Looting past the peasant militia

[Velax]

It used to be possible to try to loot even after the peasant militia formed. It only had a small chance of succeeding, but it was possible. Recently, perhaps with the large estates/etc updates, people now get this message when they try:

"There are still many defenders in this region. Eliminate or scatter them first." And you're not even giving the option to try looting.

But it still seems to be possible sometimes. I have seen people successfully loot after peasant militias have formed. What allows some people to try looting and not others? What is the variable?

[Anaris]

It's still possible. Zonasa has been looting Cathayan regions for a while now, and most days we've ended up with at least 2 peasant militia units—which only happens when after the first one pops, someone is still able to loot and make a second one pop.

The variable is probably something to do with the position of Venus and whether Jupiter is in retrograde or not.

(ie, it's luck)

[Tom]

Figure it out. It's a reasonable and fairly simple system taking into account relative strengths and something else. Basically, if your unit is strong enough, and the militia weak, you can loot. If your unit is weak and the militia strong, you can't.

[Velax]

Well, I'm still a bit confused, because I've got large and/or elite units of 700/800/900/1000+ CS being completely prevented from looting by 300-700 CS of peasants (300 on the first turn, climbing each turn).

[Tom]

Maybe you are looking at the wrong number. Maybe CS is not what matters, or not the only thing that does.

[Velax]

What else matters? Number of troops? Units of 90-100 troops still can't loot. Total number of troops in the region? 1500 of us vs less than 400 of them. Morale? They don't want to smash the peasants because they're feeling a bit depressed?

[Tom]

Total number doesn't matter. Size of YOUR troops does.

[Velax]

Units with 90-100 troops are still unable to loot. If it requires more than that, you're restricting it to a very small percentage of nobles.

[Tom]

As I said, other things factor in as well. Be less judgmental and figure it out first before you complain.

[Poliorketes]

mmm... interesting... 

Well, We have four 'items':

Region - Morale, fortifications, type of terrain?
Looting units - size, morale, CS, type.
Defending militias - probably only size.
Noblemen - Probably leadership, honour/prestige?, Infiltration?...

There are sooo many possibilities! 

[Gustav Kuriga]

Tom, stop being a dick and just help him. He has an honest question about looting, and it isn't like one of those fame points that is supposed to be found out.

[Lorgan]

You don't need to know the exact numbers. Bring a huge unit and you'll be able to loot is what you need to take away from this thread.

[Foundation]

Nice attitude, Gustav.  Certainly helps your case quite a bit.

[Tom]

I'm not a dick, I don't want BM to be one of those games where you bring exactly 79 men of unit type Y because your spreadsheet told you that's the optimum amount.

I said the important part: It's a function of your unit size, not total numbers. How many exactly you need depends on other factors. You'll see if you are able to when you try it.

[Velax]

When I've got 25-30 nobles in a region and not one of them can loot, it makes it a bit difficult trying to figure out what those factors are.

I don't really understand why this change was made in the first place. What does it add to the game? In this case, the first turn we looted, most nobles were able to loot before the peasants formed. The second turn, the peasants formed after one noble looted. The third turn, they formed after one noble looted. The fourth turn after two nobles looted. The fifth turn after one noble looted. I can assure you it's really not that fun for 95% of the army to stand around doing !@#$ all for two days because only one or two of us can loot each turn.