Author Topic: Troop Recruitment Question  (Read 5573 times)

Penchant

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Troop Recruitment Question
« Topic Start: July 11, 2014, 05:43:00 PM »
In cases where recruiting say, special forces, means the character can not recruit more than say 5 of those soldiers because others are already using the recruitment center, would it be against the IR to say something like this:

Quote
Sir X,

There is no particular issue with recruiting special forces in general, but due to the many others already using our special forces center(s) you will not be able to recruit a suitable unit thus you should not recruit special forces currently.

With Regards,
If the realm has only 1 cavalry center but say 4 people already recruiting cavalry from it, it could fit in the same situation if there is an issue because I used special forces as my example.
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Indirik

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Re: Troop Recruitment Question
« Reply #1: July 11, 2014, 06:29:32 PM »
My initial reaction would be that the situation you describe is a violation of the IR, unless the player involved asked you for your opinion. If you sent that unsolicited, then you are telling him to not recruit SF. Even if you're trying to be helpful and let the guy get back to the fighting faster, that's against the rules. Your rationalizations and reasons don't really matter.

If I were even going to comment on this situation IG, I would probably say something like this: "Due to the many others already using our special forces center(s), it will take many days before anyone can recruit an SF unit of any appreciable size. Anyone eager to get back to the battle any time soon would be better off recruiting something else."

However ... the fact that they are waiting for the centers to refill in order to recruit their unit type of choice does not give them an IR shield to ignore orders. If you order everyone to move three regions over within the next five days, and ten days later this guy is still in the capital recruiting 3 soldiers a day because they still don't have as many men as they want, you can take action against them for not following orders without breaking that IR.  (Depending on the situation you may be an !@#$%^& for doing that, but it wouldn't be against the rules.)

In general:

* Avoid weasel words and rationalizations. They make it sound like you think you might be breaking the rules, but you're trying to convince yourself and others that you're not.

* Don't tell people what to do. Tell them how their particular choices will affect/limit their options in terms of game mechanics. "You only have 10 men. The center only trains 3 a day. If you want to lead 45 men, you're going to be sitting here for another 12 days, assuming no one else recruits them before you can."
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Penchant

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Re: Troop Recruitment Question
« Reply #2: July 11, 2014, 09:56:24 PM »
The issue I am trying to somehow fix is getting people to fight that are actually are worth fighting. Some guy who has 5 soldiers isn't going to be of any help, someone else who sits there for a week recruiting is of no help either.

I feel trapped as a Marshal trying to have troop leaders actually help, because I can't yell at him for disobeying orders to recruit at least 20 men and move out within the day, since then I am making him drop his unit and recruit a different type.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
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Anaris

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Re: Troop Recruitment Question
« Reply #3: July 11, 2014, 10:04:06 PM »
The issue I am trying to somehow fix is getting people to fight that are actually are worth fighting. Some guy who has 5 soldiers isn't going to be of any help, someone else who sits there for a week recruiting is of no help either.

"Some guy who has crappy archers, instead of good solid infantry, isn't going to be of any help!"

That's an actual attitude in this game, and it's part of why the unit type IR exist. For many people, the unit type they recruit is part of their character's identity.

You have to remember that even as a Marshal, it's not your job to micromanage everyone into doing exactly the most militarily efficient thing at all times.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Indirik

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Re: Troop Recruitment Question
« Reply #4: July 11, 2014, 10:48:00 PM »
1) If you notice someone that is lagging, try sending them a message asking if there's a problem, and if they need any help. Offer to help them resolve any problems. Then you can find out why that person is lagging, or only has 5 men, and maybe give them some advice. Maybe you can contact the lord of the RC they are using, and see if you can get a draft.

2) If someone is too slow in their refit, then yeah, you can yell at them. If they are only leading 5 men, then yeah, you can yell at them. You can order them to recruit 20 men and be back in the road immediately. (Be careful with the "within a day" thing, though, as you probably already are aware.)

3) Hand out kudos, by name, to the nobles that make it where they need to be with the required number of troops. Seeing your name in lights is a great motivator.

4) Make sure to explain to your army why you need them to be so fast on the refit. If they know that lagging too far behind is going to cause serious problems, maybe they will recruit from the non-elite RCs so they can to make sure they make it on time. Or maybe they will make sure they are there on time, but with a few less men.

5) Beyond that, relax a bit about whether or not one or two people can't make it back to the rally point on time. Loosen up a bit on the schedule, and urge on the laggers to catch up. There's rarely a battle plan that *requires* such precise timing that lagging behind in the capital for a day means you miss the whole thing.



As for archers.... Good solid infantry is always better than crappy archers. ;)  The key is to make sure that your realm doesn't have any crappy archer centers to begin with. Only let them recruit the good ones, and you don't have to worry about it.
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Penchant

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Re: Troop Recruitment Question
« Reply #5: July 11, 2014, 11:40:15 PM »
"Some guy who has crappy archers, instead of good solid infantry, isn't going to be of any help!"

That's an actual attitude in this game, and it's part of why the unit type IR exist. For many people, the unit type they recruit is part of their character's identity.

You have to remember that even as a Marshal, it's not your job to micromanage everyone into doing exactly the most militarily efficient thing at all times.
Not quite equal but fair enough.

1) If you notice someone that is lagging, try sending them a message asking if there's a problem, and if they need any help. Offer to help them resolve any problems. Then you can find out why that person is lagging, or only has 5 men, and maybe give them some advice. Maybe you can contact the lord of the RC they are using, and see if you can get a draft.

2) If someone is too slow in their refit, then yeah, you can yell at them. If they are only leading 5 men, then yeah, you can yell at them. You can order them to recruit 20 men and be back in the road immediately. (Be careful with the "within a day" thing, though, as you probably already are aware.)

3) Hand out kudos, by name, to the nobles that make it where they need to be with the required number of troops. Seeing your name in lights is a great motivator.

4) Make sure to explain to your army why you need them to be so fast on the refit. If they know that lagging too far behind is going to cause serious problems, maybe they will recruit from the non-elite RCs so they can to make sure they make it on time. Or maybe they will make sure they are there on time, but with a few less men.

5) Beyond that, relax a bit about whether or not one or two people can't make it back to the rally point on time. Loosen up a bit on the schedule, and urge on the laggers to catch up. There's rarely a battle plan that *requires* such precise timing that lagging behind in the capital for a day means you miss the whole thing.



As for archers.... Good solid infantry is always better than crappy archers. ;)  The key is to make sure that your realm doesn't have any crappy archer centers to begin with. Only let them recruit the good ones, and you don't have to worry about it.

I am not saying I couldn't take a more active effort on positive things, but I am not yelling at people every turn because they didn't move. In fact I think I have dealt with unreasonable attitudes from others after my laxness, because I have put up with people clearly not following orders for several days and ask them why, then they act like I am crazy/a jerk because I think they should actually follow orders.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton