Morale is central to the effectiveness of a legion and its capacity to perform the various tasks demanded of it. When morale is at its highest, all legion actions are performed at the highest possible rate and efficiency. Conversely, when morale is low, actions are performed sluggishly, begrudgingly and any specialist skills will be greatly reduced in effectiveness with potentially deadly consequences.
It is important to keep a legion well paid, well fed and well healed. The former is the province of the guild or city treasury (see HELP FINANCES for specifics on legion wages) and costs vary depending on where in the land a legion resides, with legions on foreign soil (and thus busy and exciteably engaged in activity) cost the least while legions milling aimlessly and bored within city walls or barracks cost the most to maintain their loyalty.
Legions require food to remain healthy and loyal. If an Avalon month passes without the provision of suitable rations, a legion's soldiers will begin to desert in a quantity proportional to the length of time without food and the number of hungry soldiers.
Food tends to be kept in ration form. Rations are made typically from potatoes (see AB SURVIVAL RATIONS ) and can be equipped directly into a legion's inventory (whereby the legion will consume them directly when hungry) or kept in the city resource store (see CITY HELP RESOURCES) and will automatically be distributed to hungry legions while the supply of rations remains.
Syntax: RATIONS
Use this command to gain an at a glance summary of the state of play in the land, i.e how many rations are required at any time for homeland legions, legions abroad and some examples to help determine ration requirements for your city or guild militaries.
One ration will satisfy 1000 legionnaires when the legion is in-barracks. They will not require anything more when on homeland soil. Legions consume at a 1250% rate when they are not on home-soil, e. G. on foreign battlefields, laying siege abroad, etc. Examples: 100 legion strength requires 1 rations at home, 12 abroad; 1000 legion strength requires 1 rations at home, 12 abroad; 5000 legion strength requires 5 rations at home, 62 abroad; 50,000 legion strength requires 50 rations at home, 625 abroad.
The welfare of a legion is determined by their 'fatigue' and their 'health'. Fatigue is a most important figure for it is this state of welfare that determines any casualties and injuries taken in combat with opposing legions. ALL attacks between legions will first deplete fatigue and - once a specific threshold of tiredness is crossed - subsequently begin to cause injury and casualties, the extent of which is determined by both the legion's state of health as well as it's state of fatigue. Health can only be depleted directly in combat, while fatigue forms the basis of a legion's capabilities in marching, deployment and any ongoing battlefield endeavour - the legion becoming tired as it acts and slowly recuperating over time as the soldiers are allowed to rest.
