Also some thoughts on a few things:
If we make it obvious to the TH and HK that troops return, we may be able to spook them to pull back. They won't know if Xoh has fallen and Phygrif is leading that army, if the Red Banner are also coming or what other forces are there. It may well become a game of chicken where we have to bluff our way out of a conflict. And using lots of torches to make your army look bigger is a time honored strategy. Nevermind that the Blackbirds will be able to operate on their home ground.
Alternatively, if we do end up fighting, and win, the HK and TH may well collapse after losing that many troops in a situation this dire. They are used to high casualities, but at this time they can't afford all that much.
If we lose and they do get the secret of Iron, all is not lost either. Like us, they need infrastructure first (Surveys and get lucky, opening mines, fueling the forges and getting it in widespread use). And forests. And at least the HK will have trouble with the forests as they are already suffering horribly for the lack of those. Not sure with the TH.
They also lack Iron Blooded, which is incredibly useful.
So at best, it will take them 3 turns until they can field Iron. That is, 3 turns where they can beeline it and don't have to put out all the fires from climate change and economic contraction caused by us vamping on them.
Speaking of refugees, if Phygrif is forced to retreat but negotiates a peace treaty, it's unlikely he can get Moloch Calls banned, that only works with an occupation (which should collapse the Xoh right quick as MC is their best stability source). But if he can't get MC banned, he might well hit upon the genius idea of freeing all the slaves, which will probably cause the Xoh economy to crater.
Thats probably what the medium refugee wave is. The slaves our army freed on the way and told that they are free to either help the army, or head to Ymaryn territory and get a new life save from the lowlands shitshow.
The last was an idea for land management and how we will probably do it IC. And hopefully, make it more palatable for the more strident opponents. Because at some point, it will happen.
So basically, the problem many have is that they imagine some patricians get land assigned, manage it, get rich and are beyond the reach of the lands inhabitants.
Which is a valid possibility depending on stability and legitimacy at the time.
But an equal possibility, and one we should aim for, is to assign managent on the village level.
It's both the easiest for our society to grasp, most practical and it actually enforces accountability.
Essentially, the Village Chief gets to manage the lands around his village. At this level, I think we are still democratic. It's just the upper levels that are highly oligarchic because of the level of education you need there.
By keeping the management this small, we ensure that responses are fast and tailored for local conditions, while proximity to his people means the Chief can't fuck around too much or his people will remove him, one way or another. It's fairly hard to push people around in a village of a hundred souls if anyone can leave whenever or just punch you if you are being an ass.
The downsides is that they don't look at the big picture as much and may damage the land or plant cash crops that bring a lot of money, but in bad years risk famine.
To counter land damage, we have the priests and shamans. Religious Authority is probably a benefit for this as it means people listen to the priests even if they don't understand it. The priests are also our researchers and at this point probably advice farmers on how to manage their land for longterm benefit.
The demands of the state are more problematic, but are probably easiest solved via the Census. Count how many mouths need feeding, account for losses and disasters, assign budget and then contract villages to plant that much food for this money. Administratively, the only hard parts are the calculation and buying up the harvests.
At the end, food gets distributed again as bwylls, surplus is either sold abroad, stored or processed for beer and the like. Or just gifted. Whatever.
As always, corruption will be a factor, but thats the same with taxes. And here, it's fairly easy for a taxman to look at the fields and make a guess and compare with reported yields.
@Academia Nut
Is this realistic for the Ymaryns development or still too complex?
If we make it obvious to the TH and HK that troops return, we may be able to spook them to pull back. They won't know if Xoh has fallen and Phygrif is leading that army, if the Red Banner are also coming or what other forces are there. It may well become a game of chicken where we have to bluff our way out of a conflict. And using lots of torches to make your army look bigger is a time honored strategy. Nevermind that the Blackbirds will be able to operate on their home ground.
Alternatively, if we do end up fighting, and win, the HK and TH may well collapse after losing that many troops in a situation this dire. They are used to high casualities, but at this time they can't afford all that much.
If we lose and they do get the secret of Iron, all is not lost either. Like us, they need infrastructure first (Surveys and get lucky, opening mines, fueling the forges and getting it in widespread use). And forests. And at least the HK will have trouble with the forests as they are already suffering horribly for the lack of those. Not sure with the TH.
They also lack Iron Blooded, which is incredibly useful.
So at best, it will take them 3 turns until they can field Iron. That is, 3 turns where they can beeline it and don't have to put out all the fires from climate change and economic contraction caused by us vamping on them.
Speaking of refugees, if Phygrif is forced to retreat but negotiates a peace treaty, it's unlikely he can get Moloch Calls banned, that only works with an occupation (which should collapse the Xoh right quick as MC is their best stability source). But if he can't get MC banned, he might well hit upon the genius idea of freeing all the slaves, which will probably cause the Xoh economy to crater.
Thats probably what the medium refugee wave is. The slaves our army freed on the way and told that they are free to either help the army, or head to Ymaryn territory and get a new life save from the lowlands shitshow.
The last was an idea for land management and how we will probably do it IC. And hopefully, make it more palatable for the more strident opponents. Because at some point, it will happen.
So basically, the problem many have is that they imagine some patricians get land assigned, manage it, get rich and are beyond the reach of the lands inhabitants.
Which is a valid possibility depending on stability and legitimacy at the time.
But an equal possibility, and one we should aim for, is to assign managent on the village level.
It's both the easiest for our society to grasp, most practical and it actually enforces accountability.
Essentially, the Village Chief gets to manage the lands around his village. At this level, I think we are still democratic. It's just the upper levels that are highly oligarchic because of the level of education you need there.
By keeping the management this small, we ensure that responses are fast and tailored for local conditions, while proximity to his people means the Chief can't fuck around too much or his people will remove him, one way or another. It's fairly hard to push people around in a village of a hundred souls if anyone can leave whenever or just punch you if you are being an ass.
The downsides is that they don't look at the big picture as much and may damage the land or plant cash crops that bring a lot of money, but in bad years risk famine.
To counter land damage, we have the priests and shamans. Religious Authority is probably a benefit for this as it means people listen to the priests even if they don't understand it. The priests are also our researchers and at this point probably advice farmers on how to manage their land for longterm benefit.
The demands of the state are more problematic, but are probably easiest solved via the Census. Count how many mouths need feeding, account for losses and disasters, assign budget and then contract villages to plant that much food for this money. Administratively, the only hard parts are the calculation and buying up the harvests.
At the end, food gets distributed again as bwylls, surplus is either sold abroad, stored or processed for beer and the like. Or just gifted. Whatever.
As always, corruption will be a factor, but thats the same with taxes. And here, it's fairly easy for a taxman to look at the fields and make a guess and compare with reported yields.
@Academia Nut
Is this realistic for the Ymaryns development or still too complex?
