The Glorious Masters of Italy PBEM

JACOPO
...............
PROLOGUE (continued)

Inside the Church of St. Paul. The choir is singing and the Archbishop himself is conducting a Mass. After quite some time, he finally motions for Jacopo to approach a large stand with one very heavy Bible resting on it. The Bible is bound in leather and covered in gold, truly worthy to accept a solemn oath of a Doge. The singing stops as Jacopo approaches and kneels before the Archbishop, placing his right hand on the Bible.

The time has come for you, young Jacopo, to give your oath to God and to your future subjects.
I humbly wait to do so.

The absolute stillness gripped the large church. One could hear a fly buzzing and hearts beating. The Archbishop seemed to enjoy this tense moment, but he proceeded.

Then so be it. Do you, Jacopo son of Vitale, admit here, before God and the Holy Church, that you will be a faithful servant of the Church and promote Her virtues and spread Her faith wherever the Almighty may deem to do so?
I do so swear.
Do you, Jacopo son of Vitale, admit here, before your subjects, that you shall protect them from harm and disease, from war and strife and from any unjust thing that may befall them?
I do so swear.
Do you, Jacopo son of Vitale, accept here, before the Almighty God and your subjects, this burden to be a ruler and protector of our kingdom?
I humbly accept this burden.

At this moment the Archbishop reached down to remove the laurels from Jacopo's head and replaced them with a jeweled crown. The crown, although not large, was bristling with light as the sunrays danced off of the many facets of different jewels. The sight was truly inspiring and breathtaking. None dared say a word.

Then, by the power of the Almighty God and our Saviour I proclaim you to be the ruler and protector of Italy and bestow this crown together with the title of Doge unto you, Jacopo the First.

The choir starts singing again and the ceremony reaches its finale. As everyone redies to head out of the massive church doors, Doge Jacopo the First, together with his beautiful Sicilian wife, leads the way out. He is closely followed by the Archbishop Paganelli and the Chamberlain de Medici. Lord de Medici is eyeing Brunilde, Doge's sister, as she is a short distance ahead of the Lord. To tell you the truth, his eyesight rarely left her during the entire ceremony. One might surmise that the Chamberlain is very fond of Brunilde.

As Jacopo steps out of the church, a mighty number of trumpets sound. The ceremonial guard raise their spears in the air and slam them into the ground exclaiming:
Hail Doge Jacopo the First Hail Hail Hail

The noise of trumpets and guards is soon drowned out by the cheers of the crowd.
His jeweled crown sparkling in a miriad of different colours, and his family armor shining like a beacon of Truth, Jacopo steps into his carriage waving the crowd goodbye........

Sounds like your having quite some fun there...

Excommunications are something to be avoided in this Campaign, and you must do everything you can to bring Italy back into Christendom befoe your King's Death.

I also feel that I brought this upon us by refusing to side with the French when their war broke out with the HRE...

The other interesting thing is that with such High Zeal provinces and a large navy our lands are going to be Crusade central

Should be interesting, trying to stay on the right side. (and please try to)

I am sorry for excommunicating my Doge, at the time I didnt know what to decide. I dont like reloading savegames either, so I marched on with whatever bad stuff was in store for me. Hopefully my Doge can redeem himself http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/gc-oops.gif

Needless to say I am taking all measures to be reinstated as a good Catholic http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wink.gif
I hope something can be learned from my ordeal, namely that the AI can really trip you up when you are not expecting http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg.../gc-jester.gif

Rev

PS. I have added some pics to my writeup on page 1.
PPS. There, I also changed my title to reflect the current events LOL
PPPS. Anyone know if it is possible to use TAB spacing when posting writeups? It would make the whole thing so much more readable.

JACOPO
...............
ACT 1
The Calm before the Storm

Venice on a very rainy day. A door opens and into the royal office there steps a tall man followed by a throng of deputies. They carry bundles of parchments and maps. In the corner of the room, near a fireplace, in a very comfortable chair sits Jacopo sipping on some French wine. He notices the arrivals.

Lord de Medici Isn't it a nice day to be sitting near a fireplace and sipping some nice French wine? This rain is very depressing to say the least.
Yes, it is a horrible day, Your Majesty. But the matters of state can be put off no longer.

He bows in recognition, the deputies follow suit. However, Jacopo is reluctant to move from his chair. Few minutes pass and Jacopo manages to finish his glass of wine. Finally, seeing the quiet crowd stand near his desk, Jacopo rises from his so ever-comfortable chair and strides forward to his desk. See, a month has passed since the coronation and besides meeting foreign diplomats who congratulated Jacopo, he hasnt done much at all. It seems he wanted to live in the moment of euphoria that was his coronation. But things cannot last.

Fine. Let's do business then.

de Medici motions for the deputies and they pile up various scrolls, parchments and maps on the desk and leave the room. Lord de Medici and the Doge of Italy are now alone.

Tell me, Lord Chamberlain, how does our kingdom fare?
Well, there are many things to say and many things that need to be said and all of them should not leave this room. Where shall I begin, Your Majesty? Would you like to inquire as to the state of our army, our finances, our allies or our enemies?
Hmm ... tell me about our finances.
Thanks to your late father, the Royal Treasury has substantial reserves of florins and the taxes on our and foreign merchants bring in over 2000 florins annualy. The matter of farming is a bit neglected and, if you permit me to say so Your Majesty, I am surprised that peasants do not starve and die. The salt and silver mines of Corsica and Sardinia are already operating at full capacity.
So what should be done then?
I suggest that we keep taxing the merchants and that we improve our farming infrastructure. It is possible that we could make a hefty profit even from farming alone.
This sounds good to me.

Lord de Medici then hands a piece of paper for the Doge to sign. The next question raises Jacopo's interest.
So then, tell me of the army. I want to know all about it.
Ahhh, well there are many things about the army Your Majesty. I could perhaps summarize this for you.
Fine. Proceed.
Well, the army is mostly comprised of town militia and such. However, we finally managed to recruit some feudal nobility. Our cavalry forces are currently lacking heavy horse, although we do have plenty of mounted crossbows. And at a moments notice we could recall the sailors from Genoa, I hear they are increadible marskmen.
Hmmm....Lack of heavy horse and lack of solid infantry makes us vulnerable indeed. What about my vassals? I need them to start sending the required quotas of men.
Your Majesty, only the lords of Tuscany are able to supply you their quotas. Everyone else is said to be using their men to watch the Alpine passes.
Fine. Tell the Tuscans to do so. And what is this business with the Alps? Are the Germans on the move again?
Well, Your Majesty, this brings us to the issue of diplomacy. As you know, your late father's war with the Germans was not concluded and I hear that Germany is enlisting vast units of Vikings into their ranks. A dangerous foe Your Majesty.
Ahhhh...I know about the Vikings. I've read about them as a boy and I've heard all their tales. If what you say is true, then we are in a spot of trouble indeed.

At this point, the fiery temper of this young warrior is beginning to burn inside him. He begins to pace around the room, his fist clenched.

Vikings have one weakness... Order conscriptions of more Milanese crossbowmen, the mounted ones. And you, Lord de Medici, shall have a task to perform
How can I be of service, Your Majesty?
You are going to head an invasion force into Provence. Take some town militia conscripts from around Italy, plus your Corsican levy. I shall also designate the entire army here in Venice to be under your command. When everyone is assemlbed, strike hard towards Marseille
But....but, Your Majesty, this would leave Venice undefended
Hahaha, my Lord de Medici. You have served my father well. Now, trust me as you've trusted my father. Didnt he assemble a crusade, ready to strike the unfaithful?
Ahh... well... sort of. The crusade is almsot ready. It just needs approval from the Pope and it needs to be assigned a leader and also additional troops are also necessary.
Hahaha, no leader needs to be found. I, Doge Jacopo the First, shall lead the army of the faithful to reclaim the Holy Land Perhaps after Jerusalem flies the flag of Italy, perhaps then those other imbecil kings and leaders shall finally respect me instead of thinking me for a fool. Nobody will attack Venice when the crusade is here

Jacopo said this in a very loud manner, no doubt some deputies who were listening at the door could hear this. And so it was, that the news of the crusade has left the room before the conversation was over.

Y-your Majesty, what you propose is very dangerous. Many a peril lie on the road to the Holy Land. To leave so ... soon would bring this enterprise to its swift end.
Perhaps you are right ... in part. I shall wait till I muster sufficient forces. But, think about it...What could be more glorius then the ruler of the kigndom leading a crusade to reclaim the Holy Land??? A thing like that will be put into tales.
Your Majesty, I may have a suggestion then.
Go on then.
We could enlist the help of some...mercenaries.
Nah, they cost too much money.
But...but there is a way to ...uhm... reduce their costs.
How do you propose we do that?
We could recruit them in Milan and tell them to assemble here in Venice. Their trip here would be paid. Once they are here and are enlisted into the crusade...
Yes?...
See once they are a part of a crusade, then they are on the payroll of His Excelency the Pope and so we do not need to pay them until the crusade ends.
Hhaha, Lord de Medici....That is one ingenius solution. Fine, do what you must with these mercenaries. Once they are recruited, set sail for Marseille.

The meeting adjourns shortly afterwards....

This is getting intriguing, Revenant - interesting story, I'm looking forward to the next installment

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Feb. 05 2004,06:25)]This is getting intriguing, Revenant - interesting story, I'm looking forward to the next installment

---

Hehehe, thanks Simon. The next installment will come today. I have played quite a bit. Unfortunately being excommed put a dent on all my plans so I didnt do as much conquest as I wanted to http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/frown.gif Hehe, things tend to calm down when you cant crusade.

Also there was ... an unforeseen death http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg.../gc-jester.gif I'll just leave it at that. It kind of puts a dent in the story but oh well. (you may have to wait a bit longer for explanation of that).

I should be done the game in a few days. Hopefully I can upload it before the weekend.

Cheers,
Rev

due to real life issues, im gonna have to withdraw from the list http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/gc-oops.gif

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Major^3 @ Feb. 06 2004,18:11)]due to real life issues, im gonna have to withdraw from the list http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/gc-oops.gif

---

Thats too bad Major^3. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wave.gif

Ok guys here is the list again...
A Title is Needed for your Doge Simon

The_Emperor
Doge Vitale II (1087 - 1104) The Merchant King

Simon Appleton
Doge Vitale III (1104 - 1126 )

Revenant69
Doge Jacopo I (1126 - ?) The Current Ruler of Italy

Mount Suribachi

Monk

Mysterium

I fear it has to be Doge Vitale III the Unready.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ Feb. 06 2004,22:41)]I fear it has to be Doge Vitale III the Unready.

---

and I thought it was going to be Vitale III The Piss head http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ons/cheers.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg.../gc-jester.gif

I am a pretty good player but I've never played PBEM before, but if there is room and you don't mind a noob to PBEM and you guys aren't too far along to allow any new players, could I be on the playlist?

If yes my e-mail is geea@cc.wwu.edu

I'm afraid I'm gunna have to cry off on this one. If I'd had it last week I could have done it, but I've got too much stuff going on the next few weeks.

I'll still keep popping in to keep an eye on things tho http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...nquisitive.gif

Ok Mount, you can always come back later on.

Welcome onboard Aleksander http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wave.gif

The_Emperor
Doge Vitale II (1087 - 1104) The Merchant King

Simon Appleton
Doge Vitale III (1104 - 1126 ) The Unready

Revenant69
Doge Jacopo I (1126 - ?) The Current Ruler of Italy

Monk

Mysterium

Aleksandr Nevsky

Okey dokey. I have finished my reign as Doge of Italy and the new Doge is Enrico I. He is quite a charmer LOL with Irritable, Scant Mercy and Oozes Charm as his v&v's.

Italy is ahead of everyone else in GA points but not by much. The expansionist ideas of HRE have been laid to rest as they no longer have the Holy Roman Empire glory goal. Our kingdom is currently in a very strong position. We have the capability to train the awesome Italian infantry in Tuscany and in Venice (1 turn away), although we still lack heavy cavalry. But besides the lack of heavy cavalry our armies have been greatly expanded and modernized (in most cases).

The fleet has been seriously expanded and even the losses in the recent war with the Sicilians did not dent our numbers greatly. The Sicilians still run a blockade and so have to be dealt with. Once the blockade is lifted we can once again start making 5000 florins a turn (hopefully).

Well, on one other important note, Doge Jacopo died a re-born Christian LOL (I have screenshot evidence of this). Although the details of my recommunication will be discussed in more detail in my writeups. Oh, and if anyone wonders what happened to that German crusade that it was sitting in Burgundy....well it seems that the Germans have learned from their experience and marched overland bypassing all our territories and eventually ended up taking Antioch without a fight. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/frown.gif Oh, and the French crusade has taken Edessa LOL

Well, thats that. The savegame has been uploaded to the ORG (with 1160 tag in it). My writeups will be done in the next couple of days.

Cheers,
Rev

PS My Doge should be the Savior of Jerusalem.

I guess it falls to me now to lead the Italian people to further glory. I've recieved the gamefile and will start playing asap. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wave.gif

Just to let you know i have started:

I have played three years into the campaign and already a lot has happened. I will finish this up tomorrow.

Great Stuff guys, I will also download the savegame and post a few maps and stuff to give us an overview of the situation.

Goodluck Monk http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/bigthumb.gif

Hail Thee Emperor,

compliments for the excellent campaign write ups of your own and your fellow Kings. Great fun and inspiration
My question is if you've any experience with players
who use different language versions?
Brutal-DLX and myself who've German versions might be/ are
interested in joining these glorious campaigns to secure ourselves a place in paradise.
Is it posible for us to muster or will it mess the savegames?
Cheers

My humble understanding of this game's mechanics suggests that you may be able to join us and play. The fact that you have German versions just means that your game is localised in German - ie it is translated and the translation files are all located in LOC folder somewhere in the MTW directory (please dont quote me on this though as I am not the expert on these matters).

Well I did one thing to help me see stuff better and it involved changing a file in the LOC folder. All I did is change the description This province is famous for its Blah BLah, units of this type trained here gain +1 valour to something much shorter +1 valour bonus to Blah Blah - this helps me see stuff straight away. Anyhow, the point is that changing of files in the LOC folder doesnt affect the game mechanics, it is only a folder with descriptions (once again dont quote me on this LOL) and so since the German version just translates all the terms from English to German (and is limited to LOC folder) I really dont foresee a problem.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, as I said I am just a newb modder. But it is my humble opinion that you guys can play http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...gc-balloon.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg.../gc-jester.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...gc-balloon.gif

Rev

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (R'as al Ghul @ Feb. 12 2004,10:03)]Hail Thee Emperor,

compliments for the excellent campaign write ups of your own and your fellow Kings. Great fun and inspiration
My question is if you've any experience with players
who use different language versions?
Brutal-DLX and myself who've German versions might be/ are
interested in joining these glorious campaigns to secure ourselves a place in paradise.
Is it posible for us to muster or will it mess the savegames?
Cheers

---

Try downloading one of the existing PBM games from the org and see if it runs OK.

All the French/Italian ones in the folder are VI 2.01 so if you've got that version installed any of those would be worth a try.

Here's where you can download them from.

Thx guys,

I'll try this as soon as I'm home again. I reckon it's the most reasonable thing to just try. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wave.gif
As soon as I find out I'll report back to you.
@Revenant69,
if you still plan to do the Egypt campaign, keep me in mind, will you?
Cheers

Yeah do what fruitfly said, download the game and try running it, if it runs OK then you know you can participate in PBMs http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/biggrin.gif

And yes, I'll keep you in mind for Egypt PBM.

Good Luck,
Rev

Hi again Revenant69,

I've got good news for me and other foreign players.
The savegame file translates perfectly well.
Although I would in the meantime prefer an English version
because of all the translating back and forth. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/gc-book2.gif

Anyway, I would then happily sign up for the oncoming Egypt campaign. Any ideas so far which period and wether TD or GA?
I guess it would be a real challenge to fight those crusading armies in high http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/gc-help.gif
Cheers

Hey R'as al Ghul I just had another wacky idea http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/idea.gif I could send you the English LOC/ENG folder and you could replace the German one that you have so in theory you would have an English version of the game. The folder itseld if about 2Mb big and 400K when zipped. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/gc-smile.gif

Let me know if you fancy this idea. It is worth a try, at least for curiosities sake http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/gc-smile.gif

Oh and the Egyptian campaign will most likely be Expert/Early GA.

Well I am glad you can join in R'as al Ghul with the same savegame in a different language version.

Anyway the Egypt Campaign should be coold when its done, and I'll happily wage war as them (I just want to fight with those Mamlukes).

But anyway back on topic, this is Italy afterall How is the campaign going?

Yah, any chance I'll get crackin' this weekend? I hate havin' to conquer around my work schedule . . . http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wink.gif

Edit: good lord, why can't I type?

Hello future and past Rulers of Italy, i have come to report that i am almost finished and i've got time to complete it today, i should be done by no later than tonight. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wave.gif

Update: this is taking longer than i thought.

I might have been done by tonight but i had to fight a three hour battle against the Excommed French. I have finished the War with Sicily, and now i have set into a long and bloody conflict with heretics. The War against the French started out as a Holy expedition to free Burgundy, but so many men have fallen it's become personal to the Doge of the Italians. I should be able to fight the war and defeat out enemy by the end of the nigh, but it will take me a long time as they have a large military.

I have already thought up a name for my King and that is Protector of the Cross. His reign as thus far been filled with wars against heretic excomed Christians, and the reinforcement of the Holy land kingdom, therefore he shall always be remembered for such.

Glad to see your going to town against the Heretics Kings of Europe... We are after all in the heart of Christendom

Well once again here is the list.

The_Emperor
Doge Vitale II (1087 - 1104) The Merchant King

Simon Appleton
Doge Vitale III (1104 - 1126 ) The Unready

Revenant69
Doge Jacopo I (1126 - 1160) Savior of Jerusalem

Monk
Doge Enrico I (1160 - ? ) The Current Master of Italy (& Protector of the Cross)

Mysterium

Aleksandr Nevsky

Woah, let's not be hasty now. Take your time. Junior wants as much land as he can get . . . I'll occupy myself http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/gc-book2.gif