CurseUppl
The bureaucracy expands.
WARNING WALL OF TEXT INC! 
Been pondering for a while now on how to utilise the puppet states feature to the max. So I thought to myself, ‘What civilization, unlike anything other, was the most influential, yet had the least control over its subjects?’
The Holy Roman Empire.
From Wikipedia: ‘The multiethnic Empire's territorial extent varied over its history, but at its peak it encompassed the Kingdom of Germany, the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Burgundy; for much of its history the Empire consisted of hundreds of smaller sub-units, principalities, duchies, counties, Free Imperial Cities, as well as other domains.’
So, what’s the idea? Well, you build an empire that consists of puppet states (let’s call them city states) with the sole exception of your capital and Free Imperial Cities (which are subject to your direct control). But it’s not the simple. While you can annex cities, the impact on your happiness would be too crippling and it could lead to direct revolt (think Revolutions Mod).
From Wikipedia: ‘Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes. In its last centuries, its character became quite close to a union of territories.’
As the game starts, all cities you build come under your control and cities you capture automatically become puppets (you can’t raze due to the HRE’s expansionist nature). At a given time, you’re given the choice of keeping 5-10% of your cities into Free Imperial Cities (including your capital) while the rest automatically become city states. As the game progresses you (as the Holy Roman Emperor) have to fight the increasing autonomy of your subjects while at the same time not taking complete control of them (like with a normal civ).
Along the line, you can convert more cities into FICs or you can convert FICs back to city states. It all depends on the happiness of your people and the nature of your neighbours. As your research tech, your empire becomes increasingly in favour of city states and less centralised control, and it’s the player’s job to counteract this by keeping relations peachy with the city states and ensuring you don’t step on any toes. For example, you thought it was a good idea to go to war with the Aztecs and loot all their land, so you made a few more FICs to enhance military production and waged war. But after the war, when you convert them back (you’re forced to, as when the war ends, your people become less patriotic) to city states, you’ve tarnished your reputation with your empire and it has taken a further step away from your direct control.
You must balance happiness with bureaucratic expediency. On one hand, you want a happy empire (read: all cities are city states except the capital, with least amount of central control), on the other you want some measure of control (read: the most FICs possible without causing outright dissent from your subjects.)
Now, to further the idea, each city state acts like Civ5’s city states except they can only interact with you. They pay taxes to your empire and they are obligated to put one military unit (this can change during wartime) at your disposal. A portion of their culture, science and gold goes to you (this is where the slider comes in) where the higher it is, the unhappier they get. City states have their own research trees just like Civ5’s city states.
You get less research/gold/culture per city you own, compared to a normal civ. But on the other hand, what’s stopping you from city spamming/warmongering? The more cities the better right? Yes and that’s the point of the HRE. Though as emperor you must be ever vigilant of those who wish to wrest power from your hands. You must ensure your empire doesn’t become a giant city duck with tons of culture/science/gold but no military (because they either haven’t built enough military or you don’t own enough FICs).
Social policies! These, like in normal Civ5, decide the running of your empire. You change your social policies depending on your situation. If, for example, you’re about to go to war, you’ll jump over to the wartime social policy. If you were attack, it’ll incur no unhappiness penalty and if you attacked, it will. City states will drop what they’re doing and will favour military building.
The more social policies you run that favour city state independency, the happier your empire will be (at the expense of direct control and other factors). The more policies you run that favour your control, the unhappier they get (though you could, theoretically, run those, if you had enough gold to consistently bribe your city states).
So, why would a player play the HRE? It just sounds like a dreadful experience. Well, here’s why: the HRE really shines on the largest maps, allowing you to build nothing short of a massive civilization early-mid-game with a very modest military force. The HRE is for civ players who loved their Civ3 days and enjoyed nothing more than ruling an empire of a 100+ cities (yes, I went there). The HRE is for civ players who want a challenge, who want to RP, and who want to experience what ruling an empire is actually like.
I'm no modder, I just thought I'd throw it out there in case some of the Rise of Mankind guys might get inspired by it.
Anyway, thoughts?
Been pondering for a while now on how to utilise the puppet states feature to the max. So I thought to myself, ‘What civilization, unlike anything other, was the most influential, yet had the least control over its subjects?’
The Holy Roman Empire.
From Wikipedia: ‘The multiethnic Empire's territorial extent varied over its history, but at its peak it encompassed the Kingdom of Germany, the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Burgundy; for much of its history the Empire consisted of hundreds of smaller sub-units, principalities, duchies, counties, Free Imperial Cities, as well as other domains.’
So, what’s the idea? Well, you build an empire that consists of puppet states (let’s call them city states) with the sole exception of your capital and Free Imperial Cities (which are subject to your direct control). But it’s not the simple. While you can annex cities, the impact on your happiness would be too crippling and it could lead to direct revolt (think Revolutions Mod).
From Wikipedia: ‘Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes. In its last centuries, its character became quite close to a union of territories.’
As the game starts, all cities you build come under your control and cities you capture automatically become puppets (you can’t raze due to the HRE’s expansionist nature). At a given time, you’re given the choice of keeping 5-10% of your cities into Free Imperial Cities (including your capital) while the rest automatically become city states. As the game progresses you (as the Holy Roman Emperor) have to fight the increasing autonomy of your subjects while at the same time not taking complete control of them (like with a normal civ).
Along the line, you can convert more cities into FICs or you can convert FICs back to city states. It all depends on the happiness of your people and the nature of your neighbours. As your research tech, your empire becomes increasingly in favour of city states and less centralised control, and it’s the player’s job to counteract this by keeping relations peachy with the city states and ensuring you don’t step on any toes. For example, you thought it was a good idea to go to war with the Aztecs and loot all their land, so you made a few more FICs to enhance military production and waged war. But after the war, when you convert them back (you’re forced to, as when the war ends, your people become less patriotic) to city states, you’ve tarnished your reputation with your empire and it has taken a further step away from your direct control.
You must balance happiness with bureaucratic expediency. On one hand, you want a happy empire (read: all cities are city states except the capital, with least amount of central control), on the other you want some measure of control (read: the most FICs possible without causing outright dissent from your subjects.)
Now, to further the idea, each city state acts like Civ5’s city states except they can only interact with you. They pay taxes to your empire and they are obligated to put one military unit (this can change during wartime) at your disposal. A portion of their culture, science and gold goes to you (this is where the slider comes in) where the higher it is, the unhappier they get. City states have their own research trees just like Civ5’s city states.
You get less research/gold/culture per city you own, compared to a normal civ. But on the other hand, what’s stopping you from city spamming/warmongering? The more cities the better right? Yes and that’s the point of the HRE. Though as emperor you must be ever vigilant of those who wish to wrest power from your hands. You must ensure your empire doesn’t become a giant city duck with tons of culture/science/gold but no military (because they either haven’t built enough military or you don’t own enough FICs).
Social policies! These, like in normal Civ5, decide the running of your empire. You change your social policies depending on your situation. If, for example, you’re about to go to war, you’ll jump over to the wartime social policy. If you were attack, it’ll incur no unhappiness penalty and if you attacked, it will. City states will drop what they’re doing and will favour military building.
The more social policies you run that favour city state independency, the happier your empire will be (at the expense of direct control and other factors). The more policies you run that favour your control, the unhappier they get (though you could, theoretically, run those, if you had enough gold to consistently bribe your city states).
So, why would a player play the HRE? It just sounds like a dreadful experience. Well, here’s why: the HRE really shines on the largest maps, allowing you to build nothing short of a massive civilization early-mid-game with a very modest military force. The HRE is for civ players who loved their Civ3 days and enjoyed nothing more than ruling an empire of a 100+ cities (yes, I went there). The HRE is for civ players who want a challenge, who want to RP, and who want to experience what ruling an empire is actually like.
I'm no modder, I just thought I'd throw it out there in case some of the Rise of Mankind guys might get inspired by it.
Anyway, thoughts?
though I admit my historical knowledge of the HRE is at a Wikipedia-level, at best 
).
