Rome had huge armies. “This is a common misconception in the public, that the ‘legion’ was essentially the Roman word for ‘army.’ It wasn’t (that word was exercitus); the legion was, by the Middle Republic, almost always a component of… Read More »Collections: Expeditions: Rome and the Perils of Verisimilitude
Why everyone listens and watches the old shit.
Slavery as necessity. “To greatly simplify, in this vision, what makes the ancient economy distinct from other subsequent forms was its substantial reliance on slavery (as opposed to dependent tenants or wage laborers) as the main system by which labor… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIa: Pops and Chains
Diplomacy was hard in the ancient world. “On the diplomatic side, yes, Imperator in its deviations from the EUIV model captures something real about the ancient world, which is, quite simply, the relatively primitive and disconnected state of diplomacy in… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part I: Divisa in Partes Tres
Delegation. “the war system is quite different. Gone are moving individual armies through provinces, replaced by ‘fronts’ to which armies are assigned to either defend or push forward. I think some players are going to be quite unhappy with the… Read More »Miscellanea: Victoria III Confirmed! (First Impressions)
Cities were powerful in the past. “A lord could dictate to the peasants, but had to negotiate with major towns, and this just isn’t well reflected in-game.” https://acoup.blog/2022/10/14/collections-teaching-paradox-crusader-kings-iii-part-iv-emperors-soldiers-and-peasants/
How? “if power is personal, rather than institutional (leg one) and highly fragmented between many people (leg two), then how is power gained and kept within such systems.” https://acoup.blog/2022/10/07/collections-teaching-paradox-crusader-kings-iii-part-iii-constructivisting-a-kingdom/
Ruling is not easy. “Because vassals only provide a percentage of their military strength to their liege but will field all of their strength in the event they rebel (typically through forming a faction whose demands are refused), large realms… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Crusader Kings III, Part IIa: Rascally Vassals
Power rules them all. “What is at work here is not the Congresses themselves and certainly not law (indeed, the individual Congresses could be startlingly inconsistent), but rather balance of power politics. The pressures of anarchy aren’t restrained, but instead… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Victoria II, Part II: The Ruin of War
Forces at play also in the real world. “So Burgundy is essentially in a race where it starts four feet behind and must sprint to catch up. Burgundy has to assemble power faster than France in order to remain secure.… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Europa Universalis IV, Part II: Red Queens