A bunch of silly newbie questions

My guess is that Caravansaries are like ports. They help trade, but aren't a worthwhile investment until you already have alot of trade...

I remember asking my advisors earlier in game 8 about building ports to help trade, and got basically told not to bother since I didn't have the volume of trade to warrant the investment yet...

I also was told that about doing slave ships (another thing you can build to put to supporting that trade). I didn't have enough trade in that investment to warrant it.

Best build up Rozwi's trade, then. Though, when I think about it, I also constructed the caravansaries as safe-haven's along the tracks from settlement A to B. A safe place to sleep, if nothing else, being my thinking, or someplace to store valuable trade goods on the journey to the capital.

I'd suspect that my trade minister would advise me not to build anymore, should I ask.

Caravansaries.

I have hundreds of them. They help build and support trade. Build them with postel hostels. £10,000 each postel hostel. Open up a postel service which is a trade investment each year. The caravansaries act as postel depots as well. They have a small military value as well. They can be used to hide your armed forces, but not needed unless at war. Postel service, no need to spend more than £100,000 max each year. Any more is a waste.

What is a postel hostel?

Nexus06

They are like safe havens built along a route connecting two cities. They provide food, shelter, drink, safety. Also if done like my previous post. They also offer a postel service.

jamesbond007 wrote:Nexus06

They are like safe havens built along a route connecting two cities. They provide food, shelter, drink, safety. Also if done like my previous post. They also offer a postel service.

Sorry, i mean the Word “postel”. You mean postal?

Yes.

They are caravansaries with postal hostels. They cost £10,000 each. They connect towns and you build one roughly every 20 miles.

Grazie

Thanks for that jamesbond007

I think I've only got about 20 in operation at present. To connect Khami to Inhambane (788 miles using modern roads) is really a necessity asap, so I'll have to see if I can finance 40 more alongside road improvement.

Rozwi's trade looks like its benefited from a road network improvement. But I don't think road mileage stones will be much use to the average Rozwi tribesmen, so I won't bother investing in them.

No problem.

Should add. If you want to just build a caravansaries with no postal hostel it’s only £5,000. Each. Depends on how you feel a postal system will help or not your position.

Is a musketoon a naval blunderbuss ?

Thelittleemperor wrote:Is a musketoon a naval blunderbuss ?

More or less. It is according to "Book of Revelations" page 8 "An oversized flintlock musket which may be carried in the lockers of ships to increase their anti-personnel capability at close quarters. it cost 500£ to outfit a ship with a few musketoons."

Thanks Ardagor , just interested , do you know if it fires a big ball or a scatter shot . I saw one on YouTube and it looked like a swivel gun !! I couldn't imagine that going in lockers .

The musketoon was far to heavy and powerful for a person to fire so it was brought up on deck when boarding action was expected and mounted on a prepared place on the ship, somewhere with a good view and arc of fire much like a swivel gun. They could fire whatever the crew decided on of course but cannister was probably most used.

Aah...that makes sense . Thanks again.

Smaller Musketoon's (also sometimes known as a blunderbuss) were used by both Navies and some Cavalry as a short range weapon to fire a spray of lead balls......think C17/C18 version of the sawn off shotgun.

Wildly inaccurate and not at all effective at anything longer than very close range but a option to consider if you think Cavalry Pistols and Carbines are a waste of space and your Cavalry may have to fight on foot in the streets. Also if you think your marines are going to be used in boarding actions and street fighting.

Hollywood films sometimes show these weapons as a weapon of West Indies Buccaneers but these men actually seemed to favour a long barrelled and heavy musket and it was their opponents (on land) who wanted to fight at close range.

The actual shape of the Blunderbus makes loading a little easier, but actual range is reduced when firing due to reduction of propellant forces as shot leaves the barrel, also if using buck shot or similar spread of shot is also lessened due to the form of the muzzle. All to do with balistics, most effective weapons actually have a tapered barrel( squeeze bore) which allows a much greater build up of explosive gases & then greater range & pentrating power, fortunetly that technology lies outside of our historical period.

Anybody play Total War Empire . I understand how things work in that game . The descriptions of units mean I know what I am doing and the research element is easy to follow too
With regards to military things this is how I see the units compared to The Glory of Kings
Armed populace is our Levee en Masse
The militia is undrilled line troops
The line troops are ( well ) drilled line troops
Superior line troops are Excellently drilled troops .Im not sure about the militia though . Is there something between a levee en masse and line troop

Militia is a locally raised Mass Levy in Game, I think 10% of total population ( not sure without reference to rules) Badly armed unless you make weapons avaliable to them, most probably officered by local minor Gentry. Ok for harrassing enemy but don't expect them to be happy to move too far from home, or stand up in a fight against regular troops, defending their homes is one thing marching on Moscow is another. Bear in mind raising the levy will impact on your Ecomomy because you are taking workers from the fields/ factories of your country.

Line troops / Tribal Infanrty make up the bulk of most armies & are basically what the label says on the tin.

Elite troops are the Superior troops you are seeking, but don't raise a whole army of them as they are the "Elite " of your army, so raising too many dilutes the whole effect.

Drilling in general improves Line troops/ Elite troops without actually changing their in game statue, Levels of drill, indicate how well they march & hold formation on a battlefield & how coordinated their volleys are & also speed of relaoding & hence Rate of Fire are all tied into Levels of drill.

How your Military Doctrine is implemented is also influenced by levels of Drill, the more they have practiced the more familiar they are with it.

My experience of levy in game is that even if you buy them guns and horses they are of very very little use.

Think if you want a proper Militia in game what you need to do is raise a normal unit using normal recruits (perhaps even give them some extra drill or trained officers) and then stand them down normally which leaves loads of unemployed soldiers handing round the place and can lead to bandit problems and highwaymen.......not good!

Or by using the "Cantonment" system which takes a trade investment of £10,000 per 1000 men and takes two months rather than one month to rally units to the colours but avoids problems with bored and skint soldiers.

The plus side of this is it gives you a reserve of trained men who cost nothing in annual upkeep. The downside is that if you do activate them these men are no longer doing their normal jobs and its going to wipe out your trade investment.

Think a lot of players will consider it a waste of valuable recruits to raise units and then never use them. But its quite handy for some positions which can not afford annual upkeep of a huge standing Army in peace time but may face a threat it needs to insure against by having loads of troops ready. Historically Sweden and the Ottomans used this type of system with trained troops not being paid in peace time but being supported by farming or trade and it may work for them and other positions in game which are either short of cash or need to build up their financial reserves.

Another advantage of the Cantonment system is that it makes life really, really hard for hostile agents and players plotting to attack you since agents normally only pick up on active troops. Note however you will need one or two months for troops to rally so if using this system you will need some border patrols and active gate keepers to slam the gates in face of attackers so your lads and their stored weapons are not over-run before order to muster is given and perhaps some standing orders may be required.

But just think of the confusion you will cause if your foe attacks a city which his agents say has a garrison of 1400 Infantry. But by the time a breach is made the local regiments have mustered and the garrison (which is defending its homes and shops etc) is now 15400 Infantry and 100 Fortress Cannon. In all probability you foe's vanguard is going to get chewed up and spat out if its being counter charged by Swedes or engaged by Ottoman Tribal foot in street fighting and the whole siege/attack is going to bog down. At the very least your foe's generals will never trust his agents again.

Another option used by colonial powers who want to follow a historic (and Roman) model and reward soldiers with land in the colonies. Historically the French settled many ex-soldiers in Canada with farm, tools and a small pension. Partly to reward troops for loyal service, parly as a way of developing colonies.

The fact that so many of the French settlers in Canada were ex Military was one reason why French Canada using mostly non regular troops was able to hold out so long against British Crown and Colonial forces which outnumbered them hugely.

Historically, French troops were not that over joyed with small pensions and small farms in Canada......well its cold and clearing trees is hard work and many went Native and took up fur trapping and hunting instead. But I am sure that Spanish Veterans in G7 much prefer warmer southern climes and the good life in California or by the waters of the Carribean and helping Latino and African Ladies replace 100m lost (to small pox) tax payers.

Appreciating these answers , thanks . Armed town watch , perhaps? Somewhere between levy en masse and a group of dragoons ? ( though I suspect nearer the levy en masse .

Armed town watch is a Para- military organisation, They are not drilled to fight in battle , just to keep the streets quiet on a Saturday night. So your probably right somewhere between levy en-masse & Milita. Just don't expect them to be much good in a stand up fight. They are afterall civilians rather than military units.

Stuart Bailey wrote:My experience of levy in game is that even if you buy them guns and horses they are of very very little use.

Think if you want a proper Militia in game what you need to do is raise a normal unit using normal recruits (perhaps even give them some extra drill or trained officers) and then stand them down normally which leaves loads of unemployed soldiers handing round the place and can lead to bandit problems and highwaymen.......not good!

Or by using the "Cantonment" system which takes a trade investment of £10,000 per 1000 men and takes two months rather than one month to rally units to the colours but avoids problems with bored and skint soldiers.

The plus side of this is it gives you a reserve of trained men who cost nothing in annual upkeep.  The downside is that if you do activate them these men are no longer doing their normal jobs and its going to wipe out your trade investment.

Think a lot of players will consider it a waste of valuable recruits to raise units and then never use them.  But its quite handy for some positions which can not afford annual upkeep of a huge standing Army in peace time but may face a threat it needs to insure against by having loads of troops ready.  Historically Sweden and the Ottomans used this type of system with trained troops not being paid in peace time but being supported by farming or trade and it may work for them and other positions in game which are either short of cash or need to build up their financial reserves.

Another advantage of the Cantonment system is that it makes life really, really hard for hostile agents and players plotting to attack you since agents normally only pick up on active troops.  Note however you will need one or two months for troops to rally so if using this system you will need some border patrols and active gate keepers to slam the gates in face of attackers so your lads and their stored weapons are not over-run before order to muster is given and perhaps some standing orders may be required.  

But just think of the confusion you will cause if your foe attacks a city which his agents say has a garrison of 1400 Infantry.  But by the time a breach is made the local regiments have mustered and the garrison (which is defending its homes and shops etc) is now 15400 Infantry and 100 Fortress Cannon.  In all probability you foe's vanguard is going to get chewed up and spat out if its being counter charged by Swedes or engaged by Ottoman Tribal foot in street fighting and the whole siege/attack is going to bog down.  At the very least your foe's generals will never trust his agents again.

Another option used by colonial powers who want to follow a historic (and Roman) model and reward soldiers with land in the colonies.  Historically the French settled many ex-soldiers in Canada with farm, tools and a small pension.  Partly to reward troops for loyal service, parly as a way of developing colonies.

The fact that so many of the French settlers in Canada were ex Military was one reason why French Canada using mostly non regular troops was able to hold out so long against British Crown and Colonial forces which outnumbered them hugely.

Historically, French troops were not that over joyed with small pensions and small farms in Canada......well its cold and clearing trees is hard work and many went Native and took up fur trapping and hunting instead.  But I am sure that Spanish Veterans in G7 much prefer warmer southern climes and the good life in California or by the waters of the Carribean and helping Latino and African Ladies replace 100m lost (to small pox) tax payers.      

Taking notes and hands to the head of the army and advisor to work out a system to bring in a force of reserves, purely for defense, just in case.

My battalion has been in a fight , there were reports of casualties . The sickness level has gone up ( to 3 ) . Resting will reduce my sickness level . Do I now have to top up the battalion with men ?

Mike wrote:My battalion has been in a fight , there were reports of casualties . The sickness level has gone up ( to 3 ) . Resting will reduce my sickness level . Do I now have to top up the battalion with men ?

To improve sickness levels all you need to do is give the order to "rest" or if ships "Repair".......the effect of these orders are doubled to clear x2 sickness levels if the unit is question is in a major city (over 10,000 population) or you have a Naval Ship Repair Yard.

For game purposes and to save book keeping it is assumed that most casualties are either wounded, sick or gone awol rather than dead and the damaged unit will slowly recover most of these over time or replacements re-fill gaps in the ranks without the player having to do anything other than allow the unit officers time to rest and recover their unit.

Have not tried it but if you have a really badly mangled unit you could add extra recruits or even merge some really badly mangled units into one new one and Richard may allow you to improve sickness levels quicker.