New Recruitment System

The current MIC system is a bit exclusive, and I feel there needs to be a significant modification to the existing recruitment system.

The new system would have three basic types of recruitment building:

Nobility & Retainers - Available to all factions, and is the same building for all factions (thus, when Parthia takes over a Hasmonean Nobility recruitment building, they can use it). Represents cooperation with nobility/chiefs, which helps improve public order, but in exchange for a reduction in trade income (as decentralization is generally poor for trade, among other reasons). It allows recruitment of retainers at lower levels (Dugundiz, Pahlava Shivatir), and the noble units themselves at higher levels (Argoi, Azad Asavaran, Marxoreidonez Athaloi). The tribal and nomadic factions will get many of their best troops from here, and Parthia/Armenia will get their noble cataphracts from here as well. It's overall cheaper to set up than the MIC building, but is worse economically in the long run.

Level 1 - Basic retainers available for recruitment.
Cost: 4 turns, 1600 mnai
No bonuses/penalties

Level 2 - Basic nobles and high-tier retainers available for recruitment.
Cost: 6 turns, 2400 mnai
+5% Happiness
Trade Income Penalty

Level 3 - High-level nobles available for recruitment
Cost: 8 turns, 3200 mnai
+10% Happiness
Trade Income Penalty


Military-Industrial Complex - Generally available only to "civilized" factions, but available to nomadic and tribal factions as well under the 'civilized' government building (I'll detail this later). Government funded armories, barracks, etc, for the recruitment of local militias, semi-professional and professional troops, and high-tier royal and guard units. Also provides a public order bonus, but gives a penalty to tax income to represent the government-funded upkeep of such institutions.

Level 1 - Low-tier militias and levies. Persian Archers, Pandas, Akontistai, etc. Mainly your garrison troops.
Cost 3 turns, 900 mnai
+5% Happiness
-1% Tax income

Level 2 - Quality local levies and tribal troops, some semi-professional troops. Here's where you get your Thureophoroi, Euzonoi, etc - some decent recruitment.
Cost 6 turns, 3000 mnai
+5% Happiness
-2% Tax income

Level 3 - High-quality militias, semi-professional troops, some professionals. Thureophoroi Bareis, Cohors Reformata, etc - the backbone of your mid to late game armies.
Cost 9 turns, 7500 mnai
+5% Happiness
+5% Law
-3% Tax income

Level 4 - Top tier militias, professional troops, some guard units. Thorakitai, etc. Quality troops, but require a serious investment.
Cost 12 turns, 12000 mnai
+5% Happiness
+5% Law
-4% Tax income

Level 5 - Your top elites come from here.
Cost 15 turns, 15000 mnai
+5% Happiness
+5% Law
-5% Tax income
+1 Exp to recruited troops

Tribal Recruitment - Available to only the tribal and nomadic factions. Represents the units recruitable when the common levy is called, requiring all able-bodied men to serve in the interest of the tribe, for a major campaign/raid or for the common defense. No tax penalties, just happiness bonuses. Mutually compatible - Sauro, Sweboz, and Lugiones all use them.

Level 1 - Common basic units coming from the freemen of the tribe. Voini, Jugundiz, Karai, Sauro HAs, all come from this.
Cost - 2 turns, 800 mnai
No bonuses/penalties

Level 2 - Some of the better tribal units that require more training and/or better equipment, or are more difficult to find, i.e. Riders, Slavic Archers
Cost - 4 turns, 1600 mnai
+5% Happiness

Level 3 - The best tribal units come from this building - the wealthier tribesmen who equip themselves with superior weaponry, i.e. Cotini Warriors, Roxolani Riders, Steppe Lancers (a new unit we have yet to make)
Cost - 6 turns, 2400 mnai
+10% Happiness

Well the system sounds fine.

However one question for instance if i conquer Rome with Numidia. What building and what troops i will be able to recruit?
All the units become recruitable or we can only have some small part of their troops?

As Rome, you get the common Numidian regionals available to all factions, plus the Numidian Legionaries (I think that's reasonable)

However, the Numidian MIC wouldn't work for the ROmans.

Right make sense.

But in the other way around. With Numidia i get the normal units that any other faction could get if they conquer the Italian peninsula. But not the elite forces of Rome.

But according to your system if i build a governement center the nobles of Italy could be able to join forces with Numidia if they are conquered. So at least some medium quality troops i as Numidia could get access to them and not only the basic regional forces right?

Or perhaps i misunderstod the ideia of the system?

No, you're right. When you enter Italy, you'll get access to Italic Nobles; though we don't have such a unit, we may need to make one; the Campanian cavalry is quite outdated by this time, we'd need something else. You would probably be able to recruit your faction's "Imitation Legionary" as well; though the Sertoriani would get to recruit actual legionaries

So when we do the romani roster it's convenient to make some medium quality units that will become available to all factions that try to conquer Italy and suceed.

Obviously i expectaded that Numidian legionaries should be recruited if i did conquered Italy. And obviously the sertori after reach the mainland Italy should become the Romani faction.

One ideia put out: so if Sertorius do take Italy why not turn that faction in Romani and automaticaly all other roman regions become roman rebels? And obviously the sertoriani faction disappear in game.

And if we are using the engine for BI why not have some peoples have the chance to become a horde?

Which factions? What would be the horde units?

Fos instance we could kept the form Horde for the current factions: Saka Kingdom of Maues, Yuezhei, Lugiones, Sweboz, Suessiones, Sauromatae, Getai and perhaps the two gaulish factions. And only these.

All the others will not have the hability. What do you think? With this the game become more interesting no?

About the horde units: two or three guys that will become the new ruling family. Perhaps light forces with three or for more hevier units and well armed units.

Why would any of these besides the Sauromatae possibly deserve an overpowered horde function?

seconded

I understod your concerns.

However in the case of the Indo-Saka and the Yuezhei we could consider then hordes when they invated india right?
So why not give at least to that factions the chance to do that.

About Sweboz and Lugiones well they kinda represent the peoples that live in Germany and the baltic region right?
So always that peoples migrated in small, medium or larger scale. They are not sedentary peoples but semi-sedentary peoples.

Also just a reminder: what the Helvecii do in the years 50 B.C. they try to migrate from their lands and settled in Gaul right? Until they defeat by Julius Caesar.
Also the Sweboz of Ariovist due pretty much the same when they are called to help the Gaulish rebelions i'm not wrong i believe. So these to factions could also have the trait of Horde.

I could drop the Gaulish, the Getai and even the Suessiones. But for the Indo-Saka, Yuezhei, Sweboz and Lugiones they could kept that trait. But well that's only my opinion and sugestions nothing less. You decide what to do.

and remember, "horde" option will only work if you are only had 1 region left.

plus killing a horde is quite easy, kill the FL and FH in one turn, and then...

I would like to support (and expand) here the idea posted by Cute Wolf in some other topic

1) factional barracks for regulars (customized per faction)
2) local law enforcements (train local levies and such)
3) local kingdoms court (train local elites)

Let's examine them ,starting from the Local Law Enforcement (LLE from now).
LLE train local levies, mostly common units of average utility beside garrison or support to the main army (yes, Lugoae, I'm looking at you). The first level of this building - maybe recruiting only Apeleutheroi or something similar - is common to all factions, already in place in each and every region.

PRO:

The LLE can be expanded with more levels. As every building has max 9 levels, and the first one is shared, we can break the "upgrade" for 8 different cultures/group of factions with a 2nd level for each, so different group can get different units, adding the effect you must scrap the LLE building in a newly conquered land, if you want to build your own LLE and recruit local levies.
I suggest only a 2nd level.

Regular's Factional Barracks (RFB) and Local Kingdom Courts (LKC) should be definitely more expensive than LLE. Both are related to Colonies (something along this
train of thought https://eblate.forumotion.com/t248-colony-buildings ). In short words, the player import his own citizens in the area, so that they make it more "faction-like", can be recruited and generally deform the customs of the locals. In a way or another, Romans, Greeks, Celts, Germans and almost all nomads have done it, so I think is perfectly feasible.

RFB recruit the "standard" factional army, as such this type of building should strongly depend on the "homeland/expansion" dycotomy. IF the area is not Homeland the player must build a "colony" in the same area.
Of course, "colony" (and indirectly RFB) is directly related to the Government Type.
So, for example, with a Type 2 Goverment the player can build 3 levels of Colony (max 3) and therefore 4 levels of RFB (max is 5).
I advise to set 3 levels of colony (as such we can make colonies from 3 different cultures from a single building-tree) and 5 levels for RFB.

On the other hand, LKC are the local elites: Britannic Retainers, Germanic Retainers, Cohors Italicorum, Celtiberian/Lusotannan elites and the like. I think LKC need 3 levels, no more and no less. This building is related to GovernmentType and Colony buildings. While it should be the most expensive, it can be built only with GovernmentType 3 and 4. Furthermore, is limited by the Colonies already built in the area. For example, if an area has no Colony building, the player can build all the LKC levels, if has Colony 1 he can build at best LKC 2, if has Colony 2 can build at best LKC 1, if the area has Colony 3 the player can't build LKC. Therefore the player must plan the development of the area.

Lugoae are gone, the standard Celtic militia should be the Catubudina Gaison (which got a cost reduction in the latest EDU edution). Other than that, this is on-track. I'll talk a few more specifics later, but this seems good in general.

The local law enforcement building would be able to recruit the basic levy units of the region as outlined. Normal regional recruiting would go through the standard factional barracks - I don't see any particular reason to do it differently.

If we use the local law enforcement model, then we should change the tribal recruitment buildings a bit so they aren't recruiting the local levies but rather just more advanced factional tribal units.

Of course, we should discuss it.
I proposed this because some topic on this forum caught my attention and the system come out on its own, but I'm not saying is good or even functional.

Also I don't see a reason why local nobility shouldn't be recruitable even when you have a factional MIC. For example, I want units like the Asavaran-i Azadan to be recruited from the noble military buildings for the Parthians. These are fully enabled with every government type, allowing the Parthians to be able to build a more centralized government over time without losing access to some of their best units.

EDIT: Ahh, I see my confusion. Yeah, I think that Colonies should be mutually exclusive with reliance on local nobility. That makes perfect sense.

So, some revision then:

Local Law Enforcement and Militia - As discussed.
Cost: 1 turn, 400 mnai.
+5% law

This building automatically present in every settlement for anti-CTD purposes. It enables the recruitment of the most basic infantry units available. In the case of the steppes, the most basic archer units will be available at this building, and in the case of Africa and Iberia, the most basic skirmisher units. We'll probably bring back Pantodapoi for this purpose.

NOTE: Basic large steppe horse archer units won't be recruitable en masse for non-steppe factions from these buildings - they will still only be available as mercenaries. This is to help with in-game balance (we don't want the Getai recruiting armies of pure horse archers for example) but foot archer units will be.

TRIBAL RECRUITMENT - REVISED (Only Sweboz, Lugiones, Sauromatae - can only be built in areas with the appropriate base recruitment pool, as I'll outline in the mapping section later)

Level 1 - This building allows the recruitment of basic tribal units that aren't otherwise available from the LLE building. They may otherwise be available from a regional MIC for other factions.
Cost - 2 turns, 800 mnai
No bonuses/penalties

Level 2 - Some of the better tribal units that require more training and/or better equipment, or are more difficult to find, i.e. Riders, Slavic Archers, Northmen Infantry and Cavalry
Cost - 4 turns, 1600 mnai
+5% Happiness

Level 3 - The best tribal units come from this building - the wealthier tribesmen who equip themselves with superior weaponry, i.e. Cotini Warriors, Marcomanni Infantry, Roxolani Riders, Steppe Lancers (a new unit we have yet to make)
Cost - 6 turns, 2400 mnai
+10% Happiness