Thousands of rebels just joined me w/o any bribes.

[Haethurn]

I can't believe it. I was possibly in the worst situation ever.

My Danish empire extended all the way south to Spain, west to Volga-Bulgaria, and again south to Constantinople. Then, for no reason at all, the Turks declared a jihad on Volga-Bulgaria, which I had taken from the Novgorods. Suddenly I was embroiled in a massive war. I sent thousands of troops over to take Constantinople, and I did take it, but the Turks kept on coming. Every turn I would send ten emissaries over to the Turkish king, pleading for help, and every time he said no. I finally got the picture that there was absolutely no way a ceasefire could be signed unless he wanted it first.

Just when I thought I was holding the Turks off well, the Germans reappeared, attacking three provinces and eventually becoming a terrible nuisance in Europe.

Not content to let me wipe the sweat off my brow yet, a few years later the Almohads attacked, launching an offensive in Spain. My men barely held on to it.

To my utter horror, the entirety of the United Kingdom except for Mercia and Wessex rebelled with rebel armies of 2000 men for each province.

My troubles weren't over yet After that, the Polish and the Hungarians attacked me, attempting to take my northern provinces and my provinces around Serbia. Again, my men barely held on. For a while the Pope was my only ally, but soon he canceled his alliance with me in favor of the Polish.

I threw my hands up in disgust and said, Fine Take the provinces For the next several decades I made only a half-hearted attempt to fight the Turks, Almohads, Germans, Polish, and Hungarians. I didn't even bother with the rebels in the British Isles. I tried to reinforce my provinces, but the enemy navies had broken my trade routes and everybody is pretty much isolated.

I desperately fought the Turks, even going as far as to destroy every single building in any provinces that I captured, even for a single turn, in an attempt to cripple them. It was hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

Then, out of nowhere, loyalists started popping up in provinces everywhere, fighting off the Germans, Turks, and Almohads. The next turn I looked at my provinces in the British Isles and to my amazement around 8000 rebels had joined me.

I did not bribe them at all. I couldn't have even if I wanted to. I was in debt by at least 5000 florins. Apparently the rebels just decided to join me for no reason. Most of them joined me without even taking the province they were in. The best thing is, a lot of these generals are superb. One of them in Portugal has five stars and excellent stats.

I haven't played this campaign any further, but I sincerely hope that with these stunning changes of fortune I might just be able to fight back my enemies. If I pull this off this will be the best war I've ever been in.

If I can only manage to sign a ceasefire with the Turks I MIGHT be able to crush the Polish and the Hungarians, thereby eliminating that threat, and take out the Almohads while I am at it.

But how can I do that? I send ten emissaries every turn and it is always, no, no, no. Sometimes he says ridiculous things like We don't plan to attack anymore, when the very next turn he tries to attack me again, or he says Withdraw your troops from your borders as a sign that you are sincere. I know that if I did that he would wipe out half of my empire. Is there any easy way to make peace with a country? Any tips on this?

[bighairyman]

That is sweet, i never had that happen to me, it would have be nice fighting the GH, and then suddenly, the rebels join me and crush those pagan scum GHs http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (bighairyman @ April 15 2004,18:52)]That is sweet, i never had that happen to me, it would have be nice fighting the GH, and then suddenly, the rebels join me and crush those pagan scum GHs http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif
Oh, yeah, I forgot...the Golden Horde attacked me, also. So I'm at war with the Almohads, the Turks, the Hungarians, the Polish, the Germans, and the Golden Horde. Probably the Pope is going to join the bandwagon sooner or later, since obviously attacking me is the hip thing to do nowadays in 1287. Everybody's doing it. The pope just wouldn't be cool if he didn't join the party. I don't think that an influential man like the pope could turn down an opportunity to impress his friends. I think he'll succumb to peer pressure.

[Lord Ovaat]

HAETHURN, it doesn't sound like much of a problem to me. It sounds more like one of the best games you'll ever have http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (Lord Ovaat @ April 15 2004,19:03)]HAETHURN, it doesn't sound like much of a problem to me. It sounds more like one of the best games you'll ever have http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif
Yeah, if these rebels turn out to be useful and don't just get crushed by the Turks or the Polish.

By the way, what could have caused the rebels to join me without me bribing them?

[katank]

rebels decide to join factions by suddenly pledging their loyalty to them.

this occurs if

1) faction just appearred

2) that faction is doing kinda badly.

don't worry. world war in medieval that you might actually lose is fun.

will be kewl seesaw campaign. thou shall prevail and crush the infidels. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (katank @ April 15 2004,20:04)]rebels decide to join factions by suddenly pledging their loyalty to them.

this occurs if

1) faction just appearred

2) that faction is doing kinda badly.

don't worry. world war in medieval that you might actually lose is fun.

will be kewl seesaw campaign. thou shall prevail and crush the infidels. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
So they joined me because they saw how I was getting my http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-furious3.gif kicked around by every other kingdom in the known world and felt sorry for me? Well, that's rather kind of them. I think I'll reward them with provincial titles

[JAG]

Sounds like the very reason why this game is so amazing and so addictive. The other nations no doubt all attacked you becasue by the sounds of it you were the only super power, they tend to do that. Don't be surprised if you cannot gain allies either, when your up against it you really get up against it. Keep trying and keep fighting though.

[katank]

BTW, ceasefires are useless even if you get one.

the turks will stab you as soon as you try shifting troops to another front.

kill them all http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Demon of Light]

How soon until you're back in the positives with money?

[WorkNeglecter]

Quote[/b] (Haethurn @ April 16 2004,02:51)]By the way, what could have caused the rebels to join me without me bribing them?
If the enemy takes one of your long-held provinces and doesn't have enough troops to keep loyalty above 100%, the enemy may have a loyalist rebellion, which usually has good troops and generals. This has happened to you and me often enough, I imagine, but on the receiving end Once it worked in my favor when I was in dire straits, but rarely. The AI sometimes forgets to garrison correctly.

[PseRamesses]

Since the Turkish sultan is so relucant to offer you a ceasefire try and kill him with assasins. Maybee his heir is more likely to sign especially since he doesn´t seem to gain anything from the war with you. Good luck

[Don Corleone]

I'm in agreement with Katank. The Turks have no intention of honoring any ceasefire (or even alliance pact) you sign with them. In my experience, the Turks, the Spanish and to a lesser extent the English and the HRE just don't give a rat's ass about whatever they've promised, when you expose your neck, they'll slit it with a knife. Always always always keep a strong defensive front against these factions, even when they're your allies. Middle of the road in this regard is the Italians, the Alhomads, the Byzantines, the Poles and the Hungarians. Factions that appear to actually honor their commitments: the French (don't laugh) the Pope, the Danes and amazingly enough, the Russians. I've never really had any diplomatic dealings with the Egyptians.

To answer your original question, I don't think there's anything you can do to persuade the AI to accept a ceasefire.... The HRE was down to 2 provinces one time and I had almost the entire meditaranean (and didn't want to wander into mainland Europe just yet). Well, the emperor get's a hair across his ass and invades Milan, possibly my 3rd strongest province. I had over 2K units there, most highly trained CMAA (this was one of my CMAA generation provinces, Tuscany and Serbia being the others). Needless to say, it'd be the equivalent of taking shelter in a cave and discovering every bear in the forest was inside for a convention. And I wasn't all that upset. I really didn't want to get into it with the HRE just yet, because they had the Spaniards as allies and I didn't want them turning against me in Iberia while I was driving the Elmos out. Well, nothing... bribes, buildups, builddowns could get the emperor to calm down. Damn spanish dropped the alliance and attacked me, so then the pope and the Hungarians dropped their alliances too *grumble* http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-furious3.gif Anyway, good luck. Take the rebels as a gift

[Axeknight]

Quote[/b] (WorkNeglecter @ April 16 2004,11:27)]when I was in dire straits,
Is there something you and Mark Knopfler aren't telling us? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

That sounds like it's shaping up to be one helluva campaign, Haethurn. I love those campaigns, where you're fighting for your life, desperately trying to turn back the hordes. Have fun http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[LoST RaiNDRoP]

that is cool.. i wish lots of rebels in my side would pop out of my enemy provinces.. that would be more than a miracle.. ehehe... anyways you get http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (WorkNeglecter @ April 16 2004,04:27)]
Quote[/b] (Haethurn @ April 16 2004,02:51)]By the way, what could have caused the rebels to join me without me bribing them?
If the enemy takes one of your long-held provinces and doesn't have enough troops to keep loyalty above 100%, the enemy may have a loyalist rebellion, which usually has good troops and generals. This has happened to you and me often enough, I imagine, but on the receiving end Once it worked in my favor when I was in dire straits, but rarely. The AI sometimes forgets to garrison correctly.
That's not it. There were loyalists, but I am talking about actual rebels. I had a firm hold on the British Isles for a long time, until they rebelled with those grey rebels. I had fortresses and castles in all of those provinces, so it took a very long time for them to gain the provinces. Eventually, the grey rebels joined me, most without taking the provinces, and became red Danes. They were fighting me one moment and then all of a sudden they decided to join me.

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (PseRamesses @ April 16 2004,04:43)]Since the Turkish sultan is so relucant to offer you a ceasefire try and kill him with assasins. Maybee his heir is more likely to sign especially since he doesn´t seem to gain anything from the war with you. Good luck
That's what I've done-several times. They all seem to take after their father.

By the way, most of those rebels were peasants, actually-only a few spearmen. So, not really the help I needed. But they did conquer all of North Africa except for maybe Tunisia. The Almohads and the Turks are now fighting each other, and that might be advantageous to me.

If I don't conquer the whole map, but I still manage to complete my Glorious Achievements and live through to 1453 A.D., can I win the game?

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (Demon of Light @ April 16 2004,00:51)]How soon until you're back in the positives with money?
Oh, about never. I'm into debt by 50,000 florins. I have no idea how it happened. I guess I had to lower the taxes down in almost all of my provinces just to keep them from rebelling every turn with 1000-man armies. I may also have some mercenaries, but I definitely don't have so many that I would get into debt. Fact is most of them are probably dead now.

My strategy now is to just buckle up and hold on until the end.

[Bhruic]

Well, I suspect that if you had a negative cashflow before the rebels joined you, it would have been worse afterwards. I mean, they joined you for free, but they still expect to be paid. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif It's not likely the provinces you gained would be enough to offset those costs either.

Bh

[Haethurn]

Quote[/b] (Bhruic @ April 16 2004,15:42)]Well, I suspect that if you had a negative cashflow before the rebels joined you, it would have been worse afterwards. I mean, they joined you for free, but they still expect to be paid. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif It's not likely the provinces you gained would be enough to offset those costs either.

Bh
I'm getting -10,000 florins per turn, so I probably have the worst economy ever. However, my army keeps getting bigger as more people keep joining me for no real reason.

I just defeated the Turks. I adopted a scorched earth policy of razing every building in every one of their provinces and then moving on to the next. Eventually they couldn't build anything, and had to rely on loyalists to help them fight me. The Sultan was stranded in Egypt, unable to move out of that province.

I attacked Egypt with most of my men in North Africa and slew the Turkish king, thereby eliminating the Turkish faction.

Then another miracle happened. Every single former Turkish loyalist joined my empire. And they had all of Asia Minor, and loyalists in every one of the provinces.

I check to look at my other provinces and, lo and behold, every single rebel that was causing me to pull my hair out before had decided to join my faction. I had 2/3 of my empire back.

The Germans reappeared again, but the Pope excommunicated them. The People of Novgorod reappeared for a moment, but the Golden Horde defeated them, and the Byzantines were eliminated the same turn that the Turkish were eliminated.

The major threats that I have to deal with now are the Almohads and the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde have conquered almost all of Russia and probably are not content to stop there.

The Almohads still has a powerful army, although it is cut off into three or four provinces. Also, I believe they are beating me in the Glorious Achievements game. If I can defeat their faction, then I will have a chance to win if I can just stay alive until 1453 A.D...I think.

[katank]

that's kinda sweet.

I seems that all I need to do is to run my economy into the ground and all the rebels will bow into my charisma and join me for free

ever considered doing this as deliberate strategy? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[JAG]

Might be a challenge.

[Haethurn]

I won. Here's a summary of what happened.

The third time the Germans reappeared, they were quickly put down in Milan by loyalist forces. After the German king died, they did not come back again.

Once the Turks were eliminated, the Polish and Hungarians stopped attacking my provinces, except for one or two assaults in the Balkans that they undertook with the Golden Horde backing them up. I ignored both of them.

I conquered the last of the Almohad holdings in North Africa and the Middle East with the Arab Muslim loyalists that joined my empire when Turkey fell. The remaining Almohads all fled to Portugal, where they amassed a gigantic army in the hopes of conquering Spain. However, with I sent all of my soldiers in Spain and all of the European rebels in the British Isles and southern Europe into the province, taking it and slaying the Almohad king.

All three Islamic factions had been eliminated: The Egyptians, the Turks, and the Almohads.

Of the Catholic and Orthodox factions, the Byzantines, the English, the French, the Germans, the Spanish, and the People of Novgorod were defeated.

The only factions remaining were the Papacy, the Hungarians, the Polish, the Golden Horde, the Italians (They had about three provinces, including Corsica and Sardinia), and perhaps the Sicilians.

When I eliminated the Egyptians, I got a message stating that I had conquered over 60% of the map and that I could claim victory. Seeing as I had little to no interest in risking everything I had fought so hard to gain on just a few more minor provinces, I decided to accept the offer and I claimed my victory.

In the beginning of this mess I sent 5000 men into Turksih soil. Most of them died. For about 100 years I would not be able to train any units, as my economy was completely down the drain. The only soldiers I had from before the Turkish War were soldiers in Russia, who were nearly all slaughtered by the Golden Horde, and in several European provinces. By the end of the game, I had over 15,000 men. I had become the world's largest military power almost entirely through the rebels that joined my faction, and without them I would never have been able to win my first campaign victory in Medieval: Total War.