Damn, this game can sometimes grab you by the neck and hold. I've never encountered a game which can combine the power of a long game with an individual affection for a particular army.
Early, expert, GA, English.
it's 1163 and the English are prospering under the peaceful 40 year rule of Stephen I. The French royal house is a shadow, existing on the sufference of King Stephen. England holds Toulouse, the gateway to the mediterranean, and english naval power extends from Sweden to the shores of Egypt.
All is in readiness for the Crusades' onslaught into the lands of the Muslim. The south of France is a vast marshalling yard for the forces of the cross.
Stephen is not a pious man but with practical eyes sees in the crusades the prospect of glory, trade and the Pope's favour.
The lightly armed spearmen that have been the mainstay of Englands armies for nearly a century are outmoded on Europe's battlefields by the newer forces; armoured knights and Feudal Sergeants, but in the desert heat these light infantry may yet prosper. the king's agents are busy recruiting light cavalry to leaven these forces and the Templar heavy knights. And the kings 4 battle-hardened heirs vie amongst themselves for the honour of leading the armies to the holy land.
In 1165, The 1st crusade is launched. Massive forces rout the Turkish forces around Antioch and rapidly make ready to storm the Castle.
But how quickly the world changes. King Stephen, rest his soul, dies in his 76th year. His son, king Stephen II is a 25 year old warrior with little interest in anything other than the sword. Taking adventage of the new king's inexperience, Italian pirates strike at the English trade routes. The navy quickly sweeps the sea clear of Italian ships in revenge. But the perfidious Pope ignores the evidence of the italian pirates and excommunicates the young King.
A vengeful Stephen decides to punish the Pope the only way he knows how, and orders the english armies left in Toulouse to embark for Rome. The Pope's forces are routed, and the Papal states lie open.
1167 is a year of disaster. The crusaders in Antioch are under relentless attack by Turkish armies, cut off from reinforcement by the sudden war. The Spanish attack Aquitane, the French attempt to grab Flanders, the Holy Roman Empire and the Italians ally and launch their forces into Toulouse. Just to compound the misery for the naive young king, religious uprisings occur in Flanders, Brittany, Northumbria and Mercia. Nearly every province of importance the English own is under attack by overwhelming force, directed by every Catholic faction except the Danes. The English forces are stretched perilously thin. The best generals are isolated in Antioch and Italy, unable to come to their country's aid. The best of the remaining high command are gathered together in Toulouse.
At least the war chest is deep, but it will be at least a year before mercenaries can be put onto the battlefield.
I sit here slackjawed with the shock. My plans are in ruins. I'm suddenly at war with 5 factions I have been allied with for half a century, and I have battles I can't afford to lose against all 5. And if I don't get the chance to reinforce Antioch they'll be washed away like sandcastles in the tide.
happy days... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/rolleyes.gif
