Desmesne size

[gribol]

I've asked something similar before, but I'd like to make it more specific.

The problem for me is with the size of domain each country can have.
At Empire level, playing England I could have over 160 provinces (can't remember)
Same with Byzantium.
Surt playing Apulia and Calabria tech can have a lot of provinces above 100). Likewise the Abbasids and the Seljuks.
By contrast, when playing Bohemia (and then HRE) I can have 45 provinces. It is impossible for a country with 45 provinces to win against a country with 120-160 provinces.

And now the question - is it a bug in my game (I suspect not) or is it set up that way?
Can you please provide an accurate table and the number of possible provinces for each country (the one in the manual is very vague).
Is there any way to even out these numbers?

[nightleaf]

To increase max demesne size you need to build corthouse in many regions.

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Here from my campaign

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[SuitedQueens]

I've asked something similar before, but I'd like to make it more specific.

The problem for me is with the size of domain each country can have.

Research spreadsheets. But manual info is accurate to be fair. You already figured out that you can jumpstart HRE states by holding 25 regions and conquering Wien. Governments.CSV hints at the fact that Base Max Demesne is 48. Peers of Realm can boost this to 48*2=96 with no penalty.

Its possible to win. By the same token you can say that its impossible to win against Muslims cuz they have better Legacy producers. First of all its easy to go at least 20 regions above your Demesne limit without facing any consequences if you developed properly. The most pressing matters would be Characters Secede chances increase, Court Expenses modifier increased for all regions for Size and number of buildings, the fact that Rebelion has a chance to produce a big stack belonging to original owner instead of meager default Rebels.

Its perfect time to check AAR forum because I will be showcasing strategies on how to conquer Byzantines as Estonia on Suicidal difficulty starting on turn 85 where my armies arrived to their border. Abandon action is your best friend. That will cost you Legacy, but prevents issues described above and deprive them from Legacy sources. Now some context:

When you conquer regions of different Religion and small regions you have Abandon option. Abandon ALWAYS prioritized/Replaces/Overwrites Pillage when region has Just Conquered modifier. You will have to wait for 5 turns before Pillage activates. That's why you have to sandbag some regions strategically, Abandon others to create chokepoints.

Furthermore, when you wait for 10 turns Abandoned regions become fully neutral. The logic is the same as with Rebels taking over or 3rd side neutral to Original owner hitting 2nd side that temporarily occupies Original owner region. Abandon makes sure region won't return to them after Peace deal. So it's to cripple big Empires without overstretching your Demesne limit by a wide margin.

Take a note that you can use Absorb Minor to get them later. And if opponent captures that region between the turns Abandon happens anyway on the next turn. You can chose to Abandon regions with no walls (or queue up Perma FortificaTion destruction) in order to Retaliate against them infinitely for XP points. If Just Conquered status elevated AND region above 50 Loyalty you will have Raid option that triggers at the end of your stack movement. Pillage and Abandon obviously triggers before your stack moves.

RAID is your roll against their roll. Modified on your side by Combat Power. On their side by AntiRaid structures bonus, Garrison Combat Power, Regional Fortification Value multiplied by 3, Stack that sits on top Combat Power. So thats why you want to have about x1.5 higher than their Garrison STR.

If you Pillaged region after big combat or Foraging roll fail, then you can't Abandon. Its prudent to take extra utility Peasants to boost Siege Value when needed, place 1 Peasant on top of the almost starving (negative food income) region and move out to GUARANTEE sortie on the next turn, which returning stack gonna put down in the field instead of city walls. The last thing is leaving one Peasant in the Pillaged region, so they can Abandon it on the next turn while you main stack moved on already. And use Peasants to assign disloyal Generals, so if they Secede they won't tag away your proper regions.

[Surt]

Well SuitedQueens does really know the game!!! read his (and my) Suicidal AARs on the forums now! two totally different experiences
You can see the difference in skillz with how quickly we wipe out the Byzantines respectively. Me with the mighty Seljuqs, him with Estonia ... OMGZ I gonna lose so much!