ARLES - A Military/Economic Overhaul Submod

[BigPharma]

What is ARLES?

Simply put, ARLES is an attempt to introduce cultural and regional diversity of the world of CK2 into the game. As such, a general overhaul of all core systems, from the building system to technological advancement to how war is waged, will be required. However, measures will be taken to ensure compatibility with EMF and SWMH, two mods which in my humble opinion provide the environment necessary for these changes to thrive.

What is required/recommended for this mod?
- EMF (required): the balancing, mechanical and quality of life changes instituted in this mod remedy many of the inconsistencies or inaccuracies of the vanilla mechanics
- SWMH (required): The painstaking efforts that have gone into ensuring accurate cultural boundaries and terrain are very much appreciated and utilized.
- Legacy of Rome (required): The new mechanics in their current state make use of the retinue system to simulate the steady development of paid, professional armies.
- Conclave (required): The new council mechanics work very well with the planned court overhaul. In addition, the dynamic mercenary system will be the core of a new retinue system that is used by all non-Imperial governments.

What are the planned features?

At the moment, much remains to be done in terms of research (and coding help) in order to fill in the ARLES framework. The finished product will include the following:

1) Economic Overhaul
- Simplified resource system based on local and regional geography lending local and possibly realm-wide benefits, with 7 base natural resources and up to 15 trade goods to be used from construction to producing beautiful tapestries to forging arms and armor.
- Simplified population system to simulate growth of major cities as well as economic growth, closely tied to the resource system. Watch as your cities grow on their own as your industries boom, but protect them well, as constant warring, sieges, and raids will drain your economy and cause your people to become weary or even revolt.
- Exotic Goods system to allow importing prized goods such as gold, amber, silk, spices, ivory, and even ebony from the forests of Southern India
- Almost all economic benefits will no longer be conferred by buildings within holdings unless deemed necessary for the sake of flexibility
- Rework of tribal economy to be reliant on trade when raiding is no longer feasible
- Western European, Eastern European, Muslim-influenced, Indian, and Steppe building sets

2) Military Overhaul
- Replacing the current LoR retinue system with a ducal/royal/imperial guard, complete with its own appointed commanders and full player control over the composition of the unit. Win battles with your elite guard and make them into the most feared fighting force in the known world, but be careful, as ambitious commanders could scheme against you and incite a deadly rebellion!
- New cultural tactics and compositions dependent on technology, able to be chosen by players at will to adapt to new circumstances
- Rework of tribal military to make them more competitive against feudal and nomadic foes

3) Cultural Overhaul (features WIP)
- Reworking of minor titles and council positions to have more of an effect on a monarch's capacity to rule. New minor titles will be added and unlocked through advancement through the culture tech tree
- Addition of unique cultural bonuses/maluses, buildings, tactics, traditions, and possibly even traits

4) Compatibiliy
Although the systems affected are quite extensive, the goal is to replace as little as possible and allow for other mechanics of the game to run unaffected.

What roles are needed?
- Researchers: people with expertise on the many cultures and polities found in the game to help with crafting unique systems for each cultural group and geographical region. Knowledge regarding military matters are especially appreciated.
- Consultant coders: veterans of other modding projects who would like to offer advice on how systems could be properly balanced and implemented.

Please feel free to PM me if you would like to help with this enormous venture. Your assistance is welcomed and very much appreciated!

 

[BigPharma]

Developer Diaries:
#1: Prosperity and Base Resources

 

[Prof. Wubba]

This looks fantastic, please keep us updated. I'd love to help but I have little to contribute.

 

[Truewhit]

I think Andalusian's, Bedouins and Berbers should have the ability to raid.

 

[BigPharma]

I think Andalusian's, Bedouins and Berbers should have the ability to raid.

Noted. I will be sure to include this, since I've always been a bit uneasy by how easy it is for the Christians to finish the Reconquista. Some regular border raids and skirmishes would help apply more counter-pressure.

 

[Truewhit]

Even today there are tribes in India. I think if you added tribes in India it would be a more interesting landscape to play in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_tribal_belt

 

[BigPharma]

Even today there are tribes in India. I think if you added tribes in India it would be a more interesting landscape to play in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_tribal_belt

This is true, in EU4 there are tribal confederations in the more forested areas of Central India, so I will consider it. The only thing is that making tribals viable for the entirety of the time period may require me to redo the tribal building system, but that is something I am willing to do if I can get more ideas on how to properly balance them.

 

[SholanShaman]

How do you plan to implement the composition of muslim armies in the high medieval era? My understanding is that it was much more slave soldiers (retinues?), and fewer local levies than Europe.

 

[G.Strategos]

Looks interesting...

 

[Fullarmor]

Sir, thank you for this.

 

[BigPharma]

How do you plan to implement the composition of muslim armies in the high medieval era? My understanding is that it was much more slave soldiers (retinues?), and fewer local levies than Europe.

I may very well use retinues, which holdings adding retinue cap and subtracting from levies.

 

[SholanShaman]

The other way that might be done is with event spawned troops. Rulers could have a branching decision about what kind of soldier (Sub-saharrans, local christian, mamluks, turkic ghilman) and how whether or not to establish a further system (reinforcing stack at the expense of tax modifier, cheeper armies later) or not. It'd have to be a whole system onto itself, and that might be a bit too complicate.

Good courtiers should definitely come along with them, to tempt rulers into landing a slave dynasty. A huge portion of islamic governors-turned-rulers in Central Asia and India came from slave dynasties.

 

[BigPharma]

The other way that might be done is with event spawned troops. Rulers could have a branching decision about what kind of soldier (Sub-saharrans, local christian, mamluks, turkic ghilman) and how whether or not to establish a further system (reinforcing stack at the expense of tax modifier, cheeper armies later) or not. It'd have to be a whole system onto itself, and that might be a bit too complicate.

Good courtiers should definitely come along with them, to tempt rulers into landing a slave dynasty. A huge portion of islamic governors-turned-rulers in Central Asia and India came from slave dynasties.

This sounds like a good idea. The slaves available should come from lands owned and possibly even from event spawned troops as the result of active raiding. I will definitely try to give this more thought.

 

[G.Strategos]

Very good suggestions guys...

 

[Magnus Helvetti]

Maybe make sieges harder, and the spoils of it more dramatic (as in, the loser is penalized for letting his holdings be sieged) and scaling it so that if you lose your capital, you're in big trouble. With this in mind, make battles worth more battlescore and more dramatic also, if you lose too many troops (if many soldiers are killed, you have to wait more time to raise the levy again, so you could be on the verge of losing the war).

For retinues, their importance should not be low: make it hard for poor countries to have standing armies (low size or penalties), and I don't know if it is possible, but reduce the levy as the retinue cap is expanded (the men that were drafted before now join the ranks), giving it a bonus on morale, etc.

 

[BigPharma]

After giving the Muslims some more thought, I think something that I might do is this:

- Increase the rate at which decadence is gained, if possible, and increase the likelihood of unlanded sons of emirs and sultans becoming decadent.

- Decrease the quality of levies that can be raised from holdings to only a few HI and predominantly LI and archers that will get shredded in battle against any well-disciplined foe.

- Make slave armies available as a cheaper alternative to full on retinue troops (the cost of which has been very much increased already).

- Make a building available in the cities called the slave market. Once this is built, a duke or king-level character with a city with this building in his demesne can occasionally enact a decision to purchase some new slaves, at the cost of gold and some decadence. Needless to say, if a Muslim ruler accumulates slave armies without going to war, he will be at a severe disadvantage. Even worse, at high levels of decadence, I would like for these slave armies to possibly rally behind a charismatic commander to overthrow the sultan. This can be avoided by executing all the slave commanders, but then one will be at a loss for talented men to lead the armies and serve on the council.

- Make raiding available to all Muslims with the iqta government. With every successful raid, there is a small chance for an event to fire that will decrease decadence and reward the raider with some slave troops. This is also intended as a deterrent to wanton blobbing since it is more ideal to raid your neighbors instead of outright conquering them, as that would trade the chance to better armed and equipped slave troops for having to settle with low quality levies.

Let me know what you think!

 

[BigPharma]

Maybe make sieges harder, and the spoils of it more dramatic (as in, the loser is penalized for letting his holdings be sieged) and scaling it so that if you lose your capital, you're in big trouble. With this in mind, make battles worth more battlescore and more dramatic also, if you lose too many troops (if many soldiers are killed, you have to wait more time to raise the levy again, so you could be on the verge of losing the war).

I'm not sure if this is something that is within the scope of this mod. We are using EMF as a framework to handle balance and such and so I will leave these matters to zijistark and company.

EDIT: What I can and already am planning to do is allow players to trade the ability raise as many troops for increased garrison size and increased fort level through more complex and advanced fortifications for a more defensively-minded player, so that sieges are more protracted and costly for the enemy. As for the losing troops, I plan to nerf levy regeneration significantly so hopefully that will help.

For retinues, their importance should not be low: make it hard for poor countries to have standing armies (low size or penalties), and I don't know if it is possible, but reduce the levy as the retinue cap is expanded (the men that were drafted before now join the ranks), giving it a bonus on morale, etc.

That's pretty much how EMF works already, although in the opposite direction: as polities grow larger, their retinue cap increases but at the cost of levy efficiency, which lowers the amount of levies you can raise.

Thank you for the suggestions though, they're very much appreciated!

 

[SholanShaman]

That's pretty well thought out. Muslims raiding has the possibility to be very over powered, but it tends to benefit vassals more consistently than rulers. A vassal could build up their own slave force without their liege being able to do anything about it, and be in prime position to launch into a civil war. There's a lot of potential for more accurate rises and falls for muslim states.

 

[BigPharma]

That's pretty well thought out. Muslims raiding has the possibility to be very over powered, but it tends to benefit vassals more consistently than rulers. A vassal could build up their own slave force without their liege being able to do anything about it, and be in prime position to launch into a civil war. There's a lot of potential for more accurate rises and falls for muslim states.

That's the idea, actually. Although I'll have to think about how to keep Iberia and the Byzantines from being too overrun by Muslim raiders, I am hoping that the danger of powerful vassals, slave rebellions, and having to maintain a strong military while balancing decadence will make Muslim gameplay a little more challenging and engaging.

 

[HandicapdHippo]

2) Building Overhaul
- Completely redone castle holdings with building trees that allow one to either focus on the production of well-trained foot or mounted troops (whose composition can be specialized based on culture), production of raw resources, or to serve as an impenetrable fortress

So these are exclusive paths? How is it going to be implemented? Are you going to be locked out of paths because the ai built stuff in the holding before you took the county or will there be a way to switch?