flayertim
04-08-2007, 16:30
I play Medieval Total War with the Viking Invasion expansion pack and VikingHordes' XL mod. Here is one of my mod stories...
I am playing Early Period XL on Hard difficulty as the Byzantines, by far my favorite faction.
In the XL mod, the Byzantine early position isn't so great as before: Lesser Armenia has become the Armenian faction, Anatolia belongs to the Turks, and Georgia is independent. Many of the southern russian independent provinces have been combined into the Cuman faction. Serbia, once an independent province, is now its own faction.
At the start of the game, I mass my troops and invade and conquer Serbia. I also bribe the rebel general in Georgia and get that province back. I am building up forces and waiting for all those 6 and 7 star heirs to appear for my campaign to conquer the Turks.
I send my emissaries around Europe to check out what's going on in the world. The Genoese and Venetians (the Italian faction has been split up) are waging war in Italy, with the Genoese winning. To my north, the Cumans and Hungarians have been fighting a long war. Initially, the Cumans have the advantage, but the Hungarians start winning later. The English have conquered the Scots (another new faction).
Finally, my emissary goes to Spain to see what's going on there. Portugal has been split into the provinces of Portugal and Algarve, and Cordoba has been split into Corboda and Murcia. Also, the Portuguese have been added as a new faction, but they have been conquered by the Almohads. But now, the Almohads, Spanish, and Aragonese are all at peace!
Then I notice El Cid, the rebel general in Valencia. To my surprise, he hasn't been conquered yet by anybody. I decide to bribe him. It's costly, but my treasury is huge, and I managed. El Cid is now a Byzantine general.
Later on, when Princess Anna Commnena (famous for writing the Alexiad) comes of her age, I marry her to El Cid to raise his [low] loyalty.
By now, I have conquered the Turks, Egyptians, Cumans, Venetians, Aragonese (using El Cid, but he died of old age shortly after. However, because of a glitch in which the stats of a general who died of old age are passed on, I now have a Lord Provevanci with El Cid's attributes and vices/virtures) and Papacy, and have taken Genoa, Milan, Savoy, and Provence from the Genoese, who are now stranded in Corsica and Sardinia. The Pope has returned twice, but I keep the ex-prince Romanus there (an 8 star general) with a big army for when the Pope returns.
The Almohads have conquered the Spanish and the Portuguese and are now quite powerful and my allies; the French have driven the English out of their lands, and the Germans have been mostly decimated by wars with the Genose, Bohemians, Hungarians, and Danish. My next plans are for finishing off the Genoese and invading Hungary.
I am playing Early Period XL on Hard difficulty as the Byzantines, by far my favorite faction.
In the XL mod, the Byzantine early position isn't so great as before: Lesser Armenia has become the Armenian faction, Anatolia belongs to the Turks, and Georgia is independent. Many of the southern russian independent provinces have been combined into the Cuman faction. Serbia, once an independent province, is now its own faction.
At the start of the game, I mass my troops and invade and conquer Serbia. I also bribe the rebel general in Georgia and get that province back. I am building up forces and waiting for all those 6 and 7 star heirs to appear for my campaign to conquer the Turks.
I send my emissaries around Europe to check out what's going on in the world. The Genoese and Venetians (the Italian faction has been split up) are waging war in Italy, with the Genoese winning. To my north, the Cumans and Hungarians have been fighting a long war. Initially, the Cumans have the advantage, but the Hungarians start winning later. The English have conquered the Scots (another new faction).
Finally, my emissary goes to Spain to see what's going on there. Portugal has been split into the provinces of Portugal and Algarve, and Cordoba has been split into Corboda and Murcia. Also, the Portuguese have been added as a new faction, but they have been conquered by the Almohads. But now, the Almohads, Spanish, and Aragonese are all at peace!
Then I notice El Cid, the rebel general in Valencia. To my surprise, he hasn't been conquered yet by anybody. I decide to bribe him. It's costly, but my treasury is huge, and I managed. El Cid is now a Byzantine general.
Later on, when Princess Anna Commnena (famous for writing the Alexiad) comes of her age, I marry her to El Cid to raise his [low] loyalty.
By now, I have conquered the Turks, Egyptians, Cumans, Venetians, Aragonese (using El Cid, but he died of old age shortly after. However, because of a glitch in which the stats of a general who died of old age are passed on, I now have a Lord Provevanci with El Cid's attributes and vices/virtures) and Papacy, and have taken Genoa, Milan, Savoy, and Provence from the Genoese, who are now stranded in Corsica and Sardinia. The Pope has returned twice, but I keep the ex-prince Romanus there (an 8 star general) with a big army for when the Pope returns.
The Almohads have conquered the Spanish and the Portuguese and are now quite powerful and my allies; the French have driven the English out of their lands, and the Germans have been mostly decimated by wars with the Genose, Bohemians, Hungarians, and Danish. My next plans are for finishing off the Genoese and invading Hungary.