Police Rating and Non-Lethal Methods

[gwillybj]

I might have managed to confuse myself about the Police Rating, Military Units acting as Police, Non-Lethal Methods, and their combined effect on drones, and I need to take a circuitous route to my question so I can show everything I'm taking into account.

First, the list from alphax.txt:

#SOCPOLICE
-5, Two extra Drones for each military unit away from territory!!
-4, Extra Drone for each military unit away from territory!
-3, Extra Drone if more than one military unit away from territory.
-2, Cannot use military units as Police. No nerve stapling.
-1, One Police unit allowed. No nerve stapling.
0, Can use one military unit as Police.
1, Can use up to 2 military units as Police.
2, Can use up to 3 military units as Police!
3, 3 units as Police. Police effect doubled!!

Next, the Special Ability:

Non-Lethal Methods, 1, Integ, Police, 000000001001, x2 Police powers

Now, two statements in the manual, with a key part underlined:

Chapter 4: Colonizing Planet, page 63: Drone Riots, beginning of second paragraph:
To end a Drone Riot, you can move military units into the base to act as police (the number of police needed is determined by your Social Engineering choices)

Chapter 5: Controlling Society, page 142: Social Factors - Police, first sentence:
Determines the number of units that can act as police (see Drone Riots, p.63) in your bases.

The way those parts are written, I see this:
(1) A military unit without Non-Lethal Methods will act as police when it is in a base, and will pacify one drone as long as the Police rating is -1 or more. If the Police rating is +1 or more, each additional military unit without Non-Lethal Methods (to a maximum of 3) will also act as police when it is in a base, each pacifying one drone.
(2) Any unit with Non-Lethal Methods will pacify 2 drones.
(3) If the Police rating is +3 or more, three military units will act as police, with or without Non-Lethal Methods, and each pacifies one additional drone, to a maximum of 9 (if three military units have NLM).

Now my confusion:
(4) In my current game, the Police rating is -2 or less, all factors taken into account.
(5) I have some kind of military unit garrisoned in a base.
(6) That unit pacifies NO drones, correct?

OR:

(7) Assume I create in the Workshop a 1-1-1 Infantry and give it Non-Lethal Methods. I build one as the sole garrison unit in a base.
(8) That unit pacifies NO drones, correct? (there is no benefit applied for having NLM)
(9) That unit creates NO drones, correct? (there is no penalty incurred for having NLM)

Might someone clear these muddied waters, please?

[Chaos Theory]

Re: Police Rating and Non-Lethal Methods

Originally posted by gwillybj
Now my confusion:
(4) In my current game, the Police rating is -2 or less, all factors taken into account.
(5) I have some kind of military unit garrisoned in a base.
(6) That unit pacifies NO drones, correct?

Correct

OR:

(7) Assume I create in the Workshop a 1-1-1 Infantry and give it Non-Lethal Methods. I build one as the sole garrison unit in a base.
(8) That unit pacifies NO drones, correct? (there is no benefit applied for having NLM)

Correct

(9) That unit creates NO drones, correct? (there is no penalty incurred for having NLM)

I would fully expect that, though it's not out of the question for Firaxis to put a bug there.

[Barinthus]

#SOCPOLICE
-5, Two extra Drones for each military unit away from territory!!
-4, Extra Drone for each military unit away from territory!
-3, Extra Drone if more than one military unit away from territory.
-2, Cannot use military units as Police. No nerve stapling.
-1, One Police unit allowed. No nerve stapling.
0, Can use one military unit as Police.
1, Can use up to 2 military units as Police.
2, Can use up to 3 military units as Police!
3, 3 units as Police. Police effect doubled!!

What does this mean - police effect doubled? Meaning they can pacify up to 6 drones provided that you have 3 military units?

And I am bit muddled by above postings - is there any benefit to having NLM at all?

[Modo44]

It means, you can have up to 4 (that's four) citizens kept quiet by a single MP unit, if you give it Non-Lethal Methods. Quite awesome for playing the Hive. No Recreation Commons, ever.

[Chaos Theory]

If your Police rating is +3, each unit that qualifies as police quells an extra drone (which, for most units, is double the effect). A nonlethal police unit will also quell an extra drone. Put both together, and 1 unit can quell 3 drones, not 4. Think d20 - a doubled doubling is a tripling. Even so, suppressing 9 drones at the cost of 3 support slots (before Clean Reactors, anyway) is a pretty good deal. Nonlinear Methods is very good on garrisons *if* you can use police in the first place.

[Modo44]

That's weird. I thought "something x 2" doesn't always equal "something + 1". In fact, it does very seldom. Oh, well...

[Kataphraktoi]

they never doubled it-they just increased it by +1.the game just uses that term

[Commy]

Welcome to the wonderful...and quite strange...world of Firaxis...

[Barinthus]

Ah thanks for the clarification. And if I understood the first post, NLM is no good if my police rating is -2 or lower, correct? It only comes in effect once my police rating is -1 or higher?

Let see if I got this right, suppose I have NLM on my military units, the total drones I can suppress in a base are...

#SOCPOLICE
-5, Two extra Drones for each military unit away from territory!!
Drones pacificed - 0
-4, Extra Drone for each military unit away from territory!
Drones pacificed - 0
-3, Extra Drone if more than one military unit away from territory.
Drones pacificed - 0
-2, Cannot use military units as Police. No nerve stapling.
Drones pacificed - 0
-1, One Police unit allowed. No nerve stapling.
Drones pacificed - 2
0, Can use one military unit as Police.
Drones pacificed - 2
1, Can use up to 2 military units as Police.
Drones pacificed - 4
2, Can use up to 3 military units as Police!
Drones pacificed - 6
3, 3 units as Police. Police effect doubled!!
Drones pacificed - 9

And for -1, it says 'Police unit' not 'military unit' meaning I need to have a unit with NLM ability or otherwise it would not be counted as a police unit?

[Chaos Theory]

-1 Police rating is just like 0 Police rating, except you can't nerve staple. Police unit is just shorthand for military unit used as police. Your chart is correct, however.

[Barinthus]

Thanks

[Commy]

Perhaps they should design the game so that Non-Lethal method units can always take care of at least one drone, regardless of SE. Of course, limitations would have to be made, or else you could have 30 police units with -8 police...

[Chaos Theory]

Nope, that's the downside of a low police rating - drone problems. IMO, the penalties for -5 and below aren't harsh enough, as they are:

1 less drone pacified (relative to police rating 0).
Difficulty waging an overt war, alleviated by punishment spheres and specialist bases.
No nerve stapling.

Not good, but not very bad.

[Major Guz]

When having a police rating of -1 or higher, I think it better to use a police unit than to turn a worker into a doctor (before thinkers and empaths are available anyway). However this can also be done by constructing RC's , HT's.

However having one slot for police (pre neural grafting) means this unit will be susceptable to forms of attack (ie. by air, because it does not have AAA).

A 1-1-1 police infantry does still cost 10 mins, thus making the police ability free, btw.

Drones for military away from territory (war etc) can only be alleviated by creating doctors and the like. (See psych chart in Base screen) or by constructing a Punishment Sphere in that city. Not by constructing police (since no police is allowed below Police = -1) or recreation commons etc.

By the way, i think this tread is very refreshing regarding police, i did not know about the 9 drones if police is doubled.

How about the Self Aware Colony secret project:
If the use of police is allowed under the current social setting every base is considered to have an extra police unit

How would that unit suppress drones? Also as 3 (with max police SE setting)? Making 12 suppressed drones max?

[Chaos Theory]

The Self-Aware Colony acts like an ordinary garrison in every city for the purposes of police. If you have +3 Police and 3 non-lethal methods units in a city, the 4th garrison provided by the SP is wasted, since you can only use 3 units as police.