I'm nearing the end of my 1st full CK2 game ever, and one of the 1st things I noticed was the magical navy mechanic. But I think it can be tweaked to make naval travel more realistic, and here's how: add a supply factor to navies.
The amount of supplies a navy should have should depend on the troop to ship ratio so that navies with extra ships should have more supplies since they're not crammed full of troops, leaving room for more food and supplies, like in reality. Once the supplies run out attrition should begin.
Of course this in itself does nothing much other than slightly increase the troops who will survive the long voyage...but we could go a step further and provide ways to resupply your navies while on a voyage. For example, docking your ships in a port you control (we could include occupied territories too so you can get home) should gradually restore your navy's supplies (like how you need time to restore armies' morale). This would also add time to your total voyage, making travel times seem more realistic and less... magical.
"But finalstrike, what if I'm the king of Norway and want to make war on the Byzantine Empire, but I don't have any territory anywhere near there? I'd run out of supplies really early and be unable to resupply!!!" Well, friend, the solution is visiting friendly ports. Include a mechanic where you can land your fleet in a ruler's territory (who you are NOT at war with), with the ruler's permission. It could be an option in the diplomacy screen such as: Request Permission to Dock. If the ruler accepts then you can land your fleets there for a certain period of time (this is cancelled immediately if you go to war with the ruler). The more a ruler likes you the more likely they'll accept. Your allies will always accept (making alliances much more useful). There could be other factors too. For example, you being at war with one of their allies could be a consideration as well. You pay a certain amount of gold to the ruler as long as you remain docked (paying for space in their harbor). You pay even more as long as you are resupplying (paying for goods). This increases the cost of naval travel, making it more realistic.
For those tyrants out there who have no friends or allies, an intrigue option could be created to allow you to dock anyway, such as a Forge Harbormaster Permission option. This would give the same effect as consent...except for pissing off the ruler as well.
There you have it, a way to make naval travel longer, more expensive, and, thus, more realistic without drastically destabilizing the game or hindering your ability for large naval invasions (in theory). It also adds a new element to consider with your foreign policy making. It doesn't fix eveything, but I feel it's a step in the right direction.
Thoughts?
The amount of supplies a navy should have should depend on the troop to ship ratio so that navies with extra ships should have more supplies since they're not crammed full of troops, leaving room for more food and supplies, like in reality. Once the supplies run out attrition should begin.
Of course this in itself does nothing much other than slightly increase the troops who will survive the long voyage...but we could go a step further and provide ways to resupply your navies while on a voyage. For example, docking your ships in a port you control (we could include occupied territories too so you can get home) should gradually restore your navy's supplies (like how you need time to restore armies' morale). This would also add time to your total voyage, making travel times seem more realistic and less... magical.
"But finalstrike, what if I'm the king of Norway and want to make war on the Byzantine Empire, but I don't have any territory anywhere near there? I'd run out of supplies really early and be unable to resupply!!!" Well, friend, the solution is visiting friendly ports. Include a mechanic where you can land your fleet in a ruler's territory (who you are NOT at war with), with the ruler's permission. It could be an option in the diplomacy screen such as: Request Permission to Dock. If the ruler accepts then you can land your fleets there for a certain period of time (this is cancelled immediately if you go to war with the ruler). The more a ruler likes you the more likely they'll accept. Your allies will always accept (making alliances much more useful). There could be other factors too. For example, you being at war with one of their allies could be a consideration as well. You pay a certain amount of gold to the ruler as long as you remain docked (paying for space in their harbor). You pay even more as long as you are resupplying (paying for goods). This increases the cost of naval travel, making it more realistic.
For those tyrants out there who have no friends or allies, an intrigue option could be created to allow you to dock anyway, such as a Forge Harbormaster Permission option. This would give the same effect as consent...except for pissing off the ruler as well.
There you have it, a way to make naval travel longer, more expensive, and, thus, more realistic without drastically destabilizing the game or hindering your ability for large naval invasions (in theory). It also adds a new element to consider with your foreign policy making. It doesn't fix eveything, but I feel it's a step in the right direction.
Thoughts?
