Xerxes Totally Hacked the Mod!

[Daedelus_McGee]

While I don't see a need for hundreds of thousands of followers, and not just because I'm afraid of pesky Spartans holding key terrain, it would be nice if Companion Leadership contributed to morale as well. Morale is lagging maximum unit size, and maximum unit size is fairly paltry for a mod with a map this size.

At some point, a target for maximum army size should be looked at, with some discussion of how large a force can be organized coherently under one leader.  Right now we're looking at king's with direct control of very light battalions, and it feels like we should have at least brigade strength under direct control.  To some extent this is a balancing issue, but in other ways it is more of an issue of scope.

This is not to say I don't see the importance of subsidiary commanders as part of the realism.  One of Gen. Robert E. Lee's biggest problems at Gettysburg was the lack of cavalry support caused by his decision to let Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart go for a lark on the Union's eastern flank. The consternation caused by missed communications, flawed executions, and sheer bloody-mindedness is essential to simulating warfare. Also important is the utility of leaving a weak subordinate behind to draw opportunists to their doom, something that can't be accomplished readily with massive monolithic forces.

Even though I'm not asking for "God-King" level of troops, it seems like for a map of this scope, larger army control is reasonable.

 

[LibSpit]

Don't forget that this is set in a more feudal era, where great armies were made of a number of lords bringing there own soldiers and conscripts from their land, also with the addition of noble troops you can quickly increase the size of a following force as each noble can form a force that is equal to your max capacity that does not effect your morale or costs, although this does need a bit of tweaking as you can have massive armies that cost next to nothing

So if you have just five noble soldiers and you have a max capacity of 100 or 200 you can quickly lead forth an army of 600-1200 men..with 10 nobles that jumps to 1-2000.

 

[manekemaan]

normally the regiments troop are more expensive than your own...

 

[LibSpit]

maybe it has been fixed since the last time I played I am lost as to what version I am on

 

[Notsure]

Id also like to have companions leadership effect moral, i see no use to enable the bonus right now if i cant support a good army on my own unlike other kings who ive seen carry 800 troops. Floris mod had something nice in that regard since higher tier troops gave moral bonus, it made being king a bit better for the player.

 

[Bismarck]

I too have morale problems with approximately 230 troops. At least 250 units should be possible with a leadership skill of 10 and plenty of food.
Warband Entrenched adds some lines of code which take companions into account. Every companion in your party adds a small morale boost to your troops.

 

[Waladil]

I've found large armies to be manageable at times: I just need to keep stopping and giving them more money. However, unless I'm on campaign, I prefer to run around with under 100 troops, mostly companions and Faith/Noble cavalry for speed.
When I'm on campaign, I've taken over 300 troops with me, and I'll rally some nobles if I have extraordinary need for more. But that large army does need constant morale aid, but that aid is available: We can get them drunk, we can throw money at them, and we can kill people.
Think about it this way: If you're a soldier, living in a dirty camp with a bunch of dirty other men, you get to bathe about once a month, you sleep in the rain and snow, and to top it all off, you have a good chance of death tomorrow morning, is a few denar a week really gonna cut it for you? But a good-sized combat bonus every few days sure would shut that grumbling up.

 

[Daedelus_McGee]

I've found large armies to be manageable at times: I just need to keep stopping and giving them more money. However, unless I'm on campaign, I prefer to run around with under 100 troops, mostly companions and Faith/Noble cavalry for speed.
When I'm on campaign, I've taken over 300 troops with me, and I'll rally some nobles if I have extraordinary need for more. But that large army does need constant morale aid, but that aid is available: We can get them drunk, we can throw money at them, and we can kill people.
Think about it this way: If you're a soldier, living in a dirty camp with a bunch of dirty other men, you get to bathe about once a month, you sleep in the rain and snow, and to top it all off, you have a good chance of death tomorrow morning, is a few denar a week really gonna cut it for you? But a good-sized combat bonus every few days sure would shut that grumbling up.

This is more a matter of Imperial strength than basic game playing.  The map is so large that the "reasonable" army sizes turn the expansion into a very dicey proposition.  It is very hard to build the force structure you need, based on your choices to match expected opposition, when your army is small.