Glorious French Empire PBM (GA) !!!

[Revenant69]

Well, after a long hiatus I am back and hungry for more PBM stuff. Since I participated in quite a few of them I feel that the next step is to run one myself (hopefully the community will support me on this).

Quite a few people supported the idea of French GA PBM campaign so I decided to make it happen. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

So I shall lay down the parameters for the campaign and some of my own rules which I would like for people to at least try to abide by. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif


v2.01 (VI with patch)
French, Early, Expert
Glorious Achievement mode
The AI will possess modified treasury (see below)
writeups requested


Rules:

1. The emphasis is on the Glorious achievements, so it would have to be THE predominant driving force in making your decisions. Failure to comply with the GA goal(s) will be dealt with in the harshest manner possible http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif
This does mean that you could start a war with the English in order to recover the Homeland provinces (or any other power for that matter). However, if you are fighting for homeland provinces, you must stop hostilities once you captured these provinces. This will stop overrunning factions just becuse they have your provinces.

2. You MUST roleplay your king. If he is a Coward, then shy away from battle; if he is Merciless, then slaughter everything that crosses your path no matter the consequences; if he is Strange, then do strange things in your empire. If he is Pious then build churches etc. Creativity with roleplaying your kings will be rewarded with warm congrats on my part plus many more people, this I do not doubt.

3. You must not be the sole aggressor all the time. Besides acomplishing GA goals and attacking rebels, attacking Catholic countries without provocation is a major NO-NO. You are, however, free to spread Catholicism whenever and wherever the Pope asks you to do. This means wars on muslims and excommunicated catholic states are deeply encouraged, but only when the Pope says so.

But if you are attacked by a catholic faction in a Pearl Harbor style, then you are free to unleash your whole mighty arsenal at them. Remember, wars of retaliation are OK, wars of aggression must follow strict rules.

4. As a forefront of Catholicism, you MUST listen to the Pope. This entails stopping wars on other catholics within 2 years and keeping the 10 year ceasefire. Exploiting the Pope warning bug is NOT allowed.

5. Lastly, to keep the campaign somewhat organised, i would request the zipped savegames at the end of each person's reign to be sent to me at this address:
xRevenant69x@hotmail.com

You could also upload your savegames to the Org so that people next on the list can proceed with the campaign.
The link is here:
PBM upload to the ORG (http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Uploaders/pbmupload.php)

Well, this finishes the rules section http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Some other Info

As I said above, the AI will possess modified starting treasury to offset the limitations of the Expert mode. This was suggested by Duke John in the following thread:
PBM Ideas (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=25;t=10230;st=25)

The exact ammount and details of this will be worked out when i get in touch with Duke John, however, you are free to post suggestions on the starting AI treasury.

You will not have to modify anything. Since I will be the first king of France, I will mod my game to give AI the starting treasury, after that everyone will play as normal.

Another thing, to keep things organised I shall have a list. If you are interested in playing as French in a very long PBM, post your expressed interest and your contact email address and I shall add you to the list.
Due to the length of the campaign I am willing to discuss the possiblity of playing multiple kings (just an idea).

Finally, LOL once the critical mass of players has gathered here and expressed their interest and I have the know-how from Duke John I shall begin the campaign.

Cheers and do not be daunted by all the rules - they are there to make the campaign more fun http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

Viv La France

[Mount Suribachi]

Hmmm, put me down for this one Revenant. I *still* need to download the patch, but this could be a good excuse for doing it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif I've not played MTW in a while......



Ugh I just volunteered to play as the French I feel so dirty http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Major^3]

sounds cool. count me in.

peterz@mags.net

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Mount Suribachi @ Jan. 04 2004,12:55)]Ugh I just volunteered to play as the French I feel so dirty http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
LOL http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif
Oh c'mon Mount, they are not so bad. In fact playing them is going to be quite difficult and fun. Besides, how come you do not have the 2.01 patch - it fixes the infamous plague that made the kings die at 56.

Well, I am missing your email, so if you could post it I would be very much pleased. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

Major cubed, you have been added to the list, seeing your enthusiasm of joining multiple PBMs is very rewarding but at the same time you would have a lot of work on your hands http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Ok so the list so far is:

Revenant69

Mount Suribachi

Major^3

[Mount Suribachi]

PM'd you my email Revenant.


As for the me and the patch, see Mount Suribachi and the Viking Invasion patch (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=14006)

[Major^3]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 04 2004,17:03)]
Major cubed, you have been added to the list, seeing your enthusiasm of joining multiple PBMs is very rewarding but at the same time you would have a lot of work on your hands http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
lol well whichever one i get first i will spend time on first. And im on winter break so i have plenty of time http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Drucius]

Add me please, I'm strangely intrigued.

[The_Emperor]

Though it goes against every natural Instinct in my being, put me down for this

It should be interesting to play the other side of the coin for once...


Quote[/b] ]Ugh I just volunteered to play as the French I feel so dirty

My feelings exactly Mount, oh well just close your eyes and imagine your an English guy who stole the Throne and is surrounded by hordes of beautiful French Women http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

I think you still have my email don'tcha Rev? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/pat.gif

[Revenant69]

Emperor, glad to see you on board http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif


Quote[/b] ]It should be interesting to play the other side of the coin for once...

Haha, it was exactly my thought. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif And yes, I still have your email.

Allright, the updated list is:

Revenant69

Mount Suribachi

Major^3

Drucius need email address

The_Emperor

All right. So I think we are all set and ready to go. But before we start, any ideas on what the AI starting treasury should be? I currently have it set at 10000 and ours as normal at 4000.

I shall begin my reign in a day or so, once the details for changing AI treasury are clarified.

Cheers
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

PS As an afterthought, what do you guys think of my rules? Are they sensible, are they Draconian?

[Mount Suribachi]

I like 'em http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Kongamato]

I like to read these sort of things and I'd like to throw in a small suggestion for roleplaying this game if none of you mind.

I suggest that one of the challenge guidelines of the game described earlier ought to be not allowing the king to die an excommunicated man. It might prove fun to race against the clock trying to prevent your eternal damnation.

I just thought I'd suggest that.

[fruitfly]

If everyone plays by the rules, the King should never be excommunicated anyway. I like the idea though - I think I'll give it a try the next time I play as a Catholic.

I'd like to give this a bash, and it looks like the tricky Crac des Chevaliers GA will have been and gone by my reign. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I've PMd my email address to Revenant69.

[TC27]

This sounds absolutely fascinating and very challenging, sign me up

tcollin2@lineone.net

[Revenant69]

Wow, I am impressed by the speed that this campaign is filling up with people http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif I thought noone would want to play French. Heh, I guess I was wrong. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif

Kongamato, as far as your suggestion goes - it is definitely a great suggestion and I will start observing it in my SP games cuz it will be more fun. However, fruitfly has picked up the essense of this campaign and answered it right on the mark.


Quote[/b] ]If everyone plays by the rules, the King should never be excommunicated anyway.

Short of his Excellency the Pope invading France, the king should never be excommunicated.

So thats that.

[Revenant69]

Allright, the updated list is:

Revenant69
King Philippe I (1087 - ???)

Mount Suribachi

Major^3

Drucius

The_Emperor

fruitfly

TC27


I have received sufficient councelling from Duke John about changing the AI treasury (for this i owe him a pint of his favorite beer) and modded all AI factions to start with 10000 florins and us start with 4000 (as we would on Expert anyway).

Seeing the enormous interest that people have exhibited in this campaign, and in order to keep the momentum going, I have started the campaign.

All hail King Philippe the First

I just had an idea http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/idea.gif I think it would be kind of kool to have each kings achievements listed next to them on the list, by this i mean the Glorious achievements of course. It would give the kings more personality. What do you guys think?

[Mount Suribachi]

I was thinking that along with the end of reign map we should also post an end of reign screenie of the GA points scroll.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Mount Suribachi @ Jan. 07 2004,15:28)]I was thinking that along with the end of reign map we should also post an end of reign screenie of the GA points scroll.
Absolutely wicked idea, me like very much http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif I am also going to post a screenie of the next king in line with virtues and vices that sort of stuff http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Revenant69]

Allrighty ladies and gents,

My reign as king Philippe the First of France is officially over. It wasnt a particularly successful reign, in fact it had so many ominous signs that i was terrified to continue, and thought to myself that maybe I bit more than I can chew, that perhaps these rules are too strict. Hopefully France can persevere in the face of many a problem.

Mount Suribachi, the campaign file has been uploaded to the ORG PBM space, you can find it here
PBM directory (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/)
Let me know if you experience any problems with the savegame. If you do then i may be able to help you fix it, but hopefully you won't http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

A wake up call has also been sent to Major^3.

Ladies and gentlemen, the question of infamous Krak des Chevalier is a very tough one. It is already 1114 and France is still unable to launch a crusade to even capture Tripoli. From my experience the AI never ever builds more than a fort in Tripoli (something to do with the province bonus and the horse breeder), so I am afraid that it will remain a fort for a very long long time.

Since it will take 40 years to build all the way up to a citadel [fort - 4(if it is destroyed in invasion), keep - 8, castle - 12, citadel - 16]; this puts our deadline to hold Tripoli in the firm grip of our hand to be at 1160.

So it will fall unto Mount Suribachi and Major^3 to get the job done.

My campaign writeups will follow shortly.

Here is the updated list...

Revenant69
King Philippe I (1087 - 1113)

Mount Suribachi
King Philippe II (1114 - ???) Current King

Major^3

Drucius

The_Emperor

fruitfly

TC27

and finally...
All hail King Philippe the Second

[fruitfly]

I figured that boosting the AI factions starting treasury would make things much harder for whoever went first. With any luck the natural wealth of the French kingdom will see us catch up over time.

Here's hoping Philippe II has a long and successful reign.

[Mount Suribachi]

OK, I gotta dash and watch John Nichol fly in the last airworthy Lightning in the world on Discovery Wings in 5 minutes

VRRRRRRROOOOMMMMMMMM

But hopefully I can d'load this later tonight and get started http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Mount Suribachi]

Oh man, this is hilarious.

Can you believe that King Phillipe II died at 55???????

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif

I double checked that my startup screen said v2.01 (it did)....


Anyway, its 1130 and King Jean II is on the throne. I had a very peaceful 14 year reign - I did have to stop myself launching an attack on the English at the start, but now Aquitane/Anjou have been added to the French homelands GAs, so Major^3 can take 'em out - though I would secure Tripoli first. My king was a sadistic pervent, a Killer Queen if you will http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif so maybe thats why no-one would marry their daughters to him.....

In the end he took a nobles wife, but I think he was more interested in his young squires cos she never got pregnant.......


I have just produced my first ship in Aragorn, and Toulouse is just a finished castle & shipwright away from producing ships. If you keep turning ships out from those 2 provinces you should get to Tripoli well before 1160 (I think its 10 seas away and it takes 3 years to build a ship). I've also started Flanders and Brittany on the road to shipbuilding. In Ile de France I've just built a church, the first step towards building Notre Dame Catherdral and I've started building a chapter house in Aragon, though you might want to build that somewhere else - as long as its built and ready to be launched the second you get a sea lane to tripoli, I just chose Aragon cos it had the highest zeal.

In order to kick start my economy I disbanded a load of Revenants peasants, increasing my annual surplus from 400 to 800 florins and enabling me to start building some infrastructure.

Slava, how do I upload the savegame? Do you just want me to email it to you?

BTW, we're on 16 points, Byz lead with 26 & Italy, HRE & England are on 25.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] ]Oh man, this is hilarious.

Can you believe that King Phillipe II died at 55???????


Damn, king dead at 55 - thats really young. Oh well, thats the way the cookie crumbles.

So I gather you didnt have any problems with the savegame Mount? I was afraid that the fact that i changed one of the files (on my machine) may screw up the game on your machine; however, it seems that things went really well in terms of playing around with AI treasury. I now have the necessary know-how to reimplement it many times over MUAHAHAHAHA http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif


Quote[/b] ]I had a very peaceful 14 year reign - I did have to stop myself launching an attack on the English at the start, but now Aquitane/Anjou have been added to the French homelands GAs, so Major^3 can take 'em out - though I would secure Tripoli first.

Yeah I had a similar almost peaceful reign LOL. Ditto on the English, I couldnt wipe them out because their provinces were not in the GA homelands thing. Hehe, what did you think of the german armies on our borders, when i saw those viking i got really scared. Also, when i saw 1700+ peasants in Tripoli i almost laughed - the AIs spending is erratic.

But yes Tripoli is a biggie, hopefully we can reach it (or very close to it) by sea by the time 1150 arrives or so. We dont have to arrive there (although it would be nice), for example, if we can land in Cyrenacia or something and then march onto Tripoli - not a big walk.


Quote[/b] ] Slava, how do I upload the savegame? Do you just want me to email it to you?

Well, I would rather you email it to me, BUT, you can just upload it to the ORG, so that way Major^3 and I can both grab it, two birds with one stone http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif. The link is here (just follow the instructions)
PBM Upload to the Org (http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Uploaders/pbmupload.php)

Well, Major^3, the fate of Krak des Chevalier is in your hands. This may be the first time you are participating in the PBM, but that doesnt mean that you cannot achieve glory and victory. My prayers are with you. God bless.

PS Remember, we now have a reason to start a war with the English, as they possess our homelands.

PPS Mount can you please wait till i post my writeup before posting yuors? Id like to keep things in the chronological order http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

PPPS Hehehe, those hordes of peasants that i had were a deterrent for the Germans. I neede to beef up my armies with numbers so that the HRE would not make a move on me. Seems they have done their job http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Major^3]

i would rather it be uploaded as not to strain the email server.
and yes, its first time, but if i do poorly i can blame it on roleplaying.
well, i playever everyturn piss drunk, but it was just to emulate my king i swear
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

ill check the upload directory sometime tomorrow for it as its not there now. if all else fails, just email it on over.

and just to clarify, it is ok to declare war on the english,yes, if they have our homelands?

[Mount Suribachi]

Revenant, I've tried several times to email you the savegame, but me email keeps dropping the connection halfway through. I've never had a problem before. I'll keep trying - my internet connection has been slow all day mind, stupid dialup http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif

[Mount Suribachi]

right, I think I managed to send it OK.....

[The_Emperor]

Good good good... Sounds like this campaign is progressing nicely.

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[econ21]

Revenant - please put me down on the list; I really like your groundrules. My e-mail address is:
simon.appleton@nottingham.ac.uk

[Revenant69]

Woooooooot....new smilies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-juggle.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-party2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-clown.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-balloon.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-glasses2.gif

Ahem, back to the point. Mount Suribachi, your savegame was succesfully downloaded and viewed. It has now been uploaded to the PBM space on the ORG, so Major^3, you can download it from here (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/) (the file is TheFrench1130.zip)

A wake up call has been sent to Drucius.



Quote[/b] ]Revenant - please put me down on the list; I really like your groundrules.
Consider it done and thanks for the compliment, the rules are there to make the campaign more fun.

Ok so the updated list is....

Revenant69
King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi
King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3
King Jean II (1130- ???) Current King

Drucius

The_Emperor

fruitfly

TC27

Simon Appleton

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] ]and just to clarify, it is ok to declare war on the english,yes, if they have our homelands?

Yes, Major^3, it is OK, but only if they have our homelands. This goes for any power that has our homelands. Later on it's going to be Byzantines with their island of Rhodes, if memory serves correctly.
However, you must remember that if you start a war with the English because they have our homelands, then you must restrict your conquest to those homelands ONLY.
Well, let me know if you need some other clarifications.

I took a look at the current situation of French Kingdom, and not all is bad. In fact we are doing OK, or so it seems. We are somewhat behind on the GA scale with only 16 points. Byzantines and numerous other countries lead the GA race with 26 points. However all that is about to change once we start acomplishing some GA goals.

A remarkable thing was observed by one of our princesses. Tripoli is currently controlled by Rebels. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-beam.gif It may seem very exciting at first as the thought of bribing them is very very very tempting; however, this would violate the Crusade to Tripoli GA goal. Bottom line is that Tripoli must be captured by a crusade. On the positive side, if Tripoli does remain in rebel hands before it is captured by a crusade, then we would not have to fear the reprisals and massive build up of AI armies in that province as the factions normally do. But I think that this scenario is unlikely.

I must say Mount Suribachi did a commendable job on developing the infrastructure of France. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif I did some calculations, and we can reach the coast of Tripoli in 13 years assuming nonstop production and calm seas. Oh yes, we would have to make some sacrifices to Poseidon to keep the seas calm as a loss of even a single ship can put us back by 3 years.

Germans are still ready to pounce on us, their massive armies on our borders are not gathered there for a picnic. however, so far they havent done it so maybe we will be spared, who knows.

Finally, Aquitaine is in our GA homelands. So this gives us a reason to declare war on the Brits and take our province. It would link up Brittany and Toulouse and also cut off the Brits in Navarre. Hopefully that will make the small garrison in there rebel, in which case we can take it, thus having impenetrable and the most secure border on the south with Navarre and Aragon as border provinces.

Enough of my musings.
Cheers,
Rev

[Revenant69]

Great Chronicle of King Philippe's reign


Where to begin....This question always looms when I write. To start a chronicle is the most difficult thing to do, compared only to predicting the future, which has its own ghastly difficulties. But predicting the future is easier in some ways as you do not really need to know the past. In order to start a sensible and complete chronicle one must know the past of the person or persons that he is writing about.

But I feel tired and currently feel the effects of opium, so as I take my quill I have decided to only give a brief account of Philippe's history before he was crowned King of France.
..........
Philippe was not a very religious man. Surely he believed in God, but his beliefs were sometimes misguided. Perhaps this explains why I was such a central person in his court. He was only dimly aware of the omnipotent forces that guide our daily lives. Ignorance will not save this man from his fate when the Day of Judgement is at hand

However, for all his religious incompetence and deficiencies, Philippe was a calculating personality and had excellent educational background that honed him into a person destined to hold the title of King of France. It was said by many nobles in the court that there was no wiser man than King Philippe when it came to the matters of finance. And indeed there was no better man than Philippe. He was remarkable and able to set up such complex financial schemes that it would probably take even the most adept monk a matter of years to develop. This financial zeal has gained the Kingdom thousands of florins and the Royal Treasury always had a sizeable stockpile of gold, silver and other precious metals.

Needless to say, I took a fair advantage of the financial well-being of the Kingdom. To do my part I was able to convince Philippe that as supreme astrologer I required various silks, large quantities of opium, large quantities of rare metals (including gold), ink, quills, my own library of rare and ancient books, barrels of whiskey, wine from Champagne for my meditations, 3 rooms in the royal castle, different animal skins, ivory, encrusted jeweled daggers to perform exsorcism, 5 servants, annual salary worthy of a decent nobleman and various other small items not worth mentioning here. Philippe was very generous and accomodated every one of my requests. And so I remained his loyal man of the occult as he liked to call me.

Philippe was crowned King of France at the age of 36. He inherited a fractured kingdom with both Brittany and Toulouse being cut off from the seat of government in Paris. Well, see, techically they were not cut off as the King of England was a nominal vassal of the King of France, but the reality was much different. English king openly flouted Philippe's authority and was increasingly hostile, imposing large taxes on all those who wished to travel between the French heartland and the provinces of Brittany and Toulouse. This irritated Philippe greatly. But for all his ingenuity, he was unable to find a single pretext of rectifying the situation.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Phil1.jpg

I remember Philippe's coronation. It was a very splendid ceremony and it seemed that entire Paris was invited. Thousands, no tens of thousands, no hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to see and greet the new King as the Royal procession neared the church of Saint Jacques. There the Archbishop of France himself placed the beautiful jeweled crown on Philippe's head proclaiming him to be the King of France and Savior of the Church. Little did the archbishop know about Philippe's religious faults but that did not matter. Afterwards there followed a great banquet, all nobility was invited, me included. Sometime during the banquet Philippe turned to me and asked me if I could see how successfull his reign would be. I reassured him that I would do as he asked but that it may take some time, gazing into the future is a very strenuous excercise. I requested the usual supply of wine, whiskey, opium, ink and parchment to do the gazing.

It took me a week to do the apropriate preparations and meditations. After a gruelling 24 hours of gazing into the future I emerged from my room severely shaken and distraught so much so that my servant thought I was Satan himself. I sent word to Philippe to let him know that I had finished my predictions. When I arrived at the Royal Chamber I saw Philippe sitting in his office chair, writing something with a gold covered quill pen.

So, my man of the occult, have you attended to the service that I have requested of you? he asked.
I have, Your Majesty said I.
Well, tell me then what did you foresee? asked the King again.

To highten the effect of what I was about to say I wore my dark priestly robe and spoke in an unusally high voice, I do not doubt that people halfway across the palace could hear me. This is what I had to say.

HEED MY WARNING KING OF FRANCE,
GREAT FAMINE SHALL ENGULF YOUR REALM
THIS WILL BE NO PURE CHANCE
ENTIRE FRANCE WILL IT OVERWHELM

GREAT FLOOD WILL CLEANSE THE WICKED
AND THEIR CRIES SHALL BE HEARD
IN THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED
LIKE A SLAUGHTERED HERD

GREAT PLAGUE WILL EAT AWAY
AT THE MULTITUDE DISMAYED
BY THE COUNTRY IN DECAY
BY THOSE OF A FAILED CRUSADE

WAR SHALL GRIP YOU LIKE A VICE
MOUNTAINS WILL FILL UP WITH BLOOD
AND YOU WILL ROLL DAMNATION DICE
TO SEE YOUR MEN KILLED IN MUD

THIS WARNNG I BEQUETH ON YOU
TO IGNORE AT YOUR PERIL
AND NOW I MUST BID ADIEU
LEST I BE MISTAKEN FOR A DEVIL

My speech seemed to have had an enormous impact on the king. He was visibly shaken and pale, with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide with a grimace of fright on his face. Time will tell if the warning had any effect or not. It did, however have an effect on the nobility in Philippe's court. Strange rumours began circulating and different versions of my speech were secretly discussed by many a nobleman.
..........

PS More to follow. Pics will be added later on as well.

[Revenant69]

Oh oh oh oh.....I just remembered a cool thing that Emperor had us do in one of his PBM campaigns (forget which one). Each player was supposed to choose a title of sorts for their king, this title would represent the achievements/downfalls that the king had made during his rule. For example, Suleyman the conqueror, Suleyman the Betrayed etc.

So if you come up with a title for your king, let me know and I will write it into the list.

What do you guys think? ha? ha? ha?

[Drucius]

Actually, we could employ a bit of medieval cunning and raise a wee crusade, bribe the rebel general and then ship the crusade over to Tripoli to occupy it. Slightly cheesy, but perfectly viable. Something I use all the time.

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Jan. 12 2004,10:13)]Revenant - please put me down on the list; I really like your groundrules. My e-mail address is:
simon.appleton@nottingham.ac.uk
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-glasses2.gif
Eeeyyy Glad to see you onboard Simon, its pretty much the same old crew back. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif


Quote[/b] ]Oh oh oh oh.....I just remembered a cool thing that Emperor had us do in one of his PBM campaigns (forget which one). Each player was supposed to choose a title of sorts for their king, this title would represent the achievements/downfalls that the king had made during his rule. For example, Suleyman the conqueror, Suleyman the Betrayed etc.

So if you come up with a title for your king, let me know and I will write it into the list.


Oh yeah I remember that was in the Turkish PBEM... I forgot to include that in the Hungary Campaign.

Yeah good idea, I really did like the style of that... Some humerous titles for bad monarchs would be great (For example: Sir Robin, the not quite so brave)

Great stuff

By the way, Nice Write up REV

[Mount Suribachi]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 13 2004,02:07)]A remarkable thing was observed by one of our princesses. Tripoli is currently controlled by Rebels. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-beam.gif It may seem very exciting at first as the thought of bribing them is very very very tempting; however, this would violate the Crusade to Tripoli GA goal. .
Yeah, I noticed that too, but decided against bribery as we would lose the crusade GAs

[QUOTE]
I must say Mount Suribachi did a commendable job on developing the infrastructure of France[B]

Why thankyou http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-blush.gif I am a builder rather than a conqueror by nature in all strategy games. Make building upgrades, not war is my motto http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif


Oh, and I like Killer Queen for Phillipe II, the bloodthirsty pervert http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-happy2.gif

[Revenant69]

Great Chronicle of King Philippe's reign (continued)


Thus begins the reign of King Philippe the First of France. He remembered my dreadful prophecies that I described to him that day, although sometimes it seemed to me that he tried to forget them. And in the beginning all was well. In the first year and a bit he was busy with administrative matters, overseeing the construction of watch towers and border forts to keep an eye on France's troublesome neighbours and warn of any imminent threat. I must give him credit for his resourcefulness, weaker men would have quialed before the shadow of Doom. But not Philippe. He had some sort of inner resolve.

In the first year he was also blessed as his Queen has given birth to a daughter which she named Agnes. Even though Philippe was somewhat dissapointed, he was expecting a male heir you see, the event still cheered him up and made him forget about the Dark Prophecies even more. He shunned me and really did not pay much attention to me for the majority of the year.

It was not long before the first disaster struck...

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_famine.jpg

In the second year of Philippe's reign there was a famine in Ile de France. Many impoverished and hungry people congregated in Paris in search of food. But there was not enough to go around and many people died of hunger. Also this same year, Philippe's diplomatic efforts faltered as his sister Constance was unable to convince the English King to sign an alliance treaty with France. Philippe was distraught and I am sure that my words came to haunt him. He was locked up in his office for days at a time. Noone knows what was on his mind or what he was doing.

Philippe's resourcefulness showed again. He made more administrative changes, ordering the farms all across France to undergo a qualitative improvement and for this he set aside vast sums of money. Seems that he understood what was going to happen to his kingdom. He told me once that he was going to follow the 7 fat years, 7 lean years policy. Remarkable Simply remarkable This man has apparently read his Bible.

Philippe also outlined the plans of building vast mercenary network that can be called upon during the times of war. At the same time he outlined plans of improving French army, which had a difficult task of securing peace throughout the fragmented French Kingdom.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_cross.jpg

Next year it was said that a piece of the True Cross was found. Philippe used this to his political advantage to quiet the incessant rumors of Doom and to restore public faith in him. He was showing the first signs of being a skilled politician. However, at the same time, his agenda of seeking allies in increasingly difficult European geopolitical scene did not bear fruits as Emperor of Holy Roman Empire and King of Aragon both declined Philippe's proposal of an alliance. Philippe was finding himself alone, like a lone sheep among the pack of wolves. And France was weak, very weak and vulnerable. It would not have withstood an attack from its two strongest neighbours the Holy Roman Empire and the English. Something had to be done and done quick.

The situation was not helped by the fact that in the year of our Lord 1092 there was a big flood in Brittany.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_flood.jpg
The network of inns in that province was utterly destroyed. Many mercenaries drowned as a result. The flood also caused severe damage in the rest of the province. I think it was at this precise moment that Philippe has really begun to believe in what I had to say. All my privileges were restored and I was handsomely rewarded for my work. And from this moment on, I was at his side day and night.

[Revenant69]

Great Chronicle of King Philippe's reign (continued)


Next year, the year of our Lord 1093, was a year of mixed blessings. It began with the great famine in the fertile province of Champagne.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_famine.jpg

The peasantry was close to a revolt and only the presence of the army has reassured them to stay loyal to the king. Philippe has also begun a practice of enlisting peasants into the army to help keep the population in check. He was getting noticeably more depressed and closed to the outsiders. Noone, save a few trusted men, were allowed to hear his thoughts.

Philippe continued his political agenda in Europe by trying to convince the rebels in Navarre to join the French Kingdom. This would have given France a very valuable iron-rich province in the south. But even here he failed as a number of attempts by the French emissary Rene de Blois to bribe the rebels did not succeed. Despair must have been seizing Philippe at this point in time. He must have been tremendously relieved to hear that the Hungarians have sent an emissary to ask for an alliance. And so it is taht in the year of our Lord 1093 France has signed an alliance treaty with Hungary. However, at this time the rest of European countries had 4 or 5 alliances active. France was still in deep danger of being swallowed by European monsters. And once again Philippe's sister Constance was unsuccessful at convincing the Danes to sign an alliance treaty.

Philippe was rejoicing at the news that his wife has given birth to a son. Another heir for France is a pice of good news indeed, and they were increasingly hard to come by. After much consultation with me, Philippe named his son Louis.

Next year, Philippe decided to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome and when he heard that his Holyness the Pope Urban II has convened a council in the town of Clermont, he immediately sped there.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_deus_volt.jpg

Listening to the Pope's sermon, Philippe has vowed that he himself or one of his ancestors shall reclaim the Holy City into the rightful hands of Christendom. I think Philippe was hoping to gain a favorable view from the Pope and hopefully make Urban II sign an alliance. He was definitely becoming more resourceful when it came to politics by seeing the usefulness of religion as the tool of politics. Unfortunately, Pope Urban II declined the alliance proposal by saying taht he had divine matters to attend to and, thus, currently had no time. I believe that it is at this point that Philippe has lost faith in religion and God, and so did not fulfill his vow.

More troubles followed in the next few years, severely stressing Philippe's ability to deal with them. He became more reclusive and angry. His verbal lashings were becoming more frequent.

In the year of our Lord 1095 another great misfortune befell the French peasantry.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Pcrusade.jpg

It seems that two lunatics, and I call them as such because, frankly, thats what they were, roused masses of peasantry and marched on a Crusade believing that God will grant them victory. They were mercilessly slaughtered by the muslims. This, however, had very negative impact on farming throughout France and even Philippe's farm improvements were not enough to feed the populace.

That same year huge German armies were spotted moving into Lorraine, Burgundy and Provence. This was a very suspicious act that had a foreboding of war, which Philippe knew was coming according to my prophecies. Another one of Philippe's edicts was directed to increasing security across our borders. More and more troops were conscripted and trained to serve in the French army. The strain on the finances of the Kingdom has already begun to show. With farms not producing enough, with nonexistent trade it was only by the virtue of Philippe's ability to befraud the nobility without them knowing that France managed to keep afloat financially.

Next few years saw more failures on the diplomatic front with Sicilians, Italians and Aragonese declining proposals for an alliance. It seemed that noone wanted a share of France's misfortunes.

[Major^3]

i got the savegame and its going along ok. the english just sunk a fleet and instigated war so now they are going to get it :)

[Revenant69]

Great Chronicle of King Philippe's reign (continued)


For many long years Philippe was growing more reclusive, angry and frustrated, only barely holding onto the reigns of power. With most of the prophecies coming true, he feared to see the rest of them come true as well.

And it was not long before the Horseman of WAR visited France...
War came from an unlikely direction, however.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Toulouse1.jpg

It seems that King Sancho the First of Aragon deemed France weak enough thinking that his attack on the stranded province of Toulouse would go unnoticed. Toulouse was in a bad shape as the provincial garisson consisted of mostly peasants and was led by Lord Sorel. But from what I overheard during the reading of reports flooding from Toulouse is that Sorel put up a spirited defense, being a novice in the arts of war, and even managed to kill the Aragonese king. Hmmm, perhaps thats what that ghastly smelling box delivered to Philippe was all about, it must have been Sancho's head.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Toulouse2.jpg

Sorel's victory was astounding, being severely outclassed he still managed to beat the Aragonese. I hear that Sir Jean Amyot was instrumental at disrupting the enemy formation and destroying their archers before they reached our lines.His harassing tactics kept the majority of aragonese occupied while Sorel focused the rest of his army on killing the king who foolishly charged into our lines.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Toulouse3.jpg

But victory at Toulouse came at a price, the province was now very vulnerable to attack from Burgundy and Provence by massive German armies. Philippe knew this and ordered hasty conscriptions in order to reestablish French army strength in that province. But it must have burned him up deep inside knowing that the smallest European kingdom could attack France without any retaliation whatsoever. What kind of message would it send out to the rest of European kingdoms? Not a pleasant one, to be exact. I think it would be something like: France is so weak that even Aragon could get away with attacking them. Crush France while it still reels on the floor from the aragonese kick

At the moment, however, Philippe could do nothing to rectify this situation. And he would not be able to do anything for many years.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_famine.jpg

A year after victory in Toulouse, there was another famine in Champagne. Once again the peasantry was supressed by the army. To top it off, Polish king declined our alliance proposal. The only bit of good news that year was the birth of princess Margaret but it did little to raise the sagging spirit of the French king. It seemed that Philippe was playing a game of cards with Fate herself, and She had all four Aces and all the trump. Philippe was destined to lose this game of cards.

[Revenant69]

Great Chronicle of King Philippe's reign (continued)


The strangest feeling overcomes me as I keep writing. I am having a hard time putting my finger on it. Is it fear? despair? stress? hopelessness? This raises a strange question that I have not yet asked myself. Did Philippe feel what i feel now? If he did feel these feelings, then his must have been a thousand times worse. Sometimes I pity Philippe, tortured and tormented soul his must have been.

Well, back to my chronicle.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_plague.jpg

In the year of our Lord 1103 an epidemic of cholera has gripped Brittany. Cholera is a highly infectious, severe and repulsive desease. The unfortunate victims have their bowels turn to water and die in agony and filth. The stench of death in the cities was overwhelming. Entire communities were devastated and simply ceased to exist. Even the survivors were not unscathed for they bore the images of death in their minds for many years to come.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_famine.jpg

Needless to say, the agricultural output of the farmland in Brittany was virtually nil and so following the outbreak of cholera there was a great famine.

Birth of another heir to the throne of France, prince Henri, has gone absolutely unnoticed by Philippe. Such was the state of his mind in these late years of his life. He didnt even remember that year before his wife gave birth to a beautiful little princess Adelaide, her charming little smile and giggly face failed to bring any happiness to this grey haired King of France.

It seemed that as the last gesture of his strength that he summoned from the deepest recesses of his soul, Philippe decided to make one last gamble and ordered Lord Sorel to invade Aragon and annex it to the French Kingdom. Sorel was advised to hire whatever mercenaries that he could find, preferably those fearsome Vikings.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_aragon1.jpg

Victory was indeed achieved due to the superior numbers of French cavalry, while Vikings have performed the role of entrapping and eliminating Aragonese heavy cavalry.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_aragon2.jpg

And so it was, that in the year of our Lord 1108 Aragon has become a French province with the remaining aragonese nobility swearing loyalty to the ailing King of France.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_eliminated.jpg

For the next five years Philippe's health has begun to falter significantly and he was mostly bed-ridden and unable to perform many tasks without the help of a servant. It seems that out of pity for the ailing King of France, who was destined to die anyday, Spain, Almohad Kaliphate and the Holy Roman Empire have sent emissaries proposing alliances.

And so it was, that alone for the most of his reign, Philippe now had allies when he was about to die.

His tortured body has decided to have a final rest on one cold December day. And so at the age of 62, Philippe, whom many called The Damned, has finally left this world. I myself would not envy to live his life, to be tormented like he was. May his soul rest in peace.
http://home.clara.net/ralphwolf/HRE/death.jpg

THUS ENDS PHILIPPE'S REIGN
WHEN FOUR HORSEMEN RAVAGED FRANCE
AND MANY THAT WERE SLAIGN
BY WAR, FAMINE, DEATH AND PESTILENCE.

[fruitfly]

Sheesh, I don't think I've ever seen so many famines and plagues in such a short space of time. No wonder Philippe was such a troubled soul.

Cracking writeup Rev. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif

[Revenant69]

A little info on the situation of French kingdom after the death of Philippe the First...
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_report1.JPG

and after the death of Philippe the Second...
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_report2.JPG

Also you can see the mugshots of Philippe II and his successor Jean II.
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Phil2_Jean2.JPG

Hehe, bunch of perverts http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[Major^3]

King Jean II died at 71 in the year 1175.

quick rundown of GAs:
France: 43 pts
Byz: 54
Eng: 40
HRE: 50
Italy: 46
Poland: 39


everyone else is far behind.
We hold Tripoli and all of modern france except for Normandy
I noticed two generals also being, in a historical context, Grand Masters of the Knights Templar. Namely Hugh de Payns and Gerard de Ridefort. Both served me well and the latter is the current count of Tripoli http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

edit: writeup to follow shortly

[Drucius]

Have you uploaded the savegame yet? I'll need to get cracking if I'm to do my turn as I can't guarantee the reliability of my PC at the moment. :(

[Major^3]

it has been uploaded (the french 1176.zip)
getting some trouble emailing it to revenant but i keep retrying

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Major^3 @ Jan. 16 2004,11:05)]it has been uploaded (the french 1176.zip)
getting some trouble emailing it to revenant but i keep retrying
Hey Major^3, if you uploaded the file to the ORG, then do not bother emailing me - I will download the file from teh ORG to save you time.

Cheers

EDIT: File downloaded ;-)

Wake up call has been sent to The_Emperor.

I am currently investigating the situation of the French Kingdom.

Oh, Major^3, what do you want your king to be called?

EDIT2 On a side note, does anyone know who oversees the PBM space at the ORG? I want to know because at some point there will be a lot of campaign files that are no longer necessary and so would probably have to be deleted. So I would facilitate in that. Anyway, if someone knows who oversees the ORG PBM space, then please let me know.

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] ]Wake up call has been sent to The_Emperor.

No wake up call needed I am here, and looking forward to the challenge.

It will be a welcome break from my Europa Barbarorum research.

With regard to your question about the Filespace, I would have to say that you should PM TosaInu, or Barocca they should be able to admin it.

Perhaps they should delete old savegames.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (The_Emperor @ Jan. 16 2004,17:50)]Perhaps they should delete old savegames.
Well thats what I was going to suggest. No point of having 10 savegames on when only 3 or 4 are needed.

Well, I took a brief look at the state of the Kingdom and about to upload some review screenies. the good news is that France is united. Hooray http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-grin2.gif The bad news is that Tripoli still has only a fort and the year is 1176. Even though a keep is in the process of being built, it is far too late I am afraid to finish the infamous Krak des Chevalier
The Knights of Saint John shall be very very very angry http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif ....Hopefully they won't have to do this http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-behead.gif

Other than that, Normandy and Cyprus have been added to our GA goals, so we have a pretext to invade these territories.

Hehe, I just noticed that the Egyptians have one crazy general Amir abu Salim who is a Fine Leader and a Charismatic Leader adding for a total of +seven morale. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-shocked.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-shocked.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-shocked.gif

[Revenant69]

Just to refresh your memory, the list of kings is as follows...


Revenant69
King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi
King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3
King Jean II (1130- 1175)

Drucius
King Louis VI (1176 - ???) Current King

The_Emperor

fruitfly

TC27

Simon Appleton

[Drucius]

Well, believe it or not, Louis VI is dead, long live King Philippe III

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Drucius @ Jan. 16 2004,20:15)]Well, believe it or not, Louis VI is dead, long live King Philippe III
How long did your king rule?

By the way Drucius, it is not necessary for you to email me the savegame as I already got it from the ORG. I havent looked at it yet, but it seems that you had a nice average term reign http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-beam.gif

[Revenant69]

Well, I had a chance to look at the current situation of the French Kingdom and I must say that I am not pleased with the way things turned out so far.

The fiasco in Tripoli has been compounded by the fact that apprently Tripoli rebelled and so all that hard work was literally for nothing. I saw a crusade on its way to recapture that province though.

Another appauling thing is that the only way to build a Notre Dame Cathedral in Ile de France is to suspend all other buildng and focus just on building the cathedral. Hopefully this will be done in time seeing that we need a castle, citadel, cathedral in Ile de France.

Another thing really perplexed me, In 1976 France had 43 GA points, and now in 1201 we have 41??? Granted, the loss of Tripoli will probably count for the loss of two points, but shouldnt we have gotten the Homelands points in 1200, 1201 ??? (this is just a technical question)

On the only bright note, I must say that the new king of France is a very colourful character, probably the best one so far. He is Strange, Irredimably Witty and a Zealot Quite a combination. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif So Emperor should have a lot of fun with this king.

The fact that we did not complete Krak des Chevalier is very upsetting on its own, but if we also do not manage to complete the Notre Dame Cathedral then it will be a poor excuse for a campaign that was MEANT to be driven by GA goals.

[Drucius]

Bloody hell, Rev, what fiasco in Tripoli? The Egyptians took it back by force after sinking our barques so that we couldn't reinforce our poor lads out there. Even then, it took them three tries, the last of which was with a 9 star general with 2971 troops. The last time I looked, it was in Egyptian hands, so I don't know anything about a rebellion in Tripoli, that must have happened later. I wouldn't worry about the cathedral, there's tons of time for that. Once we've got decent money coming in we can pack off as many well-equipped crusades as are required, plus conquering the Egyptians and Turks would give us the required GA points to win the campaign. Chill, bro.

[Major^3]

Its an incredibly hard game. I tried getting to Tripoli earlier but the funds were stretched and the English were barking at my door. I dont think its going all too bad considering its on expert and the computer got 3 times more money then us.

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (Major^3 @ Jan. 17 2004,05:33)]Its an incredibly hard game. I tried getting to Tripoli earlier but the funds were stretched and the English were barking at my door. I dont think its going all too bad considering its on expert and the computer got 3 times more money then us.
Like Major cubed says, I think the fact that people have had to role-play rather than take the English out in the first five or ten years has made the initial challenge much tougher.

Hopefully now with France on the brink of unification (with Normandy being a homeland territory) we can consolidate and become a major crusading power to boost that GA score.

[Drucius]

Ummm...Normandy was French in my time.

[Mount Suribachi]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 17 2004,02:47)]Another thing really perplexed me, In 1976 France had 43 GA points, and now in 1201 we have 41??? Granted, the loss of Tripoli will probably count for the loss of two points, but shouldnt we have gotten the Homelands points in 1200, 1201 ??? (this is just a technical question)
sounds like the infamous broken GAs, maybe they weren't fixed in VI after all..............




The Reign of King Phillipe II, 1116-1130

The reign of King Phillipe II is but a mere footnote in the overall history of Europe, indeed even the most ardent student of history would struggle to find much of intrest in his reign and what little fame he has accrued is as a result of his sordid personal life rather than the usual Kingly deeds of valour, of conquest & of crusade. He came to the throne in 1116 and in his 14 year reign he fought no battles, started no wars, secured no great riches. He did not drive out the English and unify France, nor did he go to the Holy Land and fight the infidel. To be fair, he was a capable administrator, overseeing the tight French budget with a prudent eye and he was not afraid to take away from Peter to give to Paul. An example of this was when he disbanded many of the lowest quality French armies and sent their peasant soldiers back to their farms. They had been recruited by his predecessor King Phillipe the Damned to bulk up the French armies on the German border to deter the Holy Roman Emperor from launching an attack. Clearly they had succeeded in this purpose, but Phillipe II needed their 400 florins annual upkeep more elsewhere. And after all he reasoned, they wouldn't be much use on the battlefield anyway, if it came to that.

With his annual surplus doubled to around 400 florins Phillipe was able to spend on his Kingdoms infrastructure and towards the end of his reign the first ships of the French navy were launched into the Mediterranean, a navy that his successors would use to protect French mercantile intrests and transport and supply its army He also built the church in Paris that decades later would be eventually become the great cathedral of Notre Dame.

However, this is but background noise compared to the dominating theme of Phillipes life which gave rise to his nickname The Killer Queen. When he came to the throne not only was he was unmarried, it was widely believed he had never even kept a woman as a mistress or a lover - highly unusual for any man in any royal family in those times. If it was rumoured before he came to the throne that he preffered the company of young boys to that of young women, as King it was rumour no more. Safe in the seat of ultimate power in the land it seemed no stable boy or squire was safe from his amorous advances. As if that wasn't bad enough he also had a strong violent streak in him, in fact he *enjoyed* violence. Seeing his enemies and potential enemies put to death gave him great pleasure, indeed there is circumstantial evidence that he often helped out at tortures & executions. There were even dark rumours that Phillipe would take condemned prisoners to his bedchamber, emerging hours later with the poor unfortunate prisoner before putting an end to the miserable wretches life.

His diplomats knew how dangerous was his prefference for young men and tried in vain to limit the damage by finding him a bride from among the courts of Europe. But no King was prepared to send their unspoilt daughter to marry a perverted brute like Phillipe. In the end he was 49 before the daughter of a minor noble was found to marry him, but she was nothing more than a token wife meant to silence the whispered criticism in the church and elsewehere. Of course everyone knew it was a sham marriage and no children were ever sired. Indeed it is highly likely that the marriage was never even consumated (thankfully for her), but as so often in the medieval world appearances were more important than reality.

France finally breathed a sigh of relief in 1130 when to no-ones great surprise, Phillipe died of venereal disease at the age of 55. It would be hard to find a more brutal and perverted monarch than King Phillipe II, the Killer Queen, so perhaps it is for the best that his otherwise uneventful reign is consigned to the dusty corners of history.

[The_Emperor]

Ok I have just downloaded the game...

What an Empire the Byzantines have http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif

I was shocked when I saw the massive string of purple running up to our front door.

King Philipe III is an Irredeemably Witty, Crack-Brained, Zealot

(Yet again I get the Horseshoe sucking, Moonbeam-dancing, servant painting nutter)

Oh well http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-dizzy2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif

[The_Emperor]

Alright here is a summary.

I have continued for a few years now, The Crusade to Tripoli I expected to fail. However after fighting my way through an Army of Rebels and an Egyptian Force in Armenia, the sudden appearance of the Spanish in Syria was a welcome break giving us free passage back to Tripoli.

Our Spanish Allies happily surrendered Tripoli to us. A rebellion of bandits in Corisca provided a means to attack that island and gain an extra conquest...

I was thinking about an invasion of Cyprus to gain our final Homeland, however the sheer size of the Byzantine Empire makes any war risky business.

I have committed myself to the Notre Dame Cathedral GA Goal, and our Castle is nearly finished. With luck I will be able to finish it.

[Major^3]

Go Go Emperor :D

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Major^3 @ Jan. 17 2004,18:20)]Go Go Emperor :D
Hehe, Major^3 summed it up pretty good. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I saw the size of the Byzantine empire and I agree taht any war with them will be very very risky.

Spanish reemerged in Syria ? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif Sometimes God works in mysterious ways, I guess. I cant believe they gave up Tripoli to us. *suckers*


Quote[/b] ]King Philipe III is an Irredeemably Witty, Crack-Brained, Zealot

(Yet again I get the Horseshoe sucking, Moonbeam-dancing, servant painting nutter)


Oh c'mon Emperor, it will make for an awesome writeup , you must admit http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

[Revenant69]

Well after reviewing the state of the French Kingdom and reading your posts guys/gals, I have decided that perhaps my expectations for this campaign were a bit unjustified. Indeed, when playing this in Single Player I was able to achieve each and every GA goal, but I didnt have the severe restrictions that we have in this campaign. I have noticed that our French Kingdom was always on the brink of bankrupcy (sp?), which doesnt help things either.

See, I am abit of a perfectionist and so was expecting for everything to be done by the book as they say. LOL Well, I realize that part of the fun in the campaign is struggling to survive and endure during the times of hardship.

And yes, the AI starting treasury combined with all the rules that I set out make the campaign fiendishly difficult.

So my apologies to all those who felt offended by my earlier post. I am beginning to understand how difficult this campaign really is.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-oops.gif I'll just flush myself down the toilet now, http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-toilet.gif

Rev

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Mount Suribachi @ Jan. 17 2004,13:36)]
Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 17 2004,02:47)]Another thing really perplexed me, In 1976 France had 43 GA points, and now in 1201 we have 41??? Granted, the loss of Tripoli will probably count for the loss of two points, but shouldnt we have gotten the Homelands points in 1200, 1201 ??? (this is just a technical question)
sounds like the infamous broken GAs, maybe they weren't fixed in VI after all..............
Yeah its a bit annoying to say the least. I keep all the savegames for this campaign and there is absolutely no question that the GA score is lower than it really should be.

Although, luckily, it only helps us since other nations are ahead of us in terms of GA points and so would have been farther ahead if the score was updated properly.

Weird, just weird http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-dizzy2.gif

Here is the GA/map shot after the death of King Jean II, followed by a mugshot of his successor Louis VI.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_report3.JPG
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Louis6.JPG

.....and a mugshot of Philippe III with the GA/map sheet at the beginning of his reign.
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/rev_report4.jpg
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/rev_phil3.jpg

[The_Emperor]

Alright the year is 1216 and King Philipe III is dead.

His reign was short lasting only 15 years.
Luckily his son Charles came of age two years earlier, otherwise we would have had disaster

The file has been uploaded to the Org's PBEM filespace. You can access it here (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/)

Here are the glory goals as of his death.
http://www.ralphwolf.clara.co.uk/french/frenchga.jpg

And a map.
http://www.ralphwolf.clara.co.uk/french/frenchmap.jpg

Mad Monarch Philipe III is dead... Long live Charles IV

[insolent1]

I'd like to have a go please. I'd also like to add a comment http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I've played French GA before & got all my GA's but the only way I could win was by conquering most of the provinces & by eliminating serveral factions. The AI isn't aware of GA's & plays the same as the domination mode.

[The_Emperor]

A note to my successor.

It remains to be seen if we can finish the Cathedral GA, because I ran out of money about the time the Castle was finished... We still have to build the Citadel before the Cathedral, so some troops may need disbanding to remove upkeep costs.

The French Nation is in a bad way, and with Antioch in the hands of the all-powerful Spanish we may not get it back (just like Cyprus with the Byzantines).

We can't go on like this, sooner or later we will have to stomp on one of our Catholic neighbors

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (insolent1 @ Jan. 18 2004,09:08)]I'd like to have a go please. I'd also like to add a comment http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
You have been added to the list insolent1, so it is as follows...

Revenant69
King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi
King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3
King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius
King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor
King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly
King Charles IV (1216 - ???) Current King

TC27

Simon Appleton

insolent1

Also a wake up call has been sent to TC27.
Major^3, Drucius and Emperor what would you guys like your kings to be called?

Oh and here is the mugshot of King Charles IV...http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/rev_charles4.jpg

[insolent1]

I didn't think an email was required as I thought they where to be uploaded to the site. Anywayz heres my mail
darntoothin@hotmail.com
I had a look & it dosen't look good it actually looks like someone was using auto build http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif

[Revenant69]

You are right about the uploading thing. However, email is STILL required as I need to keep things coordinated and sometimes communicate with you guys/gals.

Yeah I looked at the game and we are in a bad way. In Glory goals we are behind the Byzantines by 22 points...Ouch. And we cant crusade anymore because all the Holy Lands are owned by our catholic brothers the Spanish. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

I used the whole map cheat and what I saw kind of scared me. Spanish and Byzantines are the two Superpowers with Byzantines pushing deep into Europe and Spaniards controlling all of Africa and Holy Land.

I thought I would never say this in my life, but I cant wait for the Horde to show up. They are only 15 years away and hopefully when they do show up, they will head South passing right through Byzantines and Spanish. Hehe, maybe its too much wishful thinking.

On a positive note about the Byzantine expansion, at least we do not have to worry about the Germans as they are being squeezed tighter and tighter by the purple horde.

There is one province we could snag though, Genoa is currently in rebel hands although it does have a hefty army sitting there.

Well, fruitfly is going to have a lot of time to deal with the current situation as his King Charles IV is only 18 years old. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif

NOTE: I would also like to encourage people to post their writeups. I know this campaign is going a bit too fast but hopefully we can get some writeups done before it finishes http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif I know Mount cant post and, besides, his reign was short and peaceful, so if people down the list can start posting - Id very much appreciate it....err Ill even buy you beer in the Tavern LOL

[insolent1]

ok np http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Major^3]

i will try to do a writeup soon but i dont think i can do pictures sincei just aquired a new comp. and i haven't gotten photoshop on it yet.

oh, and my king can be the Inept http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[The_Emperor]

King Philipe III The Mad Monarch http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-dizzy2.gif

[Brutal DLX]

Just a few hints.. you will get Genoa as a homeland province later on, so by your rules taking Genoa now would be cheesy.
My estimation is that the Spanish and Byzantines will soon start warring with each other, so the pressure on France will be suspended. Time to develop the provinces and get trade really going. Might be boring, but is the best bet to save this campaign. Also prepare for the reliquiary GA in Ile de France which should soon come up (Sainte chapelle).

Also you will get a lot of GA points during the final years, so being behind by 22 is no biggie. It's not even guaranteed that the Byzantines live to see the end. And Spain will attack sooner or later, and then you can deal with them which will be a huge task.

[Drucius]

How about 'Louis The Dull'?

[The_Emperor]

You know compared to the Turkish PBEM (which had a fair share of Conquerers, warriors and successful Sultans), this is the Royal Line from hell

Check it out we have yet to have a strong Monarch
Too much inbreeding
(No wonder the Revolution happened) http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-behead.gif

Revenant69
King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi
King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3
King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius
King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor
King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly
King Charles IV (1216 - ???) Current King

[Revenant69]

LOL, I had similar thought.....A line of stellar kings, angels of virtue and piety isnt it? Hehe, well at the same time it adds more character to this campaign. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif
Hopefully we wont end up as the Habsburg Royal Line did, although it looks pretty similar. LOL

[econ21]

Looking at the most recent map posted on this thread, I would say Revenant69's groundrules have worked brilliantly so far. I assume the intention of the rules was to stop France simply taking over the world and make for a more challenging game with a number of surviving competitive AI factions. The problem with the normal game is that by 1200 or so, the outcome is effectively decided. With these groundrules, it might remain a full and challenging game until the time limit is reached. Credit also goes to the players who have scrupilously followed the groundrules.

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 19 2004,10:52)]LOL, I had similar thought.....A line of stellar kings, angels of virtue and piety isnt it? Hehe, well at the same time it adds more character to this campaign. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif
Hopefully we wont end up as the Habsburg Royal Line did, although it looks pretty similar. LOL
Yeah I was going to say its pretty Historically accurate (France did have a lot of bad monarchs) http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[fruitfly]

I've downloaded the savegame and played the first 20 years or so of my reign - I guess I lucked out having an 18 year old king to start with. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

There have been some pretty perceptive comments on the way the game's progressed so far too. In 1227 the Spanish went to war with the Byzantines, which gave me the opportunity to snatch Provence (now a homeland province) and Cyprus from the purple hordes. That's raised our GA score slightly and I'm preparing to take Burgundy off the Germans too, which will add another couple of points to our homelands total.

The Spanish are a truly scary prospect though. I've got a bishop in almost every province on the map to further the cause of Catholicism (and spy with) and they've got troops pretty much everywhere. Unfortunately the Horde are leaving them alone and spreading northwards instead. Can't say I blame them.

We should complete Notre Dame cathedral in 1249, but it'll be impossible to build a reliquery by 1260 as we don't have a monastery there yet, so the Sainte Chapelle GA's out the window. That's only worth two points anyway though.

I'm focusing most of my attention on modernising the army, beefing up our troop-producing capacity and building a big enough navy for either me or my successor to blow the Spanish out of the water if/when they start anything. We might even be able to produce chivalric knights in Toulouse by about 1275 if we're lucky.

The Byz GA score isn't anything to worry about because if their war with the Spanish keeps going for much longer they'll be seriously in decline. I think it's the Spanish who are going to be our main competition in the long term, but fortunately as long as they hold Antioch we'll have ligitimate cause to start a war against them whilst sticking to the rules of the game.

[o_loompah_the_delayer]

THis is most exciting http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Any moire maps?

[TC27]

What are you Princes like? I like to play to character so if my King is strange my ingame actions will follow

Perhaps its time to train a high valour assasin and start to cull the runts from the royal line

[insolent1]

I think i'll be Louis/Philip the slackjawed yokel at this rate http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] ]I've downloaded the savegame and played the first 20 years or so of my reign - I guess I lucked out having an 18 year old king to start with.


Hehe, I think that you Sir may hold the record for the youngest king in the PBM game, although I am not entirely sure. Can someone back me up on that? Emperor? Anyone?


Quote[/b] ]We should complete Notre Dame cathedral in 1249, but it'll be impossible to build a reliquery by 1260 as we don't have a monastery there yet, so the Sainte Chapelle GA's out the window. That's only worth two points anyway though.


Well thats definitely good news on Notre Dame Cathedral, although a bit close in timing LOL. Bites that we cant get the Sainte Chapelle - short by 3 years. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif Oh well, Notre Dame will be a BIG accomplishment, no doubt. And it will also put Ile de France in theposition to start producing some tough troops.


Quote[/b] ]We might even be able to produce chivalric knights in Toulouse by about 1275 if we're lucky.


Woohoo, the Chivalry of France will finally be unleashed
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_knight.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_charge.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_duel.gif


Quote[/b] ]I think it's the Spanish who are going to be our main competition in the long term, but fortunately as long as they hold Antioch we'll have ligitimate cause to start a war against them whilst sticking to the rules of the game.

Yeah I think you are absolutely correct here, lets just hope that they keep holdng Antioch LOL

Rev

[fruitfly]

I've got a couple of quick questions to ask regarding the rules for this campaign.

First up, I assume that once I've captured Burgundy (our homeland province) from the Germans I have to cease all hostile acts against them. Is that correct?

Secondly, am I right in thinking that if a Catholic faction is excommunicated they're fair game from that point on, or do I need to wait for the Pope's permission before laying into them? And if I do should I limit attacks to crusades rather than ordinary battles?

The two are kind of connected because I took Burgundy last night in the same year that the Germans rashly declared war on the Spanish. The Spaniards have started conquering German provinces with gay abandon and if they keep that up they're going to get themselves excommed. Also, if the Spanish are going to wipe out the Germans anyway, I'd quite like to annex Switzerland for the greater glory of France.

All of the royal family have the killer instinct vice if that's any indication of how to proceed, and I reckon that we've currently got enough troops to keep our borders secure from the yellow hordes as well as a slight edge in the water. The main drawbacks are the fact that war would cripple us financially and that there are likely to be 5-10 big battles a turn unless the Spanish have a civil war fairly quickly. France would survive, but I doubt she'd prosper.

The number of conquest GA points the Spanish are starting to accumulate means something will have to be done about them sooner or later if we want to win though.

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (TC27 @ Jan. 19 2004,23:14)]What are you Princes like? I like to play to character so if my King is strange my ingame actions will follow

Perhaps its time to train a high valour assasin and start to cull the runts from the royal line
My king has the killer instinct vice, so I've been training hordes of assassins and setting them loose on any enemy units that stray near France. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Culling the runts from the royal line isn't a bad idea, but unfortunately we'd be left without any heirs if I tried to do that.

[econ21]

Fruitfly - reading Revenant's rules, it is pretty explicit that we should not try to take more territory once we have taken GA provinces and should not crusade until the Pope requests it. However, I would say that offensive naval action is still permitted in a war and that beefing up crusades with regular troops is ok, although it would be characterful to still fight with the (augmented) crusade rather than with independent armies.

On the specific case you raise, I think it might be ok to nab a single province if Germany does actually start to turn all yellow. I think this was often done historically (eg Russia with Poland 1939). But it would depend a little on the character of your leader (killer instinct sounds fitting). I think Revenant's rules were to stop us taking a significant number of provinces during a war. Don't a lot of folk in Switzerland speak French anyway? I doubt that is a legacy of French evening classes. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Brutal DLX]

But it is a legacy of the Swiss taking some (Burgundian) French speaking lands. :)

[Demon of Light]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 19 2004,17:22)]
Quote[/b] ]I've downloaded the savegame and played the first 20 years or so of my reign - I guess I lucked out having an 18 year old king to start with.


Hehe, I think that you Sir may hold the record for the youngest king in the PBM game, although I am not entirely sure. Can someone back me up on that? Emperor? Anyone?
Kukri Khan once took the throne at the age of 17

[Revenant69]

Fruitfly, your answers lie herein...

Give me a few minutes to type 'em ;) I can see you are on right now


Quote[/b] ]First up, I assume that once I've captured Burgundy (our homeland province) from the Germans I have to cease all hostile acts against them. Is that correct?


You are absolutely correct. You must cease hostilites as per Pope's request. Note, there is a bug that if you are at war with multiple catholic factions then Pope will display a warnning for the first faction. Essentially giving you free reign to attack other ones. However, as per my rules, using this bug is NOT allowed. To put it shortly, you can take Burgundy, stop hostilities and sue for peace.

Now, onto more interesting busines, the Spaniards...
Remember that if any faction possesses our homelands then we have the right to declare war and to reclaim these homelands. This means you have absolute right to declare war on the Spanish in order to recapture Antioch. (It would be wise to move the invasion army to Tripoli beforehand, as their blockade may prevent your troop movements).
There are two ways in which this scenario can unfold.

Situation A - Spanish are not excommunicated.

Well, in this case, you are sh*t out of luck. The only thing you can do is declare war on them, sink their fleet and take antioch and then observe the 10 year ceasefire. So in this situation you cannot take Switzerland.

Situation B - Spanish are excommed.

This is a more triksy situation as Gollum would say. I forget what the Pope's message really is but he essentially says that you should attack/crusade against the enemy of the Church the Spanish (in this case). I forget what the exact words are. Can someone help me out here, pretty please?

I do think that it is related to crusades though. In this situation you have 2 reasons to declare war on the Spaniards. you can retake Antioch and crusade them till they all join the new Heavenly Order. This means that you could crusade to Switzerland. And you could beef up your crusades all you want as well.

Other than this very particular situation , there is no way that you should take Switzerland (unless its in rebel hands).

Read the rules again, if you still have questions then post them here and I will answer.

Also remember that Antioch is a cash cow and can bring in 5000 florins when fully upgraded. Also by sinking their fleet you will hurt their trade and loyalty in the big spanish Empire. So, really, I think now is the time if any to show the Spaniards who is the true Believer.

No matter how tempting it is to grab Switzerland, you must follow the rules.

[Revenant69]

Also, Simon Appleton is correct about the meaning of the rules. They are there to do a few things: make the game more difficult, make it more fun and stop agressive expansion.
So far I am impressed that everyone has abided by them that close. As Simon said, it will make it fun even for the very last king of France.


Quote[/b] ]You know compared to the Turkish PBEM (which had a fair share of Conquerers, warriors and successful Sultans), this is the Royal Line from hell

Check it out we have yet to have a strong Monarch
Too much inbreeding


Well, this sort of result is actually not surprising considering the rules. If we have one or two Conquerors then I will be impressed. Even if the French Royal line is rotten, then it adds more to the flavor of the game doesnt it? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

I think the rules that I set out are simple and fair. however, the interplay of these rules can definitely create some tricksy situation as in the post above. You just have to sit down and work it out. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-scholar.gif

[Drucius]

I think that once the pope excommunicates a faction they become fair game, basically. As I understand it they're effectively no longer catholics as they have been cast from the church. I believe you can crusade against any excommunicated faction, too. Later on, if Il Papa is particularly irked (i.e. the excommunicated faction has had some success against catholics), he'll call on all the other catholic factions to wage war against the heretics, but you can do what you like before that point.

BTW, I think i've got some replays from my turn if anyone fancies a gander.

[fruitfly]

Well, no-one's been excommunicated (although I'm not really sure how - it must be the AI exploiting the Pope's 10 year bug), but things have suddenly got very interesting.

It seems that the English have inadvertantly become the saviours of France.

My king's 59 now so assuming he dies pretty soon the game will be uploaded to the org tomorrow. It looks like whoever's next will have plenty to do.

[econ21]

Things are proceeding a pace, but there seems to be very few write-ups. I thought write-ups (with screenshots) were half the point of PBEM games?

There may be an issue of getting participants to post chronologically (eg fruitfly might want to wait for all his predecessors to post their accounts first, which might take a long time).

One possibility is that busy participants put down placer posters that they can edit later to fill in accounts of their reign.

Alternatively, a new thread dedicated to the accounts could be created but I suspect that would take moderator involvement (Demon of Light did it for some of the early PBEMs).

Failing any of that, I suggest people just post out of chronological order whenever they get the time and things can be cut/paste at a later date to get them into historical order if desired.

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Jan. 21 2004,14:28)]Things are proceeding a pace, but there seems to be very few write-ups. I thought write-ups (with screenshots) were half the point of PBEM games?

There may be an issue of getting participants to post chronologically (eg fruitfly might want to wait for all his predecessors to post their accounts first, which might take a long time).
I was assuming people would post chronologically. I'd like to see how The Emperor's reign ended so there's a bit of continuity with the start of my tale.

Anyway, it's now 1259 and King Charles IV The Patient is dead. All hail King Henri II.

http://www.dystopia.ws/random/frenchpbm/succession.jpg

The savegame can be downloaded from here (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/).

[Revenant69]

Hmmm, king Henry II the Believer and yet he has zero piety - an odd occurence dont you think?
We ar doing much better on the GA score sheet now. Only 10 points behind the Byz - not bad at all.

You seem to have expanded our borders quite nicely fruitfly. Also that Brownish Horde color looks kinda scary LOL
I cant wait to see your writeup, which reminds me....

Ahem, may I have every participant of this campaign gathered here please.....
*waits patiently while everyone assembles*

OK, to speed up the process of posting writeups this is what I recommend:
-each participant who has already finished their turn shall write their writeups in notepad, word whatever and save it for a little while.
-then, participants shall start posting in chronological order (I really dont want to deal with cutting and pasting of posts). This way everyone will have their writeups ready and we can speed up the process (Instead of person B waiting to start writing their write up while person A is still doing theirs). This way, hopefully, a majority of writeups can be done simultaneously thus saving on time.
-you can also prepare your pictures as well, while doing your writeup. Then you could essentially post everything in one go.

I shall PM Major^3 and encourage him to post an account of his reign. LOL

Once again, I urge the participants to show a bit of initiative and finish the accounts of their reigns as Kings of France. This is turning out to be one very popular campaign (i think) so lets give the people something to read........
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif

EDIT: Ok I've sent a PM and an email to Major^3 LOL, http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Revenant69]

Ok, abit more of housekeeping work. *surveys his lackeys with one mean stare*
C'mon lads. Chop Chop

Ahem....The list of kings stands as follows:

Revenant69 ---> King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi ---> King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3 ---> King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius ---> King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor ---> King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly ---> King Charles IV (1216 - 1258) The Patient

TC27 ---> King Henri II (1259 - 1286)

Simon Appleton ---> King Philippe IV (1287 - ???) Current King

insolent1

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] ]I'd like to see how The Emperor's reign ended so there's a bit of continuity with the start of my tale.

Yeah sorry about that I have been rather busy with other things this week to make a start. Also I need to organise my images for it.


Quote[/b] ]each participant who has already finished their turn shall write their writeups in notepad, word whatever and save it for a little while.


I usually do that anyway, it helps to be able to spellcheck your write-up before you post it.

Anyway watch this space, I'm trying to think of something funny to write about Philippe III... Should be interesting.

[TC27]

Savegame file has being downloaded, I have the afternoon off so Ill probaly be finished by tonight.

[Revenant69]

OK I got an email from TC27, he has apparently finished his turn, so I guess Simon Appleton is next...Oh boy, this campaign is flying....Now if only the writeups were done so fast http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/handball.gif

Ok, Simon Appleton has been notified of his turn and a wake up call has been sent to insolent1.

The savegame can be downloaded from Here (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/)

Another piece of good news is that Major^3 will have his writeup done in a few days..... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

Now, I once again ask all other participants to start preparing their writeups ahead of time, i.e. NOW. LOL This campaign has only one writeup so far http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif and that cant be good.

Cheers,
Rev

[Revenant69]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a brief recap of the current situation of the French Kingdom.

We have 107 GA points which is a bit less than 118 that the Spanish have. We make 21 Ga points every 25 years as opposoed to 27 that the Spanish make. So this is a bit of a problem.

On the bright note, France has a HUGE fleet and HUGE armies. We have decent income of around 4k/year and a very good treasury of 150k.

On another bright note, Spanish are excommunicated We must come to the rescue of our Holy Church. Unleash HELL on the Spaniards....they must pay for their crimes against Christendom....

I am currently making the pics describing the situation, so ill post 'em in a couple of hours.

cheers,
Rev

[The_Emperor]

Ok then, I sugguest you Crusade and Take hold of the Spanish Homelands... That should have a good knock-on effect on their GA points.

Hit them where it hurts.

Just out of curiosity how many Crusades did we send out before my reign?

[Revenant69]

I have no clue about the number of crusades...I didnt send any.

We have a few crusade markers trained and have lots of troops to beef them + Spanish homelands are weakly defended. Should be easy work. Besides, the current king has only 3 influence so lots of crusades is a good way to solve it.

Plus I think that we should rescue His Holyness the Pope - that should be a priority. Yes? No?

[Drucius]

If the Spanish are excommunicated, then it's our christian duty to remove them from the earth. It's what Jesus would have wanted.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Drucius @ Jan. 23 2004,07:11)]If the Spanish are excommunicated, then it's our christian duty to remove them from the earth. It's what Jesus would have wanted.
LOL http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif
We dont have to remove them from the map. We just have to hurt them enough that they will not pose a risk for a while. Taking their developed homelands is a good way of doing it methinks.

[o_loompah_the_delayer]

But if they collpase the Egyptians and Turks could reemeerge with loads of fancy troops, could you deal with that in the Middle East?

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] (Drucius @ Jan. 23 2004,12:11)]If the Spanish are excommunicated, then it's our christian duty to remove them from the earth. It's what Jesus would have wanted.
Spoken like a true Crusader http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_knight.gif

[TC27]

I sent a crusade to Antioch when the Spanish lost it to the Turks, my King lead it in order to guarantee himself salvation after his life of cheating and adultery.

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (TC27 @ Jan. 23 2004,15:57)]I sent a crusade to Antioch when the Spanish lost it to the Turks, my King lead it in order to guarantee himself salvation after his life of cheating and adultery.
Nicely done. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif

The Turks were wiped out twice during my reign (once by the horde and once by the Egyptians), so it's only fair that France got a chance to kill them too.

edited because I couldn't spell France properly the first time http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-oops.gif

[Demon of Light]

Concerning the write-ups: Lets get it done people. Lock yourselves in a room, neglect your girlfriends/boyfriends, take time off of work...I don't care what you do, just do it.

At least Dr. Appleton is next. His writing is always worth reading AND he is extremely dependable.

Incidently, some people might want to consider voting for him in the Hall of Fame awards for story writing.

[The Wizard]

Lol, sounds dangerous. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif

[TC27]

The History of the French Empire during Henry IIs reign will be written up tomorrow.

[Revenant69]

Here is the mug of the current King Philippe IV and a general situational report at the beginning of his reign.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/rev_phil4.jpg
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/rev_report5.jpg

PS I also posted some new pics on page 3 if anyone is interested...

[econ21]

OK, I've got the file and started playing up to 1299. It's not looking good for France, I am afraid. I think the Spanish are behaving the way Revenant69 did not want us to behave and they are becoming nigh on unstoppable. Next time through we might want to make an addition to the rules - that players can act to contain AI powers and prevent them taking over the world. I begin to see why the European nations got fixated about the balance of power in the nineteenth century

I'd like to post some details of what's going on, but they would be more fun written in character. My reign is pretty dull so far, but the Spanish king is having a ball... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] ]Next time through we might want to make an addition to the rules - that players can act to contain AI powers and prevent them taking over the world.
That rule is already there in a sense. It is about crusading against excommunicated catholic states http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif It should curb Spanish Worl domination LOL

I dont like quoting myself, but I must in this case. Just follow this rule...


Quote[/b] ]3. You must not be the sole aggressor all the time. Besides acomplishing GA goals and attacking rebels, attacking Catholic countries without provocation is a major NO-NO. You are, however, free to spread Catholicism whenever and wherever the Pope asks you to do. This means wars on muslims and excommunicated catholic states are deeply encouraged, but only when the Pope says so.

But if you are attacked by a catholic faction in a Pearl Harbor style, then you are free to unleash your whole mighty arsenal at them. Remember, wars of retaliation are OK, wars of aggression must follow strict rules.


Good luck Simon Appleton, you may need it.

[econ21]

I was gearing up for some anti-Spanish crusades, honest Revenant, but before I could build any, the Spaniards ate the Papacy

I guess I interpreted the rules rather literally, as from that point they were no longer excommunicated and thus off-limits.

I even accepted their offer of alliance. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif What was I thinking?

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Jan. 23 2004,21:01)]I was gearing up for some anti-Spanish crusades, honest Revenant, but before I could build any, the Spaniards ate the Papacy

I guess I interpreted the rules rather literally, as from that point they were no longer excommunicated and thus off-limits.

I even accepted their offer of alliance. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif What was I thinking?
You are right that kind of puts us in an awkward position, I mean them not being excommed anymore. One way i guess is to wait for the reappearance of the Pope and as soon as he reappears and Spanish are excommed, launch EVERYTHING at them LOL.

On a more roleplaying note, France believed in the previous Pope (whoever he was) and we may not like the new puppet Pope of the Spanish and probably would like to restore the old Papacy - but thats going abit too far methinks.

From waht I saw of the French armies at the beginning of your reign, we have enough to really really set them back and probably take all of Iberia and Afrika. We also had decent navy and from what i saw it even outnumbered the Spanish navy. With a few setbacks in battles and loss of their communication network I am sure the Spanish will fold, well maybe not all of them but a vast majority of cut off provinces will rebel and maybe even lead to a few faction reappearances.

Once again this is just a plan for the future. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

Well, Simon, I think we should play out this campaign by the rules and see where it lands us. If France becomes a spanish province then so be it.

This campaign was designed to test the format, really. If it is successful then I will run more campaigns like that. Part of this campaign's success will owe to us adhering to the Rules (AND doing writeups http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif).

Good luck Simon

[Major^3]

OK, i have been extremely pushed for time and this is my first PBEM and first write up, but i am posting what i have done to prove that i have actually been writing http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-embarassed.gif
Also, i have transfered stuff from ym old computer to a new one, and thus some information such as pictures and such have been lost. sorry guys i'll do better next time.

anyway, here is the first half.
Oh and tho whom was asking, i did send a crusade to Tripoli during my reign.

King Jean II the Inept by Augustine of Clairvaux, Chronicler

The Early Years

When King Jean was crowned at age 26. The Nation watched in anticipation and fear. It was widely known that Jean was not very good at ruling, making decisions, nor had much influence in the courts across Europe. He also neglected his faith, a vice he successfully hid from the people. He spent his days carousing with the nobility,laughing at the peasants, or staring out the window.He married a noblewoman shortly after his coronation to attempt to foster children to preserve the royal line. His misseducation on the accounts of governing and the economy never really helped France, although a lot of building projects were started. It was the dutiful management of his counts and subordinates that prevented France from going completely bankrupt

King Jean's reign started in late 1130 and in the following year our fair region of Champagne suffered a famine. The first initial years of his reign were calm, including expansive building projects, with increasing the treasury in mind and the production of a trade navy. However, more failed then not. The country also saw the birth of two Princes and a Princess in 1133, 1135 and 1134 respectively. The population was very content, despite the famine, and it was well known through France that the King was well liked and adored.
At this time, France's finest foreign ministers were attempting to commit the larger world powers to sign treatsies. Although alliances were sought, there was a turndown of offers from the Almohads and the Hungarians, out of respect for our allies at the time, Spain and the HRE. This was as much as a political move as a show of honour, but who would want to associate oneself with dirty non-catholics? In 1140 the Almohads would fall. Although the beginning of his reign was peaceful and the French people were content, there were dark times ahead.

The War with the Lion

This infamous war, which would last between 1141 and roughly 1159 altho afterwards there was still an incredible grudge. The war started with the sinking of a British ship as the new French Navy was defending itself in a surprise attack from the English, off the coast of Brittany. However,France lost some of its allies in the resulting war, namely Spain and the Byzantines. It was the war general and count of Anjou, Hugh de Payns, who led the co-ordinatd attack on the English. Lord Clement invaded Normandy in 1142 to secure a route for reinforcements between the French kingdoms. It was a famous bridge battle inwhich Lord Clement's army routed the defending British army, although there are discrepancies, in light of recent findings, that the credit really goes to a unit of Kwarazmian cavalry which had
been hired as mercenaries. Following is a battle account from a French soldier, which was discovered early 2003.

...The Battle went well, father. Those Kwarazmians charged over the bridge like bolts of lightning and the Byzantines

shortly followed when a pocket was made. Being camped across the river for quite some time now, we feared the bottleneck, the

bridge, the only one for miles large enough to carry our army to the fort. ... although there has been some conflict from my

fellow soldiers against the mercenraries, what they did today, and the numbers they lost...fondly remembered.

(parts of the letter were illegible due to wear)

It is now popular belief that in addition to the 4 units of spearmen and Lord Clement's cavalry, there were a number of
mercenaries enlisted with the French during the attack. Perhaps France was behind the times in its military developments, or there were not enough funds for training, or perhaps the experience and abilities of these Eastern warriors were part of de Payn's plan, throwing something unexpected at the British. Regardless, these mercenaries had been hired without fair warning. Hugh de Payns himself led a simoultaneous attack on Anjou, though he retreated as last minute reinforcements caught him by surprise and he did not believe he could take the English army. However, the next year, with the loss of Normandy, the
English were dividied, and with their forces trying to scurry for organization, they left Anjou open. Hugh de Payns invaded again in 1143 with a bigger army, consisting of 9 units of spears, 2 hired Italian Infantry, who also fought in Normandy, 2 units of feudal MAA, 3 units of Royal Knights, 1 unit of hobilars, and 2 units of archers. Versus the small army of 1 unit of peasants, 3 uits of archers, and 1 unit of fyrdmen, under the command of English general, Thomas Bussett. Sensing his demise, but not wanting to give up land, Thomas Bussett takes his troops to the fort, where Hugh de Payns leads a siege.

In 1144, Lord d'Orleans, another famous French general, attacked Aquitaine with fellow general Lord Poitevin. Going against Englands Prince Edwards, and 3 nobles of significant calibre, Lord Peckhem, Lord Gray, and Lord Sayntod, it was a most definitive battle. There are no records from the English perspective, as the French demolished all English goods after the refusal of their English captives after the battle, including Prince Edward. However, we do know that d'Orleans had 5 unit of spears, 1 Italian Infantry, 5 units of hobilar cavalry, 3 Royal Knights, 1 unit of mercenary armoured spearmen, 1 ujnit of urban militia. We have reason to believe that Prince Edward's force compromised mainly of archers (some records say 11 units), a few units of Hobilars (4-5), and one unit of Royal Knights. From the accounts, the two armies marched in a line of battle. d'Orleans choice not to field any archers is extremely unconventional and ingenious. When the enemy archers braced themeselves, d'Orleans let a few of his men fall to gain them confidence, then let loose the cavalry on the masses of archers. By sheer numbers, the archers fought off the cavalry but when the infantry came up and the enemy army was routed. d'Orleans sent his cavalry after the routing forces, trying to capture as many as possible to prevent a counter attack.Unfortunately, Lord Poitevin of Aragon fell in the battle to a throng of archers. Even with his strong cavalry, the sheer force and numbers of the lesser trained men were too much for him. With the series of successful attacks, the English were not feeling very confident. They retreated from Flanders to secure their homelands. Hugh de Payns assaults the force on Angers Castle in Anjou, since the garrison had enough provisions to last inevitably. Despite the attack, the losses suffered by the French were not overly greater then those suffered by the English, who gave Lord d'Orleans no rest.

In the Spring of 1145, the English, despite d'Orlean's efforts to prevent it, launched a counterattack on Aquitaine, to relive the garrison of the fort. Lord d'Orleans had received a few reinforcements but nothing substantial. He had, under his command, 2 units of hobilars, 1 units of royal Knights, 8 units of spearmen, 1 unit of urban militia (his own), 1 unit of armoured spearmen, 1 unit of Italian infantry, and 2 units of archers. These were not good odds versus Lord Borley's efforts to relieve his fellow Lords. Borley came with an amry of almost all cavalry, 8 units of Hobilars, 1 units of archers, and 1 units of peasants. The English hobilars were all experienced, and flanked the French army from both sides. Most of the army were not prepared to battle horse riders and the spearmen were green for the most part. Recruits gotten from the lands of the feudal lords. However, with d'Orleans rallying cry and the valour of the Royal knights, they were able to turn the battle. The French cavalry had been disengaged from hte main French force and was thus able to circumnavigate the English cavalry being held by the dying spearmen. Taken by surprise, the English soldiers were shocked and the relatively inexperienced Lord Borley paniced and ran. Because of the fact that this was a great defence by the French army, there are accurate reports of the fatalities. 615 enemies killed, 468 captured, and 294 defenders of the French crown lost in battle

[Major^3]

In 1146, Navarre was conquered by the French forces as it was being left undefended by the English. At this time, Hugh de Payns was crowned Count of Anjou, and became the foremost advisor of King Jean II. However, the war still ravaged on with the fall of Aquitaine in 1147 with a giant invasion by the English, including the elite royal knights led by the English Princes John and Henri, the latter which whom got crowned King of England after the invasion, since his father had died in a hunting accident.

The French forces were dwindling, and King Jean, despite the advisors advising against it, sent emmisarries to the court of the English King to work out a cease fire. With the strong position of France in the war, it was seen as a sign of weakness, but England had just stormed down into Aquitaine and there was no telling how many troops he had left on the island.

Nevertheless, the war bored King Jean II and in 1149 Hugh de Payns died of old age, followed the year later by Lord d'Orleans. Without his top generals and military advisors, and a warning from the Pope to cease hostilities, King Jean pushed the idea of a peace, but the most he could get from the English king was a firm No to the cease fire, and a promise they did not plan any hostilities against the French. In 1151 the Fair of Champagne brought interruption to the war and joy to the people, but in 1152 King Richard I of England invaded Flanders. Sir Henri Poitevin, King Jean's uncle, under orders from the King retreated to the stronghold and let the English lay siege to the castle. However, the next year and against the wishes of his King, Poitevin charged out of his castle to attack the English. What followed was a venerable slaughter of Poitevin's
outnumbered and inferior men versus the Royal Knights of King Richard. King Jean II was furious at this insubordination and immediately set out a rider to take the life of Poitevin, who lay dying in the field. Poitevin had focused his entire attack on the dead center of the English line of battle. Although teh French were loosing badly, King Richard, inept in the arts of war, fell under a group of spears, and with their King dead, the English left the field. The official tally conducted by King Jean to make sure Poitevin was dead, came out to 708 killed English, and 894 lost on the French side. This was the last battle in this war between the hostilities between France and England. France had proven it could stand up to the fierce lion that was England, and King Jean II could settle to domestic matters. The economoy had been strained even before the war, and King Jean's inability to produce a decent economy had made the war even harder. Second that with the loss of 3 important and able general-advisors, King Jean was left on his own. Jean's ineptness was evident even to the common peasant. A trade route into the meditterranean was a great achievement, however there were far more resource-rich provinces in the North, and a baltic - iberian trade route would probably have served France better.

However, one general who took to King Jean II closely and weaseled his way into being the right hand man of the French King, Gerard de Ridefort, took this to his advantage. A very devout man who had a love for battle, he convinced King Jean II to send forth a Crusade on the bountiful province of Tripoli using the trade chain as transport. The Crusade was launched in Toulouse, backed by the Pope, and set off to Tripoli in 1165. The people were strained and the economy was drained, and King Jean was receiving critizicm for not paying attention to domestic affairs and infrastructure. King Jean II even took down some present infrastructure to raise money for the crusade, despite not being very religious at all. Some believe he was very self concious of this and the crusades was his way of showing his true faith.

The Egyptians surrendered Tripoli in 1165 but counterattacked with their Sultan in 1167. The records from Tripoli are obscure, perhaps due to the inability of the soldiers to be literate, but also because of the frequent loss of ships to storms. Although the trade fleet was big and could counter losses, it was spread out. However, we think the final outcome was 898 Egyptians killed, 1073 captured, and 690 French soldiers lost. What we do know is that the ransom was refused, perhaps because the Egyptians knew the French were starving for florins, and they had a Heir to take over from their sultan, who had fallen in battle. King Jean also married away one of his daughters to the Turkish Sultan, to gain an ally in the middle east.

Gerard de Ridefort was made Counf of Tripoli, and at once set to make defences for the city. The English once again stir trouble with the French and invade Brittany in 1170 but retreat because they underestimated the French forces. The Egypptians retry to take Tripoli in 1173 but de Ridefort makes an excellent stand and was able to sell the captives to raise just a little under 1000 florins for the glory of France. The King of England died in 1173 which ended any grudges the English had at the French.

Thae aged King was sitting on his thronw in 1175, feeling sick but proud. His people were anxious for a new King. Gerard de Ridefort, sitting atop his mound in Tripoli, had lost his grip on the King but no longer needed it as he had gotten what he wanted. France itself had barely escaped a large debt, and the building of churches and the crusade to prove the glory and show how pious King Jean and France was, was udnermined with the outbreak of the Cathars in Toulouse. No matter, late that night, King Jean would die, the tolls of life taking their last florins. He had brought France through a war, of which he was rightfully denied any credit, the wars being won by generals from his father's time, able mercenaries, and the steadfastness of the French people. He had launched a crusade, putting Christ's faith first and foremost in the lives of Frenchmen. However, this was also a lie, as King Jean neither cared for Christ nor the Church. He had established a small navy and numerous trade routes, all done with a goal in mind but done wrongly. If it wasnt for the competent advisors and generals under him, King Jean II would never have gotten the fame he would late on in the history of the French, where their close battles with the English and the wars in the desert, would be recounted.

[Drucius]

Quote[/b] (Demon of Light @ Jan. 23 2004,17:15)]Incidently, some people might want to consider voting for him in the Hall of Fame awards for story writing.
Already done :)

[Drucius]

I think we've missed a trick here, as true Catholics we sgould have regarded the Spanish as the anti-christ as soon as they were excommunicated, especially when they started attacking the Pope. We should now stick the boot in to the Spanish in a war to restore the Pope, as I think that would be a realistic reaction to events. Anyway, under the rules doesn't *everybody* become fair game if there's no Pope, and consequently no way of getting excommunicated?

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Jan. 24 2004,02:07)]Well, Simon, I think we should play out this campaign by the rules and see where it lands us. If France becomes a spanish province then so be it.

This campaign was designed to test the format, really. If it is successful then I will run more campaigns like that. Part of this campaign's success will owe to us adhering to the Rules (AND doing writeups http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif).
It all depends on the final outcome of this campaign, but one rule we could change next time is to make it acceptable to enter a conflict to protect our allies if it looks like they're under threat.

Doing that would ensure the safety of their homelands and would probably prevent an AI faction from becoming too dominant like the Spanish seem to be in this game.

Intervention could range anywhere from sinking fleets to prevent an invasion (or the reinforcement of one) to invading provinces to lift sieges (which would also gain us influence). Obviously it'd only be prudent to take such action if it was in the best interests of our nation, there'd be no point financially crippling ourselves with the loss of trade or putting our security at risk by taking on a much more powerful enemy just for the sake of preserving an allied faction.

[TC27]

The remains of the HRE attacked me in Flanders so I annxed their remaining provinces, it does mean we have to deal with the Swiss at some point.

The SPanish got excommunicated in my reign but at that point I simply was not ready for such a large war, we share massive borders with the SPanish EMpire and we can kiss our trade income goodbye

[o_loompah_the_delayer]

Is it possible for the AI to claim the 60% victory? Might be something to watch out for if the Spanish become too big

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] ]It all depends on the final outcome of this campaign, but one rule we could change next time is to make it acceptable to enter a conflict to protect our allies if it looks like they're under threat.

Thats a good rule, I like it. Obviously the extent of its use would have to be discussed but I realy like it already http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif


Quote[/b] ]Is it possible for the AI to claim the 60% victory? Might be something to watch out for if the Spanish become too big
LOL, now THAT would be a way to lose a campaign http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

I doubt the rule applies to the AI, it jsut makes it harder for a human to get to 60% doesnt it?


Quote[/b] ]The remains of the HRE attacked me in Flanders so I annxed their remaining provinces, it does mean we have to deal with the Swiss at some point

The Swiss (and Burgundians) will not emerge if your loyalty is sky high, well just high enough to prevent rebelions really.

[econ21]

The old king shuffled over to the table, opened the parchment and began to write:

Dear Jean,
My beloved son, if you are reading this note then I am already dead. The hour is late and I have much to do, with so little time remaining. And yet I feel I must explain to you this terrible burden I am about to bequeath.

The year is 1312 and as you know, the accursed Spaniards have blackened the lands of Christendom with their unremitting conquests. One by one, they have overrun the great houses of Europe until we alone remain unconquered. For twenty-five years, I have watched and done nothing.

When I came to power, the Spanish were excommunicated and I began preparations to crusade against them. But I was too late. Before the righteous could be mustered, the true Pope was exiled and a Spanish puppet installed in the Vatican.

My son, it is rare in this world to have a second chance. To be able to right a wrong, undo a terrible mistake. When such times come, we must seize them or spend an eternity in remorse. And so now I cannot turn away when his holiness, having fought his way back into the Vatican, again excommunicates the Spanish tyrant and calls for all Christian nations to crusade against him.

As you know, the Spanish are the strongest military power in Europe and the most technologically advanced. Their lands are vast, their armies without limit and their fleets cast their shadows over all our coasts. It is a cruel fate that I am given this opportunity to right an old wrong but only at the cost of handing you such a terrible legacy. I know I am too old to see this thing through. All I can do is light the fire and pray that you survive its flames.

Forgive me, my son, and may God preserve you,

Your affectionate father,

Phillipe

Slowly, the old king folded the parchment and sealed it with candle wax. He held the testament for a moment and then quickly stored it away in a small chest. He turned briskly and called out to his courtiers:

Bring me my armour

[econ21]

As indicated above, the King is old but in the circumstances the last turn(s) may take a while.

[The_Emperor]

The Reign of King Philippe The Mad Monarch
http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/philippe.jpg


Extract from the Diary of Sir Bernard de Brèzè,
Supreme Commander of the 2nd Crusade for Tripoli.
http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/sirbernard.jpg
November 21 1200AD
Our journey was long but at last we finally saw it on the horizon, the vast walls of the Great City of Constantinople stood out before us. The seat of the Emperor’s power radiated the power and wealth of its ruler, which is to say awesome.

This will be our last refuge to gather supplies before our journey to reclaim Tripoli from the infidels. The Byzantine Emperor has been most generous in granting us safe passage through his territory and the benefit of supplies.

The men and I have not received any further news from France about King Louis illness for months, the reports of the ill health of our king did much to weaken the spirits of our troops. However we are strong, The King is many miles away over the horizon, our spirits are with him in this troubled time, but we must press on to the East to finish the task appointed to us in his name and in the name of God.

We have set up camp outside of the walls of Constantinople, regretfully a number of unfortunate incidents involving our troops and some of the locals has caused the Byzantine officials enough concern to ban our troops from staying within the city walls. However this is a good place to wait out the winter. We shall remain here to gather our strength and obtain more supplies. We should be ready to cross into the province of Trebizond by February.

News from Home.
The camp of the Crusaders outside of Constantinople was being dismantled by February in 1201, the men had been well rested remaining there over the winter months and were impatient to move on… Sir Bernard de Brèzè returned from the city to address his men.

The horn was blown and the men swiftly assembled into their units and formations.
Sir Bernard de Brèzè stood before them on the hill with a troubled look on his face.

“Good Men of the Crusade, I have just finished speaking to the captain of a Byzantine ship that sailed out of Provence two months ago. He was able to provide me with important news from France.”

The men stirred briefly but quickly fell silent again.

“Our beloved King, Louis IV is Dead, his illness finally consumed him last winter. The throne of France has now passed to Prince Philippe. The King is Dead, Long Live the King”

The men responded by shouting in unison “Long Live the King”
Sir Bernard de Brèzè, then continued, “Today we break camp and march out to the outer frontiers of Byzantium, war has been raging between the Egyptian infidels and the Emperor’s forces and we must advance carefully and bravely if we are to reach our objective, come men we march onwards to Tripoli”

The Troops marched off in perfect order. Sir Bernard de Brèzè mounted his steed and watched the line of men and supply wagons streaming past him. He turned and looked one last time upon the great city of Constantinople, a great realisation suddenly dawned on him that from this moment onwards, great danger would now threaten them on every part of their journey… He looked at his men marching off he knew that his army is too small for his needs, just under 800 men strong.

He silently pondered the rumours he had heard in Constantinople about the number of Egyptian troops ahead, but there was no turning back.

He turned his horse and rode up past his troops to the head of the line. The only way home was Victory or Death.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/HRE/crusade.jpg

[Mount Suribachi]

*waits in anticipation for The Emperors and Simon Appletons accounts cos he knows they're gunna be good*

Great job so far by everybody The campaign has been rolling along at a cracking pace partly becos the ground rules have meant little fighting = quick turns = quick reigns and everyone is kept interested.

Great job by Revenant69 in setting it up and keeping it rolling. btw I like the come to the aid of your allies rule.

I think the rules have been a resounding success - even if Spain wins, its a good thing cos it means the game has been a challange. Here we are in the 1300s and the entire game is still up for grabs - this is a great thing IMO http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-toff.gif

[Mount Suribachi]

Edit: Account of reign moved to page 3

[The_Emperor]

The King's First two years
During the early years of his reign, King Philippe III was at times seen outside of the royal palace. Rumors about his Strange nature were just idle speculation, and no-one would openly question the fitness of the King to rule over France. He was mostly seen encforcing strict religious codes on everyone around him, he was a zealot and argued with a passion for the cause of the church.

One of Philippe's first acts was to make plans for the expansion of the city walls of Paris to pave the way for the Construction of a great cathedral.

The deepening madness (1203AD)
Jean the king's chief advisor walked through the castle towards the king's private chambers. King Philippe's condition had gotten worse over the past year, some sort of madness was inflicted upon him that had only gotten worse since he assumed the throne, Jean now managed things well taking the burden of duties away from the King and managing things without him.

As he turned a corner a servant was seen rushing down the corridor towards him in a frantic state.

As the man drew closer Jean saw a most perculiar sight, the man was painted blue He stepped in the way of the fleeing servant, Tell me what has happened, The servant looked up at him with fear gripping his eyes Its the King sir, he's completely gone again I simply went in there because he summoned me but I was not prepared, he was sucking on a horseshoe when I entered the room... then he muttered something about hearing the voices of god

Jean looked surprised at the man What?

He was muttering and pacing the room, eventually he stopped and insisted that I atone for my sins by allowing myself to be cleansed... He then preceeded to paint me in this colour. But that is not all, he then began to mutter to himself.

Go Now and clean yourself up, I will deal with this

The servant scurried away, leaving Jean alone in the corridor. He pondered what had been told and then hurried at a pace to see the King.

As he opened the door to his bedchamber he saw very strange writings on the walls and the King was sitting hunched in the corner muttering to himself...

He, he's watching us he's watching all of us... they all are, they are all watching us very carefully, it is his turn now... I know of it. France is HIS now, he guides our men he alters their minds and he sees everything that goes on through the eyes of France

Who is HE? asked Jean.

The one The_Emperor spirit, its his turn to rule and when I go, it will be another spirit's turn. God has decreed it, they control all of France they do Our world is but a game to them, the-they command and toy with us and we must obey... The Revenant was the first, th-then the others came, and others wait, yess that is the order of things that is, they take us and twist us to their will

Jean had heard enough, the king had clearly gone insane...

He quickly left the room and turned to the guards outside, See to it that no-one comes to visit the King without my permission, the king is worse, alas we must persevere until his son is old enough to rule

So it became that all of France's hopes remained with a small child... and the Kingdom was ruled by advisors and royal aides on behalf of the the king who's mind was overthrown.

[econ21]

Your Majesty, we did find one other note that your late father left. the Grand Chamberlain said sombrely.

He commissioned the monks at Notre Dame to write a full account of his reign, but was most anxious that you should read this as soon as possible

The young King Jean III took the tattered note, written in an almost illegible hand.

Year of our Lord, 1312.

Beloved Jean,

It is done. There is no going back. The borders of our lands burn with the fires of war. Three dozen of our ships lie sunk on the sea-floor. As I anticipated, it has been the death of me. May God save our beloved country.

You must fight this Holy War as you see fit, but indulge a dying man by reading this and forgive his impertinence in daring to advise a king.

With every sea aflame, our Kingdom is divided. Our lands in the Levant stand on a knife edge. Cut-off from the homeland by sea and land, they are on the brink of revolt. One day you may lead our armies there to victory in Arabia, Constantinople and Khazar. But to do so now would provoke mass revolt and invite the return of the Egyptians. Try your best to hold our lands in the Levant. But if you should fail, remember they are underdeveloped and far from our homelands. Better to giveway and save our men so they may to return in better times. Surrender Sardinia to the renascent Byzantines: we have no need of a second war.

With my invasions of Swabia, Tyrol, Milan and Genoa, France's Eastern borders are now secure. Consolidate these new gains but then standfast, shoulder to shoulder with our Holy Father in Venice and repell the Spanish coming from the East. There is nothing to be gained from advancing further at the expense of the West.

For it is in the West that you must strike. The crusade to Castille was but a beginning. You must carve a land corridor to Algeria to restore contact with our lands in the Levant. Let the Spanish live in exile in their barren holdings in the East, while we overrun their homelands Too long have we laboured under restrictions over how or when we can act. Now, we are locked in a war to the death with a heretical monster whose armies outmatch us in size and sophistication. You must cut out its heart while we wield the fiery sword of God.

There is but one crumb of comfort I can offer you in this struggle, my son. Ponder on this: the Spaniards refused to pay ransom for a single prisoner we took. Could it be that the Almighty has rewarded us for our faith and toil with income and wealth that the profligate Spaniard cannot match? Strike hard, my son, and we may yet prevail.

God bless the King,

Your father


http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/France1313.jpg

[Savegame file TheFrench 1313.rar uploaded 26 Jan]

[Revenant69]

Rev yells: Ahhh.... Ahhhh....People posting out of order...Ahhh....

*starts runnning around the room, wildly swinging his arms* then

*THUD* http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif
*falls to the ground unconciuos*

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

PS I better start reading the mass flow of writeups then LOL

PPS OH MY GOD, the yellow is everywhere....Thats obscene. I have never seen something like that.

I have sent a notification email to insolent1. After him we are out of kings. I guess it will give people enough time to finish up their posts and put them in the correct order etc.

[econ21]

Sorry, Revenant My excuse is that I have not posted my writeups yet - just notes on progress, written in character. I can cut and paste them to a later date, if need be.

Although to be honest, I do consider most write-ups to be like journalism - they have to be reasonably current or readers may lose interest.

PS: Yes, the yellow - you see why I said the Spanish were having a ball? I played by the rules for 25 years and the b******* did that. When I got a legitimate chance to hit back, I died the next year. C'est la vie. Or la mort, I suppose. As I said before, I think the next set of rules should allow players to act to maintain the balance of power.

[Revenant69]

OK, so the list of kings is as follows:

Revenant69 ---> King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi ---> King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3 ---> King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius ---> King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor ---> King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly ---> King Charles IV (1216 - 1258) The Patient

TC27 ---> King Henri II (1259 - 1286)

Simon Appleton ---> King Philippe IV (1287 - 1312) The Tardy

insolent1 ---> King Jean III (1313-???) Current King

The savegame can be downloaded from HERE (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/)


TC27, please let me know what you want your kings to be called. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif


Quote[/b] ]Sorry, Revenant My excuse is that I have not posted my writeups yet - just notes on progress, written in character. I can cut and paste them to a later date, if need be.

Although to be honest, I do consider most write-ups to be like journalism - they have to be reasonably current or readers may lose interest.
I agree, dont worry about the out of order thing, I was just making a joke anyway LOL. WE can always recut/paste it in the proper order. Besides there arent that many king left on the list .

Wow, I think after Insolent1 we will have about 100 years of gameplay left. So we need 3-4 kings to finish the game.

[econ21]

My King should be known as:

King Philippe IV (1287 - 1312) The Tardy

He slept while the Spanish Yellow Horde ravaged Europe, only acting on his deathbed.

But his somnolence was not entirely inexcusable - I can't resist this screenshot:


http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/FrenchFinns.jpg

[Revenant69]

Jesus Chirst, thats 18 (near) full stacks of troops. Thats obscene. I can see why you couldnt resist the screenshot LOL.

Oh, as a hint, shrinking the full screen pics to 80% - 85% of their size will save the detail and not distort the layout of the ORG.

Great writeups so far everyone. Hehe, I like Emperor's description of Philippe's madness LOL What can I say, every writeup was a pleasure to read. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif
Keep it coming.

[insolent1]

Ok save game downloaded, it dosen't look too bad but i have to see how our armies stand. Its coming up to a good period for france as theres loads of historical generals after 1321 & the spainish only get 2 http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I faced bigger hordes so it shouldn't be to hard just time consuming http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif
hhhmmm have to unmod my game http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

[Mount Suribachi]

I haven't read the latest posts by Simon & The Emperor, but I shall soon. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif

If we're out of Kings, how about inviting some of our French patrons to help us out? I'm thinking Fragony and el slapper, any others?

[The_Emperor]

Frontiers of Byzantium 1202AD

The march continued through Trebizond, the Crusade kept a steady pace on its advance towards Tripoli.

As the front of the crusade came over the hill. Sir Bernard de Brèzè looked out as a small squad of Byzantine Cavalry came towards them they looked tired and battle weary.

Sir Bernard de Brèzè moved forwards to greet the men.
In the name of King Philippe of france I greet you. We are travelling towards Tripoli on a vital quest for the lord.

The Byzantine Commander raised an eyebrow and answered.
Tripoli? If I were you I would forget about it. We have just come from the borders and it does not look good. The Sultan has pressed home his advantage against us, ever since he took on the Turks the Infidel armies have been gathering on our doorstep... A vast army waits for you in Rum you would not win against them

Sir Bernard de Brèzè refused to be disheartened,
Sir there has to be something we can do for we cannot turn back, we MUST go to Tripoli to reclaim it from the enemy and only death can stop us

The Byzantine commander smiled at Sir Bernard,
You speak with great conviction, very well. There is a possible route but it is not without danger. Ever since the collapse of the Turkish empire the Armenians were quick to grasp their chance for independance. The army there is smaller than the Sultan's force, but still equal to your own... It is a fools errand to continue onwards for Tripoli. We must move onwards to Constantinople but I wish you luck on your quest

The patrol moved on and Sir Bernard de Brèzè contemplated his words, Alright men we advance through Armenia, Move out

Across the valley on the border with Rum some trees stirred, the Muslim Cavalry watched as the long procession of frenchmen advanced towards the Armenian border...

[Mount Suribachi]

The Emperor I love your description of your mad king, great stuff

Simon Appleton superb writing, as ever. I await with baited breath the next installment. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif

[The_Emperor]

The Battle for Passage Armenia 1203AD

Sir Bernard de Brèzè advanced into Armenia, ahead of him in the distance the Rebel army was laid out before him in battle formation... He readied his own army, and heard faint voices on the wind as his men moved into battle formation. Be wary men, The Armenians may not be our only enemies here

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia.jpg
Imad ad Din, lead the Armenians. However an ambush force of Egyptians also lay in wait to harass the Crusade's advance... Led by the Sultan himself.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/sultan.jpghttp://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/imaddin.jpg
Egyptian Sultan Nasir I, and Armenian General Imad ad Din

The French army was lined in battle formation in the distance the Armenian army lay waiting and watching.

Suddenly it happened At the top of the hill on his left flank Muslim Horns blew and Egyptian troops rushed down towards the unprepared French soldiers.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia1.jpg

A unit of Militia bravely held up their advance while the lines were re-formed on the hill behind.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia2.jpg

The Brave Militiamen fell to the last man and the Egyptians led by their Sultan stood in the woods looking up at the French army gathered before them on the high ground.

The French troops laughed at the Gathered Egyptian force made up mostly of Peasant leavies, they mocked and taunted the Sultan daring him to come on.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia3.jpg

The sheer ferocity of the French taunting caught the Sultan completely by surprise. The lead French taunter mocked the Sultan... Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of eldarberries, now go away or we shall taunt you a second time
Humiliated beyond belief the Sultan turned his force and marched off to the border, his will to fight had broken down and couldn't take it, his pathetic force left Armenia with the jeers laughter and insults continuing behind him, Just walk away, just ignore them he told his men as they marched off.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia4.jpg

The French Crusade pressed on towards the Armenian enemy who were dumbfounded that the Sultan would leave the field after only succeeding in killing a handful on men, they prepared to defend their freedom.

The battle began with a charge as part of the Armenian army seeked to cover the withdrawl of the rest of their forces to the high Ground. As the infantry rushed forwards the French Cavalry rumbled around their right flank, Sir Bernard leading this charge

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia6.jpg

The French troops proved victorious despite losses and advanced to pursue their enemy back to the high ground

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia7.jpg

The advantage was pressed as the French Cavalry rode down their enemy archers and crashed into the side of a unit of Armenian Heavy Cavalry The Battle was getting desperate for the enemy, the Armenian Heavy Cavalry was decimated and fleeing troops were being ridden down.

With the loss of their best troops the Armenian leader Imad ad Din fled to the safety of his Fort with his rag-tag peasants.

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.net/french/armenia8.jpg

Behind him was a slaughter as his hapless infantry unable to escape were ridden down by the French Cavalry who by now had lost many men.

The Crusade had broken through but at a heavy cost in lives, Sir Bernard's force of 600 men was halved in the battle for passage to Syria.

Tired and broken they crossed into Syria... Expecting to lose any further battle.

[Duke John]

Hello,

I read that you are in need of some more kings to finish the reign. It would be my first PBM, but I would gladly try it out. I fully support this new approach of roleplaying your kingdom and I am anxious to make it fail horribly by being King John the Worst http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-party3.gif

Email me at REMOVETHISrobgraat@hotmail.com or send me a PM if you want me to take over the reign.

Cheers, Duke John

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Duke John @ Jan. 26 2004,15:19)]Hello,

I read that you are in need of some more kings to finish the reign. It would be my first PBM, but I would gladly try it out. I fully support this new approach of roleplaying your kingdom and I am anxious to make it fail horribly by being King John the Worst http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-party3.gif

Cheers, Duke John
Hehehe, you are more than welcome to participate Duke John I have added you to the list. Here...

Revenant69 ---> King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi ---> King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3 ---> King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius ---> King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor ---> King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly ---> King Charles IV (1216 - 1258) The Patient

TC27 ---> King Henri II (1259 - 1286)

Simon Appleton ---> King Philippe IV (1287 - 1312) The Tardy

insolent1 ---> King Jean III (1313-???) Current King

Duke John

[insolent1]

King Jean III has issued a warrant for the arrest of the last Admiral of France. Once he has been captured he is to be executed in the latest fashion.
He will be tied to an organ gun & then the king himself will light the fuse. So the former admiral will be but a mist over Paris http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Seriously though whoever built all those caravels should be organed
The land war is going according to plan with most of Spain blue, constantinople has been added aswell. The last pocket of resistence in Arabia has been crushed. The spainish royal line is very thin at the moment as i've killed 1 king & 3 princes so far. The new spainish king is 52 & theres no heirs left unless some come of age soon. The egyptians reappeared in rum & tunisia on second turn but they are about to be dealt with http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
The sea war is going badly. Caravels are useless against barques & thats what the spainish mostly have. But we now control the black sea, adriatic sea & eastern med & a fleet of 16 barques under the new Admiral of France has been dispatched to try & clear our coastlines.
I've spent all day at it & i've only gone seven years so it might be awhile before i'm finished.

[Duke John]

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-oops.gif Probably still an infant but this king is backing out. I downloaded yesterday the savegame of 1315 and I got kinda dizzy from what I saw. I looked for 15 minutes and still couldn't figure out how to reign France vs Spaniards. I think I will need to train a bit before controlling such a large empire, I would be dead in 15 turns.

Good luck to any king who tries it out

Cheers,
King John the infant http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/ht_charge.gif

[fruitfly]

Quote[/b] (insolent1 @ Jan. 27 2004,04:39)]Seriously though whoever built all those caravels should be organed
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-oops.gif

I built about 70% caravels and 30% barques during my reign (and I built lots and lots of ships) so that's probably my fault.

I figured caravels would be more useful due to their better range, attack and defence stats, but that's obviously not the case.

[Demon of Light]

One possible explanation (assuming insolent's post had no typos) is the valor of our captains. Ship captains are generated with valor dependent on the command of the king. As many of our kings have been decidedly less than stellar in this respect, it is possible that the Spaniards have been producing high valor barque captains that can beat our low valor caravel captains.

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Jan. 26 2004,22:08)]Very good write-ups, Emperor, especially the use of detail to give life to the story. The screenshots are a nice bonus too (I wish I could remember to take them ... I always get carried away in the battle http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-blush.gif). I'm eager for the next installment, hoping you can work some more zealous crack-brained wit into the proceedings.
Thanks a lot Simon I tried to make it funny and the actions of the Egyptians in the battle for Armenia was very funny (They just sat there for a few minutes and then left the map) I couldn't resist going into Monty Python Mode to try to explain it away http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif


Anyway after the victory of the Crusade my reign was very uneventful, apart from a little trip to Corsica to deal with some rebel scum.

I'll try to wrap up my final installment later on tonight.

[insolent1]

Sorry I didn't explain the situation clearly http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Caravels are good ships but they only have a speed of 1 compared to barques that have a speed of 3. It meant whenever I had a fleet of caravels(nearly all my fleets) & out numbered the spainish fleet in the same sea zone I could not attack the barque fleets as they would just move to a different seazone. Then they would come back with a bigger fleet & my fleet could not escape because they only had a speed of one. Most of the caravels are sunk & I started builing barques although I am happy with what one fleet of caravels has done. That lone fleet of 12 caravels has protected Frances northern coastline from invasion by constantly moving to seazones where the spainish have less ships but they still have been unable to sink any of the large barque fleets that are around our coasts because the barques just out run them.
I've never had a problem before dealing with huge AI fleets(bigger than these aswell) because I used mainly barques & was always able to assemble 16 ship fleets of them quickly & only dromons can outrun a barque. Its taken me about 6 years to assemble a fleet of 16 barques in the eastern med but it will take a long time before i've hunted down the last spainish ship as they are in conrtol of western med.
From what I know about seabattles speed is very important for the attacking ships in this game & caravels are the slowest available to catholic factions so they should really only be used in deep water till they can be replaced by either cogs or carracks.
In one year we lost 26 ships http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif
But as Simon said the spainish are broke although they might have some money now since a lot of their armies are dead.

[The_Emperor]

I have seen Barques waste many more powerful ships, ultimately naval battles are a gamble when we enter into them.

I have seen a lone wandering Barque could take out a whole stack of four of my ships before.

Naval Combat in MTW is seriously flawed (and always has been). The only way you can win is to out-produce your opponents and swamp the sea lanes.

Also never build higher level ships, they just arnt worth the investment

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Demon of Light @ Jan. 27 2004,06:39)]One possible explanation (assuming insolent's post had no typos) is the valor of our captains. Ship captains are generated with valor dependent on the command of the king.
REALLY??? Wow, I didnt know about it Hehehe, there is something you learn every day I guess. Thanks for the info Demon of Light.

Oh and Duke John do not worry about pulling out from the campaign, as Simon Appleton said it is better than you taking the game and dissapearing for months (effectively killing the campaign). Perhaps next time you will join in on the campaign that just started and so the kingom is much smaller and more manageable? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

I am glad that France got a warrior king at the precise moment when she needed a warrior king. Heehehe, once again I agree with Simon Appleton, hmmm is there anything I dont agree with him about? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif
*runs off to do a search on this perplexing question*

Well I must finish reading the writeups I guess...

Emperor, sometimes its hard to outproduce an opponnent LOL In my game as Welsh I *tried* to outproduce the Vikings Hahahaha. Can you believe my insolence??? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif Needless to say they have twice the number of ships and I am really not looking forward to pick afight with them.

[insolent1]

Quote[/b] (The_Emperor @ Jan. 27 2004,08:14)]I have seen Barques waste many more powerful ships, ultimately naval battles are a gamble when we enter into them.

I have seen a lone wandering Barque could take out a whole stack of four of my ships before.

Naval Combat in MTW is seriously flawed (and always has been). The only way you can win is to out-produce your opponents and swamp the sea lanes.

Also never build higher level ships, they just arnt worth the investment
Yeah I agree but I do use Carracks as soon as I can get them as they are fast & can travel full length of map in a few turns.

Btw nice story Emperor can't wait to hear what happens in syria. I have a general with the same name I think he might be from the crusading De Breze line http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

I would also appreciate it if someone could host some pictures for me as I don't have any webspace that I can link to the forum. There will be 10 or less & I will convert them & keep size down http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-help.gif

[Revenant69]

You can upload them to the ORG, gimme a second to get the link for you....

Upload of pics to the ORG (http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Uploaders/pimgupload.php)
You will have to wait for a day or two for the pics to be available, you can check if they are available HERE (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/)

(You would also have to put them in a zipped folder and names must have no spaces in them) Converting the files to jpg is a good idea, also for full screen pics shrink them to about 80-85% that way they wont disturb ORG's layout.

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[insolent1]

Thx Revenant69 & thx totalwar.org http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[The_Emperor]

The Road through Syria

It was a hard journey through the unforgiving country of Syria. Sand and dust was heavy in the air as the sun beat down on the handful of great Crusaders.

Many men fell in the battle for Armenia but Sir Bernard de Brèzè pressed on. His own unit of Teutonic Knights was decimated just like every other unit with him. Once there was 39 Teutonic Knights in his personal guard... Now there was just 3.

Disease and the beating sun killed off men that the Crusaders could scarcely avoid to lose, defeat it seemed would be waiting for them at the next corner.

Why don't they just attack grumbled one of his guards. The Bulk of the Egyptian army by now knows our strength, they could finish us off at will

Sir Bernard hated to admit it but he was just as uneasy, the infidel Sultan had not been seen since he fled from the battlefields in Armenia and he was expected to show up again with his band of peasant thugs.

The uneasy silence was broken by a cry from one of the Scouts. Smoke sighted Ahead Sire.

The Crusade drew closer to investigate through this dustbowl of a land, until finally seeing with their own eyes.

The City of Damascus was laid out before them like a jewel in the wilderness, many of the men were convinced that the heat was taking its toll on them and that the city was not real, but it was.

However with a second long hard look Sir Bernard turned to his troops. Damascus is burning, however we should avoid that place for it is a stronghold of the infidel, we will find no welcome there...

The Crusade moved on and passing over a large sand dune, as they climbed it a great sparkel was seen as the sun reflected in the distance off a mass of small shiny objects across the horizon.

It was a beautiful sight seeing the light dance like that across the land...

Sir Bernard de Brèzè raising his hand to shelter his eyes took a long hard second look, May god have mercy on our souls... he muttered.

A great host of men was heading their way

The Encounter
The opposing force was marching towards them at a great pace and were rapidly closing ground, dust was kicked up by their sudden movement obscuring any close examination of the content of the army...

The Weary frenchmen redied their arms and waited for the inevitable doom, the men continued their advance covered in dust until they stopped before the French lines in battle formation their colours hidden under layers of desert dust.

The commander of the opposing army rode out to meet with Sir Bernard and the two men met in the field.

Do not attempt to block our way to Tripoli infidel dog Sir Bernard de Brèzè exclaimed, you may have us outnumbered but we are used to such things. We are on a mission from God and this will be our day

The enemy commander looked down at his dusty armour and smiled without saying a word he forcefully brushed off the dust obscuring his colours to reveal a fierce yellow colour with a red castle in the middle.

Sir Bernard de Brèzè gasped ... the opposing commander was wearing the colours of Spain

M-my apologies Sir with the dust on your clothing we mistook you for infidels, what are you doing in this land?

The Spanish commander finally broke his long silence.
We have been fighting for many years now against the Infidels. We finally drove them out of Spain, but we could not stop there we chased them back across North Africa and pushed deeper and deeper across the Desert until finally Sacking Egypt itself, however even that great victory was not enough for we then turned north to Liberate the holy land from the grip of the infidel... And here we meet.

Sir Bernard de Brèzè pulled out a scroll, and handed it to the commander By the order of his holy father the Pope we have been tasked to take command of Tripoli for the good of Christendom, many have died in this undertaking.

The commander looked down the scroll, and it was indeed official the Pope had sanctioned it.
So this is why we encountered so little resistance along our advance, the infidels were gathering to block your route from the North...
You have came along a remarkable journey friend,
I shall escort you to Tripoli and you shall complete your quest, I am pleased to tell you that we captured it two days ago

The armies joined together and continued on their way, the generals leading the way... Brothers in arms against the infidels.

[The_Emperor]

End of the Madness 1215AD

Jean studied the scrolls from all over France he was not impressed.

Despite Sir Bernard de Brèzè's great victory in 1204, zeal was slipping among the populace.

The reason for this was well known. For in 1211AD a pathetic endeavor was dreamed up by a bunch of fanatical children

http://www.ralphwolf.clara.co.uk/french/ccrusade.jpg

The failings of the Children's crusade seriously undermined his efforts to manage the country. Farm income was drastically reduced because of the lack of children helping to tend the land, and to make matters worse many of their parents shunned the church for the fiasco... Turning away from God.

The seizure of Corsica the following year from the smugglers and bandits did much to improve the morale of the people, who needed a victory to prevent unrest King Philippe's continued absence from public life was having a major impact, with news of his ever-deepening madness being spread far and wide by the many former servants who had come and gone over the years... There were too many unfortunate incidents involving the help.

Philippe was truly an Unhinged loon, he recently became convinced that he had been made Pregnant by an Elephant by the will of 'THEM', his ramblings became more and more deranged.

France was in a state without her King and Jean had never asked for this duty but it was a burden he had to bear to see his country through these dark times int he hope of a more glorious future...

A fierce knock was heard at his door, Its the king come quickly...

In the King's chambers Prince Charles was at his father's bedside with a Priest. He looked up at Jean and smiled.

The Prince looked down at the father he didn't know, his forced separation from him during his youth was necessary to ensure his own mind would grow up strong...

I hate them all, those helpers I was but a boy when they took me from you and forced to live away from you. I needed you father but you were not there They took me from you and I resent them for it

Now you lie dead before me, a stranger to your only Son and I will never know what you were truly like before this madness engulfed you

Prince Charles kicked over a table next to him and the priest attempted to comfort him, but he turned his back...

Jean entered the room, What are you doing in here? You know your father's chambers are off-limits

Prince Charles lost his temper his irritable manner expressing itself in violence as he grabbed Jean by the throat.
For too long have you held sway over me and usurped the power of my father when he was at his most helpless... I am not a little boy anymore and you have neither the power or authority to stop me little man

Jean struggled to breathe in the vice-like grip of Charles' grasp. You Priest leave at once

The Priest bowed his head and left... A worried look on his face.

At last the two men were alone,

My Father is dead, you have no authority to operate on his behalf anymore I know of your little schemes, How you stole his power from him and caged him up like a wild animal, destroying his fragile mind when he was at his most vulnerable, and left him cut-off from the nation he loved

He could have been helped instead you made him worse

His grip tightened choking Jean who squealed the words I did it all for France

Now you do one more thing for France... Charles retorted.
And Pulling a Dagger from behind his back Charles stabbed Jean squarely in the Chest...

Charles' killer instinct was demonstrated first hand. Looking down with contempt at the crumpled body of Jean Charles left the room, minutes later cries of 'LONG LIVE KING CHARLES IV' echoed through the castle.

[econ21]

Excellent end-pieces for your write-ups, Emperor. The twists were surprising and, with the last installment, a little shocking.

I guess chronologically it should be fruitfly's write-up that comes next and then TC27.

BTW, I am surprised about the barques vs caravels experience, Insolent1. I may do some experiments to check it, as it seems counter-intuitive. I can understand that speed allows you a greater chance to engage an enemy fleet, but not that it influences the outcome of encounters that do happen. In the year of sea-fighting I did, I won most encounters I thought I should have done but got awfully cut up trying to flee seas where I was outnumbered (the AI seems to get a free shot at fleets exiting a sea). But you are probably more experienced in such matters than me.

On a side note, I just read the Brady Games official strategy guide section on naval combat and it says that where you are outnumbered in a sea, it can pay to split your fleets into single ships, so the AI has to take many turns catching them all (by which time you may be able to reinforce them). Wish I had recalled that earlier.

It also mentions one tip I did follow, which is that when fighting smaller fleets it pays to split up your larger fleets into smaller ones with separate attacks in order to have more chances to catch the enemy. However, I know that hunting lone pirates is not exactly France's situation at the moment, unfortunately.

PS: I love the new spellchecker here

[insolent1]

Save game uploaded King Jean the chinless whore monger III
has died at the age of 55.....Long live King Louis VII

Full write up to follow shortly won't be many battle reports as there was to many to go into much detail.
New king is rank 4 & has been in 3 battles & took many heads but has not gained any command. His vices are Killer Instinct & crack-brained so he is of the real line http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif )

[insolent1]

I'll do a quick summary of my regin.

1313 - we where loosing 7,000 florins a year & big loyalty problems throughout southern kingdom.

1314 - Egyptians faction reappearance in Rum & Tunisia.

1315 - Spainish try to lift seige in Tyrolia(1st spainish prince killed) & launch an attack against Palestine. All other seiges where completed successfully along with Crusade to Castille. Victorious everywhere but at sea. We retreat in Rum & await the assault.

1316 - Spainish burn one of their top generals in Croatia http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif France invades Arabia & wins & lays seige to castle
France assaults Tyrolia Castle & wins
A magnificent crusade is launched to Valencia with the pope's full support. Rum is assaulted & I make an error which costs us the province http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

1317 - Invasion of Cordoba & we assault successfully in Arabia

1318 - Spainish invade Nicea but run at the sight of our banners. The Spainish also launch an attack against the Pape in Venice & lay seige to Venice castle.

1319 - We attempt to lift seige in Venice but are attacked in Tyrolia so we fall on the defensive. We win & the 2nd spainish prince is dead. France invades Constantinople & the Spainish retreat to castle.

1320 - Lancelot Marcel lead the defence of Constantinople against a Spainish horde numbering 5000+ who where trying to lift the seige. Spainish King killed by one of our halbardier units & 3rd Spainish prince killed. Lancelot Marcel has changed his name to Lancelot the butcher of Constantinople. France lifts seige in Venice with the aid of a smallforce of papal guards. An attack is also launched into Bavaria where the excommunicated spainish are tryin to prepare a crusade.

1321 - The new spainish king dies of illness without heirs at age 52. Great rejoicing in all of the kingdom & great work begun. The HRE have rememerged on most of our european borders.

1322 - France is now connected our ships are everywhere we have full control of the Seas. Crusade launched to Tunisia. France invades Portugal.

1323 - HRE invade Flanders, Lorraine & Tyrolia. They retreat in 2 & get slaughtered in other one. Crusade attacks Tunisia & an attack is launched into Rum. The seige in Portugal is brought to an end.

It gets kinda boring after this. I mainly consolidated our position & began disbanding & training new units. Spainish remerged & have most of their provinces back & are at war with the HRE. At last look the Kingdom of France looked in very good condition.

[econ21]

Insolent1, congratulations - I think you have played brilliantly I am most impressed that you managed to destroy the Spanish royal line - I guess your admiral was pleased

I understand that there were too many battles to report in detail, but I would be interested in how you took Arabia. That looked a tough nut to me (I was afraid the Spanish there were going to rip through the Middle East). Oh, and Lancelot's battle against the Yellow Horde would be interesting too

Do we need a new player to be King? Unless Duke John wants to reconsider - now the war with the Spanish is over, I guess he could play a quicker building game. Presumably we are way ahead on GA points?

[insolent1]

Thx Simon, I have a few notes from those battles & screenies so i'll give some details on those 2 battles since they where probably the most important of my reign. The Arbian pocket was one tough nut but they where all heavily armoured & I was able to exploit that.
I also forgot to say on a note for the next king that I created a large desert army which is based in Syria, Arabia & Sinai just in case of furture conflict in desert.

The kingdom is much easiar to manage now, so Duke John might want to try it now. With the end of the spainish royal line they lost all their GA points, France had 156ish & closest was Sciliy with 51, don't know how they have that kinda score just for holdin malta http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

I had 3 weird moments in my reign.
1. Battle of Constaninople 2 units would not fully withdraw from battle & was forced to fight with 14 units for most of battle.
2. When we crusaded to Tunisia we killed the Egyptian King but could not attack the castle. The crusade in fact appeared to be passing through the province & teh castle that was supposed to be beseiged was not under seige. I dispatched another army to make sure that we would get it next year. the next year the rebels surrendered teh province without a fight....kinda weird
3. Lord Du Lac our Urban militia 6 star general from the start of the campaign had the vice not so bold. I retrained him +3 defence +2 attack & used him in a few battles & he appears to have lost the vice...never seen this before http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[Revenant69]

insolent1 congrats on a great reign. France needed a king like you http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif I havent looked at the savegame yet (I am about to), but from what Ive read I think you dealt with every problem France had. Tell me what you want your king to be called http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

It may take a while to get new recruits for this campaign so I suggest that all participants use this time to finish their writeups and reorganize them in correct order. I know I am asking a lot LOL

Emperor I really liked the ending to your writeup, very stylish and it caught me by surprise. Great job http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif


Quote[/b] ]New king is rank 4 & has been in 3 battles & took many heads but has not gained any command. His vices are Killer Instinct & crack-brained so he is of the real line )
LOL http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif I think our French royal line probably resembles history quite closely LOL
................................................
Well this is the list of kings that ruled France so far...

Revenant69 ---> King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi ---> King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3 ---> King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius ---> King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor ---> King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly ---> King Charles IV (1216 - 1258) The Patient

TC27 ---> King Henri II (1259 - 1286)

Simon Appleton ---> King Philippe IV (1287 - 1312) The Tardy

insolent1 ---> King Jean III (1313-1342) The chinless whore monger
........................................................
France needs a new king http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-help.gif
I'll PM Duke John to see if he changed his mind.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] ]I had 3 weird moments in my reign.
1. Battle of Constaninople 2 units would not fully withdraw from battle & was forced to fight with 14 units for most of battle.

Most likely those units got stuck on trees and couldnt withdraw - a very annoying bug. There IS a way around it. Once you notice that some units cannot withdraw tell them to halt, press Backspace key. They will then move from the red area into yellow area. Now, being able to control them, you can tell them to march to the edge of the map that doesnt have a forest near it, once there you can tell them to withdraw from battle. Very annoying to say the least but manageable.


Quote[/b] ]2. When we crusaded to Tunisia we killed the Egyptian King but could not attack the castle. The crusade in fact appeared to be passing through the province & teh castle that was supposed to be beseiged was not under seige. I dispatched another army to make sure that we would get it next year. the next year the rebels surrendered teh province without a fight....kinda weird

You mean the rebels just abandoned the province? or they surrendered the castle without a fight (not likely)? I forget if the crusade should be able to lay sieges midway to their objective or not. Can someone please clarify?


Quote[/b] ]3. Lord Du Lac our Urban militia 6 star general from the start of the campaign had the vice not so bold. I retrained him +3 defence +2 attack & used him in a few battles & he appears to have lost the vice...never seen this before
Hmm weird, Ill have to see it for myself *goes to check the savegame*

[fruitfly]

History is an art rather than a science and as such opinions differ as time distances us from events and fresh reliable evidence becomes harder to come by. Editorial bias is also an issue, and whilst the following account provides a good summary of the key events in the reign of Charles IV the author has failed to address several key points. Most notably, these include the nature of Charles’ upbringing, and the persistent rumours regarding the influence (if any) of his closest advisors and the scandalous events surrounding the death of his father. One can only speculate as to the reasons for this, but suffice to say there was a darker side to Charles’ character barely touched on in the following passages. Rather, what follows appears to be a more sanitized version of events.


Patience is its Own Reward - Forty-Two Years of Stability as the Fires of War Burned Brightly: The Reign of Charles IV
by Francois Cheveaux, professor of History at Reims University

http://www.dystopia.ws/random/frenchpbm/charlesiv.jpg

It comes as no surprise that the reign of one of the youngest monarchs ever to take the French throne should also be one of the longest on record. Rather, what makes the era in which the banners of Charles IV flew over the land so remarkable is the relative peace and prosperity in which France flourished whilst the European continent was ravaged by war from the frozen wastelands of the north, across the Steppes and down into Outremer itself. This is due, in no small part, to the legacy of his father king Philippe III.

”The Mad Monarch”, who earned his monicker for very regrettable, yet inescapable reasons will always be remembered for the darker sides to his character, yet ironically it was his resulting inability to govern the nation effectively in the latter years of his reign which directly ensured the relative success of his only son, Charles. With Philippe in decline, major political and administrative duties had fallen to senior noblemen Lord de Baillieul (Duke of Ile de France and Grand Chamberlain) and Lord de Marigny (Duke of Normandy). This was of great benefit to the French kingdom for three main reasons. Firstly, it minimized the damage that Philippe could inflict on both the image of his house and the economy of the nation; secondly, it left the majority of the affairs of state in the hands of two men whose own actions, rather than those of their ancestors, had shown them to be up to the task; and finally, because after his father passed away these two key generals were able to continue to guide and support the young Charles, barely more than a boy at the time he took the throne, in the formative years of his reign.

In 1216, France was a kingdom divided. The French homeland was secure, surrounded on all sides by nations superficially pledging alliance, but the armies on her borders were numerous and unlikely to sit idle for long. France also held two further territories, the western Mediterranean island of Corsica and the state of Tripoli in Outremer, so recently claimed by a valiant crusading army. It was to Tripoli that Lord de Baillieul first directed the attention of the new king, for word had it that Sir Bernard de Breze, commander of the French forces there, was getting ideas above his station and highly likely to reject the rule of France knowing full-well that Charles would be powerless to act if he did so. de Breze, however, was a man with a certain amount of honour and his betrothal to princess Constance was sufficient to buy his loyalty. With that matter taken care of, Charles set about seeking a bride for himself, eager to secure his line for the good of the nation.

These were, however, turbulent times across the continent and over the next couple of years first Egypt and then Italy were crushed, the two major superpowers in the region Spain and Byzantium being responsible for their demise. It appears that the Byzantine advance into Naples, which resulted in the Italian Doge being captured and executed, had a profound effect on Charles, the eradication of one of France's closest neighbours instilling such a fear in him over his lineage that the following year at the age of 23 he took the hand of Isabelle, daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, a princess from one of the preeminent houses of Europe not being forthcoming. The marriage was to prove a fruitful one, Isabelle bearing Charles six heirs during the course of his reign (although doubts would always linger over the true parentage of fourth son Prince Louis).

It is highly likely that had France been plunged into war whilst Charles was still young and coming to terms with the responsibilty of leading a nation that things would have gone badly over the following years. However, the Spanish and Byzantine war machines ground inexorably on apparently viewing the threat posed by France as sufficiently small to not merit their attention and keeping the other neighbouring kingdoms too busy with repeated raids to pose much of a threat to France in turn. This paved the way for Charles to instigate the two major achievements of his reign: a dramatic improvement of the infrastructure throughout the kingdom and the completion of the majestic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a project dreamed of by his forefathers and eventually realised during Charles' reign.

The early years of Charles' reign weren't without hardship as Normandy was ravaged by a smallpox epidemic and Ile de France by a widespread outbreak of cholera. The latter was particularly worrying as it raised fears that work on Notre Dame would be disrupted due to a number of the highly skilled artisans succumbing to the illness, but fortunately such concerns proved unfounded. This widespread loss of life in the Parisian region did however prompt some to observe that Charles was fortunate to be away from the city at the time. In fact, the king was cutting his teeth on the battlefield.

Following a period of hightened tensions across the Mediterranean basin, war eventually, some would say inevitably, broke out between the Spanish and Byzantines in the spring of 1227. The exact circumstances for this remain unclear as very few documents from those sources survive to this day, but it seems logical to conclude that the financial burden placed on the two nations by supporting such large armies and navies in peacetime simply meant that war between them was the only logical conclusion to the overwhelmingly costly stalemate that had been developing over the previous few years.

The Spanish had gained a foothold on mainland Europe with the capture of Milan a few years earlier and using this as a staging post they launched a raid into Byzantine-held Provence. This was a move that roused the French military machine from its slumber, for the French crown held a legitimate claim on the Provencal area. The Byzantine garrison had managed to repel the initial Spanish assult, but had taken heavy casualties in doing so and spies reported it unlikely to survive another direct attack. On hearing this news, Charles didn't hesitate. The time had come to strike and taking advantage of the confusion brought about by Spanish and Byzantine fleets clashing across the seas, making supplies and chain of command for both sides somewhat unreliable, every able-bodied man in France was summoned to march on Provence and secure this valuable addition to the French homeland.

As anticipated, the Spanish allies mounted a larger attack in 1229 and in the face of a combined Catholic force of close to 5,000 men the Byzantines abandoned the province without a fight. By the terms of his alliance with the Spanish king, the army with the larger force would gain control of the newly conquered territory and so it was that France expanded her borders eastward towards the Italian peninsula. Although war had now broken out between France and Byzantium, the reality was that hostilities between the two countries never really escalated. Between them the Spanish and French navies totally destroyed all the Byzantine fleets within three years of war breaking out and from that point onwards they were so busy fending off repeated attacks from the Spanish that they were never able to mount an effective counterattack against the French aggressors. Charles was to exploit this to his advantage by sending in a force to seize the isolated island of Cyprus a few years later in 1236.

By the time that Cyprus had been annexed and added to the French crusader kingdom, the Byzantines were seriously in decline. Their navy decimated, they were unable to coordinate their forces with sufficient speed to counter the repeated attacks by the Spanish, and the Mongol invasion of 1230 saw their previously safe Steppe territories suddenly wrestled off them by this potent new aggressor from the east. Charles wasted no time in seeking and gaining an alliance with the pagan invaders, believing that whilst they remained safely away from French borders any damage they did to the other eastern powers could only benefit his kingdom in the long term. Indeed, such was the success enjoyed by the Golden Horde that within a few years of their emergence into Europe, both the Turks and the People of Novgorod had been eradicated by their swords and arrows.

With his family line secure following the marriages of eldest son Henri to princess Maria of Germany and second in line to the throne Philippe to princess Ryska of Poland, it seems that Philippe finally succumbed to his base instincts and the family trait for taking pleasure in the untimely deaths of others started to dominate his waking hours. Throughout his reign, there had been a series of unexplained deaths at the royal palace and with funds from the crown being directly channeled into the training and recruitment of deadly assassins France became an increasingly dangerous place for foreigners to travel. Maria's younger sister was the most prominent visitor to catch her death on a journey to Paris. Although nothing could be proven, this soured previously good relations between France and Germany and with the death of his wife Isabelle's father in 1248, Charles claimed Burgundy for France and invaded the Germanic duchy.

By this point, the French army was rapidly increasing both in size and professionalism, but there was nevertheless a significant amount of luck in the timing of Charles' decision to attack. Burgundy had been defended by a relatively large force, but the majority of the German troops had launched an assult on Spanish-held Milan leaving the territory only lightly garrisoned. The French army crossing the mountains from Provence was easily able to lay siege to the castle there and take it the following year with minimal casualties. This year, 1249, marked the pinnacle of Charles' reign as it also saw the timely completion of Notre Dame cathedral resulting in widespread rejoicing throughout the whole of France at this glorious achievement.

http://www.dystopia.ws/random/frenchpbm/notredame.jpg

France may have been nominally at war with both German and Byzantine emperors, but to all intents and purposes she was a nation at peace although the same was not true everywhere. If reports are to be believed, the Spanish-held province of Anatolia in Asia Minor saw one of the most extraordinary sequences of events in recent years. Having escaped capture and execution at the hands of the Mongols, an heir to the Turkish throne managed to muster together some loyal supporters and engineer a rebellion there, chasing the Spanish forces back to the safety of their castle. As he prepared to lay siege, however, an even larger groundswell of popular opinion welled up under a new pretender to the Egyptian crown and the Turkish forces were summarily crushed in battle the following year, their leader executed in the process.

As old age crept up on him and the 1250s progressed, it finally seemed that Charles might get a chance to become involved in the conflict he'd spent the whole of his reign patiently preparing for. More and more factions had started to campaign against the Spanish and whilst even collectively they didn't stand any chance of success in the face of such military might, cracks did start to show under the strain as a series of peasant revolts were reported to have broken out across the Spanish empire during 1255. Following a true winter of discontent, in which wayward nobles rushed to grab lands for themselves whilst their King was blockaded in Mercia by English and Danish fleets, Spain erupted into full-blown civil war in 1256 and with Leon and Syria both falling to the rebels, Charles wasted no time in ordering their invasion.

Prince Louis had no trouble overrunning the few rebels defending Leon from the much larger invading force of French soldiers and their Spanish allies, whilst life in Syria proved slightly tougher for Sir Pierre D'Artois, commander of French troops in Outremer. In fact, the battle in Syria turned out to be the only significant conflict in the 42 years that Charles was on the throne. It had been a hastily arranged invasion, with much of the force originally trained and equipped for warfare in mainland Europe and thus unsuited to combat conditions in the desert. Despite the fact that they were the invaders, D'Artois found his troops a solid position atop a hill from which to survey the battlefield and was almost caught unawares by the attacking move from the rebel Spaniards. Battle erupted in four main zones just down from the crest of the hill, both sides taking heavy losses until some French swordsmen managed to break through the rebel centre, allowing men at arms and cavalry to pour through the gap and rout the engaged enemy units by hitting them in the flanks and rear. With his men fleeing around him, rebel general Don Antonio Gonzalo fell to the mounted sergeants of Sir Charles Richlieu, signaling the end of the battle and victory for the French troops. He didn't get long to enjoy his freedom from the Spanish crown.

http://www.dystopia.ws/random/frenchpbm/syria.jpg

Charles viewed victory in Syria as key, since it effectively chopped the Spanish empire in half, French territories standing between the yellow seas on both sides, whilst the move into Leon had been a more opportunistic one and a chance for French borders to advance further into Iberia. Plans were at an advanced stage for French forces to make further inroads into rebel territories and to take yet more lands from the Spanish (whilst conveniently remaining allied with them) in the following years, but alas, for Charles, it was not to be. A few months shy of his 60th birthday, he succumbed to an illness and passed away to be succeeded to the throne by his 36-year old son and heir Henri II. After spending the long years of his reign meticulously building up the French infrastructure, military and developing the merchant fleet he'd inherited into a naval force to be proud of, Charles died ultimately frustrated that his long reign had only yielded one significant conflict, one that he'd personally been distanced from by over 2,000 miles. French troops were only pressed into battle on five occasions throughout his forty-two year reign and his patient planning would prove to be his legacy, rather than the military achievements of which he dreamed.

[fruitfly]

Wow, it looks like insolent1 did an absolutely superb job of dealing with the Spanish threat and defending the true faith from those excommunicated infidels.

As long as we hold onto our homelands from now on, it looks like our GA points lead is unassailable.

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[econ21]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Philippe1287.jpg

King Philippe and the Kingdom on his accession to power

1287 Paris

King Philippe IV slammed the table in frustration.

“Let me get this right. We are at war with Byzantium and Egypt. The Papacy is our only ally, but is under-siege by the unholy Spaniards. Our craftsmen have not mastered the simple art of building catapults and my feudal estates can send us no knights to battle. No foreign power will marry into my house to give me an heir. And even if by some miracle they would be agreeable, we have no emissaries to arrange the matter.”

“Errr… yes, your majesty… that would appear to be the size of it…” one of the more feckless courtiers stammered, before shrinking under Philippe’s blazing stare.

“Muster crusades to seize Castille and Cordoba from the accursed Spaniards” Philippe barked.

“Of course, my Lord, although it will take some time to make the necessary preparations.”

“How much time?” Philippe demanded, eyes narrowing.

“Errr… four years your majesty.”

The palace echoed to the screams of the enraged new King


http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Deadpope.jpg

As the Papacy is eliminated…


http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Spain1289.jpg

…the spectre of Spain begins to loom over Europe



1300, Lesser Armenia

“What am I doing here?” Philippe wondered, as he strode off the boat, onto the beach. “Lesser Armenia… a few years ago, I would not even know this place existed and yet here I am, entering at the head of an invading army”

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/lesserArmenia1300.jpg

At the age of 55, King Philippe IV gets his first taste of battle.

The decade following his coronation had been an uneventful one for France. There had been two expeditions to subjugate peripheral rebel areas – Syria in 1288 and Livonia in 1293. But otherwise, these had been fat years for France, with the treasury rising each year as Philippe entered into alliance with Spain and even accepted a ceasefire from Byzantium. But those years had not been comfortable for Philippe, as he watched the Spanish extend their domination over Europe. On his ascension to power, Philippe could argue that France was a close rival to Spain in power. But whereas he had restrained French expansion to a few rebel areas, the Spanish followed up their elimination of the Papacy by destroying first the Poles, then the Holy Roman Empire and finally, in 1288, the Byzantine Empire itself. Only the Golden Horde remained a significant force and that was also quickly succumbing to Spanish aggression.

The fall of the Byzantium came swifter than expected with the capture and execution of its Emperor. As a result, its provinces in Asia Minor remained unmolested by the Spaniards. Consequently, Philippe promptly ordered pre-emptive sea-born expeditions to these now rebellious provinces – Georgia, Armenia, Trebizond and Nicaea. By this swift response, Spanish penetration in the Middle East was averted. But this expansion made intolerable the continued presence of the hostile Egyptian kingdom, nestled like a viper within the bosom of French Levant. The war with Egypt had long been a shadow war, now real blood was about to be spilt.

“Remind me what I am doing here, again.” Philippe sneered at a courtier.

“Your majesty thought it would set a good example to his young sons to lead our forces into battle.”

Philippe snorted. He was taking a big risk travelling so far from his homelands, with Spanish warships patrolling every sea. Although a vicious man with a murderous streak, he was not a natural soldier nor was he so vain as to imagine that his presence on the battlefield would be an asset to his armies. Still, he was here now, with 900 men, and on the slopes before him, the Egyptian Sultan waited to welcome him with a third as many again.

“Swing the army round to the right so we can also mount the slopes.” Philippe commanded to his knights.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/la1.jpg

Covered by fire from their arbalesters, the French begin to envelope the Egyptian left flank.

As Philippe’s horse mounted the gentle rise, he saw the Egyptian army begin to stir. White liveried Saracen infantry started to advance towards Philippe’s forces that were threatening the Egyptian left. They were followed by a greater threat, a company of heavy cavalry from Armenia, brown horses trotting forward and then lances lowered as they charged into the vanguard of Philippe’s army.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/la2.jpg

The Egyptians attempt to drive the advancing French off the slopes.

Philippe watched the battle hang in the balance. The right arm of his army was now engaged and Egyptian forces were rushing towards his centre, still at the bottom of the slope.

“Damn it” the king cursed. “Must I do everything myself” Lowering his visor, he raised his lance forward as a signal to his bodyguard. Slowly, the powerful Norman horses began to canter towards the Saracens and Armenians.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/la3.jpg

Philippe spurs on his bodyguard and rides into the crucible of the battle.

Philippe found himself in a chaotic melee, as foot and horse of both sides struggled for superiority. Gradually, the weight of French armour began to tell and Philippe broke through the Egyptian line. He lifted his visor, rallying his escort around him. Then he saw, racing towards him, a troop of heavily armoured Saracen horse bearing the personal banner of the Sultan himself.

“Forward” Philippe screamed and spurred his horse on to meet the charge of the Ghulam bodyguards.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/la4.jpg

King Philippe IV receives the charge of Sultan Al Adil II…

The combat was brutal, the elite of both army showing their lethal proficiency with lance and sword. No quarter was given and one by one, the knights accompanying Philippe began to fall. Soon he was within striking distance of the formidable Sultan himself. Philippe cut with his longsword – the Sultan blocked the blow with his round shield, and slashed back with his scimitar. Locked in a deadly struggle, the two monarchs hacked at each other until, after what seemed like an age, first Chivalric sergeants and then Feudal Knights rushed to relieve Philippe.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/la5.jpg

Little remains of either ruler’s escorts, as the two leaders trade blows.

Seeing the battle was won, Philippe withdrew to safety. That night, as they tallied the dead, he found he had lost more than half his original force. Nonetheless, his reputation for command began to rise.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/rank.jpg

“Something to tell the grandchildren, don’t you think?” Philippe laughed happily to his courtiers.

The year ended on a positive note, with the re-emergence of the Pope in Spanish-occupied Italy along with an armed host of the faithful. Perhaps the Spanish could be stopped, even at this late stage?

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Popeback1300.jpg



Milan, 1312

Philippe lay calmly in his bed in the Italian castle, watching the physicians bustle nervously around the room. There was nothing they could do, but fear of incurring Philippe’s wrath spurred them to ever more outlandish schemes which the dying king regarded with detached amusement.

He turned away and stared at the wall. At last, it had come, the inevitable confrontation with Spain. It had taken a decade of warfare with the Papacy, but the pontiff had finally excommunicated the Spanish and allowed Philippe to enter the war.

Before that, in the ten years of waiting, the French had wiped out the Egyptians.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/DeadEgypt.jpg

and secured the whole of Asia Minor through their crusades.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Crusade1302.jpg

But although these conquests denied land to the voracious Spanish Empire, they could be of little value in the coming conflagration. Lacking a safe overland route to Paris, once war began, the break down of communications meant that the most that could be hoped for was that these lands stayed loyal and remained defensible. Word had reached Philippe from his outpost in Livonia that the Spanish forces marauding in the Steppes had reached unimaginable proportions, outnumbering even the Gold Horde in its prime.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Yikes1305.jpg

Philippe knew that such armies would be devastating if sea-lifted into Italy against the Papacy and ultimately against France. Hence, when excommunication finally provided a casus belli with the heretical Spanish, Philippe seized it without hesitation – despite his advanced years and lack of advanced planning for war. Quietly, the hopelessly isolated garrison in Livonia was withdrawn and shipped to Palestine, to oppose the powerful Spanish enclave in Arabia.

Then Philippe launched a crusade from Aragon against the Spanish provence of Castile and reinforced the holy warriors with the garrisons of Leon and Navarre. Simultaneously, armies along the eastern frontier had marched into the Spanish possessions of Swabia, Tyrol, Milan, Genoa and Sardinia while French forces in Algeria and Cyrenacia launched a two-pronged invasion of Spanish held Tunisia.

The seas had turned red and French fleets in seventeen seas had launched pre-emptive strikes on Spanish shipping. Although many Spanish ships evaded combat, most of these strikes went as expected and were victories for the French. However, in the other seas where the French had lacked the might to challenge the Spanish, casualties were high as the Spanish sunk many vessels seeking to slip unnoticed into safer waters. By the end of the year, 32 Spanish ships lay rotting at the bottom of the oceans alongside 37 French ones.

The land war proved less bloody with the Spanish being surprised by the French attacks and withdrawing to their castles everywhere except Tyrolia, Swabia and Tunisia. Those three battles had been largely unremarkable, the only observation the aged King recalling from the reports being the explosion of a new fangled Spanish weapon in the sands of Tunisia.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Tunisia2.jpg

I would like to have seen that, chuckled the tired King. He seized some parchment and hurriedly composed a last letter to his eldest son, Jean. Where Jean would now take the kingdom, Philippe could not say but something in the determined manner of the insolent boy gave him faith that the struggle would not be in vain.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.appleton1/Jean.jpg

[The_Emperor]

Excellent writup fruitfly, truly marvelous

It looked just like something out of the annals of history (I especially liked the dislaimer at the beginning about rumors of his darker side and lack of knowledge about his childhood).

45 great years summed up well.

My reign was so relatively uneventful that I chose to create a rather in-depth verson of events for my write up.

After all 15 years is not long in MTW.
Still a great sense of continuity

[insolent1]

The first few years of King Jean III (pics to follow shortly)


So how does it look churgeon?

Sire from a distance you almost look normal I think this a marvel considering your state before

Thank you churgeon now show me the looking glass

but sire all the looking glasses in the palace where smashed on your orders when you first took over

I was crowned in February 1313, a month after my fathers death he never did explain the sinister details of my conception, but i have had to live with the consequences of it
I spent the first year of my Rein growing a beard & visits to parts of the kingdom. I traveled to Spain to witness my fathers crusade besieging Toledo castle. It was a magnificent sight if it where not for the news of the Spanish on the borders.

The trip to the Levant was rather troublesome the population of the land did not believe in us once the war with the Spanish had begun & now with a new king they where even more volatile. So I spent much time talking & learning & trying to improve the situation. We had some large armies around the area which kept some of the provinces in check. I have dispatched spies to the area to try to ensure more loyalty in the region.
During my tour I noticed a lot of unhappy men in our provinces so I have decided to build brothels in as many places as possible & try to create a greater web of subterfuge to help improve loyalty as they will be cheaper than big armies but require more administration. While I was in Syria I learned of the skilled assassins of the area & have begun enlisting their help.
The sieges in Geno, Milan, swabia, tyrolia where going well, our army besieging Tunisia was having trouble with the local population. but I was very unhappy to see that we had very few engineers at the sieges. Infact our kingdom had a big lack of siege engineers & mercenaries where hard to come by & expensive. The situation would have to be rectified quickly as with the war with the Spanish heretics we will be in need of the engineers skills & machines. I was also unhappy to see that we had only two foundries 1 Bordeaux & 1 in rum. I will commission the building of a master foundry in Flanders & more elsewhere as we need to embrace this mighty weapon. I have even found a side use for the organ guns, they make great executioners if someone was to be tied to the barrel.
Our armies throughout our lands consisted mostly of spearmen with sprinklings of other types, I always preferred the halberd in combat & have commissioned the training of many units of them. I would have preferred to have had them using Spanish steal but work is under way for that.More arbalests are been trained some without armour for the desert & more light calvary.
The war at Sea is not going well we have lost a great deal of our once mighty fleets. Instead of been on the offensive we have be forced to run short blockades of different areas to hurt the Spanish & to protect our coastline. But in the Eastern Mediterranean we have had more success & our black sea fleet was victorious. I have appointed Jaques De Coligny as the Admiral of France he is a capable commander who has won many sea battles & he is rank four.
My father & grandfather where shrewd men & had amassed a great fortune for our Kingdom in its time of need. Our economy had suffered with the war as merchants & their ships & trouble bringing the goods to port. Our farmlands are rich and provide a fortune in itself but war is expensive so we must tighten our belts.
Our spies who wear priest guises have reported of great revolts in some of the Spanish lands. In Scotland a great leader William Wallays has led a revolt & has seized the province from the heretics. Our blockades prevent the Spanish from attacking him & I have sent a letter of goodwill from the french king.
In Algeria & rum there was a report of Muslims rising against us in support of a new Egyptian leader & our army in Rum was besieged. The fortifications where strong so they will hold out till help can be sent.

The date 13/10/1315

The Spanish attacked into Tyrolia but the army besieging Tyrolia Castle under the command of Lord D'Artois was sent to deal with them. It was a resounding victory with Prince Ferdinand killed by a barrage of bolts from a unit of our arbalasters. His head has been sent to his father with some fine French wine.
A report arrived in September detailing an assault on the castle in Rum.

Louis De Vesc was the name of the spy that the report had come from he appeared to be posing as a priest.

On 5/6/1315 after saying morning mass for the small catholic congregation in the besieged Rum castle. There was a great smashing sound, the castle watch tower bells began to ring & the garrison took up positions on the ramparts. It appeared that the Egyptians where attempting to end the siege before help could arrive. Jean De Couer was in charge of the castles defenses & on seeing the enemy amassed outside rushed to defend the outer section of the castle. In his impetuous state he did not call a retreat to the inner section of the castle when the Egyptians breached the outer wall. In the end many Egyptians had died but they did not stop coming & eventually the foolish but gallant De Couer fell to a swarm of Egyptian archers the garrison fell soon afterwords.

Lord De Breze was in charge of our garrison in Jerusalem when a large Spanish army invaded from the sands of Arabia, they where very well lead by Lord Gustics a man renowned for his attacking abilities almost as capable as our very own Lord du Lac. Lord De Breze sent out some of his converted Muslim forces to determine the enemies strength & any weakness's. They returned with news that a lot of the Spanish troops where very well armoured. They where also able to hary the large Spanish army on its flanks & i'm sure caused no end of discomfort to the army. The following is a summary from De Breze's report to the king

My King,

It gives me great pleasure to announce an astounding victory against the mighty Spanish army from Arabia. I am also able to inform you of the death of the Spanish heretic Gustics. When our Muslim light Cavalry returned to Jerusalem, I held counsel with their Leader Selim Akbar. We decided to conduct the defense of Jerusalem as far away from the city as possible as the lands around Jerusalem are fair compared to the barren outlands. Akbar suggested that his light cavalry detachment would act as skirmishers on the flanks of the heretics & after seen how these light cavalry ply their trade in the heat first hand I left it in Akbars very capable hands. I was to lead our main heavy infantry supported by 8 companies of arbalesters & 2 companies of our tenacious hobilars. I ensured that we had adequate water for the march & the after battles thirst that a man feels in this heat. Our heavy infantry found it hard going in the heat so I can only imagine how the Spanish heavy infantry was faring under the harassment from Akbar & his turcupoles.
By the time we had finished deploying on a preselected hill that gave a good vantage on the plains below & also helped protect our flanks as the heretics would have to climb a steep gradient before been meant by our not so tired heavy infantry.
With a marvelous device a Te le Scope(a number have been sent for use in Europe), I was able to see Akbars forces causing a great deal of trouble for the heretics. He even managed to lure a lone company of Spanish jinittes in front of our arbalesters who proceeded to slaughter the wily horsemen.
By the time the Spanish had reached our hill they where a tired looking bunch & even more delightful was the fact that a lot of the Spainish had decided to chase Akbars forces so only some of the heavy infantry reached our lines but still a great number there was. Lord Gustics & his bodyguards where also trying to catch our skirmishers but his war horses where no match for the fast small horses that our turcupoles mounted.
The Spanish that had lined up near our main position seemed to be lacking Lord Gustics direct leadership & rushed our lines. All of our arbalesters where eager to fire but they held till my command. It is truly one of the greatest sights a man can behold on a battlefield to see the air full of armour piercing bolts fired with such a power that the arbalest gives. The first wave of Spainish fall but they continue their charge. Hundreds of heretics died before they reached our lines but still they came running & falling over their own dead.
The heavy infantry clashed & it did not look good, the Spanish where brave & battle hardened & where doing great damage to our best troops. I myself joined the fray at this stage & therefore was unable to assert direct control over our units. But I was told later that the swiss complement held our left flank valiantly. Our hobilars seen that they where needed rode out & provided cover on our flanks but made little difference due to the superior warriors the Spanish fielded.
There was a lull in the fighting where water was dispensed & men got to stop the endless swinging of swords. We had taken a lot of casualties & most of our men where exhausted myself & my retinue included. It was at this time that lord Gustics marched towards us with a large force of men. Our hobilars had been engaged in a loosing battle with a Spanish company of arbalesters. I signaled to one of our signal men to sound fall back. The hobilars where able to break off & where returning to our lines when Lord Gustics & his personal bodyguards pursued the hobilars to within range of our arbalesters. I signaled for them to open fire & Lord Gustics & all 10 of his bodyguards fell in a rain of bolts.
A great cheer went up from our lines which should have scared the Spanish off the field but no they formed up & attacked again but their attempt had less heart in it after they seen their commander fall in the rain of bolts.
We dealt with the full army but didn't get a chance to inflict heavy casualties due in no small fact to a lack of light cavalry. There where over 1000 casualties inflicted on the Spanish while we suffered a meer 263. Akbars men inflicted a lot of casualties but he was unsure of the numbers. He also hit the baggage train & has insured the Spanish endure a miserable walk home.

[insolent1]

1316 was another disastrous year for our navy but the blockades where in place and doing there job.
I have also given permission for Lord De Breze to go on the offensive. He sent word of a costly success but it means that Spanish can not threaten our south eastern lands.
Lord D'Artois has assaulted Tyrolia Castle & has now secured full control of the province. I have had reports from some of my agents & they uncovered a great deal of corruption is some of our governors. It is a time of war so I have no choice but to let most of it pass except in 1 case The governor of Provence(who just happened to be near at hand) had misappropriated royal agricultural funds & was organed in front of a large crowd of cheering peasants. They seem to take delight in watching the rich suffer, I to have taken a like to it & now light the fuses myself.
France has launched a mighty crusade to free Valencia from their heretic masters.

1317 My younger brother Phillipe has lead a successful attack against the Spanish forces in Cordoba & is in the process of securing the province & laying siege to the castle. Lord De Breze has burned the Arabian capitol to the ground & has secured some riches for our thirsty war effort. It brings an end to the heretic presence in the area & great rejoicing there was with a lowering of all taxes.

1318 The Spanish head heretic King Pedro I has lead an attack in Nicea but on sight of Lancelot Marcel's banners he fled. I have commissioned the building of a master foundry in Flanders it will be costly as we have yet to build a foundry yet but I think we will benefit from it & it will be able to produce many organ guns for the execution of the Spanish hordes that we have been capturing.
The heretics also attack lands that are under direct control of his Holiness the Pope, Venice city was under siege. One of his most trusted bishops paid me a visit to secure our support in breaking the siege.
Cordoba castle is assaulted & province is secured.

1319 Sir Lancelot Marcel marchs his army on Constantinople & lays siege to the city. Lord D'Artois was marching on Venice to help break the siege but word reached him from his scouts that there was a Spanish army marching in his direction. He deployed his army in a defensive position & awaited the Heretics. His scouts reported that the army was flying royal colours & would have to be under the control of Prince Felipe the heir to the throne of Castille, the scouts also reported the army nearly outnumbered D'Artois's 2 to 1.
The battle was soon joined & D'Artois showed that he was a competent commander & lead from the front killing & capturing many personally. Prince Felipe was pulled from his horse by one of our halbardiers & we had trouble finding his head because the halbardier had got carried away with his hatred of the heretics. I received what a appeared to be a bloody mushed ball & will assume that it is Felipe's head. It has been dispatched to the King of the heretics with a french beret on the part that could be the top of it.
Our Crusade is Victorious in Valencia & lays siege to the castle.

[econ21]

Interesting account, Insolent1. I guess you are right, halberdiers should largely replace spears in this period - they are probably good against both cav and other inf, whereas spears are good only for holding off cav. Can you give explain the foundry point - what units are you aiming for and how do you use them (aside from executing heretics)? (I only know the early period units well.)

We seem to need a player to take over this campaign, Revenant69. Maybe you should post something in the orphaned campaigns thread or maybe even start a thread in the main hall?

[insolent1]

Well the master foundry produces Culverins(my fav arty), with master ship builder produces Carracks & with gunsmith guild produces serpentines & organ guns. I don't really use organ guns much but I do use Culverins & serpentines a lot. Serpentines are really only good on defense but culverins are excellent both on defense & offense. Against the Ai arty is very effective especially if you monitor it closely ie switching targets to inflict the most damage.
I nearly always play in late mostly because of artillery, as it enables me to keep my numbers down. Used in conjunction with a lot of arbalesters the AI rarely last long when the melee starts. Culverins can nearly cover 2/3rds of the map & by the time the AI reaches my lines a lot of his units will have taking hits & are much easier to route. On offense I place the culverins as far forward as possible & let them pound the AI's position often making the AI give up advantageous positions. Once they run out of ammo I bring on reinforcements normally light or heavy cav which can reach the area where the battle is quickly. When attacking a bridge province I highly recommend culverins as these will be able to hit the defenders quite easily & inflict a lot of damage often making them give up the defence around the bridge choke point. In siege battles culverins can be placed a good distance from the castle out of missile range of the castle & then proceed to level it without taking any casulties. All siege weapons can gain valour quickly & once they reach about 3-4 valour(without general) they can be extremely effective especially at killing generals.
I'll have to have a look for some replays to show how effective they can be.

As to halberdiers over chiv sergeants well chivs are good at holding the line but they don't do much killing. In late heavy cav is at its most potent & is the main threat that you normally face. So I use halbs as they are more well rounded compared to spears & with +3 armour they can even take cav charges well & instead of just holding the cav they normally slaughter them. They can beat most infantry & the only infantry that I would be worried about putting them up against are either CFK's or GFK's. As the english I don't even use spears I only use bills, halbs & gallowglasses.

As to finishing this campaign maybe some of the previous kings would like to have another go just so the campaign can be finished.

[Demon of Light]

I'll get the next King lined up for you guys. Failing that, I'll do it myself.

[Demon of Light]

Next on the list is now Chilling. I'm waiting to see if he wants to dowload the game or recieve it by e-mail.

Edit:
Chilling, the game is available at

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/

[chilling]

Is it the king of 1343 that I'm playing?

[econ21]

Quote[/b] (chilling @ Feb. 01 2004,04:49)]Is it the king of 1343 that I'm playing?
Yep, that's the one - I wonder, can you post a screenshot of the Kingdom?

PS: Thanks for coming forward

[Revenant69]

Great write up fruitfly, it reads like a history book, whether it was your intention or not LOL http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif I didnt read insolent's writeup yet but I am about to do so.


Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Feb. 01 2004,07:08)]Yep, that's the one - I wonder, can you post a screenshot of the Kingdom?
Err, if the question is directed at me, then yes I can post a screenshot. It may take a while because I would have to upload it to the ORG though.


Quote[/b] ]I'll get the next King lined up for you guys. Failing that, I'll do it myself.

Hehehe, I'll hold you to your word Demon of Light

By the way, chilling, if you are really interested in this campaign I would appreciate that you read the rules (on page 1) and PM or post your email so that I can keep in contact with you. And yes the file you would have to download is the one with 1343 tag in it. Enjoy

Thanks,
Rev

PS I hate to be a wench, but I would like to remind people to post their writeups (this does not concern people who have already done so). Failure of this will probably mean a round of emails from me LOL. If you are NOT going to post a writeup at least let me know about it so that I can stop bugging you.

PPS NOTE For the people who have already done their writeups, Id apreciate if you start cutting/pasting your posts to put them in chronological order. I want to wrap this campaign up and, being a bit of perfectionist, I cant do it with all the writeups in dissarray. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-no.gif

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Jan. 31 2004,17:18)]We seem to need a player to take over this campaign, Revenant69. Maybe you should post something in the orphaned campaigns thread or maybe even start a thread in the main hall?
*panicks at the mention of this campaign being orphaned*

This campaign isnt orphaned, I still run it and pay attention to it. We need some kings yes, but I will try recruiting them (as Demon of Light has done I see http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif ). Now, where is Monk when you need him LOL http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[chilling]

Can someone check the rar file. It opens but won't extract.

[Revenant69]

Well it extracted on my machine. Please tell me what is happenning exactly and I shall help you with it. I could also upload the zipped version of it if you want. Oh, and I need your email.

Cheers,
Rev

[thrashaholic]

Hi Revenant http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif ,

I'll give it a go if you want, I've already PMed my address, so here we are. I'm throwing my name in the hat for my first PM game (hooray http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif )

Cheers,
Thrashaholic

PS I'll read through this, see my briefing and take a look at whats gone on before. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (thrashaholic @ Feb. 01 2004,09:17)]Hi Revenant http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif ,

I'll give it a go if you want, I've already PMed my address, so here we are. I'm throwing my name in the hat for my first PM game (hooray http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif )

Cheers,
Thrashaholic

PS I'll read through this, see my briefing and take a look at whats gone on before. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif
I'm glad you could join in thrashaholic http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif This campaign has seen quite a few new players (to the PBM) and they have managed to play through with admirable courage and determination. So I am glad to have another newcomer on board http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

I would recommend that you read the rules on page 1 as they are the core of this PBM game. In a few minutes I will put an updated list of kings...

Rev
.....................................
The ailing / scary royal line of France stands as follows...


Revenant69 ---> King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi ---> King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3 ---> King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius ---> King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor ---> King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly ---> King Charles IV (1216 - 1258) The Patient

TC27 ---> King Henri II (1259 - 1286)

Simon Appleton ---> King Philippe IV (1287 - 1312) The Tardy

insolent1 ---> King Jean III (1313-1342) The chinless whore monger

chilling ---> King Loius VII (1343-???) Current King

thrashaholic

[Revenant69]

Here is all too familiar mug shot of an all too familiar mad French King who is about to take power....
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_Louis7.JPG

....and a situational report of the French kingdom at the beginning of Loius' reign.
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/Rev_report6.JPG

Cheers,
Rev

PS As you can see, with such a huge lead in GA points and our large number of territories we could play defensively for the rest of the game and win.

PPS. Once again, the latest French savegame can be found Here (http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/) (it's the one with 1343 tag in it).

[chilling]

I get a CRC error using winrar.

Send me the zipped file. I'll see if I get better luck with that one.

chilling@blueyonder.co.uk

[Revenant69]

Ok chilling I have uploaded the zipped version to the ORG, you can get it from the link I provided in my post above. I tried emailing but the file was too large for an email attachment, 1.2 Mb http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

The fact that you get CRC error and I do not suggests that there may have been a problem when you downloaded the file. I have seen this before. If you redownload the file - it may fix the problem.

Let me know if you get the savegame running.

Good luck,
Rev

[chilling]

I've downloaded the zip which is fine.

Cracked brained and Killer instinct. Woe betide anyone who I take a dislike to. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (chilling @ Feb. 01 2004,10:36)]I've downloaded the zip which is fine.

Cracked brained and Killer instinct. Woe betide anyone who I take a dislike to. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif
Good to know that the savegame is working for you. Have fun with the campaign http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[Monk]

I've heard from a very reliable source that you are in need of Kings. Well i would like to voluntere both my sword and pen to the job.


Quote[/b] ]Now, where is Monk when you need him LOL

Never fear Monk is here http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

I just Reinstalled VI, it will be nice to get back into the old game again. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-juggle.gif

[Mount Suribachi]

Just to let Rev know, I've moved the account of my reign to p.3

[econ21]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Feb. 01 2004,07:44)]This campaign isnt orphaned, I still run it and pay attention to it.

Sorry, Revenant, I thought the term orphaned campaigns referred to there not being successor kings lined up - not that the organiser of the campaign had gone AWOL

I know I owe a write-up here - I was waiting for my father, TC27 to write it first, but obviously have been overtaken by events. I'll get down to it shortly and insert it into one of my older posts to maintain some chronology.

[The_Emperor]

hey I just noticed we have another nutter on the Throne... Louis VII, Crack-Brained with a Killer Instinct.

Just what we need a crazed psycho monarch Should make an interesting write-up.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (The_Emperor @ Feb. 02 2004,06:44)]hey I just noticed we have another nutter on the Throne... Louis VII, Crack-Brained with a Killer Instinct.

Just what we need a crazed psycho monarch Should make an interesting write-up.
LOL yeah the royal line keeps getting better and better http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif Next king is probably going to have Killer Instinct, Chinless Wonder, Crack-Brained and Pervert as his vices LOL

Hurray, Monk has joined our ranks *cheers and jubilations follow*
I would advise our new kings to read the rules before they start the game, they can be found on page 1.

Ok the updated list of French nut-line is....

Revenant69 ---> King Philippe I (1087 - 1113) The Damned

Mount Suribachi ---> King Philippe II (1114 - 1129) Killer Queen

Major^3 ---> King Jean II (1130- 1175) The Inept

Drucius ---> King Louis VI (1176 - 1200) The Dull

The_Emperor ---> King Philippe III (1201 - 1215) The Mad Monarch

fruitfly ---> King Charles IV (1216 - 1258) The Patient

TC27 ---> King Henri II (1259 - 1286)

Simon Appleton ---> King Philippe IV (1287 - 1312) The Tardy

insolent1 ---> King Jean III (1313-1342) The chinless whore monger

chilling ---> King Loius VII (1343-???) Current King

thrashaholic

Monk

[econ21]

I've inserted write-ups of my reign in chronological order on page 7 of this thread:

http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin....;st=150 (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=25;t=13980;st=150)

I've kept the two letters where they were, out of order on earlier pages, as they are better read as standalone pieces rather than with the writeups.

[Revenant69]

Great work Simon Appleton http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif I cant believe we lost 37 ships in one year....thats crazy talk http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif

[Bodew]

Thanks to everyone that participates in these. I love reading the write ups, and am amazed at the literary talent on the org. I really enjoy the rules placed on this one and I am planing on limiting myself in a similar maner in my next campaign.

Keep up the great work http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[chilling]

I know we are meant to play along with Pope and his plans. Can I defend a province against him? He's just decided he wants to visit.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (chilling @ Feb. 05 2004,17:27)]I know we are meant to play along with Pope and his plans. Can I defend a province against him? He's just decided he wants to visit.
Hehehehe, I thought this would happen. The Pope was getting too big for his sandals. The answer is YES, you can defend against him. But try to seek a ceasefire ASAP. Also try to recommunicate yourself before the king dies.


Quote[/b] ]Thanks to everyone that participates in these. I love reading the write ups, and am amazed at the literary talent on the org. I really enjoy the rules placed on this one and I am planing on limiting myself in a similar maner in my next campaign.

Keep up the great work

Cheers mate. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif I'm glad you enjoy the rules and the writeups. IMHO this is what makes PBMs so popular and fun. And the fact that this PBM had over 2500 views in under a month also means that a lot of people got the exposure to the rules. Hehehe http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

Rev

[chilling]

The king is dead, long live the king.

I've uploaded my save game 1380.

I'll start my report tonight.

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (chilling @ Feb. 11 2004,08:02)]The king is dead, long live the king.

I've uploaded my save game 1380.

I'll start my report tonight.
Good. Good. Good. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif
I will notify thrashaholic about his turn then.

PS. chilling, care to come up with a title for your king? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

[Revenant69]

Well, seems we have another pervert on the throne of France http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif as King Henri III ascends the throne with Killer Instinct and Secret Perversion. Oh boy, when is this cursed line going to get better??? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-confused.gif

I looked into the savegame and one thing struck me as odd is that we still do not have the capability to train Swiss Armored Pikemen. Oh well.

I realize that I am missing Monk's email address, so if he can email/PM it to me that would be just greeeeaaaaat http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

[Monk]

Quote[/b] (Revenant69 @ Feb. 11 2004,08:44)]I realize that I am missing Monk's email address, so if he can email/PM it to me that would be just greeeeaaaaat http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif
Ahh great movie http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

I'll PM you right away Rev. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[thrashaholic]

Pleased to say I've recieved the savegame and have begun playing straight away http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif , all seems to be going alright so far. Those are some pretty sweet border armies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif I think I'll just sit back and play very defensively.

Thrashaholic

[Revenant69]

Quote[/b] (thrashaholic @ Feb. 11 2004,14:53)]Pleased to say I've recieved the savegame and have begun playing straight away http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif , all seems to be going alright so far. Those are some pretty sweet border armies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif I think I'll just sit back and play very defensively.

Thrashaholic
I am glad to know that this campaign still has life in it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

Good luck thrashaholic.
Rev

[chilling]

Quote[/b] ]Revenant69

I looked into the savegame and one thing struck me as odd is that we still do not have the capability to train Swiss Armored Pikemen. Oh well.



Ah, yes. I forgot about them. I usually play Muslim or the MedMod. It'll give my heir something to do. I concentrated on religion and farming. My king had a big thing for the Harvest Festival. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[thrashaholic]

Haha, France now controls over 60% of the map and profits are around 14000 florins http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif (the year's around 1400)

Thrashaholic

[thrashaholic]

That's me done I'm afraid, I've uploaded the file (french 1417 pbm), so good luck to the next chap.

Thrashaholic

[Revenant69]

Good job thrashaholic. The kingdom is very secure and we can finally train those nasty SAPs http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

I shall inform Monk about his turn then.

[Monk]

If it's not one game it's another, i shall start soon enough.

[Monk]

I'm sorry everybody, but due to time issues this week i will not be able to play, in fact i havn't even gotten the chance to start. Rev, i am not pulling out, only posting to let you know that i cannot start/finish for the next four days (been busy). I don't know the list of rulers, but if there's somebody waiting go ahead then pass it on to them as i'm sure they would not want to wait for their turn for another week. I don't mind if you skip me for the time being.

[Demon of Light]

Is this orphaned yet?

[Monk]

Quote[/b] (Demon of Light @ Mar. 04 2004,05:47)]Is this orphaned yet?
Well i still have the save game, but Rev is nowhere to be found. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-lost.gif

so, technically it isn't

[econ21]

I think this campaign is orphaned now. Rev seems to have disappeared, but with the uploader, I don't think campaigns actually need a person to act as the hub anymore. I wonder if Monk could either play his reign or open this up to someone else? I know that at least one person signed up for the Welsh PBM but was disappointed - maybe we can find volunteers to finish this one off?

[AggonyDuck]

Okay, I think I can finish it up if I would find the save game...
But I'm no poet so don't expect anything too fancy as write up.. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[AggonyDuck]

Okay I found the save and will finish it... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[econ21]

Good - go for it, 1pain1Duck.

[AggonyDuck]

Okay I've finished the campaign... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif
I might had been a bit too overaggressive and in a way broken the rules about thinking about the pope but I was roleplaying my king and I can ensure u that in that position he would had screwed the pope.. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

But anyways write up will follow but I had a pretty eventful reign, and very bloody... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[AggonyDuck]

The King Louis VIII at the year 1417
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMKingLouisVIII1417.jpg

France 1417
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMEurope1417.jpg

1417- Coronation of the new king Louis VIII. He decides to eliminate all who are troubling the Angevin kingdom.
Disbanding of depleted and obsolete units.

1418- Crusade against the Golden Horde reaches Muscovy. Crusaders win after taking heavy losses from the best and bravest cavalry the Horde has to offer. A turcopole manages to shoot down the great Khan Subudai and so the Horde is gone. He is awarded nobility for this. No prisoners were left behind.
Lord de Molay attacks Spanish in Denmark. Win after a small skirmish and a charge from the highland regiments of the Frankish army. Copenhagen castle besieged.
Attack on Bavaria against the Holy Roman Empire. The HRE retreats to castle.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMMongolsEliminated1418.jpg

1419- The pope Alberto I’s warning forces us to cancel our siege at Bavaria. King Louis marries Marie the daughter of Lord de Molay.

1420- The king is excommunicated because of hostilities against fellow Christians.
Siege of Copenhagen continues. Attack on Novgorod.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMExcommunicated1420.jpg

1421- Assasination of the pope Alberto I is ordered by king of France Louis VIII.
He summons hundreds of assasins to the mission and the 1 to bring the popes head will get 2500 from the almost bottomless treasury of France.
The pope is found decapitated in his private quarters in Rome late October.
A crusade is declared by the Spanish from Volga-Bulgaria to Tripoli.


http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMPopeAssasinated1421.jpg

1422- A new pope is elected. Louis VIII excommunication is nullified.
A loyalist uprising takes place in Novgorod and it’s slaughtered and all prisoners were executed.

1423-
A papal warning from hostilities against the Spanish.
The castle of Novgorod falls from starvation.
Copenhagen castle is assaulted and the city is sacked.
Attack on Volga-Bulgaria. The Spanish retreat, and the chapter house is destroyed, which effectively disbands the Spanish crusade.

1424- The Spanish empire suffers a civil war. The year is spent in building and regrouping.

1425- The young Spanish King Ferdinand II asks for assistance to deal with the Ibero-Slavic rebellions. King Louis VII accepts and sends Lord de Molay to Lithuania, his brother Charles to Ryazan, Sir Jean Amyot to Volga-Bulgaria, Lord de Nogaret to Chernigov and Lord de Vëndome to Moldavia. All attacks are successful and thousands of Spanish rebels are captured and executed.
Vilnius, Vladimir and Volga-Bulgaria castles are besieged.

1426- The castles of Vilnius, Volga-Bulgaria and Vladimir are assaulted.
The people there are slaughtered and replaced by French citizens.

1427- King Louis VIII leads an attack against the Spanish rebels in Brandenburg.
King Louis takes valiantly part in the melee and after the battle personally executes the Spanish leaders. Brandenburg is liberated in the name of France.

1428- King Louis VIII decides to prepare an invasion of the Spanish province of Kiev, because it is a Spanish strongpoint in their lines of defence.

1429- A young farmgirl called Joan of Arc asks to see the King Louis. She has had a holy calling to liberate Ireland from the scum called the Normans. Because the girl seems to inspire the common men in our armies, she is sent to Scotland to lead the Highlands regiments with Lord de Coligny.
A sea battle between our grand fleet and the german fleet takes place in the straits of Bosporus.
King Louis makes a law that makes a royal palace a requirement for every province in the glorious French Empire.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMJoanofArc1429.jpg

1430-Nothing big happens. King Louis VIII has a nice luxurous vacation in Constantinople while preparing for the major invasion of Kiev.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMVanity1431.jpg

1431-1432 The attack on Kiev is delayed by the german navy. It is beaten decisively in the year 1432.

1433- The grand naval invasion of Kiev was launched and resulted in a Spanish withdrawal.
The pope excommunitated King Louis VIII. Prince Jean came to age and was dubbed crown prince.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMExcommunicated1420.jpg

1434- King Louis VIII calls for aid from the Assassins from Syria in eliminating the pope.
King Louis VIII also makes an attack on Volhynia from Kiev and which forces the Spanish to withdraw to their castle.

1435- The Pope Antonio II suddenly gets poisoned and dies a day later during a visit to Venice.
King Louis drops the Siege of Volhynia and attacks Prussia. The enemy retreats.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMPopeAssasinated1433.jpg

1436- A new pope is elected. King Louis VIII tries to force the poles to a battle at Pomerania but the Spanish retreat to the castle. King Louis VIII orders that the castle should be starved out for their insolence and that all of the city’s garrison should be executed. King Louis gets a warning from the pope to cease hostilities against the Slav-Spanish kingdom. A crusade is launched towards Wallachia. Prince Jean is given command of the crusade.

1437- King Louis leaves half of his army to siege Pomerania while he takes his knights and some Men-at-arms to support the invasion of Poland. The majority of the royal Spanish army with King Ferdinand retreat to Silesia and some retreat to Volhynia. King Louis VII is excommunicated from the catholic church.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMExcommunicated1420.jpg

1438- King Louis leaves some men to occupy Poland and goes to Brandenburg with the cream of the Frankish knights where they meet with some veterans from earlier Frankish campaigns.
The year is spent training the men to invade Silesia and to finally eliminate the Spanish monarchy.
The crusade to Wallachia led by Prince Jean beats decisively the orthodox Wallachian rebels in the name of God. Volhynia is invaded by the Royal Swiss Pike regiment.

1439- King Louis decides to wait for reinforcements before invading the Spanish.

1440- King Louis VIII leads a Frankish Invasion to the final stronghold of the once great and flourishing Spain. In the battle of Wroclaw the Franks numbering about 780 men lead by the great King Louis VIII face the Spanish force with their Slavic allies numbering around 3000 men led by the rather weak King Ferdinand II. The battle starts with a Frankish infantry charge against the large infantry force of Spanish. King Louis leads a rather large contingent of knights numbering around 400 men to the Spanish rear. The Frankish infantry takes heavy casualties and begins to waver but at the last possible moment the Frankish knights align themselves to the enemy and King Louis shouts: “Charge and leave no one alive” The Frankish cavalry simply pushes away the Spanish rear and penetrates their lines. Even King Ferdinand II’s bodyguard is forced to face the tremendous charge of the Valois.Ferdinand is toppled down from his horse and is trampled by the Frankish knights and their horses. The last king of Spain lied dead on the ground and the banner of Castile had fallen. The news spread like lightning through the Spanish ranks and a massive rout started but the rout was for naught because the Frankish knights simply trampled over the once mighty army of Spain. No prisoners were taken and all who surrendered were decapitated by the King’s orders. Over a thousand men were killed during the execution both peasants and nobles alike. This was a deed that still taints the history of France.
But the result of this battle was that France was uncontested in the east and the long war with Spain was over.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMSpanishEliminated1440.jpg

1441- The king leaves his army to besiege the remnants of the Spanish and takes residence in Poland for now. He also makes the plan of annexing the rebel territories of the Balkans to his kingdom.

1442- It seems that even the most holy men of the world can become tainted by the devil and be drawn to heresy. The German pope Alexander II had sold his soul to the devil and was there by burned on a stake by the inquisitor Odo de Couer. The news came as shock to King Louis VIII of course and he was of course pleased that a new pope was elected.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMInquistorburnspopealexanderII.jpg

1443- A crusade is launched towards Carpathia from Jerusalem.

1444- King Louis VIII invades Hungary and the rebels retreat to their castle. Estergomz citadel is besieged. Prince Louis comes to age.

1445- King Louis VIII invades Carpathia with the Royal Swiss Pike regiment and some French Nobles. It results in a costly victory for the Frankish forces.

1446- The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf tries to invade Hungary but his plans of conquest are abruptly ended on a bridge over the river Danube by the young and ambitious Prince Louis.
He is killed by Halberdiers after managing to break through the bridgehead. The counter charge lead by the prince Louis forces the German forces to retreat after heavy casualties on the german side. Prince Louis won his spurs.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMGermansInvadeHungary1446.jpg

1447- King Louis VIII was enraged by the actions of the Germans and their allies the English, led by the King Stephen II. Louis VIII ordered the German provinces of Bulgaria and Serbia to be attacked and to destroy the English in Ireland. Joan of Arc led a terrible attack against the English with the Highlands regiment. The battle was a decisive victory and the English nobility and their King were slaughtered. The Germans retreat to their castles in Bulgaria and Serbia and King Louis ordered them to be starved out. Carpathia’s castle is surrenders and the crusade is successful.

1448- The year is spent bribing the rebel armies of Pereyaslav and Finland. King Louis also prepares an invasion of the three remaining German provinces.

1449- The frankish pope Urban VI gives King Louis VII his support and allies with the Frankish monarchy.
The English launch a three pronged invasion to Bavaria, Bohemia and Austria. The German Emperor retreats from Bavaria, and abandons Bohemia and tries to retreat to Austria but can’t escape because Austria has already been occupied after a battle by the forces of King Louis VIII.
The HRE seizes to exist and the last emperor of the Empire is executed.

1550- The garrison of Bucharest surrenders, the castle of Serbia is assaulted and razed and King Louis assaults Vienna castle and kills the remnants of the previous Holy Roman Empire.

1551- An crusade is launched from Constantinople against the last of the roman emperors Constantine XI Paleontologus in Crete.

1552- A build up for the crusade takes place and the crusade consists of over 5000 men.
King Louis moves with his contingent of knights and the crown prince Jean to Serbia to take a boat to Crete.

1553- The Frankish Crusade invades Crete. The Frankish force outnumbers the roman army two to one. King Louis takes control of the left flank while Prince Jean takes the right flank and Lord Brullart de Sillery commands the center. While the Frankish army is deploying itself, the right flank suddenly gets ambushed by the finest cataphracts of the roman army. Prince Jean gets attacked and his banner falls. Eventually help arrives to help the troubled left flank by the foot knights of Lord Brullart de Sillery.
They manage to push back and rout the roman cavalry. When king Louis VIII hears the terrible news he is consumed by rage and hatred and orders a full charge against the lighter roman infantry and the banners of emperor Constantine XI Paleontologus.
The emperor does then a thing of valour and charges straight at the charging Frankish knights and is followed by the remnants of the roman cavalry and the infantry. The emperor fights like a lion and kills many of the finest knights of the Frankish army but eventually is exhausted and is decapitated by Sir Lancelot de Valois. The roman army holds on even after the fall of the purple banner and sustaining heavy losses. Eventually the roman army breaks and an all out rout ensues and none is left alive.
Prince Jean is taken back to Paris and buried under the Nôtre-Dame and Prince Louis gets the title of crown prince. France has ensured its supremacy and has a promising future ahead.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBM1453Victory.jpg

Vive la France

France 1453
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckPBMFrance1453.jpg

France GA 1453
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMGApoints1453.jpg

[econ21]

Well played 1pain1Duck - glad you finished off this rather orphaned campaign and also had a fun reign after being deprived of a chance to play the Welsh.

[AggonyDuck]

Hehehe just wait t'til u see a pic of King Louis VIII at end of 1453 ... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
He was quite an unpleasant guy http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif hehehe

[econ21]

Quote[/b] (1pain1Duck @ Mar. 29 2004,15:14)]Okay I've finished the campaign... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif
I might had been a bit too overaggressive ...
Holy Cow Comparing the screenshot of 1417 with that of 1453, I would hate to see what it would have been like if you had definitely have been very aggressive http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Anyway, a very impressive end to the campaign - I find it takes real stamina to finish off a campaign and given that the odds are rather stacked in your favour, it can be hard to find the endurance. PBMs do provide motivation here, though, since you are racing to get the job done before you pass on. It's worth it because end-game battles are fun - because of their scale and because both sides have often had the time to develop high quality troops. I hope you enjoyed it

[AggonyDuck]

Well I enjoyed laughing at how low my little king managed to go..... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[AggonyDuck]

Here's a mugshot of King Louis VIII on his 66th birthday year 1451.

http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/story/DuckFrancePBMKingLouisVIII1453.jpg

I should get an additional name to my king right too?
How about King Louis VIII the Merciless or King Louis VIII the Butcher. Or maybe King Louis VIII the cruel or King Louis VIII the Oppressor?

I'll kindly take suggestions...
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[econ21]

Well, I like the idea of successors naming kings, but as you finish the campaign, the choice is yours. I kinda like the merciless one.

[AggonyDuck]

Okay He'll then be King Louis VIII the merciless.. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif