Mothballing armies and automated loan payments

[Simoleum]

1) Let us mothball single armies. If you need to save money, but keep a maintained army near your most dangerous front, then this is the best alternative. Now you either have to have all, or no armies maintained.

2) Add a check box that auto-pays loans for you, possibly only parts of it. It's weird you have to pay it back in its whole, and not pay off bit by bit.

Have a good day!

 

[gdj]

How exactly do you mothball soldiers? Put them in the fridge to keep them fresh?

EDIT:
Ok, sorry, that was a bit too cynical.

But the point is: mothballing forts and navies means that theit crews and garrisons are dismissed, the soldiers there are not "mothballed".

Lowering maintenance of your armies means that the military budget is shortened, which means serving in the military is less attractive.

Lowering maintenance for single armies while fully maintaining all others feels a bit weird. I mean wouldn´t the soldiers simply mass desert/defect, the officers demand transfer to other units etc? This obviously unequal tretament of units would sure have some consequences?

 

[Simoleum]

How exactly do you mothball soldiers? Put them in the fridge to keep them fresh?

EDIT:
Ok, sorry, that was a bit too cynical.

But the point is: mothballing forts and navies means that theit crews and garrisons are dismissed, the soldiers there are not "mothballed".

Lowering maintenance of your armies means that the military budget is shortened, which means serving in the military is less attractive.

Lowering maintenance for single armies while fully maintaining all others feels a bit weird. I mean wouldn´t the soldiers simply mass desert/defect, the officers demand transfer to other units etc? This obviously unequal tretament of units would sure have some consequences?

I see it more as canceling most training, practices, etc. If you then re-enable it, it will have to get its morale back. It's basically the same as maintence, only for individual armies. Soldiers dont go away when you lower maitenance

 

[gdj]

Good point!

 

[Basileios Makedon]

Yes! Keep the colonial armies funded but monthballing the mainland ones would be a nice ability

 

[Isaios]

Sounds excellent! I've been thinking of a "reserve" system, that would be paid for like normal soldiers, but then not having the same upkeep, and would have to be brought up like mercenaries. Pay up front, skip the upkeep till they're needed, then be able to dismiss them back to the reserve.

Might be too modern a concept of course, but then so's standing armies in 1444.

 

[Connacht]

good idea, maybe I would also add some other handicaps to "mothballed" armies in comparison to simply general low maintenance levels, thus giving the player a decision: either reduce maintenance to everybody, even those I perhaps need now, or cherry pick armies but with a little malus.

 

[trybald]

How exactly do you mothball soldiers? Put them in the fridge to keep them fresh?

Closed quarters, billeting - first things that come to mind. There was a stark contrast between wartime and peacetime in how soldiers were treated and financied. In the former, they were usually in the most deplorable state.

Of course, we are talking about times when stated actually did have standing armies. In real life standing armies started to dominate only in the late 17th century. Before that, the bulk of armies were formed ad hoc for the duration of the campaign. They were disbanded either when money run out or when they were no longer needed. The fact that in EU4 we have states that support some 40k+ standing armies already in in 15th century is one of the most anachronistic things in the game. Not even Ottomans could do that at that time.