Taking the reins of the Polish

[gaijinalways]

I decided to try the Poles on for size, and it seems like another game with tough managing of the economy early on. Like with the HRE, it is not easy to keep your neighbors from picking on you sometimes. I decided early on to shoot for Sweden, so I sent my emissary up to bribe it away. It took several times to get it. Now I continued farming and I decided to invade Pomerania, especially since I couldn't bribe it earlier. The rebels unwisely retreated to the castle, so after taking that, I now have 4 provinces. Very important here is to have enough troops to move in, as this province will rebel (as will Silciea if you don't have enough troops there).

I also bribed Norway, not to keep, but simply to get the vikings to defend Sweden from Denmark until I can build a fort and other necessities. I wanted to take Saxony, but found the HRE much too well armed to want a piece of their turf, so Denmark will have defend it self for a while.

BRB later

[rabcarl]

The Polish might be tough at the very beginning but when I played them after I brought most of the East under my banner and consolidated it I found the game gets easier, which will probably be a nice change from the HRE which IMO gets harder as time goes on with enemies on all sides. I remember I was quite new at the game when I played and thought that by stationing loads of troops in Khazar I could beat the GH invasion. That was a bad move, IIRC the GH invaded with 13k troops:sweatdrop:

[Roark]

I've had a very hard time with the Polish (XL/Hard-Expert) in every campaign I've started up.

My main issues have always been:

- Economy
- The Mongols
- Teutonic Knights / Lithuanians

I totally respect anyone who can construct a solid empire with the Poles!

[Martok]

Very cool, gaijinalways. I'm eager to see how your campaign progresses. :beam:



I totally respect anyone who can construct a solid empire with the Poles!
Ditto that. I've always found them a real challenge as well; simply surviving the first 50 years or so can be a real achievement! :sweatdrop:

[rabcarl]

Really? In vanilla mtw I found them to be one of the easier factions with the East being populated by Rebels. Yes the first few years require rather tedious planning, but still.

[gaijinalways]

I'm playing this campaign on vanilla MTW, expert level, and I never find this game easy. Yes, some factions are easier to play with than others, but on expert the AI doesn't leave you alone for very long. You always have to consider what you may have to give up (territorywise) or do without until you can protect it, whether it's new tech buildings or just farming. If you make something too attracive, the AI will go after it.

Of course, you can use this to your advantage sometimes, but I find the AI challening enough, I always have to consider something before acting (unless it's late in the campaign and I have already turned down a 60% victory, and even then you'll find their are battles you can lose:help:).

Playing the Polish is interesting, and similar to the HRE you're landlocked at the start, which I always find more annoying. At least I didn't have to give anything up yet:oops: (had to in my HRE campaign).


rabcarl posted
Really? In vanilla mtw I found them to be one of the easier factions with the East being populated by Rebels. Yes the first few years require rather tedious planning, but still


It is true the rebels nearby make things a little easier, but again, on expert level, I have even seen the rebels get aggressive:furious3:.

[rabcarl]

Yeah I don't play on expert, hard is, well... hard enough for me :laugh4: so I guess that might make a difference.

[Axalon]

Hi guys,

Since Roark seems to speak for XL here, perhaps I could put in a few words out of a redux-perspective. As far as Poland goes it has essentially every potential and ingredient to be real nightmare to play; low cash, pretty formidable and aggressive neighbours and a troop rooster that is far from complete, unruly and underdeveloped provinces and pretty much everything else that makes life hard, are a part of the polish problem....

Poland set on expert (and normal unit-size) is probably as nasty as it gets in default redux – so faint harted people should stay away from it.... I can probably guarantee that it will be much harder than any of the circumstances found in the original game regardless what you play on expert. Since it appears that few people have ever tried their mettle with Poland, perhaps somebody is up for the challenge...? :wink2:

- Cheers

[gaijinalways]

Vanilla MTW is hard enough, at least for me.:help: The Polish are a tough crowd. have run up to 1113 I think. I picked up Denmark and still have Sweden. What I did was built an inn in Pomerania, and used my mercs to invade Saxony. Won a very tough battle (should have probably bought a few more uniuts, but my cash was low:sweatdrop:). Fought this one with 1 unit of Italian infantry, 1 unit of Chivalric men at arms, 1 unit of FMAA and 1 unit of spearmen. I also had 1 unit of horse archers, 1 Khwarazmian cavalry, and 1 unit of RK. All of this versus 800 something AI units, mostly composed of fanatics, spearmen, peasants, a balista, and a general UM.

I started out with circling my RKs and my Khwar. cav units to the left, hoping to draw some units away. Luckily, my HA was able to slip behind and take out the one balista that was waiting to pepper my foot units that I had left just out of range. My HA now started to harass his UM generl unit, but had to leave for a spell when I was rushed by them and a unit of spearmen as they tried to pincer the HA. In the mean time I slowly brought up my foot units in the middle, eventually battling one spear unit and some peasants that the AI had rushed at me. The AI also had some fanatics and viking trying to catch my RK and Kaz units, but they were quick enough to leave them panting (that(s on both sides, you try riding around in all that armor:dizzy2:).

His foot units in the fray were starting to break, but now the AI viking and a peasant unit and another spear came forward. I decided to risk crashing my two cavs into the rear of the viking unit from behind just as they were engaging with my tired units who had their opposing AI spears and peasants running for cover.

Finally after a few tense moments, I had most of the AI units running, though they stopped to regroup at several points, luckily it wa different units and they weren't always running in the same direction, which made it more difficult for AI units to act as one force.

Now in the meantime, though my HA got the general UM unit to rout by depleting it enough and eventually giving chase when the UM general saw all his foot units running..at that earlier point in time when mny of them were routing. My cavs were really useful here, hacking at routing units here and there and knocking off a few. They helped also in crashing some foot units from behind again and again, not allowing the AI units too much time to regroup, hang in there, and fight.

Believe it or not, ended up with not too many merc bills:juggle2: as the casualities brought the bills down. Had these same units and a few vikings help out in Denmark. This one was a little easier, though still tough, though I had the advantage of numbers here, so it was easier to handle:beam:.

So to summarize, I now control Denmark, Sweden, Silesia, Pomerania, and Poland. I really do want to take Saxony back (to connect my groing empire), but between the Hungarians to the south, the French andthe HRE to the west, I can barely hold what I have together troop-wise, never mind the cash shortages. But at least the HRE asked for peace, even before my emissary could reach theirs:2thumbsup:!


Just hope I can build quickly enough to keep needed units coming, though the balance of cash earning buildings is equally important (never mind the loyalty ratings:juggle2:).


Further update

Have now run up to 1136. Actually have some better troops, but still have the same problem, poor as all hell, and with hordes of French, Hungarians, and HRE at the gates. I keep thinking I should almost jettison Poland and Silesia to retake Saxony. Of course, this would not help me for GA points, but in some ways strategy-wise it would be better, keeping coastal properties that are all joined (Sweden, Denmark, Saxony, and Pomerania).

Was wondering what others think, or do you prefer more historically accurate role-playing?

[gaijinalways]

Farther along, I believe 1169. Strangest campaign I have ever had to date.

Invaded Saxony in maybe 1161, but failed to consider that it would be a bridge battle. The battle was very tough, but luckily I used some cannon fodder (UM and peasants) originally and the AI wasted most of the arrows and balista shots on those targets. I had stronger and bettered (some) armored units, so I eventually prevailed, but I actually lost slightly more men. It was actually all my cav units, some 4 in all, that carried the day at the end as they routed the RK general, capturing him when he tried to ride off into the sunset, as well as chasing the UM and spearmen who were still fighting.

Had a rebellion in 1164, and backed the loyalists. Whomped the rebels everywhere except in Brandenberg which I had just taken, where the whole army there turned rebel. In Saxony, which I had just invaded 2-3 years before, the HRE decided they would take advantage of the confusion and pummel me. Instead, I sat back at a distance, and saw through a curtain of trees the rebels pummeling the HRE:beam: and chasing them off. Now the rebels marched over to me and attempted to take me on with a semi-jedhi general:sweatdrop:. I showered a few other units that tryed to close, but alas for them, the units they lost to the HRE proved costly and I quickly routed them, even killing the general near the end of the battle:oops::smash::beam:.


Nice also was that the mercs I hired for invading Saxony went rebel in Brandenberg, so I am no longer responsible for their upkeep (half depleted numbers at that, after the battle in Saxony):2thumbsup:. So suddenly, I get all the generals back (who I pardoned) and have 5500 in the bank. Those same 'traitorous' generals:furious3: have since married with my beautiful daughters:2thumbsup:, and hence their loyalty is assured for some time to come:beam:.

So since then, I started building up and have 1st level trade buildings on Sweden, Saxony, and Pomerania, and the second level merchant house on Denmark. I have only 2 ships out, but with hopes to build more and eventually get Sweden going doing the same. Would like to bribe Norway at some point, but need to keep things secure on the mainland, so that may have to wait. I trail in GA points, but that is a small concern at the moment as I know I can bribe for provinces as I need them or take them from quarrelsome neighbors, if need be:laugh4:.

[Roark]

Really? In vanilla mtw I found them to be one of the easier factions with the East being populated by Rebels. Yes the first few years require rather tedious planning, but still.

Well, I haven't played vanilla since around 2007, so I can't really recall how it played out.

I don't put much stock in the Eastern provinces available to the Poles, though, as they are:

a.) Not much in the way of trade or farming
b.) landlocked

Kudos to you, though, for making them work for you.

:2thumbsup:

[gaijinalways]

Well, it is true, when you have money the rebels can often be bribed easily, depending on the province that is. It's a matter of number of attempts and sometimes your king's influence. Also quite often rebels won't attack, but this doesn't always hold true, especially on the expert level.

As to building up, the Poles are similar to the HRE, yet I have found the Poles more difficult so far. I was surprised that after uniting my kingdom through Saxony (Denmark & Sweden, Silesa, Poland & Pomerania), I shortly thereafter had a civil war start.

With the HRE on the other hand, I was more likely to drop a province here or there as I struggled to keep my provinces happy and well defended.

I don't know if it was a matter of luck or what. Often when I have had rebellions, that can be a game ender:oops::wall::oops:. In this case, I came out smelling like a rose:beam:.

[Roark]

Who did you side with in the civil war and how did the two factions compare strength-wise?

[gaijinalways]

I backed the loyalists with twice the numbers, but I had almost no starred generals. As I said, only the rebel mercs took Brandenberg, so I came out very well indeed.

Update


I went through a few more years, sorry can't remember the exact year now, but past 1206. Have expanded my fleet around the horn so to speak of the Iberian Pennisula, only to have the Alomonds attack me at one stage. Luckily they soon agreed to a ceasefire as well as becoming allies.

I do have a few xbows coming out of Denmark, but need to get albs online soon. I suppose I should have kept some that were a partial unit, as well as some merc long bows I could have gotten, but I am watching my pennies carefully. I was briefly making negative income, but this was after I staged a conflict to take some money from the French for the real reason of invading HRE held Friesland and Flanders. I simply used the French to get my Pope issued warning, then shuttled my men into the above two costal provinces.

I took those two provinces now and had some 11.5 k in the bank, but have now reduced this to some 8.5, but with my income now increased back to over 1k a turn. Am building up Poland as I need armored units there. Have plenty of unarmored units as well as archers, but feel weak in the face of the Hungarians. Flanders has a line of buildings coming along, both defensive and economic. Wales is still a bit weak, though I am mostly using it as a ship building area. I will probably spare some men there, but Flanders is more important, especially income-wise and position-wise.

I had wanted to earlier take Wessex and Mercia, but I didn't have enough men to finish off the English. They have now reexpanded back, though they lost Scotland to the rebels. Probably I will want to boot them out of Mercia, Wessex, and Northumbria when the time is best. I believe they still hold Anjou and Aquitaine as well, but they're not bothering me there, so I'll probably let them be.

I am actually in second place by 1 point on GA points, so I'm holding my own. I noticed that the Byz whacked the Norvogod pretty well, actually exterminating them at one time. I will have to keep an eye on the Byz if they decide to move into the sea west of Finland. As yet they are not making a fleet there, but something to keep an eye on. Beyond that, just hope to keep my provinces intact and keep building up my empire economically and militarily. With only 9 provinces I still feel compact and comfortable.

[gaijinalways]

Further update

Now in the 1260s (been busy recently, haven't played in about a week, so I can't remember the exact year). Took over the British Isles as well as Ireland. The English didn't like me slowly bribing away their provinces, but it was actually the Scots who finished them off, with me replacing the Scots.

My backdoor to Flanders is now protected as well as taking ownership of those few more provinces to pump troops out of and build up the cloth trade. Still, I have 15 provinces now, so I'm pretty small compared to the Alomonds who have taken over a good chunk of Western Europe bar Switzerland (HRE) and some provinces in the South that the Italians are clinging to. The Alomonds stretch all the way from most of Northern Africa except for a eastern bit that belongs to the Turks. Quite a few factions have bit the dust; the Sicilians, the English, the Novgorods, the French, the Egyptians, and the Spanish. The Golden Horde still exist, though I don't know how many provinces they have, maybe only 1 or 2. Ill be making some more emissaries soon to go find out.

Have spies being pumped out of two provinces (Sweden and Denmark), with plans to pump out more once another brothel is set up. The spies have helped catch a number of assassins who seem to love targeting my religious figures. I now have better armored chaps pumping out as well as arbs. Still need some better knights, so need to consider where to build them.

Norway is useful (another bribed province) for pumping out more ships. I still worry about another Alomond 'war' as they sometimes are itchy to have a sea battle, and with them now sharing land borders with me, I have to watch that some of my provinces don't feel their wrath:wall::sweatdrop:. Luckily, they have recently become an ally, so I can watch them peacefully bash the Hungarians and the Italians, who haven't gotten any bad ideas yet:juggle2:. The Pope keeps asking for help, but since I can't crusade, what's a Polish king to do:beam:? At the moment I am enjoying the extended peace, sometimes a rarity in expert level games.

I have fallen behind in the GA race, as I'm around 90 points, but the factions ahead of me are the Alomonds and the Byz, both over a hundered each. Haven't considered yet how to deal with that. I do want to get naval superiority before I decide to go head to head with either of them, as the disruption in trade will be immense.

One thought is to whether it's worth it to buld a univeristy in Poland for the GA points. Might be quite the effort as the income from that particular province is not earth shattering. I guess it's the same kind of thing when you grab Switzerland and its neighbor for the pikemen, they're hardly economic powerhouses (though Poland's farming does quite a bit better, the extensive borders to defend more than makes up for any added income).

Strangely enough, Flanders is still outdoing Sweden in trade income per turn, even though Flanders was acquired much later (they both have the same merchant buiding). Have about a cushy 85 k in the bank, with quite a bit of building going on, both for military and trade/farming. Only Brandenberg and Siliesa are not anything, as well as Friesland at the moment as I have better provinces to build for military and trade at the same time [often works out better that way, as the province becomes more attractive to other factions, you need some muscle to protect it:smash:, and sometimes home generated units are more loyal (though it could just be my overactive imagination:idea2:)].

Personally favor bashing the Hungarians or the Italians and then attacking the other after my designated Pope warning 'license to kill' another faction. Probably might favor the Italians as they have better rpovinces trade-wise, though the Hungarians are my neighbors and they may be easier to churn through. Either faction's losses or death will strengthen an eventual push for Costaninople, which I haven't given much thought to at the moment.

Any suggestions are welcome, hope all is well in your MTW world!

[m52nickerson]

Sounds like your Polish campaign is doing quite well.

Personally as the Poles I always secure the 4 rebel provinces around mine plus Lithuania and Kiev. Then I concentrate on building trade before the HRE or the Hungarians get froggy.

[gaijinalways]

Update

Well, the HRE is gone again, having been kicked out of Switzerland, so I don't have them to worry about. I have gone forward a few years, around 1282. I have done more building and the French have reemerged on the Iberian Pennisula. I have considered taking Portugal or Morroco if either rebels again as they might make it easier to go to Costaninople and build ships.

The Italians got crushed as well and have been regulated to Sicily. The Alomonds and the Byz are both pretty huge, with the Turks maybe being the same size as me (maybe a little smaller).

If I can get the Pope to give me a warning when I attack say the French, then I might go after some Hungarian turf afterwards. They hold a lot of provinces I personally don't want, but I do want to move toward Constaninople eventually as well as build ships closer to the Black Sea.

[Martok]

If you have the choice, taking Morocco would be better. Portugal always heaves with rebellion, no matter who holds it; I find it's often best to continue to let the Almos pacify them until I'm ready to move on them in force.

As for the Byz, have you tried to get an alliance with the Turks at all? They could be useful in helping to squeeze the Empire between the two of you.



By the by: Good to see you again, m52nickerson! It's been too long. ~:wave:

[gaijinalways]

Actually I am allied with the Byz now, as keeping my borders quiet and not having to worry about the Byz fleets is a bigger concern than the Turks who are smaller and farther away (actually, both of them don7t have a direct physical border with me at the moment as the Horde are closer). The only thing the Turks have are a few good colinies; Constaninople and Tripoli. But, since these are far away from my main base, I will let the Turks wait before they feel my wrath:whip:.

update
I went a little bit further, and the Hungarians look pretty weak. I do want to keep them in the game as they are a nice buffer to the horde, though I don't think the horde is really that strong as they are spread over several provinces. Besides, as noted in the low starred generals thread, I don't really need a lot of their provinces, I just simply want to slow them down and grab some cash from my invasions and possible razing incursions.

Will start building CS very soon and am building up some knight infrastructure as well. Some 145k in th bank, a lot of building going on, hence I don't want to annoy my larger AI opponents (the Byz and the Alomonds) into doing anything rash.

The pope is around, but I think he is mostly busy crying and trying to avert his eyes from the carnage I am inflicting on the Hungarians, one of the few faithful that could have helped him with the Alomonds on his doorstep. I figure if the Alomonds knock him off, they would be doing me a favor, though I do still want Venice and possibly Greece, and I suppose the pope would probably be a better neighbor, barely:inquisitive:.

[gaijinalways]

Moved on up into 1313 or 1314. Definately struggling, though I am making headway with ripping apart the Alomond ship building network as I attack all their coastal areas one by one (I'm in Leon now I think and of course makign the odd coin here and there:2thumbsup: as they retreat to their citadels). The Alomonds still occupy a big chunk of Western Europe, with the HRE just disappearing again near Toulouse. The Hungarians are not at war with me now, which is good since the Turks and the Horde are.

My income is better (some 3k plus a turn) as I have had a fair number of troops killed off, but I am aslo having problems keeping my generals alive as many battles are Pyrrhic victories:sweatdrop::wall:. The Alomonds keep attacking Brandenberg and Sielsa, as well as sometimes launching attacks at Saxony and Flanders. I hope they can hold until my troops in Leon come back from their 'coastal tour', with an eventual stop in Morocco before I hopefully rip through Provence and Toulouse and head back through the interior of the Alomond holdings in Western Europe.

I keep trying to get the Turks and the Horde to agree to peace, but it seems to be a losing battle (see how that hole I left to the Horde came back to haunt me:oops:). I still only hold perhaps 15 provinces, so I'm hardly a geography giant. The Alomonds still hold the top spot in the GA race at the moment, with myself a distant second.

Still cranking out a fair amount of ships and hoping to get peace again at some point, as well as expand at some point. Tuscany has rebelled now, so I may try to bribe that later, and Greece is held by the Turks in an uneasy way as my spies keep threatening to destabilize the local government there. My Alomond coastal tour is good for this as well as my spies infest as each coastal area is invaded and departed from. My bishops are also busy swaying the population to my message is important

Unfortunately, I have government problems of my own:whip:, as heavy losses have made for some disloyal troops, especially among my titled leaders. I did send some of them on the battle tour of the Alomond coastal areas, but I also want to avoid a civil war in the future.

Any suggestions on keeping individual unit loyalities up, especially with titled sirs?

I know you can marry them off, and possibly put them under your king, but is it worth accusing them of treason as well? And, I was surprised, as one time I had one named as a possible leader, and I couldn't find him! perhaps he had ninja powers of invisibility, either that or reading too many long Polish names tired me out (thankfully my parents shortened ours).

[Weebeast]

I don't accuse anyone of treason normally. I don't see the point. So okay your disloyal generals are gone and then what? You have anyone in mind to replace those disloyal generals? I'd just move em out of their stacks so they don't get crazy ideas. There's gotta be few loyal generals somewhere in the stacks. Give them lead of your stacks instead.

[gaijinalways]

That's mostly what I have done. I have a bunch of them laying into the Alomonds now.

I also considered stranding them in Ireland, but I was afraid that their replacements would not be much better. I probably need to bring my 'victory' general back and win some bigger battles. I hope by 'starving' the Alomonds and disrupting their ship producing ability I can restore my command of the sea as well bring my trade (though that is dependent on the other factions wanting peace).

[Knight of the Rose]

Well the basic reason to frame your generals for treason is it raises loyalty of other generals if succesful. Also a civil war needs a general with at least one scull of dread - so getting rid of low loyalty dread generals can be nice if other low loyalists are pure do-good nice-guys who oppose the King but wouldn't get their hands dirty.

:bow:

/KotR

NB: And then there is the roleplay element - to be sure...

[caravel]

I don't accuse anyone of treason normally. I don't see the point. So okay your disloyal generals are gone and then what? You have anyone in mind to replace those disloyal generals? I'd just move em out of their stacks so they don't get crazy ideas. There's gotta be few loyal generals somewhere in the stacks. Give them lead of your stacks instead.
It's simple:

Low calibre disloyal generals: Treason trial

High calibre disloyal generals: Stack with faction leader, give titles, marry to princesses etc.

The point of doing the former is that it gets your spies some training and gets rid of those generals that could trigger a civil war. Remember that civil war is triggered when the total number of disloyal generals exceeds the number of loyal ones.

[Martok]

High calibre disloyal generals: Stack with faction leader, give titles, marry to princesses etc.
Alternatively, you can try him for treason with a rookie spy in order to deliberately drive down his loyalty. Very useful if you want to engineer a rebellion/civil war to get rid of your current king and/or his heirs.... ~D

[oz_wwjd]

I usually stack all the disloyal generals under my king if there heavy calvary,as well,more expendable calv is always nice,and that way they can have the honour of dying for there country,if not there get exiled to some remote province,under a loyal general that can keep them in line.

[gaijinalways]

I've been doing a combination of things. Separated some generals from troops who were low on loyalty, also sent some on the Alomond tour, and I married a few off. Talks of rebellion seem to be mostly past now, as I have been winning more battles and stripping out a few territories. I recently took Navarre, Aragon, and Aquitaine, and plan to connect up the coast to Flanders eventually.

Have some 'overworked' mercs raiding here and there:whip:, and expect a batle royale eventually as the Alomonds have a few units of decent troops left besides scraps and some peasants. I'm debating whether I should force the point by bringing units from Flanders, Saxony, Friesland, and Brandenburg to take on their last larger army. I may do that, even though like many, I prefer to defend if I can:beam: and keep most of my troops more static.

Have been enjoying using xbow cavs in many battles as harassers and to clean up when the other side has units that rout. They have also helped me pull Alomond units out to chase me as I keep peppering some of the heavier armored units who often can't sprint so fast. Am still surprised though that sometimes when the xbow cav is firing on a unit that the xbow cav sometimes forgets to run away when the targeted unit charges. Had to engage one in the last battle, hit it from all 4 sides with 4 different cav units, but the AI unit still took a while to rout, so lost a few more horses than I had expected:oops:.

The Alomonds have seen their share of the map shrink, but they are still atop the leader board for GA points. Alomonds 147, I'm at 111, the BYZ 110, and the Turks making ground at 101. The Italians have a few points, and so do the Hungarians, but not so many to worry about.

[gaijinalways]

Update

Further in, perhaps 1329. Had a crucial battle in Lorraine, where the Alomonds are trying to hold on. They brought in troops from outside the province from Franconia (I did try once to uproot them from there, but the massive mountain climbing my units did proved to be too costly, even though the initial part of the battle went my way).

I was outnumbered some 6k to my 2k plus. I first started on a small hill off to their far left. It was about the only hill nearby and had some forest cover to my left if I wished to try and take advantage of it. These units (some 3 CMs, 2 CMAAs, 3FSs, 4 arbs) were just waiting, as I posted my 3 xbow-cavs as far forward to the enemy's right as they could go.


When the battle started, my cav units were practically on top of them (they could shoot at their siege machines:dizzy2:). A little too close, so I started with 2 units circling behind them while the other pulled back to see what they could draw out. I soon had rocks flying with some aum units giving chase. I did have a gulam cav chasing me at one point, but they gave up to go forward with the main AI battle group. I kept peppering a few aum units, and they kept giving chase as I would use three units to keep showering 1 or 2 aum units. I also took out their siege engines when the AI mistakenly left them momentarily unguarded, though I couldn't finish the job on the second siege group as some javelin throwing units tried to run me down, but those siege members later left the field, feeling they couldn't do much as they had lost quite a few.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the AI army approached my small hill, and my 4 arb units were pounding them without mercy. The AI did get some gulam cav into contact very quickly, and later managed to get other units up there as my arbs whittled down what they could, but some of the units covered the middle ground very quickly. Th battle went on quite a while, and I considered having my arbs join in. At that point the levee broke:beam:, and my arbs happily shot the retreating routers as my infantry units pulled back.

Back to the cav units. I was switching back and forth, and as usual, the cav would sometimes continue shooting even as the aum unit would practically close rank. A few times I had to wrench them away, losing some individual units (All three cav units were later depeleted down to perhaps a little more than half each by the end of the battle). They did a great job of depleting 2 aum units and 1 javelin throwing bunch, which helped the bulk of my main battle group survive for another day.

The main hill battle worked out well. I drove off the initial units and killed a good number of them with the arbs doing overtime duty. Soon AI replacements came, and I had to hold off replacing my units as I was vastly outnumbered. My men were geting a little tired, as the blood dried on their swords and shields. Their general, a single royal knight, urged them on from his safe spot in the woods.

The Alomonds closed again, this time with more missile troops. I had a shoot out during the times we had foot units engaging as I didn't wish to kill too many of my own units and preferred to try and outshoot their units. Finally the AI decided in this second wave that his xbow and archer units should join in the fray, so at one point several of my arbs joined in, as well as one reluctant xbow unit that was slow to retreat from some Ghazis that ran them down in front of my main line. By this time some of my cav units had to retreat from some AI cav units that came in as reinforcements, and they actually helped to rout some AI foot units as well as attack one arb unit. They also did some straight shooting as AI units showed up, before limping off the field with empty quivers.

The clansmen's entrance as reinforcements came in handy now as they attacked arriving AI pavaise xbows and regular arbs at will, easily running them down. Many of them later succumbed to the heat of the battle as they kept attacking and not allowing the enemy missile units to often keep pounding away at my tired units. I know I had 3 full 60 units at the beginning, and later most of those units had perhaps 10 men per unit. They and a few spare spearmen also joined in, and one unit of axemen. If I had had some armored peasants, I would have used them, anything to keep arrows and bolts off of my other units' necks.

The clock slowly came around in my favor, but by that time I had run out of reinforcements as I sent off depleted arb units and some exhausted infantry, and of course had a few units rout due to being depleted and exhausted. Final numbers were around 2800 killed, some 500 prisoners to my odd 500 dead. I probably will need to send in some reinforcements, though I dare not risk too many units from Flanders, which still has a small Alomond army nearby in Britany.

Unfortunately, this campaign will probably be halted as my wife is complaining the packing is not coming along fast enough. The bulk of it has been done by her (she's not working now as her schools are already in vacation mode), but the box piling and furniture removal has fallen on myself. I will hope to do some packing today when she goes shopping, though I am reluctant to pack some teaching materials I am still using, though in this final week, I won't be using much as I prepare my students for oral exams and give a set of written exams. there are other things, some of which we can't pack unless we resort to eating out every day.

On top of that, we will soon leave for France for a week, as well as greet my parents who will soon be arriving at the end of the month. The booking is done in France (accomodation, rental car, still haven't booked train tickets yet), though my wife is considering adding another trip for my parents with me sheparding them solo. She keeps saying she wants a break from the in-law horde, but I am afraid this may give my parents a bad impression.

There are little things to do, but certainly my wife could excuse herself to do them, such as pick up the key for the rental we'll stay at during the renovations, prep her dad for the visit to the bank (he's the cosigner on the renovation loan as he has the bulk of the mortgage in his name), but she feels she wants 'peace and quiet' for 1 or 2 nights. We have one longer trip already booked (4 nights) with my parents to visit Tohoku, as staying here in Tokyo in a small house is not a good option in the 'sweating summer season. Have to wait and see.

Happy battling,

GA

[gaijinalways]

Whew. Already up to about 1377, and the Alomonds finally fell:sweatdrop:, leaving me with more trade income and of course a few provinces I picked up:2thumbsup:. I have expanded my empire considerably, though on the GA points board the Turks are not so far behind (126 for me, 120 for them). Everyone else is quite a bit smaller , the Golden horde, the Byz, the Hungarians, the Papacy, the Italians, and the Egyptians (the last 2 are the smallest, I think 2 provinces each). The Hungarians I find the most annnoying, they back stabbed me a few times, but I managed to hold them off. I would like to attack them and cripple them permanently, but good Catholic that I am, I don't want the Pope warning me off (once I considered sinking one of their ships, and got a warning for that:furious3:).

I currently hold provinces into the beginning of the Iberian pennisula, with Leon and Portugal still rebel held, and N. Africa rebel held as well. Pretty much most of western Europe is mine except for 2 rebel provinces, one being Toulose and another will soon have a battle with the rebels which my forces expect to win. The Hungarins hold Austria and Hungary nearby, this is my only hot border areas as I scurry to bring some more troops there as well as combine bits and pieces that I have.

The Turks are further away in Cyrenica (sorryif my spelling is not right, my printed maps are suddenly missing, probably my wife's doing as we prepare to move), though their lands are slowly being converted to Christian ones, as they keep refusing my peace offerings. With the Hungarians currently neutral, and the Byz and the Pope as allies, trade is flourishing at some 9 k a turn.

Am doing some building for farming and general peace making in most provinces, with a few fo additional military might. Hoping to build up Switzerland and Tyrolia, but am not sure how valuable they will be as the idea of gaining pikemen is not likely with so few years remaining. Maybe Halbs will be possible as reinforcements, haven't decided if I'll finish this one as a GA project, or go for an earlier victory. I feel fairly comfortable as I am by far the largest navy with all the seas covered. Pumping out a few more ships now, cash is not real high, some 47 k, with new military units coming out of Flanders, Navarre, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. Still pumping out spies out of two other provinces, with good protection now in my provicnes, as well as spies keeping things under control in some other areas.

Wonder if I should go for the areas that the Golden horde hold (ones for 'border' points), probably will as soon as I am shored up well enough.

[gaijinalways]

I decided instead to keep badgering the Turks into 1385, who always seem to attack my navy whenever they get a single ship out (suicidal, hmm:beam:). I'm currently taking out their last two ports, but prefer to keep them alive. I'll probably move to take some more historically important provinces from the horde and the Hungarians, but the latter will be tougher as the Pope's warnings often come fast and furious. I don't know if it would be possible to attack the Italians's single province (and hope it's not a king and nobility line killing battle) and get the warning and then batter the Hungarians so that I can take Hungary and one other province that they hold that I would like to 'liberate'.

I'm very strong, having taken additionally Egypt, Anitoch, and Tripoli (Lockerbie, anyone?). Whacked the Turks in lower Armenia, as well as Nicea. Constantinople was the first to go, and was fairly easy to get. Just brought enough troops in, and it fell readily. Still would like to pick up neighboring Greece at some time, just haven't bothered as yet. I feel little pity attacking the Turks who have often and repeatedly turned down peace proposals (well, the horde did too, but I expected that:laugh4:).

The Alomonds have resurfaced, though they hold only 4 provinces; Morocco, Algeria, 'something', and Cyrenica (they took this last one back after I razed it and 'spied it up'). I don't fear them so much as I am well defended in Egypt and in Cordoba. Plus I like reemerging factions as they make life interesting at times:whip:.

With Constantinople, Navarre, Aragon, Flanders, Normandy, Scotland (yes, those kilts come in handy still, great troops for running down missile troops and even fleeing heavies if they have routed:beam:), Poland, Sweden, and Denmark as production centers for military units, Pomerania and Finland pumping out spies, and most of the British Isles and Corsica pumping out boats here and there (and a few more bishops and the sometime assassin).

My kitty is sitting at about 99k with 18k coming in a year. Have a lot of building going on as well as troops preparing their swords to reinforce the territories that I just took over east of Costintinople. As mentioned in my last post, whole scale farming is going on with a few other buildings going up, mostly just to make my empire look mightier and populace happier.

Best to all, may have to take a break soon as I'll be moving house. Currently laid up though with a herniated disc, so I expect that I'll keep my work schedule light as moving around is sometimes slow and painful. Thank goodness for computer games! Luckily, even with moving house, the Internet may be off line for a few days, but games will live on the hard drive!

[Martok]

Thanks for the update, mate. I've been enjoying reading your AAR; it's well done. :bow:


Good luck on your move, and I hope your back improves!

[gaijinalways]

Thanx. I always find this game to be more complex than I expect (or should have realized already:dizzy2::book:), but it is always a pleasant surprise, and what makes the game utterly replayable:beam:. There are other games where a few times through, and I would be very bored and possibly not want to play it ever again (Max Payne comes to mind, and certainly Diablo:stars:). My pc game playing takes a back stage at various times of the year due to work and my spouse's objections to my enjoyment of something she doesn't like.

Yeah, my back, great bummer:wall::furious3:. I suddenly understand why my mother couldn't walk very well due to arthritus afecting her sciatic nerve when she was visiting Japan about a mere week ago (I needed to push her wheelchair most of her visit). My injury is similar in that my right leg, from the hip to the ankle, is affected in different ways on different days. Today is a little better as I can walk at a waddle; yesterday's visit to the doctor near my house was sheer agony, with my ankle and knee almost incapacitated, both being locked up. To give you some idea of the pain, imagine someone taking a nail gun and using it on various parts of your leg againist a wall, and then you are asked to attempt to walk while your leg is still attached to a wall somewhere:wreck:. Fun it ain't:help:.

Well, I expect to take off more time from work as our moving has been delayed. Plan to finish a travel update for a forum, and just relax. Haven't thought too much about prepping for next semester yet, will probably wait until we're resettled in our new place west of Tokyo, sometime 2nd week of September.