Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[umiman]

Do the other nations get retinues if you don't have Legacy of Rome?

Because if they do and you don't, you're kinda at a serious disadvantage.

[stabbymcstabstab]

The AI has access to all DLC options, you just need to pay for it.

[TripJack]

you sure about that? because i'm pretty sure they don't get retinues if you don't

Then you have to manually click on every single one to see if you own it or not.

or just right click the game in your library and click view downloadable content to see a list of what you own

[EnigmaticHat]

The expansion pack style DLCs are listed under the bookmarks at the starting screen.  Mouse over them and it will tell you what each icon stands for.

[Normandy]

The only problem with buying CK2 is sorting through all the DLC. Especially if you own some and not all. Then you have to manually click on every single one to see if you own it or not.

http://www.enhancedsteam.com/ will make your life so much easier. It only works on the web version of steam, but it lets you see which DLC you own and which you don't at a glance from any page.

[Kamin]

So I've been pretty on the fence about giving my ruler a retinue--can anyone explain in some detail why they are (or are not) worth it? According to one of the above posts, not having a retinue may be a pretty serious disadvantage, and I'm just curious about why that might be.

Also, any comments on type of retinue that is considered "best?"

[umiman]

Retinue cost a lot of money initially, as there's the initial payment and then the buiildup cost. However, once they're "paid off" they cost no money. So it's a free-upkeep standing army as long as they don't lose any men. It costs some money to replace dead men and return the retinue to full strength.

Think of them as mercenaries you can keep all the time. So if you want to invade people, you can just walk your giant retinue army to the border and immediately march into the province the moment you declare war, as opposed to raising all your troops and waiting for them to band together and build strength.

They're also extremely useful for rebellions, for the same reason.

When your empire is big enough, you can permanently raise 20,000+ retinue armies. That's usually enough to conquer an entire nation by itself. No need to bother your vassals.

[BFEL]

Oh and they automatically regenerate men constantly (you can turn this off if you fall into crazy debt or something) so basically they are the "win button" for the game.

They are the sole reason the Military Organization tech is so valuable.

As for which is best, each nation tends to have their own "special" retinues which correspond to their military style (Italy has pikemen, norse have heavy infantry) and these retinues get combat bonuses over and above any other factors, making them the "best"

They do require more cap though, so you can have less of those then other ones.

My personal fave is Byzantine Cataphract Retinue, cause heavy cav and horse archers.

[Wysthric]

Retinues are I feel the counterbalance to factions to a certain extent. Whereas factions enable different vassals to come together to fight against the King, a King will have a much larger retinue than his vassals, and as such this helps him keep power.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

The only problem with buying CK2 is sorting through all the DLC. Especially if you own some and not all. Then you have to manually click on every single one to see if you own it or not.

A bit late (and a little off topic) but there is a really good chrome plugin for Steam which really enhances the usability in this and most aspects.
The downside is that you can't use it inside the Steam client but if you're willing to sacrifice that you can have a much better experience with Steam.

[Duuvian]

I'm pretty sure the AI has access to retinues even when you don't have the DLC.

[kaian-a-coel]

I find that the best retinue is the Skirmish one. It gives you the most bodies for the retinue cap cost (500 for 600 cap), is the cheapest in gold, and the best at sieges. Only downside is that they're not THAT much effective in combat, but they are a good support for levies.

They're mostly archers, who have the best skirmish value in the game, and that's the value used in sieges.
Their high number means that the factions will be less likely to fire, and help a lot with sieges again. Usually you want at least 10 to 1 ratio to assault, but with pure skirmish retinue you can assault at 7 to 1 without too much trouble, if you really need to.

[umiman]

My personal fave is Byzantine Cataphract Retinue, cause heavy cav and horse archers.

Yeah. When I saw that Byzantine's elite units were horse archers I nearly shat myself.

When you get 20,000 heavy cav + horse archers, battles are such a breeze. 3-1 odds? No problem. Once the charge phase of combat starts, everyone dies.

[LordSlowpoke]

byzzies are probably the only ones who can wreck the mongols using only their de jure areas as a power base which is goddamn awesome

hre can have a shot at it but given their units are not as awesome

[ShoesandHats]

Playing as an England formed by Haesteinn of Nantes, but because I'm still norse, everyone hates my new ruler. This is a fairly common thing in CK2, but it's a situation I'm not entirely sure how to deal with while fighting two wars (admittedly though one is just a catholic revolt) and when there are only two vassals that have a positive opinion of me. I don't have enough cash to pay everyone off, and I can't hold a blot until I finish the wars. I don't know if I'll be able to peace them both out before they form a mega-faction and split nine tenths of the kingdom away.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)