Demesne statistics
Last week I mentioned that I moved to Popular Law, reflecting the Mathian Reforms that restore some power to the Senate and the people, as against the Emperor and the magnates respectively. I hadn't realised that this means I'm forced to have scutage at 50%, limiting the number of troops I get from my vassals; but unintended effects of legal changes should not surprise anyone. In any case I'm pretty well stuck with it now.
However, while the Roman army is now a bit smaller, it punches well above its weight. Have a look at the percentage of each troop type in the various realms' demesnes:
Code:
HCav LCav HInf LInf Pike Arch Total
BOHE 0.17 0.24 0.10 0.38 0.04 0.08 262094
BULG 0.19 0.31 0.29 0.00 0.10 0.10 124315
CROA 0.17 0.21 0.11 0.39 0.06 0.06 103563
DENM 0.13 0.22 0.07 0.39 0.10 0.10 97476
LEON 0.13 0.12 0.28 0.19 0.08 0.20 197557
PERS 0.17 0.28 0.06 0.43 0.00 0.05 361046
RUSS 0.18 0.24 0.05 0.41 0.06 0.06 221577
MAML 0.17 0.24 0.07 0.40 0.06 0.06 82934
FATI 0.18 0.22 0.09 0.42 0.04 0.05 245446
Note that this is demesne only, since my vassals are mostly not on Popular Law, although that should change as they get events. Bing, zero percent useless militia, thirty percent bitchin' heavy infantry, thirty percent howling Cossacks! And I still get more heavy cavalry than anyone else, in spite of the Feudal Contract most people are on - the exception being Leon with Royal Prerogative.
Demesne for demesne, then, I'll match my troops against anyone; take FATI as an example. Although his demesne troops would outnumber mine two to one, I would actually have more heavy infantry and pikemen, and the same number of archers. His militia, admittedly, would be good for soaking up the casualties; but I suspect I'd win the battle. As for Croatia, there is nothing I would like better than to see another lightly-armed horde of tribal levies dash themselves to pieces against the solid wall of disciplined Roman infantry, before the thunderous charge of the kataphrakts drove them from the field. The savage dash of the Cossacks gleefully spearing and sabring the panicked, fleeing remnants would be merely the final touch.
Since I was doing demesne statistics anyway, I decided to pick out the troop-type weights due to techs. The weight is defined as the attack plus defense weights, times the morale multiplier; I calculate the average over the demesne.
Code:
HCav LCav HInf LInf Pike Arch Prod Cult
BOHE 42.25 29.33 32.29 14.67 24.89 18.83 31.61 20.83
BULG 70.52 33.79 49.60 0.00 32.56 22.47 38.80 28.30
CROA 55.72 32.57 41.96 16.05 31.56 21.19 35.62 26.23
DENM 47.81 30.37 34.81 14.69 24.85 18.45 30.27 21.07
LEON 50.82 30.17 37.72 15.20 28.58 19.65 32.44 25.18
PERS 55.20 31.78 39.56 16.48 34.65 21.28 35.48 26.00
RUSS 54.26 31.34 40.89 16.18 31.77 20.89 35.67 25.67
MAML 44.27 30.20 32.40 14.76 25.72 19.35 30.83 22.25
FATI 59.29 32.00 41.59 15.79 30.33 20.68 37.05 28.57
The conclusion is as clear, and as unexpected, as sunrise: Rome's troops are the finest in the world not only because we don't waste men as light infantry, but also because within each category of actual fighting men, we are superior. A single exception is Persia's excellent pikemen; but they are not numerous.
The final two columns are the average number of production and culture techs within the demesne, and again Rome stands out as having the most advanced economy and the most refined culture anywhere in the world. Of course this can hardly surprise anyone; after all, is it not truly said that there are Romans citizens, and then there are barbarians? The numbers do not lie, and why should they? They were invented by Romans, after all.