroneous idea of how the war is actually going. 

Seems to me a better method (without getting too complicated) would be to count the total number of troops joined to a lord. 

 

[Bulzeeb]

^Don't forget troop composition as well. A large group of looters will flee from a smaller corp of elite Swadian Knights, after all.

Ideally each troop would have a value assigned to it based on combat ability (and I presume that they already do in order to figure out how auto-battles go), and an army's total strength would be the troops x troops' value for each different troop.

 

[ddrake]

Hi,
as stated in one of the previous threads on this topic it has more to do with the amount of troops one lord has compared to his max party size. If troop number is above K% then the party is considered an 'army'. What value K is i have no clue, probably somewhere around 80%
A faction which is constantly losing battles will thus have less armies than it's opponent.

But yes, it's hardly a useful information.

 

[Malgorus]

Depends who you will be fighting. If you are fighting bandits some <Insert faction name here> footmen and archers. If you will be fighting Factions you will need Caverly, footmen, archers and some companions.

 

[Lord Bryggan]

It can be very helpful, as it gives you an idea how soon to expect a war party descending down on your castle(s), especially if you're cheap like me and keep small garrisons.  0-7 enemy armies means you can finally deliver that wine to Halmar, kill that murderer in Burglen and bring the ransom money to the bandits at Shapeste.

 

[Stubb]

The best reply I've gotten is "We have 0 armies and they have 0. Overall, I'd say we're evenly matched".

No Lick, Shershot...

 

[Edwards]

Under the urn, churl.