[licker]

I've been toying with the tax and patrol under a growth scale some. I've not run the numbers compared to order (though optimally you take high order as well), but it certainly seems to work for raising immediate cash and providing you some flexibility in allowing your provinces to regrow as you move your patrollers elsewhere.

Ultimately, as you note, it is all dependent on what you are trying to accomplish. If you merely wish to raise alot of money in the first 2 years to boost your castle construction then you can tax and patrol and not even care if your pop comes back (assuming you are not doing massive blood later). For some castles with higher admins, if built in high pop provinces you get that income boost which will help pay back your pop losses from the patroling over time anyway.

It seems that for most nations high pop (meaning over 10k?) long term is just not that important, as you transition either to summons or blood.

Others have run the numbers for growth/death and its effect on old age, and I agree that nominally the supply bonus is largely meaningless, though death can be useful defensively in making supply a bigger issue for invaders.