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Total War: Attila

In Total War: Attila, public order represents the happiness and stability of a settlement's population. Managing public order is crucial for preventing rebellions and ensuring a smooth-running empire. Factors like taxes, sanitation, religion, and building construction all impact public order, requiring careful management to maintain stability and growth.

Factors Affecting Public Order:

  • Taxes: Lowering taxes increases public order but reduces income. Finding the right balance is essential.
  • Religion: Different religions have different impacts on public order. Converting to a dominant religion can improve stability.
  • Buildings: Some buildings, like religious and municipal buildings, boost public order. Others, like farms and those that cause squalor, can negatively affect it.
  • Sanitation: Poor sanitation leads to disease and unhappiness, impacting public order.
  • Garrison: Stationing an army in a settlement can improve public order, especially after taking control of a new settlement.
  • Governors: Assigning governors to provinces can influence public order through edicts and their personal skills.
  • Fertility: Areas with low fertility may require specific food production buildings like goat farms, which also affect public order.
  • Corruption: Corruption can cause unrest and attrition, ultimately affecting public order.

Consequences of Low Public Order:

  • Rebellions: When public order drops too low, rebellions can occur, leading to the formation of rebel armies that may attack nearby settlements.
  • Population Penalties: Low public order can result in population penalties, hindering growth and resource production.

Managing Public Order:

  • Monitor: Regularly check the public order icon in the lower left of the screen to assess the situation in each commandery.
  • Adjust Taxes: Fine-tune tax rates to balance income and public order.
  • Build Strategically: Prioritize buildings that improve public order, sanitation, and food production.
  • Consider Religion: Aligning with the dominant religion of a province can improve stability.
  • Use Edicts and Governors: Utilize edicts and assign governors to provinces to influence public order.
  • Address Corruption: Implement measures to reduce corruption and its negative impact on public order.
  • Station Armies: Keep armies garrisoned in settlements, especially newly captured ones, to maintain order.

Total War: Thrones of Britannia

Of course. Here is a summary of how Public Order works in Total War: Thrones of Britannia.

Summary of Public Order in Total War: Thrones of Britannia

Public Order in Thrones of Britannia is a more grounded and challenging system compared to many other Total War titles. It represents the stability and loyalty of a province. Instead of being a minor issue managed by building a few temples, it's a central mechanic that forces you to govern carefully and realistically.

The entire system revolves around a single, clear consequence: if a province's Public Order value reaches -100, a full-stack rebel army will instantly spawn, forcing you to divert forces to put it down.


Key Factors that Decrease Public Order (The Negatives)

These are the primary challenges you'll face:

  1. War Weariness: This is arguably the most significant factor. The longer you are at war, the more battles you fight, and the more casualties you take, the higher your empire-wide War Weariness becomes. This applies a powerful, stacking Public Order penalty to all of your provinces.
  2. Food Shortages: Food is a kingdom-wide resource. If your total food production is negative, every single one of your provinces will suffer a severe Public Order penalty. This can quickly cause your entire kingdom to destabilize.
  3. Instability (Recent Conquest): Newly conquered provinces suffer a large, temporary "instability" penalty. This makes it difficult to immediately push further without securing your new territory first.
  4. Cultural Differences: Provinces with a culture different from your faction's (e.g., a Norse province owned by a Welsh faction) will have a constant Public Order penalty. This can only be overcome by slowly converting the populace.
  5. Devastation: An enemy army raiding in your province or a recent battle/siege will cause devastation, which directly harms Public Order and income.
  6. High Taxes: Raising taxes provides more income but applies a straightforward penalty to Public Order.
  7. Governor's Traits: A governor with negative traits (like "Corrupt" or "Disloyal") can harm a province's stability.

Key Factors that Increase Public Order (The Positives)

Managing these factors is the key to a stable kingdom:

  1. Governor's Influence: This is your most direct tool. Appointing a governor to a province provides a Public Order bonus based on their Influence attribute. High-influence governors are essential for stabilizing difficult provinces. Their skills and retinue can also provide further bonuses.
  2. Food Surplus: Maintaining a positive food balance provides a small, but crucial, empire-wide Public Order bonus.
  3. Buildings: Unlike other Total War games, there are very few "Public Order" buildings. Instead, buildings contribute indirectly:
    • Churches/Religious Buildings: These are the primary way to convert a province's culture, which slowly removes the cultural difference penalty.
    • Sanitation & Market Buildings: Some higher-tier economic and infrastructure buildings provide small Public Order bonuses.
  4. Cultural Dominance: Once your faction's culture is dominant in a province (typically over 85-90%), the penalty is removed and you may receive a small bonus.
  5. Low Taxes: Lowering taxes provides a significant Public Order boost at the cost of income.
  6. Technology: Certain civic technologies provide small, empire-wide bonuses to Public Order.
  7. Peace: Just as war causes weariness, being at peace will slowly reduce it, removing its negative penalty over time.

Key Differences from Other Total War Games

  • No "Happiness Building" Spam: You cannot solve Public Order problems by simply building a chain of temples. You must engage with the governor, food, and culture systems.
  • The Power of War Weariness: This mechanic actively punishes constant, unending warfare in a way other titles don't. You are forced to seek periods of peace to let your kingdom recover.
  • Governors are Essential: Governors are not just a nice bonus; they are a core mechanic for managing your provinces. A province without a governor is much harder to control.
  • Binary Rebellion: The system is less random. You don't have a chance of rebellion each turn. You have a clear countdown to -100, at which point a rebellion is guaranteed.

How to Manage It: Strategy in a Nutshell

  • Appoint High-Influence Governors to your most unstable or newly conquered provinces.
  • Always watch your food supply. Never let it go into the negative for long.
  • Pace your expansion. Take a province, then pause to stabilize it before attacking again.
  • Use periods of peace to let War Weariness die down.
  • Build churches in provinces with foreign cultures to begin the slow process of conversion.
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