Fortifications & Garrisons
While players and NPCs alike always have access to fortifications as a factor in RTP, we never had a set number for what level of fortification gets what level of garrison. As of this round (five), we have a standard that we have put in place to determine that. That isn’t to say some settlements are maxed at that number for the garrison… but in peace time, this is the maximum that we should be seeing in garrison for any fortification.
| Fortification | Garrison |
|---|---|
| Citadel | 6,000 |
| Fortress | 3,000 |
| Castle | 1,600 |
| Keep | 800 |
| Stone Fort | 500 |
| Wooden Fort | |
| Motte & Bailey | 250 |
| Motte | 150 |
| Compound | 80 |
| Manor | 30 |
How infrastructure and agriculture impact your military
For your armies, you will always need to ensure that they’re fed. Armies will only march when their stomachs are full, so make sure to keep enough food to march your army. In peace time, we do not track the consumption for food, as it is considered a part of your normal consumption in your spreadsheet. However, at war, things do need to be considered. If you are in a defensive war, consumption defaults to 37kg/month per soldier for food (which is your peace-time default food consumption, so not a number to fret over). However, if you are going on campaign, you now need to consider that food consumption will increase.
If your army is on campaign, food consumption will increase to 42kg/month per soldier on campaign. As a result, you will need to track this. Your food storage in your stats? If you intend to go on campaign, don’t sell all of it, because you might just need that extra food to perpetuate your military goals. Also keep in mind that food will spoil. If you’re on campaign, you can expect the possibility of losing up to 30% of your food stores from spoilage, so make sure to account for that; or don’t, and see what the consequences look like.
Campaigning and Logistics
On the note of campaigns and logistics, there is transportation and supply trains to consider. We always had this idea for RTP, but feel comfortable making it “stick” this time around as we have more formulas that can more accurately represent what we think is a realistic impression of how logistics would work for the game. Your armies will typically be capable of marching 16 km/day, comfortably. If you push your army into a “forced march” situation, this can cause fatigue and other issues for your army.
The above marching rate is based on a level five infrastructure level of gravel roads and is modified by a factor of 10% every level, up or down. That is to say, the more developed the roads, the farther your army can march because of not only the ease of travel on more developed roads, but also increased waystations, warehouses, and chance of finding settlements along the road. The less developed, however, the more difficult it will be to travel, to the point that traveling in an undeveloped area (primeval wilderness) will be a slog, and if prolonged can have a negative impact on your army.
This also can impact things for your supply train. As an army marches on land, you will be supporting them with the carts or wagons you find in your stats. Those wagons are carrying the goods you need for your armies, and will typically keep up with them (even able to outpace them in some circumstances). Where you can run into issues is a lack of wagons or carts, or too long of a supply train where it can become vulnerable if you are outside of your own territory.
One important distinction to make regarding the marching speed of armies is if the force that is moving is a cavalry force. Naturally, if cavalry is not being forced to slow down or wait for infantry, it can be more mobile. As a result, we consider a cavalry only force being able to move at a rate of 36 km/day instead of 16 km/day. Like an army at forced march, you can push your cavalry to go further, but should consider the possibility of injury for rider and mount.