military-free (maybe you though about it already?)

[zegoiaba]

maybe someone 've had this idea 1st, who knows?, but now i'm using a nice tactic: no military at all  
if you are playing a free election or any other benevolent ruler game, why bother having soldiers?
their only use is counter rebels and eliminate people, if you aren't doing it, you don't need guards
just be absoletely sure the people is content, and don't pick that "rebels cry!" thing.

[zegoiaba]

oh, and i forgot to mention, no coups at all, since only soldiers can do it, isn't it?

[Bugsy]

Isn't your Military Faction unhappy?

[zegoiaba]

They usually aren't my biggest fans, but the relations are quite ok.
Also, I print some newspaper for another factions, and set religious teaching, besides the military free zone is for high happiness games only. When they are at 55-65 happiness, why bother spending on guns?
They also have no generals or soldiers, so they are quite weak.

[General PinochetNut]

I survived the game but it was too boring for my tastes anyway. Bugsy, the military faction can bark but can't bite in a no-military game.  As well, it's pretty small without an army.

[zegoiaba]

Maybe Costa Rica inspired me, but now all my games exclude the army, except when i wanna shoot a rebel or two so i set a ditactorship.  

They won't bother you. In fact, in some of the last games, my relationship with the army reached harmony despite of the odds. Yup, it was a hapinness/free election game.

Oh, and before someone asks, i'm no pacifist. I know more about war than i'd like.  :-/

[Chili-Monster]

I had to build a millitary just to shut that idiot up. GOD it was sooooo anoying. IT seemed like every 10 seconds the idiot from the millitary faction was trying to get me to build a millitary.    I had to eliminate him   hehe

[Cluk]

This works beautifully on a happy island, with one problem - the protesters.  Stautes in the central city help, and you can still use heretic and arrest to deal with those who just don't learn..

[zegoiaba]

But the people "love you El Presidenté"  .
Statues are bad for freedom rate.
Maybe it's just the bonus freedom (from traits) and the economical boost I get by having no soldiers since day one.
I'm in picking enviromentalist and educational traits to raise happiness and productivity even more  .
Remember Civilization?

[Zeede]

zegoiaba:  What Presidente/island characteristics do you pick for your military-free islands?  I'm nearing the close of my third island (open-ended, circa 2070), and for my next one I'd like to try a military-free one.  It'll make for a funny contrast to my housemate, who started a "Rule with military iron fist" island just yesterday.  

[zegoiaba]

General hints:
Freedom bonus, 10-20%, be elected by some way. Pollution cut, 30-80%, be a green thumb, and sometimes, a naturalist too. These are mandatory.
Crime cut, up to 55%, I guess. Just be incorruptible.
As you get veteran with the game, you don't need to worry about the traits, just don't pick something bad for freedom like generalissimo.
You can try to pick "bought the election" too, but it's your own risk. It tends to generate rebels in the hardest difficulty settings.
The factory production bonus aren't that useful. Why not build another factory? Depending on the situation, getting a farmer or miner bonus can be more useful.

[Cluk]

Statues are bad for freedom rate.

It turns out that liberty and govt. control are not mutually exclusive.  To keep both high, plenty of statues work well.  The sensitivity training edict works wonderfully if you want to keep the militarists on your side by maintaining a reasonable army.  With BBC, Radio Free Tropico, and free elections, liberty can easily stay quite high, making intellectuals and the US happy.

[zegoiaba]

You're right, I can't deny.
Still, let's see: radio, tv, soldiers, statues, all of them cost money. And cash is vital for the initial years.
What I'm proposing is to please ALL factions, but without setting Radio Free Tropico, BBC, buildings statues, hiring military, and yes, the military faction still likes me.
Only at the ending movie Ricardo says they hate me  .

[Cluk]

After testing, it turns out that this strategy gets really tough on the harder levels.  With no govt. control, it's dadgumed near impossible to deal with the protesters on the toughest 2 political levels.

[the_neutron_bomb]

What i like to do is to gain respect, build a large army and brainwash all the students to be military troopers.  There is never unem,ployment under "installed by KGB" and now if the military is happy, everyone is.

[Antilles]

Military is bad.  Very bad.  Generals and guard posts costs lots of money.  I never have a military, and I never have any problems from my militarist population.  They are always at least cordial.  I start the game, Elected as a socialist.  Professor background.  Incorruptible and Green Tumb.  Pompous and cowardly as flaws.  If you pay your people a high salary and rely on farming for the bulk of your income early on, you'll absolutely dominate, and make your people happy in the process.  If only things could be so easy in the real world . . .

[Tappy Winchester]

Hello Presidentes, this is a forum de informacion fantastico, I am so glad I found it.  This is my first post.

Regarding the military... on higher difficulty levels, I find that at least SOME military presence (beyond just the palace guards) is wise, especially if your character has attributes/flaws that negatively affect relationships with the military.  Sure, as many people have pointed out, you CAN ignore the militarists and still get decent relationships with that faction.  But rebels can still cause significant problems, and if you also select "coward" as a flaw, they can often do you significant harm.

(Warning: longwinded story alert)
Case in point: I recently had a moderate-sized island with the Archealogical Ruins located at the other side of the map.  Naturally, this looked like a great place for a swank tourist operation... luxury hotel, spa, sports complex, nightclub, and so on.  So I gave the area ("Costa Sur") its own dock (didn't want to wait for the airport) and built some housing for the workers, but to build the rest of the tourist stuff, I needed to extend electricity to this remote corner of my island.  This meant building a substation out in the thick jungle behind the ruins.  No problem so far, right?  Soon I was rolling in money from wealthy Yanqui touristas.

But then a particularly strong candidate decided to run against me in the next election.  To "persuade" her otherwise, I branded her a heretic -- but this backfired on me.  In the end, I barely won the election by rigging it, but this apparently produced two rebels.  Of course, I didn't notice the rebels until a year later, when one of them appeared out of the jungle to attack my substation!  My puny military, consisting of just 2 palace guards, responded.  Just in time, they arrived at the substation, and I expected a heroic victory!  But it was not to be, fellow Presidentes.  The rebel shot my first soldier dead.  And then... I wish I had this animation to show... he ran over to the dead soldier's body and pumped it full of bullets!  My second soldier, bursting out into the clearing, saw this happen, and he promptly ran away (that 'coward' thing, you know.)  That left my substation unguarded, and the rebels easily finished it off in a hail of russian-made bullets.  This plunged my profitable Costa Sur tourist destination into darkness, and it was all I could do to restore the economy, especially since 1) I was now forced to agree to at least a modest increase in the military to deal with the rebel threat (does this sound like the U.S. in September of '01, perhaps?) and also 2) the rebels then moved on to attack and destroy one of my very profitable farms before I could neutralize them.

So, yes, before anyone says it: if I'd kept my people happier, I probably wouldn't have faced rebels in the first place.  But you can't always ensure total happiness.  Best to have at least a small force of soldiers (I think even one armory and one guard post would have made the difference) to deal with the unexpected unless you are quite confident that your people would never turn against you.

Guabi

[Baron Francisco]

I have noticed, if you have any problems with government control but are not buiding any millitary, about 5 statues about equel the government control of one gaurd stations. Plus, they can be built relitivly quickly. Just thought it might be useful on the higher political levels.

[MadamPresident]

Its especially good for tourist areas, since statues increase beauty as well as exert government control.

Win-win and no pesky soldiers to take care of.  

_MadamPresident

[Bulletsponge]

in my games, its impossible to play without a military, cause i play with above avg poitical instability and rebel yell. i always get rebels

[Baron Francisco]

I also think 'Rebel Yell' is pretty fun to use, and soon I have to try that scenerio 'Rebel'.
Another pro about statues is the no soldiers starting a coup. I hope in Paradise Island there are more decorative objects like statues and fountains. Maybe a 'Memorial' or something.

[The_King]

I have gone with no military but it is really weird because i have all of this money just sitting   there that i would spend on soilders so i dont know what to do with it

[Czar Baron]

I can't belive you can last without a military I mean the military is everything they give you that feeling of assurance every time they walk  by your palace

"An island without a military,is chaos." Czar Baron  

[PRESIDENTE__DJ]

i wouldnt put kbg installment because you can issue military conscription and get the same results

[Slamin Sammy]

Zegoiaba makes a good point.  You don't have to have a large military when playing a game in which you don't want rebels.  In reference to the military faction's drop in respect, if you pay your palace guards well, and have 1 armory with a well-paid general, then they are more than pleased.  To lessen the military presence, use the 'Sensitivity Training' edict.