Osbot
10-06-2002, 12:11
I've played several campaigns. English, Spanish, Danes, Turks, all went pretty much the same, a little fighting while I built a huge trade empire, and then I rampaged.
Few days ago, I started my second HRE campaign, my first was on normal difficulty, and was my first campaign, I had no idea on tech trees and while I carved out a large empire, I ran into the almo horde with no real answer.
This campaign, has blown me away.
Background, im playing with the early 1092 patch, on expert with HRE.
My first objective was to increase my crop income, and turn Franconia and Bohemia, both with iron into my main troop producers. I also drove hard and fast to Province to get a southern medi port.
Everything was going along nicely, Saxony was lightly garrisoned as the danes have never before really shown themselves to be all too ballsy.
Mid 1100, the danes launch an attack on me, I barely managed to repel it, however the result was a near catastrophe.
First the Italians, suddenly mobalized, they struck most of my southern empire, I was smiling, knowing the Italians were NO match for me whatsoever.
A year later, the Polish attacked. Now I have a bit of a problem, I should be ok, I still have the numberical superiority to fight them both, as the Danes are NOT much of a problem.
Then, the French attacked. They had destroyed the English, and were a force to be reckoned with.
I spent a few years TRYING to fight at my front lines, slowly losing provinces as the numberically superior enemies picked off my weakily garrisoned territories.
I then decided, I've got nothing to lose, I had the Italians bottled up, I'd taken Venice, from them, while they continued to attack me, my MAIN problem were the all too numerous French armies. So I retreated, I fell back letting the French occupy the territories I retreated from. My hope was that they would over extend.
I continued to strengthen my eastern front, to make the Poles think twice about trying to take anymore territory.
I rushed as many units to my new western line as possible, while Franconia and Bohemia merged a large Fuedal MAA and Fuedal Sgt army to delay the French while I dealt with the Italians.
Ten years later, the last Italian garrison on the mainland was about to fall to a 4 year siege. My fleets surrounded Corsica and Sardinia, while I left only token garrisons to hold the newly conquered land Italian lands.
France was now my target, and I intended to make them pay.
I launched 2 more battle hardened armies at the french, the french however, ran, and did not fight. So while I was filling my coffers, I was not inflicting damages on the French Armies. Fate had another card up her sleeve for me, rebellion, mass FRENCH rebellion. The french populace, obviously disheartened by her armies in a full retreat from me began to waver and rebel. Normady, Brittany, and several others broke away. I quickly occupied Brittany and Normandy, and the French broke off attacks against me to lick her wounds and reconsolidate the remaining territories lost to rebellion.
Over the next few years, I finished off the Italians, and then eyed a Glorious Achievement, restoring the Roman Empire. I descended on Rome and installed a Puppet Pope, leaving the majority of my MAIN armies as garrisons to maintain that the Pope did NOT come back.
Fate it seems, is not without its irony...
The spanish, whom were now without a doubt THE super power, having control of the Entire Iberian Peninsula over to Constantinople, began launching crusades against the Turks.
I was happy to allow the Spanish Crusaders passage through my less defended territories, however the Spanish Crusaders eyed my massed armies in Franconia...This was unacceptable, my puppet pope, had given permission to the Spanish to pillage my lands, I put my foot down on the back of the Spaniards as we stamped that crusade out...
Again, things tumbled out of control. It was the second dominoe effect in 50 years, Spain, France, Poland, Byzantine, Hungary, Novogod, ALL declared war.
Under attack from nearly all sides, I had to pull out of the papal states, and marshal my most elite armies to the East. France was not yet fully recovered, or so I thought...
I reclaimed Austria, pushed to Prussia, hammered the hapless Poles out of existance. The French however, were determined to give a better account of themselves than last time.
A back and forth battle ensued between France and I, while Novogod, Byzantine and Hungary continued to whittle away my eastern defences, incurring terrible losses against my veteran armies. I was able to stave off MAJOR disaster by amphibiously landed a large army on the lightly defended Iberian Peninsula and incurring terrible infrastucture damage to the Spanish, whom shortly there after sued for peace.
That is how things stand right now. I have a bridge head to normady and brittany via illes de france, which is hotly contended. The fighting in the west is extemely desperate. Where once the forces facing each other numbered in the thousands, they are now in the low hundreds.
I believe that France is on the brink of total defeat, however they continue to land troops from the isles. Italy is ripe for a papal return, and the eastern front is holding fast, but for how long? I don't know. I am unsure of the Byz and Novogod strength. At this point, I think only the arrival of the Mongals will pull enough resources away from my battle lines with the Novogod to stave off a major offensive into my territory.
All in all, almost every turn of this campaign has been fought for tooth and nail, several times i've had the weight of the world thrown at me, and so far it appears that I MIGHT just stave off this latest attempt to keep the mighty HRE down ;p
Few days ago, I started my second HRE campaign, my first was on normal difficulty, and was my first campaign, I had no idea on tech trees and while I carved out a large empire, I ran into the almo horde with no real answer.
This campaign, has blown me away.
Background, im playing with the early 1092 patch, on expert with HRE.
My first objective was to increase my crop income, and turn Franconia and Bohemia, both with iron into my main troop producers. I also drove hard and fast to Province to get a southern medi port.
Everything was going along nicely, Saxony was lightly garrisoned as the danes have never before really shown themselves to be all too ballsy.
Mid 1100, the danes launch an attack on me, I barely managed to repel it, however the result was a near catastrophe.
First the Italians, suddenly mobalized, they struck most of my southern empire, I was smiling, knowing the Italians were NO match for me whatsoever.
A year later, the Polish attacked. Now I have a bit of a problem, I should be ok, I still have the numberical superiority to fight them both, as the Danes are NOT much of a problem.
Then, the French attacked. They had destroyed the English, and were a force to be reckoned with.
I spent a few years TRYING to fight at my front lines, slowly losing provinces as the numberically superior enemies picked off my weakily garrisoned territories.
I then decided, I've got nothing to lose, I had the Italians bottled up, I'd taken Venice, from them, while they continued to attack me, my MAIN problem were the all too numerous French armies. So I retreated, I fell back letting the French occupy the territories I retreated from. My hope was that they would over extend.
I continued to strengthen my eastern front, to make the Poles think twice about trying to take anymore territory.
I rushed as many units to my new western line as possible, while Franconia and Bohemia merged a large Fuedal MAA and Fuedal Sgt army to delay the French while I dealt with the Italians.
Ten years later, the last Italian garrison on the mainland was about to fall to a 4 year siege. My fleets surrounded Corsica and Sardinia, while I left only token garrisons to hold the newly conquered land Italian lands.
France was now my target, and I intended to make them pay.
I launched 2 more battle hardened armies at the french, the french however, ran, and did not fight. So while I was filling my coffers, I was not inflicting damages on the French Armies. Fate had another card up her sleeve for me, rebellion, mass FRENCH rebellion. The french populace, obviously disheartened by her armies in a full retreat from me began to waver and rebel. Normady, Brittany, and several others broke away. I quickly occupied Brittany and Normandy, and the French broke off attacks against me to lick her wounds and reconsolidate the remaining territories lost to rebellion.
Over the next few years, I finished off the Italians, and then eyed a Glorious Achievement, restoring the Roman Empire. I descended on Rome and installed a Puppet Pope, leaving the majority of my MAIN armies as garrisons to maintain that the Pope did NOT come back.
Fate it seems, is not without its irony...
The spanish, whom were now without a doubt THE super power, having control of the Entire Iberian Peninsula over to Constantinople, began launching crusades against the Turks.
I was happy to allow the Spanish Crusaders passage through my less defended territories, however the Spanish Crusaders eyed my massed armies in Franconia...This was unacceptable, my puppet pope, had given permission to the Spanish to pillage my lands, I put my foot down on the back of the Spaniards as we stamped that crusade out...
Again, things tumbled out of control. It was the second dominoe effect in 50 years, Spain, France, Poland, Byzantine, Hungary, Novogod, ALL declared war.
Under attack from nearly all sides, I had to pull out of the papal states, and marshal my most elite armies to the East. France was not yet fully recovered, or so I thought...
I reclaimed Austria, pushed to Prussia, hammered the hapless Poles out of existance. The French however, were determined to give a better account of themselves than last time.
A back and forth battle ensued between France and I, while Novogod, Byzantine and Hungary continued to whittle away my eastern defences, incurring terrible losses against my veteran armies. I was able to stave off MAJOR disaster by amphibiously landed a large army on the lightly defended Iberian Peninsula and incurring terrible infrastucture damage to the Spanish, whom shortly there after sued for peace.
That is how things stand right now. I have a bridge head to normady and brittany via illes de france, which is hotly contended. The fighting in the west is extemely desperate. Where once the forces facing each other numbered in the thousands, they are now in the low hundreds.
I believe that France is on the brink of total defeat, however they continue to land troops from the isles. Italy is ripe for a papal return, and the eastern front is holding fast, but for how long? I don't know. I am unsure of the Byz and Novogod strength. At this point, I think only the arrival of the Mongals will pull enough resources away from my battle lines with the Novogod to stave off a major offensive into my territory.
All in all, almost every turn of this campaign has been fought for tooth and nail, several times i've had the weight of the world thrown at me, and so far it appears that I MIGHT just stave off this latest attempt to keep the mighty HRE down ;p