New Modifier: +1 Combat Bonus in Home Provinces

[FleetingRain]

So while I was writing my long-ass post for Me_'s thread, I kept noticing a curious pattern. There is a LOT of NIs that mention protecting the homelands in battle which give either Fort Defense or Morale of Armies (and rarely other related modifiers), and then there's also the Hostile Core-Creation NIs which also mention either rebellions or... protecting the homelands in battle.

This means we have a concept (fight to protect your home) being abstracted into three different modifiers. One of them works also when fighting outside of the homeland (Morale of Armies); another is more about holding out until the true fight can happen (Fort Defense), and the third one is purely passive and also touches on rebellion (HCC). This looks to me like band-aid solutions due to a lack of a proper modifier for this concept.

Now that we have +1 Combat in Same Terrain as Capital (we need a shorter name), I think we can go further and get another similar rule/modifier: +1 Combat in Home (Owned) Provinces. While 1CC covers experienced armies that will know how to fight in certain terrains even in foreign lands, +1CH will let a nation fight fiercer in their own home turf, playing defensively and yet not passively. This means the modifier is totally geared towards the concept's intent, being defensive, instead of being passive or being used for conquest.

Some examples of NIs that could get +1CH as an addition or replacement:

Spoiler

-Onward Christian Soldiers (Divine) - +10% National Garrison Growth, +10% Garrison Size
"Let it be the duty of every Christian Soldier, not to march off for war, but to stay at home and defend the fortress of Christ."

-Galicia la Bella (Galicia) - 20% Fort Defense
"Unlike the dry scrublands to the south, Galicia's landscape is dominated by mountains and ceaseless rain. Galicians themselves are almost as inhospitable to invaders as the terrain, as many a foreigner came to realize. Let none dare step in our land!"

-Martial Heritage (Kangra) - +10% Morale of Armies
"The Martial traditions of our people go far back, and while our cousins in the Rajput states to the South may be more famous we have proven time after time that we can make life very miserable for an invader. Everyone leaves eventually."

-Fortify the Domain (Kikuchi) - +10% Morale of Armies
"Our rich lands are an attractive target for greedy neighbors. We must therefore consolidate and fortify our lands to make them as unappetizing as possible for foreign invaders."

-Land of Glory (Sadiya) - +10% Morale of Armies
"Sadiya has thrived in this region as a kingdom ever since the great Birpal founded our country. While our people did not originate here we have made this area our home and our history here goes much farther back than our Ahom neighbors. This is our land and we will defend it to the last man or woman, death before dishonor."

-Repel the French (Savoy) - +20% Fort Defense
"This land has belonged to the House of Savoy since Umberto I took the title in 1032, but the French have long dreamed of Italian supremacy, and the path to their ambition lies straight through our lands. We must be ready if they come again."

-Defender of Japan (Shoni) - +10% Morale of Armies
"As a leading samurai family in Northern Kyushu, we have bravely thought against two Mongol invasions in the late 13th century. People are saying that the Japanese gods saved us, but it was in fact our men who fought for Japan! Should the need arise we will once again rise to defend both Kyushu and the realm at large from outside invaders."

-Rebuild the Castle of Sligo (Sligo) - +25% Hostile Coring Cost
"For centuries many invaders have come to our lands seeking control over the strategically important Castle of Sligo. So many times has this old fort been repaired and again destroyed, that today we are not even sure where the main ruins are, even though parts of it still stand. In any case, this old fort is a symbol to our people. If we can rebuild it, we can turn this powerful rebirth of a legend into a new hope for them."

-Unite the Tribes (Tapuia) - +15% National Manpower Modifier
"Rumors and whispers come along the rivers. Stories of a white man coming to our shores from across the Endless Seas and a distant land. Entire villages on top of great wooden boats full of men with fire sticks. Wherever they come, death soon follows. If we are to survive this challenge, unlike any other ever encountered by our people, we must gather all our villages and communities and prepare to act as one."

The only thing that's left hanging would be the concept of rebelling in HCC. This one would need a new rule, something like "+10 Years of Separatism in Our Conquered Cores" but honestly, it still looks bad; why in the hell are you playing to lose like that? Nah, instead, HCC should also be replaced with 1CH and that's it. If the idea of HCC is that the AI is less likely to conquer HCC tags, then 1CH could have the same AI impact, as they'd show in battle that they can hold their own.

 

[The Guy 123]

A very useful modifier that would better represent how certain nations defended their homeland instead of using a discipline or morale modifier, which seems much less elegant.

 

[CharlesII]

Would work well for the defensive group imho

 

[FleetingRain]

Would work well for the defensive group imho

Possibly; in this case they'd probably replace +15% Morale of Armies. I wasn't planning on having the modifier so accessible, though, and the Morale of Armies one would need to be placed elsewhere (Aristocratic?).

 

[Canute VII]

Imho replacement of modifiers is not neccessary. But your point to better tailor effects, is. At least national ideas should only be effective with restrictions, like e.g.

• +morale only in owned provinces
• HCC only in provinces of primary culture
• -Core creation cost only in provinces of own culture group
• etc.

 

[grommile]

HCC should be removed from the game (its removal from aristocratic was a massive step forward).

If it isn't removed, it should be moved into the effects of the cultures whose tags currently have it, and non-deadweight ideas put into those tags' idea sets in its place, so that while coring Rajput provinces is still painful, you don't have to treat Rajputs, Caucasians, or Wallachians like they're some kind of invasive cancer to be cauterized from the map sooner-than-soon lest they metastasize.

 

[FleetingRain]

HCC should be removed from the game (its removal from aristocratic was a massive step forward).

If it isn't removed, it should be moved into the effects of the cultures whose tags currently have it, and non-deadweight ideas put into those tags' idea sets in its place, so that while coring Rajput provinces is still painful, you don't have to treat Rajputs, Caucasians, or Wallachians like they're some kind of invasive cancer to be cauterized from the map sooner-than-soon lest they metastasize.

How come no one thought of that before? Yeah, if we were to keep this cancer in the game (who knows what's in Johan's mind...), this would be the best course of action.

 

[HRErceg]

There should also be a way to represent how some countries fought better at certain terrains, for example the Swiss, Scotts, people from the Dinarics and maybe even Navarra should fight better in mountains just like the Hordes fight better in the steppes.

And i see that many mountainous countries sent troops as mercenaries to other countries, and those troops fought exceptionally well (i.e. Swiss pikemen, and Scottish Galloglaigh)