Title:
Add more council positions for military leaders - everyone goes up one spot
Summary:
Marshals become Generals and Generals answer to the King. Generals become a part of the council and are appointed/elected. Every army that exists is lead by a General, and has a second in command (Marshal or w/e name that fits).
Details:
The idea would be to get rid of the "armies are lead by Marshals", and would be replaced by "armies are lead by Generals". Also, we toss the mentality "all Marshals answer to the General" and replace it with "all Generals answer to the King".
Something like this:
Current General becomes the King (not suggesting that the general overthrows the King or something, just that the authority that generals currently have are transferred to the king)
Current Marshal --> General
Current Vice Marshal --> Second in command of every specific army
Simultaneously, the Generals would be added to the council of the realm, which would mean more repute and recognition for this incredibly difficult position to play, but more responsibilities too, as they could be protested out if they don't do their part right.
Benefits:
Adds to the realism I think. From what I know the armies were usually under the direct authority of the King, and although the King could delegate his authority to someone else (the Senate or his most trusted military advisor) what we usually get in BM is the attitude that puts Generals above the Kings in this field. While it is usually understood that the King can overrule his Generals orders, I have often seen mentality that goes like "Zip it, my King! As long as I am the General, I am in charge of the armies!". Under this sort of system it would be perfectly clear to anyone that King is in charge of his armies, and Generals are assigned to lead their specific army, but it would still be possible for the King to delegate his authority over the entire armies should he want that.
Adds more fun and perception of self importance to more players. With this feature we would have more council positions which would mean more players/characters will feel greater accomplishment. More players would now have a greater say in deciding as their titles would be much more grand (no more poor little Marshal running things from the shadows - he would now be a General of the third of the King's armies playing master of puppets).
System like this would really allow the military part of the game to be played like Tom envisioned it: as in, you would have a military figure (the King) who'd be able to give directions (the most basic ones) to his Generals and say "conquer that city for me!", and the General would go and do it. Currently, the guy that does that is the General which makes his position rather easy to play and very few actually play Generals like that. They usually go around and micromanage.
I don't think it should be too hard to make these changes 'cause they are more cosmetic rather than fundamental.
Possible Exploits:
Don't know what to do with the "current Generals" if this is accepted. They will probably always lose as the best deal they can get is to lead an army and that's it. They can't go up in the hierarchy, but only remain where they are and have less power as they lose their ability to order all armies.
The sponsors position is also questionable as if there is a council position for the above mentioned feature then the sponsors probably don't get to choose who leads their armies. But hey, it's not like the sponsors really care who leads their armies right now anyway.
While this would give even more power to the ruler (which may not be a good thing, although it would be realistic) it may also free up some space for diplomats to fit into their role. The ruler would not be able to do diplomacy *and* direct the armies due to the time constraints, so he would have to give more power to others. If you play a warlike King he would want to have his hands on the military, and would then delegate his diplomacy authorities more to the diplomats (i've rarely seen diplomats being that important as they should). If you play a King who is a perfect politician then you choose your favorite General to lead all your armies and sit back to enjoy seeing him devour your enemies.
