Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

Couldn'ta said it better myself, Norfleet. Honestly, this event is ALWAYS more of a hindrance than a boon.
Back on topic, I know I've gotten the militia event in both low and high dominion provinces(Not sure whether it's happened in neutral or hostile dominion, though), with pretty much any combination of scales and nations you'd care to name. It also seems to happen as frequently in undeveloped friendly provinces as in ones with temples.
I'm not sure whether or not all this holds true for flagellants, though.
Either way, no matter how I tweak my national scales, I can't seem to dodge these bullets.

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You're acting as though the sudden presence of several more troops has a detrimental effect on your chance of success. This idea is asinine, since their upkeep is miniscule at best.

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I also agree the militia which join for free are a big pain. They suck up gold and food supplies plus they run away so easily during combat. I've had important units get diseased because they popped into a territory wasting food supplies.

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

It sounds like there is are enough votes for saying that the volunteers are not a "good event".
It also sounds like there are enough for it not being totally evil. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
So I guess volunteer troops should be considered a neutral event which will occur purely on the basis of the order/chaos scales.

[ May 23, 2004, 22:16: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

I often get Holy-3 priests leading my volunteer militia, but then, I'm one of the players Norfleet doesn't think exist, who flabbergastingly takes positive luck scales pretty often.

I admit though that I was precipitated into war by getting about three militia armies in a row, and wanting to get them killed off or put to use rather than freeloading off my empire during peacetime. They were and continue to be pretty useful though as cannon fodder, distracting the enemy, messing with their plans and absorbing their attacks. I have not found it tough nor a waste of time to go pick them up and send them back into the fray.

The gold cost isn't all that much unless you are like Ashen Ermor and have practically no gold income. 30 militia x 7 gold / 16 = 13 gold/turn, no?

Still, I would agree with a suggestion to create a new unit for them that was the same but had lower gold cost... or, better yet, slash the cost of all militia and light infantry in the game by a factor of 2-4, so they are all worth about what they cost.

And/or tweak the melee AI (or combat mechanics) so that units don't let themselves get overrun by superior-but-slower forces, so LI actually use their speed to avoid getting wiped out by HI.

PvK

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

Well if you play with strong blessing the zealots are nice ... but if you don't ...

Militia are always crap... as wishing for Army!!
300 Militia...

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">What nation do you tend to play?

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not sure the cost, but it really can shaft Carrion Woods Pangaea as well as Ashen/SG Ermor. I've also gotten screwed by them showing up when I, as Vanheim, had gotten squeezed down to a mere handful of provinces in the mid-to-late game.

When 2 batches of militia showed up, my upkeep was now more than my income and gold stash combined, and units started deserting. Not the militia, of course not! No, my Vans and Valkyries that I needed started running off.

I've also had them show up and immediately start a province starving. So then, to add insult to injury, it's _diseased_ piece of trash militia that are demanding the gold. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Your suggestion about lowering the upkeep would help - actually seems like they ought to be a free zero-cost upkeep, given that they're volunteers, fanatics, etc. Then they might actually seem like the "lucky" event they're supposed to be.

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

I wonder how long it would take to get their upkeep down to an insignificant level by casting Fires from Afar (or similar) on your province where they are located?

Re: Religious zealots joining the cause
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Spending gems to kill your own units is never a position you want to be in.