Regarding my father's father's empire...

[Modus]

In 1147, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I (age 33) was the most powerful and influential man in all of Christendom, let alone the known world. Not neccessarily a smart man, nor a brilliant general - he was, however, a decent and just emperor. Under his reign the Empire stretches from the tradtionally French lands of Acquitaine, Anjou, Flanders and Isle d' France, to the trade-rich lands of Sweden, as well as the distant province of Livonia. Many of the former Italian city-states have fallen to the HRE's armies, as well as the traditionally rebellious region of Croatia.

There is much that this Emperor can accomplish in his remaining years on the throne - mainly throuhg the skillful execution of his commands by his competent Generals and Chief administrators.

-=-
1148 - Further aggression towards the former French lands has been cancelled by the reemergence of the House of Poitevin. Normandy, Brittany, Champagne and their subesquent English holdings have all rallied to the new French King.

-=-
1149, Genoa
Holy Roman Empire and Papal forces combine to invade the Italian city-state of Genoa, the final toehold of the Doge upon the mainland of Europe...

[Modus]

A foreward:
-=-
Prussia, 1096
The HRE advance to the East follows the cold coast of the Pomeranian shores. In Prussia, the Rebel hordes turn and fight after avoiding conflict for nearly a year. Here, the HRE army under the Crown Prince Conrad prepares to make war over even, cold ground.

The day is won The Rebels are driven from the field after accurate bow volleys decimate the unit of the enemy general, who dies with multiple arrows in his body.

-=-
Milan, 1108
The excommunication of the Italian Doge allows for the timely exploitation of needed HRE expansion. The Emperor's armies come from as far away as Prussia to wage war in the Italian provinces of Venice and Milan. The Crusaders from the North-Eastern reaches of the Empire suffers desertions upon the road to Italy, but victory is assured by the steady hands of those who remain.

In Milan, the Crown Prince leads his armies into the low hills of the Milanese countryside. Although he outnumbers the Milanese troops by some 300 men-at-arms, he still feels wary of this uncompromising countryside.

The center of this battlefield was dominated by a single strong position in the likes a loosely wooded hill. The Italians surged forward in a successful attempt to take this hill, only to be dislodged with great calamity and casualties on both sides.

-=-
Milan, 1114
The Italian Doge invades the Duchy of Milan with a handful of soldiers in an attempt to usurp the Emperor's claim. The Emperor's forces take the field sans archers, creating a morose feeling of worry within the ranks of the veterans.

With a stunning victory, the Italian Doge is slaughtered - further reinforcing the rumors of that lineage's insecurity.

The same season, Venice is invaded by an army strong in the blood of the Doge - including two of his sons. They are met on the field by the Crown Prince and members of his Teutonic Bodyguard - the majority of the rest of the Emperor's army is made up of peasant levies.

The armies meet, and the Italians are forcibly removed from the field - over 650 men are taken and slain that day.

[Modus]

1142, Flanders
The Emperor's brother leads an army from all over the Empire into Flanders. This will be the debut of the Emperor's finest swordsmen, youths from Swabia, the home of the Emperor's throne. They are eager to prove their abilities, and do so exceedingly skillfully - hitting the enemy's left flank, whilst Norsemen supported by Slavs took the center. The enemy right flank was then turned by the flower of the Empire's cavalry - Knights of the Teutonic Order, and the Emperor's sibling and his retinue. The field was won, at an acceptable cost

[Brutal DLX]

Welcome Modus http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Some mod should move your story to the Mead Hall though, so nobody will miss out on your adventures. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Modus]

I'd like that very much, actually

[Gregoshi]

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif Hello there Modus and welcome to the Org. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

Since you can only post here for the present, we'll leave you story here. Once you are promoted and can post elsewhere, we can copy the whole topic over there for you.

[Modus]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to being a full member - I'm quite intrigued by the system you have going here. If you are familiar with the MMORPG-FPS WWIIOnline (http://www.wwiionline.com), I was the founder of OKW (http://www.okw.wwiionline.com), the official, CRS-affiliated Axis resource and news website, which has ultimately degenerated into its current exculsively forum-oriented state. Membership to our forum was free and open, with what I would presumably consider was a smaller operating and posting community in comparison with the :TW series. It has, however, but quite successful and the forums were, for the most part, very orderly. This was mainly due to our specific nature as the Axis Community resource, whilst the majority of the spammers, flamers, and trollers embedded themselves in the main and official CRS-controlled forums on the WWIIOnline website. I guess we were lucky

With regards,

[Modus]

Played this campaign further, dealing with the Byzantine Empire now. Finally knocked out the Danes to my north after they invaded, was summarily Excommunicated. Dealing with that, as well. Confined the Pope to the Papal States, have met my HRE requirements.

Is there any way of making amends with the Pope? I've been attempting to get a cease-fire for some time now, to no avail. I don't want to kill the bugger and whipe them out, I just want peace. He's having none of it, and neither did the previous Pope. Any advice?

[Brutal DLX]

Well, you have to live with it.
It may be possible to get a peace agreement with the Pope once in a while, especially when neither of his allies are at war with you, but that's not a given. So say goodbye to crusades.

[Magraev]

Try (save first) to chase the pope into the castle (don't kill him - autoresolve works best). Then on the next turn leave the province completely. The pope jumps out of the castle as a neutral faction - maybe a bug, but I see it as a shut up or else threat that works.