Military Folkmote – May 885 (a summary of advice from Chapter 45)
Military Folkmote – May 885 (a summary of advice from Chapter 45)
With a small but knowledgeable turnout, a small military folkmote was convened in Nygarðr in May, as spring warmed the soil, the raiding fleet made its long voyage back from the West and the peasant rebellion in Chud was continued.
General Comments
Unfortunately, only Grimr has responded positively this time.
“he is also a shy, gluttonous, deceitful, paranoid, heathen Finnish craven, who likes you not.”
If they were to revolt, I could at least summon a tribal army in extremis, as the Romans would say, and await the return of the raiding party. Then settle their hash for good!”
Perhaps even take the fight to the rebels before the raiders can return and a new levy summoned. Or at least be ready as an advanced guard.
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
Ch45 Q1: Foreign War Reporting. I have made ‘A war you were not part of ends’ a Priority 1 alert – meaning I should get a pop-up. But it was already Priority 2 and nothing appeared re the Mari victory in the message alerts either. How widely (if at all) is the declaration and conclusion of a foreign war you are not part of reported? Do you have to flag the ruler of the country(ies) involved as characters of interest to get them? I don’t think I’ve been getting any at all so far. Basically, I’d like a pop-up that says “Mari won its war of subjugation against Mordvin”. I’m used to seeing them in other AARs (and realise that by getting them I might be wading through a lot of unwanted war start/end messages but can see what is bearable). Have I ticked the right topic and button (Pri 1)? Do I need to pick the countries I’m interested in and flag their rulers as well? I cycled through all the alerts on the menu and ticked a few others too that I want for AAR (mainly) purposes too.
Ch45 Q2: Allied Objectives When Not Attached to an Army. The two options presented for allied contingents when they are not ordered to join your army are to either siege enemy counties (the rebels don’t hold one yet, so I presume that would be pointless in current circumstances) or to ‘hunt enemies’. I take it the latter leaves it up to the AI’s discretion as to what they seek to attack. Anyone have experience of how that tends to go? Is the AI smart enough not to attack with clearly inferior numbers? Would they work in tandem with another allied contingent (eg Hrolfr’s if it responds) or just blunder around by itself? I always assume the worst case with the AI unless demonstrated experience indicates otherwise! The answer to the next question may, however, give me a bit of a work-around in this case.
Ch45 Q3: Calling up Unsummoned Demesne Levy Contingents While Some are Already Deployed. OK, I’ve noticed there were a couple of small demesne levies (the two Godis, mainly) who I didn’t summon for the raid. The relevant button says I could summon about 60 or so troops without the need to dismiss and resummon the main contingents, with the prohibitive losses that would incur. So, am I right in assuming I could do that, then call allied contingents to join that army, so I could centralise and control them more reliably? Without jeopardising things? I’d do a little experiment, but because I’m in Ironman mode I can’t afford to stuff it up, so am asking the Þing instead.
Ch45 Q4: Peasant Revolt Warscore and Strategy. Under usual circumstances for peasant revolts, what kind of warscore would taking Chud give the rebels? Would taking it send it to 100% and mean I lose the county, or would they also (like in other circumstances) need to win a field battle as well to win and force me to yield? This being my first such, I’m not sure how much time I have to gather a riposte. And any views on the initial holding approach (concentrating vassal ally levies around a small demesne levy) would also be welcome. Together, they might even be strong enough to send against a lightly armed peasant levy.
All: Thank you for those who voted for this AAR in the last (Q2 2018) ACAs – it was surprising and a little touching and humbling to be grouped there with some great AARs. Your support is always very welcome and helps keep me writing.
Now, off to play the next session, where I will try out rebellion-crushing tactics - the first internal conflict since the game commenced, as none of the vassals have rebelled or needed to be disciplined yet!
With a small but knowledgeable turnout, a small military folkmote was convened in Nygarðr in May, as spring warmed the soil, the raiding fleet made its long voyage back from the West and the peasant rebellion in Chud was continued.
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
General Comments
Will bear in mind, especially when it gets to the point that I can actually change some again!No responces for the latest questions. regarding the laws, most of the factors mentioned are in addition to existing capabilities, but some also mention things that you can no longer do as you drop to a certain level. Check the tribal organization laws for probable examples, though maybe they don't appear until you've upped it some.
Thanks – though the casualties were pretty heavy in the end, but the gold and prestige will be useful. Learned more, too.All in all a good raid.
Thanks!Another good episode
Unfortunately, only Grimr has responded positively this time.
He’d already dropped a little negative by then (some earlier influences dropping off. And then the Flame was quenched!I was expecting Vsemil to join in as well :/
“he is also a shy, gluttonous, deceitful, paranoid, heathen Finnish craven, who likes you not.”
Yes, the son is not half what the father was. But we’ll work with what we have! My main concern is he could be a Hel worshipper …At least his coat of arms seem to have 2 sturgeons. I like some smoked sturgeons His father was a heathen, but a true man. How could he be known as the cleansing flame if he wasn't?
If they were to revolt, I could at least summon a tribal army in extremis, as the Romans would say, and await the return of the raiding party. Then settle their hash for good!”
Will do.This is what I would do. Wait for the army to return. If something REALLY bad happens while they're away, call the tribal army as a last resort to patch things (and maybe put the tribal army to good use by declaring a few more wars to make the best of the prestige?).
Perhaps even take the fight to the rebels before the raiders can return and a new levy summoned. Or at least be ready as an advanced guard.
The usual mix: mainly light inf and archers, with a small core of heaving inf. The rebels are all LI and archers. So we’d have a bit of a quality edge.What is the troop composition of the 2 armies that we have on the field?
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
Ch45 Q1: Foreign War Reporting. I have made ‘A war you were not part of ends’ a Priority 1 alert – meaning I should get a pop-up. But it was already Priority 2 and nothing appeared re the Mari victory in the message alerts either. How widely (if at all) is the declaration and conclusion of a foreign war you are not part of reported? Do you have to flag the ruler of the country(ies) involved as characters of interest to get them? I don’t think I’ve been getting any at all so far. Basically, I’d like a pop-up that says “Mari won its war of subjugation against Mordvin”. I’m used to seeing them in other AARs (and realise that by getting them I might be wading through a lot of unwanted war start/end messages but can see what is bearable). Have I ticked the right topic and button (Pri 1)? Do I need to pick the countries I’m interested in and flag their rulers as well? I cycled through all the alerts on the menu and ticked a few others too that I want for AAR (mainly) purposes too.
Looks like I’ll just play around with this and see what happens. It’s about 1/3 game awareness, 2/3 for AAR purposes.Unfortunately I haven't touched message settings in a while now, so I can't really help here.
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
Ch45 Q2: Allied Objectives When Not Attached to an Army. The two options presented for allied contingents when they are not ordered to join your army are to either siege enemy counties (the rebels don’t hold one yet, so I presume that would be pointless in current circumstances) or to ‘hunt enemies’. I take it the latter leaves it up to the AI’s discretion as to what they seek to attack. Anyone have experience of how that tends to go? Is the AI smart enough not to attack with clearly inferior numbers? Would they work in tandem with another allied contingent (eg Hrolfr’s if it responds) or just blunder around by itself? I always assume the worst case with the AI unless demonstrated experience indicates otherwise! The answer to the next question may, however, give me a bit of a work-around in this case.
I don't think it will blindly attack and meet certain death, but one can never be too sure about the AI.
Thanks guys, useful info. Though this time (per below) I may be able to avoid the risk. Certainly, in the previous eastern expansion wars, the allied vassal levies did a fairly good job of skirting larger enemy formations to join up with the main body. Though this time I’d be asking them to hunt the enemy.As with diskoerekto, I don't see why this wouldn't work. The AI is generally smart enough not to dash its brains out in an obviously unwinnable attack, though they are still sometimes embarrassingly prone to getting "baited" into attacking smaller forces while ignoring the fact that the big army that just marched into the fog one province over can smash their face in -- but then, the AI itself rarely sets traps like that in the first place, so that usually only ever happens by accident. In any case, from what I've seen smaller allied forces will tend to try to "lump" into the largest army within easy reach anyway, to increase their own odds of survival.
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
Ch45 Q3: Calling up Unsummoned Demesne Levy Contingents While Some are Already Deployed. OK, I’ve noticed there were a couple of small demesne levies (the two Godis, mainly) who I didn’t summon for the raid. The relevant button says I could summon about 60 or so troops without the need to dismiss and resummon the main contingents, with the prohibitive losses that would incur. So, am I right in assuming I could do that, then call allied contingents to join that army, so I could centralise and control them more reliably? Without jeopardising things? I’d do a little experiment, but because I’m in Ironman mode I can’t afford to stuff it up, so am asking the Þing instead.
I'm guessing this would work
Again, thanks. I’m pretty confident this will work fine and allow me to rally the responding vassals safely. Will be trying it out soon!If the button isn't greyed out in your "Levies" screen, then that means that there are forces that can be called up. (Whether it's safe to do so is a different matter -- if you're not certain, either call up your units individually by province, or Shift-Click / Control-Click (I forget which; thankfully the in-game tooltip should clarify) to call up all units in provinces that don't have any active enemy armies.)
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
Ch45 Q4: Peasant Revolt Warscore and Strategy. Under usual circumstances for peasant revolts, what kind of warscore would taking Chud give the rebels? Would taking it send it to 100% and mean I lose the county, or would they also (like in other circumstances) need to win a field battle as well to win and force me to yield? This being my first such, I’m not sure how much time I have to gather a riposte. And any views on the initial holding approach (concentrating vassal ally levies around a small demesne levy) would also be welcome. Together, they might even be strong enough to send against a lightly armed peasant levy.
OK. I don’t like letting things drift at the best of times, so I’m with you there on sorting these rebel scum out quickly. Because who knows when a fairly strong situation can suddenly turn nasty (for example, now would not be a good time for a succession crisis and then independence war. This isn’t a spoiler: I haven’t played it yet. Just sayin’.Peasant rebellions still operate under the normal war score mechanics (though I think the "Occupation" tick is a little faster than average, in both directions), so a decent-sized realm like Gardariki can generally afford to sacrifice a province or two if they have to. I'd still encourage mopping them up with all due speed, as nasty things can happen if they're allowed to spread, but in general peasant rebellions are rarely a threat by themselves -- unless you're a small realm with few holdings or really careless about suppressing them, they're only dangerous if the realm's stability is already fundamentally compromised in some way.
ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁ ᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ
All: Thank you for those who voted for this AAR in the last (Q2 2018) ACAs – it was surprising and a little touching and humbling to be grouped there with some great AARs. Your support is always very welcome and helps keep me writing.
Now, off to play the next session, where I will try out rebellion-crushing tactics - the first internal conflict since the game commenced, as none of the vassals have rebelled or needed to be disciplined yet!