When are retinues worth it?

[Dumbledood]

At first glance I like the idea of a standing army, loyal to their liege, and their upkeep/reinforcement costs are realistic.

I'm trying to understand when they're worth it though.

I guess this just means that retinues have situational value, since AFAIK levies don't have any expense associated with their reinforcement (giving them an advantage over retinues it seems), but have upkeep costs just like retinues.

Are the upkeep costs of retinues much lower than levies?

Do the upkeep costs + reinforcement costs of retinues roughly come out to the same cost as just levy upkeep?

Thanks!

[legeis90]

I'm no expert (there are many many better players than me), but in my experience there are a few situations I find retinues useful.

1) Squashig small rebelions without needing to raise a levy. If you get big enough it can be frustrating to need to raise a levy every time you need to crush a small uprising.

2) First strike/Early Strike. SInce you can't declare war with levys raised retinues are a great way to possition yourself to get a strong first strike after you declare war.

3) Extra Soldiers. Since retinues dont count as part of your levy its a great way to increse you military might for a lagre or close war.

4) They are cool. What bad ass ruler dose not want a standing army at their command at all times?

[al_x_ator2411]

Once retinues are fully reinforced they cost practically nothing (unless they are huge, like 10K HC).

At first (when you can afford only the cheap ones with many low quality troops) they are usefull only for keeping factions at bay and quick positioning of armies before wars (for fast sieging).

Later on when you can afford thousands of quality troops they can be used on the battlefield too. I remember that as Tibet my retinues had saved me from the Mongols.

[al_x_ator2411]

Originally posted by legeis90:

3) Extra Soldiers. Since retinues dont count as part of your levy its a great way to increse you military might for a lagre or close war.

They don't count as levy but they count as part of your forces and the AI takes your retinue into account when calculating if they'll attack you (as raw numbers without taking the quality of troops into account). That's why I said they deter factions.

[Evilgenius]

Well first off, eventually you will make so much money in the game that the upkeep cost of retinues wont really bother you.

Retinues are better then levy troops in certain ways:
-You get to choose the composition, so you can make a full cavalry army or the perfects % split to make some tactics very powerfull, if you are into min maxing the battles.
-Retinues are always there, so you can protect a wealthy province from raiders, guard a choke or pre place them before a war to get an easy siege. Etc.
-Your cultural retinue get all kinds of stat bonusses, they are often a much better version of the standard levy troop
-The amount of Retinue is not determined by relations, but by tech, buildings and realm size, things that you have alot more control over then relations. Vassal levies cost relations to levy over time. And their size is determined by the relations with your current ruler. Personal levy's do not have this problem ofcourse
-Retinue is very usefull to project your rulers power over your vassals. A rebelion happens when a faction has more then 100% army size compared to you. Retinues are a great way to increase your army size, if your army is bigger then revolts are less likely.

[broartwar]

the bigger you are the better they are. Though, if you can afford it, even an extra 250 units can help. Especially when transferring power to your heir. 250 isnt a lot, but it can mean the difference between vassals revolting or not.

[Magnus Aurelius, Bright Lord]

Retinues are always useful. If youv got the cash for it.

Retinues will stop your vassals from rebelling, this alone is worth all the gold in the world.

[kazaddum]

Originally posted by Dumbledood:

At first glance I like the idea of a standing army, loyal to their liege, and their upkeep/reinforcement costs are realistic.

I'm trying to understand when they're worth it though.

I guess this just means that retinues have situational value, since AFAIK levies don't have any expense associated with their reinforcement (giving them an advantage over retinues it seems), but have upkeep costs just like retinues.

Are the upkeep costs of retinues much lower than levies?

Do the upkeep costs + reinforcement costs of retinues roughly come out to the same cost as just levy upkeep?

Thanks!

Retinues have several advantages that make them instant picks if you can affort them:
1. Always there. Good first responders to minor revolts.
2. Controllable recuitment, you can make ideal armies. For example you can amass Hi as norse for optimal use of your cultural tactics. Or get all the Horse Archers and LC as persian.
3. Reinforcing. They reinforce their numbers in any territory. Levies only do so in your own.
4. Stronger than levies. All retinues are stronger than their levy counterparts. https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Retinues

[Admod, the Equivocal]

Originally posted by Dumbledood:

At first glance I like the idea of a standing army, loyal to their liege, and their upkeep/reinforcement costs are realistic.

I'm trying to understand when they're worth it though.

I guess this just means that retinues have situational value, since AFAIK levies don't have any expense associated with their reinforcement (giving them an advantage over retinues it seems), but have upkeep costs just like retinues.

Are the upkeep costs of retinues much lower than levies?

Do the upkeep costs + reinforcement costs of retinues roughly come out to the same cost as just levy upkeep?

Thanks!

Retinues are ALL ways worth it from what I can tell. I don't ever know a point when I've ever hesitated to get them. Extra troops. How do you ever have too many troops?

[Poffean]

Tribes have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of good retinues, so use them whenever possible