Suppressing an uprising

[Mr.P]

Well, I have just had my first uprising and I must confess that it was a joy to watch my Tropicans running around, burning flags above their heads.

Thankfully the island was prepared, having been in office for 60 years.

What did I learn?

i) Well, having plenty of police really did help. 4 Police Stations were fully staffed as the uprising began. Given they were well-paid only 2 were traitors, the rest 'dealt' with the populace. Now you'll get to see the policeman use his pistol.

The army, which had recently undertaken a coup attempt were...erm...depleted shall we say and took a fairly minor part in the proceedings.

ii) I found that even the guards in my prisons were running around shooting the protesters, so you should consider them when planning your police force size, in relation to uprising protection.

iii) As all the Tropicans initially tried to converge on the Palace it became somewhat of a turkey shoot; thankfully (by luck) I had two Police Stations close to my residence. Certainly something to bear in mind when planning your island.

iv) As all your workers seem to stop you cannot expect any goods to be shipped or product to be manufactured, so try your best to cut overheads, as this will prevent you sliding into the red (or at least reduce the slide if you are already there!)

v) Be careful with your immigration policies. I watched several ships dock and over 3/4's of all arrivals were traitors and immediately set out for the Palace. Consider 'Tropicans First', to prevent new arrivals.

vi) Once the uprising has been crushed remove the 'Tropicans First' setting, as you will need to allow as many people onto your island as you can, given half your population will be littering your streets in a corpse-like pose.

I hope that helps, in the unlikely event that you rule your island as badly as I did!  

[2ninga]

Good information, Mr.P.  I had never even considered the effects of immigration during an uprising.  I will certainly be taking down the Help Wanted sign and putting up the No Entrance: Shark Infested Waters sign.  

BTW what did you do to get so many folks upset with you?  The only time an uprising managed to throw me out of power I had denied a couple of elections I had no chance of winning, and like you I had recently suppressed a military coup.  Without many soldiers, and very few police, a handful of individuals managed to force me into a rowboat.  No, Ricardo, you may not hold my suitcase for me.  Perhaps you'd like to go for a swim?

[Mr.P]

I decided to play an ultra-repressive regime, rigging or simply denying every election. In fact the only time I even allowed my Tropicans to vote n 60 years was when the US sent a gunboat of the coast.

I was actually looking to incite an uprising, so that I could learn how to tackle it. The placing and number of Police Stations really clinched it, so I'll ensure my islands are loaded with em' in future.

Well, now I know what an uprising is like, rebellion next I think.

Has anyone had a rebellion?

[Blackrook]

I've had rebellions, but only with "rebel yell" activated.  Once I had  a group of 6-7 rebels attack a building.  My army cleaned them up handily.  After that, the rebellion never got back on its feet. Soldiers are better fighters, man to man, than rebels.

[Mr.P]

Blackrook, so what is a rebellion? I thought it was when you had loads of rebels attack your Palace?  

I'm always getting the odd rebel or two shooting up my outlying buildings, but never in the town centre.

Looking at the manual there seems to be no catagory for shooting up just any buildings, so may you're right and a rebel attacking any building constitutes a rebellion and not just the Palace.

Your thoughts, as I am confused now.

[2ninga]

I've had rebels attack my farms, and I've now seen plenty of coups, but the uprising referred to in the manual where everyone converges on the palace either for you or against you and fight each other is not something I've been able to make happen.  Anyone seen this?

[Peron]

 Check the manual again Mr. P.  Page 46 has rebellion defined.

 According to it your first definition of  a rebellion is correct:

     A group of rebels attacking the palace.



 .

[Mr.P]

Yup Peron, thats what I had a rebellion down as.

However, maybe the first attacks on your outlaying buildings is the first step to the rebels making their way to your Palace.

Or maybe a rebel attack on your distant buildings is just that...an attack, nothing more. Perhaps PopTop didn't give a catagory for these minor attacks, as they happen so often!  

[Revolucionario]

Rook,
I haven't got you in my sights yet!

Mr. P,
I as leader of the TRM, we consider a rebellion when any of your infrastructure is being attacked not just your plush palace. A rebellion is put dwn when all rebels are killed or run back into the jungles to fight another day.

[Peron]

 I had a rebel.  One steenking rebel.

 The rebel became a rebel just before I had a big change of heart and gave the people what they wanted.

 The rebel seemed to have no burning requirement that needed to be fulfilled.  No high liberty need.  Respect for leader was high.  Bright green in fact.

 I think he only had become a rebel because I still had lacked 100% adequate housing for all the people and he was a good communist.  Like I said, this was resolved shortly after he became a rebel.

 I tried issuing the amnesty edict.  Didn't work.  This was a very determined rebel it seems.

   At first he would attempt to attack a building and then chicken out when he saw  soldiers that were not far away.  Ended up his attacking a corn farm and getting sprayed with bullets by a multitude of soldiers.  Vaya con Carne!

 I would have preffered his accepting amenesty.

 
 

[Malovane]

Wow! how did you get this uprising to occur? I have never been able to

[Mr.P]

I tend to concerntrate on building a big economy and providing the barest level of services and housing, so that it does not affect the $ to much.

You'll get a few messages saying how unhappy your Tropicans are and then the threat that they are close to rebelling against you.
Fairly soon after that, say 6 months in my recent cases, (I have had a few more since I started this thread! ) an uprising occurs. You get a display in the 'magic 8 ball' showing those for you, those against and the number hiding. All the Tropicans have symbols over their head, denoting stance, and head for the Palace where, if you have planned it well, you pepper them with bullets. The policeman shooting his pistol is a sight to behold, you'll just need a strong stomach when you look at the bodies pille dup at your door.

Then again, if you have caused an uprising you're unlikely to care about the little Tropicans much.

[General PinochetNut]

The "shooting as they come" definition is misleading, IMHO. Because the 12 rebels(against 49 soldiers ) attacked my immigration office and didn't stop until they were killed off. They rather destroy everything in thier way first and only then attack the palace.

[Ragingphoenix]

 Check the manual again Mr. P.  Page 46 has rebellion defined.

 According to it your first definition of  a rebellion is correct:

     A group of rebels attacking the palace.

On my island, every thought of disagreement with the wise goverment policies is a rebellion. It is, of course, a very quiet island, but we islanders like the sound of silence. For a change of sounds, an occassional gunshot or prisonslamm is welcome of course. Isn't it folks? Yes? I thought so..

[Coconut Kid]

It's important to note the relationship of a huge debt to the length of an Uprising. That event has been seldom reported, and probably just as seldom experienced. Therefore, the strategy for combating one has to be called "undeveloped" and\or "untested" for most folks. One thing about the strategy is clear. After it starts, El Presidente can not just sit and watch the picture unfold if he wishes to keep his office. He had just as well click the "quit" button and dump that game\map if he doesn't have a plan and take action.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=9521.0

[Coconut Kid]

Unfortunately, that thread wobbled all over the place, but failed to provide much information on protesters. Perhaps a quick review of how the player may lose would help.

El Presidente takes to the escape rowboat when:

• An election is lost because you wasted the campaign year. The people have lost respect and will not be kind. Get away while possible.
• The Leader of the Militarist Faction is successful in instigating a Coup.
  • The army divides into insurgents who try to destroy the Palace and loyalists who defend it.
  • A third group turns 'Chicken' and runs home to hide.
  • The Coup succeeds when the Palace is destroyed; take actions to help the loyalists. Then run for it.
• The number of Rebels becomes large enough that they attack and destroy the Palace after they have practiced on other important buildings.
  • The Army (and only the Army) fights the Rebels only when they are attacking a building; maintain the Army and woo the Militarist Faction (Leader).
  • Some on both sides turn 'Chicken' and run home to hide.
• The number of Protesters becomes large enough to set off a General Uprising
  • The entire population divides into Protesters (insurgents) who try to destroy the Palace and Loyalists who try to defend it.
  • Whether or not there are 'Chickens' is not known [to me]. [There are, and they are counted as "hiding."]

.
The player should never make the mistake of just sitting back and watching any of these situations "resolve themselves." It is absolutely necessary to focus on the action and use any means to intervene to win an election or defend the Palace -- especially in the case of an Uprising.

Protesters stop their ordinary activities and walk around with a flame over their heads - click on them and look at their thoughts for more information. The period of time they spend doing this varies.

During this time, they radiate an aura that affects nearby citizens who also become more unhappy and likely to join the protest. Many players actively try to suppress protesters by arresting them for "Re-Education" in Prison. Some simply use the army to assassinate them, but this is dangerous because it has worse effects than just letting them continue to protest.

Allowing a few protesters is usually harmless if the causes are noted, and the annual trend in numbers is tracked.

If things get out of hand and an Uprising starts, the player has a civil war on his hands which he has to fight actively with draconian means. There are brief suggestions in other threads. Most players have been able to avoid Uprisings so there is not much reported experience. They don't take decades to resolve if the player goes to work instead of passively watching the AI run things.

Perhaps repeating myself will help.

[Coconut Kid]

When does it end?

I have noticed several different conclusions to an Uprising. The end does not have to wait until the last traitor is dead.

i) If you have plenty of loyal Soldiers and Policemen, they will swiftly gun down the traitors, even if they are outnumbered by 3-1 or 4-1. ... In this case, you'll see the number of traitors drop rapidly and no doubt find the number of them hiding increase.

ii) Generally, as one side of the other losses, the weakest side finds more of its supporters 'turning chicken' and hiding.

iia) I have often found the last 4-12 traitors (dependant on population size) running to the hills to become rebels.

iii) Only if you have no Soldiers [Policemen?] left, or the few Soldiers you import turn traitor (if your docks are still working or you have the money!) will an uprising last more than 3-4 years, although no doubt someone will have encountered something different.

By 'inference', the Uprising ends when all the protesters\traitors\insurgents are dead, turned 'Chicken' and in hiding, or turned to Rebel status in the jungle. Normally, it is expected that there will be at least a few loyal Soldiers and/or Policemen remaining. The bar graph in the Circle Window should show how this progresses. Perhaps the Circle Window should be locked at the start so you can follow the progress without interruption. Otherwise, Peons will not return to work until the uprising is over. Therefore, when people start back to work, you have a sure sign that your can start reconstruction.

What To Do After
It Starts.

I've had maybe 15-20 uprisings and only ever lost 1. Actually for me, it is kind of a sport now; and I find it to be a lot more fun than setting the Immigration Office to 'Love it or Leave It', although a lot more expensive.

Some tips for operations to save your regime during an Uprising:

i) Set Immigration to 'Tropicans First'. This will stem the number of immigrants, many of which join the cause of the traitors. This does not stop your use of paid recruitment of Soldiers or Policemen - [if you have the money].

ii) Drop wages for all, except Soldiers, Generals and Policemen to 0 [? - perhaps 1]. No one works, so why pay them! It can sometimes be worth checking the Almanac, to see if any groups (other than armed supporters) are with you, and not reduce their wage. Generally however, I have never really found many of my supporters deserting me because I dropped wages. ¹

iii) If money is tight, consider cancelling 'pending' building projects to recoup some money. ...

iv) Always, always pay, house and treat your army and police force [and Leader of the Militarist Faction] with the upmost care. They are your supporters in times of strife (or when you wish to remove one of your many enemies). One Soldier with a rifle is worth 50 ... peons.

v) If, for what ever reason, you find an uprising is taking too long, try buying in some skilled labour, if you have the money. A soldier [policeman] or two will do. However if you think more of them will be traitors than supporters, think again!

¹ Pay carefull attention to the difference between cutting pay for everyone in a non-functional building (i.e. not army or police) and firing traitors where ever you find them still drawing pay. Micro-management indeed, but you have to save money because no one except the Army and Police are working.

After It Ends.
Wonder why you did not make better preparations.

"Remember that the masses will congregate around your Palace, so don't have all your Guard Towers or Police Stations along the outskirts of town. 1 Guard Tower, 2 Police Stations and the palace Guard will give you 20+ men, all eager to impress El Presidente with their shooting skills."

Lack of money is a classic problem post-uprising, that is why you need to ensure you start saving money as soon as the uprising begins. There is nothing worse than crushing an uprising, only to find your army unhappy, as wages have dropped to $15, due to World Bank intervention.

With regards to post-uprising tactics, make sure your key jobs are filled. All Dockworkers (up the pay a little more). Raise Teamster wages higher than normal unskilled labour. The Dockworkers and Teamsters will help you ship goods quicker and get your economy back on its feet.

Sack all your Constructions Workers (you've probably got no money, so won't be building anything for a while! The men will hopefully go to work as Teamsters and Dockworkers and the women can fill the farms.

A fully-staffed Immigration Office. Set the Immigration Office to 'Open Door' to boost the population, but remember you will attract more people if wages are no less than $2 below the Caribbean average.

So good gameplay requires thinking ahead, don't you think.  But don't just sit there and watch the movie!