Why, there already is one, in the Mead Hall.
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Why, there already is one, in the Mead Hall.
Nice info, I'll be checking it soon. :2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciaran
EDIT: Not a single M:TW AAR... :(
We do not have a dedicated AAR forum, but, like Ciaran said, there is a story forum where there are many AAR's. Have a look in the library (link in my signature) and scroll down the story section.Quote:
Originally Posted by elbasto
There are several M:TW AAR's but they are not listed in the AAR section because I arbitrarily defined anything inside the Mead Hall as story and anything outside as AAR. They tend to be more story than AAR anyway. For example, have a look at "Adras the Immortal" by Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe and "The Four Crowns and Four Rings" by Monk. Monk has written many other AAR's in story form and all are well worth a read. I would also recommend "Leo the Syrian" by kataphraktoi, but it is hardly an AAR as it focuses more on the characters.
Thanks for the advice, I will be paying that section a visit shortly.
I guess I'll check it out too.
Ah,sorry that was my mistake, the Mead Hall is the story forum, what you´re looking for is the Throne Room, at least that´s the intended purpose, though I don´t know how many AARs there actually are. Again, mea culpa.
Actually, you are quite right. Throne room contains only one or two AAR's, and the rest is Play-by-Mail campaigns (that usually are accompagnied by one-reign AARs). Still, if you don't mind wading through a lot of organisatorial posts there are some quite good write-ups, especially in the earlier PBM's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciaran
Good stuff Nodachi and Patron :2thumbsup: .
Some good stories here, enjoyed reading them alot !
NodachiSam,Patron and all the other contributors to this thread might want to start a PBeM ( a MTW one ), more or less the same thing as what your doing now only with different players playing the same game ( check the Throne room ! )
The last MTW ( VI ) PBM was a very long time ago...
:balloon2:
I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but we should really ask one of the moderators to sticky this thread. Even when there hasn't been any recent entries, it's still nice to go back and read some of the older stories now and then.
I agree...reading all these past campaign stories and accompanying pictures has even further reignited the MTW fire within. MTW2 is going to have to stupendiously good to beat it's predecessor IMO.
I might restart my Danish campaign again once I rebuild my PC and submit my own story/diary of campaign progress.
A play by e-mail game would be a really cool idea! Maybe we can do one for regular VI with patch or XL in the future.
According to this topic last VI PBM was played about a year and a half ago. It would be great idea to start a new one.
*bump*
PBM would be cool, especially since I have XL installed now
If it's a PBM you would like to start, I'd like to point you in the right direction :
The Throne Room
:balloon2:
haven't been on here in a while. I remember starting this thread hoping to read nice little stories with pictures so that I would get back into playing MTW, and after not playing any pc games for almost a year, I read these campaigns and I want to play it again SOOO BAD, but I threw away my CD, oh well I'm about to buy a new one :)
please keep posting your campaigns I love reading these things
:)
:2thumbsup:
I hear you PB,
Will be starting an early Italian VI campaign some time today / more likely tomorrow.
And yes, Bump.
:balloon2:
Think ill resurect this one...
https://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5783/hre5lo.th.jpg
Playing as the Holy Roman Empire, GA hard, and the year is 1242 AD. I'm trying to keep the size of my empire down, because it annoys me when i have too many provinces to administrate, so im sticking to GA objective/really useful provinces.
PHew. I started out by snipping Silesia off from the Polish. They refused to see sense and make peace, and brought in their Hungarian allies, and both factions continued to make raids on my border right up until the 1180s.
The Italians got excommunicated for attacking Sicily, and fell into civil war in about 1150. I snuck in and stole Venice and Milan while they were controlled by the rebels, but the Italians didn't like this, and I ended up killing their king and knocking them out of the game. The Sicilians came back with a vengeance at this point, occupying the former Italian lands and threatening my southern border, and i ended up killing them as well, and occupying Sicily and Genoa. The pope took Tuscany, but he's my friend so I don't mind. The Sicilians have since reemerged in Malta.
Over in the West, the French had creamed the English, and began attacking my northern provinces by sea. Things were looking bleak, until their king died heirless and the whole of France and England went rebel. The English reemerged, and later the French, but the majority of their forces are stranded in Ireland, so they are pretty much just waiting for the end now.
On my Northern border, in 1210, the Danes attacked my poorly defended province of Swabia. Unluckily for them, I had just finished making my new High-era army of Halberdiers, Swiss Halberdiers, and Chivalric Men at arms. I beat them back to their castle, and they offered one of their princesses to me as a peace offering.
Back in the East, I took Pomerania, and, after the Polish took me off guard and took Brandenburg, I invaded both their provinces simultaniously and knocked them out of the game. I also gave the Hungarians a fair beating at this point, setting them back for a while, though they have been bailed out several times by other factions distracting me elsewhere, and have thus far managed to avoid the full on steamroller treatment. The Byzantines, meanwhile, had been quietly taking over the whole of Russia, and attacked me in C.1215. I held on, not making much headway but not giving ground, until the Horde arrived on 1230. The Byzantines were now getting squashed on two fronts, and looking at the state of the map, it looks like I should lay off them for a while, so they can keep the Horde at bay while i reorganise my forces.
Very cool game. Looks like your doing a good job. I like your approach of controlled growth. I would've taken Poland though when you had the chance, it makes for a nice clean border and has good income (You probably know that though). Same goes for Flanders now that it is rebel.
Are you winning in GA yet?
I'm winning by about 20 points I think. I didn't take Poland at the time because i didnt intend to move on and take Prussia and Livonia, so yeah it does look a bit silly now! That'll reduce my borders as well. Good advice! Flanders is now in the hands of the nefarious spanish, who im now at war with in Scandanavia, so we shall see about liberating that from them...
Excellent, Joshwa! Let us know how you do. :2thumbsup:
I'm a great fan of the more realistic slow growth approach, it's much more challenging especially later on. I look forward to more reports!
UPDATE
https://img281.imageshack.us/img281/9867/hre28nr.th.jpg
Denmark underwent a massive peasant revolt which ended up with the Danish royal family starved to death in their castle, and the rebels took over. I sent my new army of halberds and chivalric swordsmen and sergents to take over, mainly because i wanted to test how effective they were and get some experience for them. I then took Sweden without a fight.
The Spanish launched a seaborne invasion of Britain and northern france, and also settled in Norway. After the English were killed (again) I decided that enough was enough. Noone moves in on my turf. I conducted the campaign mainly at sea, where i blockaded their king in Britain, but our clashes on land were inconclusive at best, their jinettes proving a real handful. Their imperial ambitions were serverely cut short by the Turks, who, after defeating the Egyptians, had moved along Africa gradually until they were in the Iberian Peninsula.
As per advised in an above post, I invaded Poland, which was occupied by the Hungarians. I launched a double pronged attack, hitting Hungary as well as Poland, and pushing them back to their castle in both instances. The Byzantines (who are still holding out against the Mongols) attacked Carpathia from the east the year after, and the Hungarians dropped out of the game. I then took Carpathia, which had gone rebel, so that the Hungarians didn't re-emerge there.
The pope warned me off the Spanish at this point, so, fearing rebellion if i were to be excommunicated, i turned my sights elsewhere, launching a crusade the Palestine. This was not a total success, I only held onto the province for 10 years, and for 8 of those i was either besieging the Turks, or they were beseiging me! They eventually overcame me with force of numbers, my crusade army being serverely depleted. On an amusing note, my journey across Asia Minor somehow caused the English to reemerge there:
https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/...erge3nn.th.jpg
The Turks look to be in a strong position at this point. The Byzantines should prevent them expanding any further into Europe, however, and the Aragonese should hold them for a while in Spain. I am tempted to take one of the rebel islands in the Mediterraenan and use that as a base to raid the Turkish homelands, and maybe get back Palestine!
Wow, Joshwa, looks like you've got your hands full! Yeah, if there are any islands available (Sicily and Cyprus would be especially nice), I would definitely take them and start attacking the Turks in the jugular. ~D And on a related note:
Holy crap, I can't get over how *big* the Turks have gotten! ~:eek: In my games, they rarely even survive that long, much less actually become a superpower. (Usually the Byz and the Eggies team up to destroy the Turks early on.) Any idea how they managed to do so well?
For some reason, I think the Egyptians went across the Sahara and attacked the Almohads instead of focusing northwards. The Turks were at one point boxed into their home territorries, with the Horde on one side and Egypt on the other! My only guess is that Egypt suffered a civil war or the king died heirless, so the Turks were only fighting on one front and pushed the horde back out of asia minor. They could then take all the rebel Eqyptian provinces one by one. The Spanish had all their troops in northern Europe, so when i blockaded them they couldn't get back down in time to defend spain I guess
~:cool:
I like your system. You do not want to conquer as much as possible but wisely let other factions fight each other while your empire become stronger and stronger. Just one inquisitive question: how do you develop your economy ( trade, farming and so on). And take the islands they are useful. But be careful- Turks are dangerous- their military machine become stronger while byz army obsolete so good luck...
Waiting for update :coffeenews:
Pitbull, like you i hadn't played MTW in some time then a colleague at work got into it and i've started up again, can't think why i stopped playing!
Here's a pic from my French campaign last year, got 60% shortly after this and played on to 1258 before starting a new game.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...France1240.jpg
French Early Hard - now that's what i call an heir!
The game went pretty smoothly actually, trade was key and soon i had too much cash to know what to do with. A good start against the English gave me the foundation for reasonably quick domination.
My current campaign is below
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1328.jpg
Polish Early Hard (Vanilla VI) - Strange? More like a confused general; an atheist and a believer! Might have something to do with him being harassed by Inquisitors for some years.
My campaign started of ok with the rebel lands in the east falling steadily. My house rule is not to prepare for the horde, so that was a major challenge when it arrived. I had to retreat to Kiev and fought numberless battles over the bridges there until the Khan took Pereslavyl(?) which doesn't have a bridge when attacking Kiev. Still by that stage he'd lost most of his Heavy Cav so i managed to hold him with my, by then, skilled defender general.
I think the final battle that turned the tide, my army (mainly peasants and spearmen by this stage) had just started routing from the field with my 8* general down to 1 man and withdrawing when the time limit ran out. However by that stage i'd killed the Khan and most of his heavy cav so it was a good result for me and downhill thereafter for the GH.
I'd fought the horde for nearly 70 years before defeating them finally in Moscovy. I'd been struggling with negative income for about 20 years due to the French and Egyptians destroying my trade fleets (for no real reason) so i've never had more than 8000 florins in the entire game!
Managed to build up some sizable stacks in the west and launched an assault against the French capturing 7 or 8 provinces and improving the cashflow. Am now allied with everyone so trade income is rising but still only getting 3-4000 a year.
Was going well until 1326 (2 years ago) when the newly re-emerged Swiss attacked Swabia unexpectedly and i had to abandon the province. (see thread on Swiss for more info).
I finally have a half decent king although he's not as fertile as his forefathers and i only have the 1 heir (5* but only 1 acumen).
I think the worst is now over and a few years consolidating should see me renew my attack on the French (who must have had at least 50% at one stage). Onwards and upwards.
Question for someone - I've been fighting the French for about 10 years continuously now and i've not had a single warning from the Pope. Any ideas why not? I've not been fighting any other Catholics so no previous warnings would be in existance.
Oh, and reference another thread on Woodsmen; they are awesome!
The French must have at least half the number of provinces you do. They probably have Britain and Spain
EDIT
To Stephen Asen: I'm not sure about my economy actually! I think most of my money comes from Venice, Provence and Sicily. I just buy farming upgrades in my other provinces whenever I have nothing else to build and the whole system sorts itself out
If you're referring to my post Joshwa, then yes, the French have Spain, (at least they used to last time i had some ships that way) but most of their territories, especially Britain have been rebelling for some time and i think they only have Wessex now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshwa
They used to have most of the HRE lands, Austria, Italian areas and half the Middle East. How the mighty have fallen!
https://img344.imageshack.us/img344/2175/hre31yv.th.jpg
well I've finished my campaign now. The last 70 or so years were quite funny, the Aragonese, Spanish, French, Turks, and even the Pope tried to take a bite out of me. I launched an expedition to Asia Minor and killed the Turkish king, resulting in LOTS of rebel provinces. Sure enough though, he popped back up again, and conquered his way right into Bulgaria and attacked me in Hungary. This time i'd had enough. The Sultan was in Constantinople, and the Byzantines held Trebizond, so I attacked Nicaea by sea, and then pushed up through Constantinople, forcing the Sultan into Bulgaria. I had him by the nuts! I attacked with a force of Chivalric Sergents, Chiv Knights, and Gothic Knights. It was the first and only time i would actually use these bad-boys, but they were sure worth it! The Sultan was killed on the battle-field, and his heir taken prisoner. All in all, they lost just over 2000 men to my 200, and they died out, again. The Byzantines then retook Constantinople. I felt I had done my duty for Christendom at this point, and so settled back to pass the next 20 years in total peace until 1453. Ahhhh. Fin.
Diehard_TH: Way to beat off the GH and the French! :2thumbsup:
This is just a guess, but probably the Pope hasn't gotten after you for warring with the French for one or both of the following reasons:
1) They attacked first (although this doesn't always mean anything when it comes to the Vatican, I know).
2) They were very powerful in the beginning of their war with you, and the Pope tends to favor the weaker faction in any inter-Catholic war. (Probably why Aragon, the Danes, and Sicily seem to get away with attacking other Catholic factions so often.)
I wish your Polish empire continued success!
Joshwa: Wow, you actually managed to go the last two decades without war? Impressive. :bow: That was a fun game to follow; thanks for sharing it with us!
Oh yeah, and I'm glad you got to have a little fun with the Gothic Knights; they're pretty uber. ~D
Wow both these games are quite interesting guys. Awsome game Joshuwa, I'd be pleased with that :D
https://img336.imageshack.us/img336/...41574ga.th.png
I had abandoned this campaign for awhile for my Portuguese one, but I just recently got back into it. My goal is not to go on a massive conquering spree but for now I just want to fortify my borders and turtle for awhile, letting other powers grow stronger.
The Almohads were the strongest faction for about the first twenty years before they were torn apart by the Danes and the Genoese, who have the two strongest fleets in the game. This campaign is unique because it is the first campaign I've seen the Danes conquer ANY territory, and you can see they've conquered quite a bit. I was hoping the English and Danes would get stronger but both have recently been hit by civil wars.
The Sicilians are currently my major foe but I am keeping my eye on the Egyptians, who I've been told are the richest, most techologically advanced, and also have the largest army. When the Golden Horde sprung onto the scene they achieved several initial successes against the Egyptians but since then the Eggies have pushed the Horde into a corner. They are sure to be a challenge later on the game. I'm content to let the Sicilians act as a buffer for now.
For some reason, when I came back into the game, I had about two ships. I recall my navy mostly being destroyed by the Sicilians, and I'm focusing on building a navy that can fight with the best of them.
Earlier in the campaign I suffered through a failed Crusade and an ensuing civil war. I backed the rebels and lost two more Crusades I hadn't started yet, causing yet another massive civil war. Once again I backed the rebels and a new king took the throne. Unfortunately, this king had seven daughters in a row before finally a son was born just last turn. The king is currently 48 years old and I hope he can stick around for at least another fifteen years. My military is currently recovering from the troops lost during the civil war (damn Sicilians bribed some of the rebel stacks before I could get them back).:furious3:
You've gone through two civil wars?? Oof, that's gotta hurt! I wish you a speedy recovery, Cowhead; let us know how things are progressing. Oh yeah, and good to see you come back to this campaign! :2thumbsup:
Very interesting campaign cowhead! It doesn't happen often but I've seen the Danes get pretty big too (I think they got even bigger after this picture.http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...eofdenmark.jpg
I feel bad for your civil war problem. It really is dam tough to keep high influence while staying the same size. I guess the game just isn't really built for that type of play. If I were in your shoes and at war with the Sicilians I could not resist the urge to take constantinople.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NodachiSam
Who *could*? ~;) I rarely pass on an opportunity to take Constantinople--and even more rarely pass on an opportunity to pound on the Sicilians. ~D
My friend played as Seljuks in XL early and he was attacked with three crusades - Castilian-Leonese, German and English.
https://img273.imageshack.us/img273/...kadalje3rx.jpg
Dang, hit with three Crusades at once--that's a little nuts!
The map from your friend's game looks like it's just a little crazy overall as well. It looks like the Spanish have France & Pomerania, the Danes have Constantinople & Nicaea, the Pope has a good chunk of the Balkans.... And unless I'm seeing things, it appears that the *Scots* (or possibly the Norwegians) have control of a huge amount of territory! I've never seen either of those factions do so well when controlled by the AI! ~:eek:
Maybe he can .matteosartori. the map and give a screenshot ;)
Well, I've tried for about the last 8 turns to take Constantinople but my efforts were fruitless. The Sicilians only stationed a garrison of about 15 men. Every time I attack, they retreat immediately into the castle (even if I attack with 20 men) and I'm forced to make a tough decision. Do I conduct a 10+ year siege or assault the fortress? Either way I face massive casualties. Right now I'm just letting the Sicilians have Constantinople, hoping that they will increase the garrison so as to shorten the inevitable siege when I do invade.Quote:
Originally Posted by NodachiSam
Well here's an update on my Polish campaign.
We last left our heroes building up for a further attack on the French however before the offensive could begin the bleedin' GH re-appeared, again, in the eastern steppes.
3 provinces in total with about 6000 men. All i had in the area was about 1000 peasants scattered across the 8 or so provinces around there.
After hastily diverting a stack of decent troops and my skilled attacker general from Flanders to the eastern front the chase began.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1337.jpg
Poland 1337
Obviously just as i'm about to commence attacking the GH in Ryazan, after a 5 year chase around the steppes i eventually cornered the Khan here, the :furious3: Byz decide, out of the ****ing blue, to attack my fleet in constantinople. Thus along with fighting the GH i now have nearly zero trade income and am back to losing 4000 florins a year!
Well my general kicked ass, killing the Khan whilst another general, resourced from France, launched an offensive against the treacherous Byz.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1350.jpg
Poland 1350
After a couple of years consolidating and getting my gold reserves out of the red, which took 5 years, fending of a large assault by the Swiss and continued forays by the Byz navy i decided to kill off the Byz.
My uber general was the star again and after discovering the Byz king trapped on Cyprus two of my heirs launched an assault.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1359.jpgPoland 1359
The result was Byz collapsing into rebellion, good for my trade :2thumbsup: and finally the opportunity to actually build some stuff. As you can see i've reached the dizzy heights of 4000 florins but things should be ok as there is a trade centre being built in Constantinople, which has a 9 acumen governor.
Well all didn't go too well on the last turn, surprisingly! The Egyptians decided to attack my fleets and Georgia for some unknown reason. Still now the Byz are dead i'll just have to keep going round the Middle East.
Europe is at a wary peace although i'm keeping an eye on the Hungarians as they seem to be expanding quite well.
I've also just noticed that my heirs are both on an island with no navy next to it with the Eggys attacking my fleets. Hopefully my king won't die as my empire will spiral into rebellion if the new king gets trapped!
With an enemy garrison that small, you should be tossing a batch of high-valor Emissaries against them - one successful bribe, and the big "C" is yours intact! If their leader unit is too loyal, send some Assassins along with the Emissaries - when the top unit is gone, the next one down may be far less difficult to bribe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowhead418
A small garrison is a boon for the player and not a vice as it allows you to do this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geezer57
I don't think that your heir (new king, long live the king!) will be trapped on the island, instead miraclously (sp?) teleported to your most advanced province. Now if that one is cut off from the rest of your empire - then you are f.... well, in trouble because your new kings influence will start out low anyway and THAT can lead to civil war.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diehard_TH
OK. I will try to provide that.:idea2:Quote:
Originally Posted by NodachiSam
Another screenshot from my friend who play XL early with England.
Golden orde appeared in three province. I usualy saw them in two or one province. They came in Lesser Khazar, Volga Bulgaria and Armenia.
https://img271.imageshack.us/img271/9971/horda9pu.jpg
Duke of Serbia: Those are the good games :D
In my current campaign as Genoa in hard Xl I had a low influence king suffer a civil war and mass rebellions.
The Pope invades and the hungarians invade.
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...s/Genoese3.jpg
The following year, civil war.
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...s/genoese4.jpg
The following year, more rebellions.
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...s/genoese5.jpg
Naturally I said screw it and reloaded, this is later.
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...s/genoese6.jpg
I know, its not a great war story or anything.
The French have been impecible allies this game.
Damn Nodachi, that's kind of a crazy-looking map there! The Scots have most of Britain, the Almos have eliminated the Spanish and dominate Iberia, and the Hungarians are pretty big. I rarely see the last one in particular--in my games, Hungary's one of those factions that usually holds their own but rarely expands much. And the French have been steadfast allies? That truly is an interesting geopolitical situation you're in!
My current campaign, is Early XL, Bohemians, Hard
I've been talking it slowly, and I'm really enjoying the Bohemians ... especially their bowmen. :2thumbsup:
https://img102.imageshack.us/img102/4153/boh19ej.jpg
And if you are wondering why I did not attack Serbia, its because the Fatamids scare me! :skull: I need some buffer states!
Oh and my heir of course, :balloon3:
https://img102.imageshack.us/img102/1247/boh29qp.jpg
:jawdrop: WHAT! How the hell did you do that? That guy must have some pretty virtues
The higher your kings influence the better your princes will be when they turn 15. Getting high or lower influence before or after they turn 15 doesn't affect them. Only the influence at the time. However, if your kings influence gets too high your princes can "roll over" and become really crappy. So if your kings influnce is at 7 or 8 you princes might have likewise attributes but at 9 or 10 there is a chance you'll get low values princes. It sort of encourages pacing yourself in a way. I think there is also a random element involved.
The roll-over effect you describe actually applies to command, not influence. With high influence the king's sons tend to have the same command level as their father plus or minus one or two stars. The problem is the game cannot calculate above 9, so any potential 10 or 11 star sons end up as 0 or 1 star losers. Otherwise you are right: high influence kings have better sons.Quote:
Originally Posted by NodachiSam
Pity I've no internet at home at the moment so I can't post screenshots without alot of hassle. My Turkish General in Georgia at present has some pretty impressive stats and a command boosted to 9* by quite a few good virtues, such as the expert defender and skilled last stand (I'm not usually too hot at turnig out these sort of generals!). His piety and dread are his most lacking attributes and they are at 5 and 3.
He accidentally got himself into the thick of the fight last night, so I had to forcibly extract him! By that time the rest of his unit was wiped out with just him remaining at valour 11 (phew). That was the second defense against the Horde's attempted invasion of Georgia. 4500 dead 700 prisoners, that they didn't want to pay for, and 2200 losses on my side, mostly Saracen Infantry and Ghazis. The Armenian Heavy Cavalry had a very good day as did the Turcoman foot. The next battle will be this evening, when the Horde make their next attempt. I had also isolated their secondary army in Armenia, defeated it and ransomed all of them (about 2500 of them) back for about 42,000 florins!! This is the biggest ransome I've ever seen in years of playing this game! :dizzy2:
Wow Chezi that is the HUGEST ransom I've ever heard!!! :charge:
So I've started playing as the Bulgarians, High XL, Hard :juggle2:
And I must say its the hardest game I've ever played, so much backstabbing! :furious3:, First the Cumans then the Serbs, and if I'm not careful it will be the Byz next! :no: Its a miracle I survived at all.
https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5310/bulgars19df.jpg
https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6392/bulgars28zv.jpg
Rythmic: Keep us posted man. Its interesting to see the Armenians and Danes expand like that. The Armenians look like they are too thinnly sprea out though. Maybe it is patriotic reasons, but they should've stayed out of Armenia :P
Very happy somebody plays as Bulgarians !!!!~D ~D ~DQuote:
Originally Posted by Rythmic
I wonder how we,the Bulgarians, survived for so long ( so many conquerors - byz,mongols ,turks, dangerous neighbours :dizzy2: :dizzy2: :dizzy2:),too. Good luck my master! Please keep me in touch how your (and mine ) country progresses.~:)
So I've played some more as the Bulgarians.
The Mongols Arrive:
https://img311.imageshack.us/img311/...ulgars36gq.jpg
Tragedy, the damn Cumans Invaded Bulgaria!!! :furious3:
https://img460.imageshack.us/img460/...ulgars42po.jpg
My forces are much too small to win!
https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/...ulgars54my.jpg
My men fight hard:
https://img460.imageshack.us/img460/...ulgars69li.jpg
But they are no match for the overwhelming Cumans:
https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/...ulgars77sq.jpg
My Allies lift the seige:
https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/...ulgars89fj.jpg
The Pope wants to marry my daughter??? :inquisitive:
https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/420/bulgars95mn.jpg
Finally peace with the Serbs!!! :balloon3:
https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1/bulgars101tz.jpg
Bulgaria is safe, for now :dizzy2:
https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/...lgars110do.jpg
Hope you enjoyed that!
Wow, your Bulgarians have really gone on a roller-coaster ride lately. :dizzy2: It was awfully nice of the Hungarians come to your aid, though; I don't know if I've ever seen that before! Yes, I've had allies help me out in field battles, but I don't think they've ever helped me break out of a castle. Well done! ~:cheers:
Hang in there man! :D That looks like it would've been a tough battle to win, maybe if you had kept you archers a little further from the spears it would've let your horses charge in without being confined. When two units overlap they get a small defence bonus. Charging through another unit also muddles up the charage a bit. I wouldn't ally with all your neighbours though, you'll need to expand at some point.
:2thumbsup: I can't believe it!!! A byzantine army to help you without wanting to take some lands from you!? The Hungarian I can believe... although historically that was very very rare. Your diplomacy is excellent my master.:2thumbsup: Now I can sit safe in my mansion near the byz border and to have rest. ~;)
NodachiSam I think his strategy is good. Otherwise it would have been difficult to push the Cumans back. I expected the Golden horde to make more problems to the Cumans :no: . And the situation in the Middle East is interesting too- the Horde had made the Egypt weaker which potentially is good for Byzantium and to some extend for you ( the powerful Egyptians are far way). Of course this can lead to more powerful south neighbour which is not very good.
So the situation is very interesting- currently there is only one enemy the Cumans but they are extremely powerful... Interesting... I see future problems of their khan from the north - there are quite powerful countries there... But until then nobody knows what will happen...
And I liked the marriage proposal from the pope. Maybe this bug has its explanation- using my rich imagination I think it could be an uniate(actually Kaloyan really had an uniate with the Pope) or a marriage with any descendant of the Pope's ally Hungary. Or maybe the Pope feels lonely :laugh4:
Waiting for the next pictures... :coffeenews:
All went fairly well, my king was fine and the Cypriots were just about ok until i beat the Byz fleets and reinforced them. I then concentrated my assault on the Eggys resulting in the following position
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1370.jpg
Poland 1370
I lost cyprus to an Eggy rebellion but managed to cause serious damage to the Eggy holdings although not having much in the way of cash for troops i had fun keeping the loyalty of the holy land above 100%.
One slight incident was yet another re-emergance of the GH in Armenia as i was assaulting a castle. Just under 5000 troops appeared and after mustering all the tneighbouring troops i could the battle commenced.
Admittedly my 7* general helped but i finally got a 30 to 1 kill ratio! The pic below says it all
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland3021.jpg
I didn't need any reinforcements and as you can see my 1 unit of archers didn't even run out of ammo.
My cav was awesome, my losses should have been less but a unit of Steppe cav got caught some GH Kharawsim(?) cav when i wasn't looking. I just kept charging in and retreating. The main problem i had was my cav got totally exhausted and i withdrew a couple of units as they were just knackered.
Great fight and the GH are now hopefully not to return.
A few years later the Eggy Sultan attacked a weakened Syria and with about 40:60 troops concentrated all my forces on him and his heir resulting in the end of the Eggys.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1378.jpg
Poland 1378
The Eggys owned huge tracts of land and these are now rebels. My trade shot up and i was receiving nearky 30k a year! I didn't know what to do with all the cash so rather than sit back i transported a few nice generals over to Europe and decided to crush the French.
After a few nice attacks the French had a civil war, so more rebel provinces but i couldn't get their king and he ran away to Navarre. The pic below is just after i have bribed some rebels in Spain, to open up another front, and after attacking the Pope. He excommed me so had to die.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1383.jpg
Poland 1383
The only slight hitch to all this is the Hungarians decided, out of the blue, to attack my navy. My assault force attacking the Pope is now trapped with no retreat and my trade income is next to nothing and i'm losing 1500 florins a year. (oh yeah the rebels seem to be enemy for some reason and i can't withdraw from them to reset their status!).
So i lauched attacks against 4 Hungarian provinces and tried assault castles in Wessex and Papal States. The results are below
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2.../Poland127.jpg
Papal States - No Retreat
The Hungarians deceded to help the Pope which was a problem as i had no retreat and i'm outnumbered 7 to 1.
I battled hard but eventually my archers & catapult ran out of ammo and the cav were all totally exhausted. Still they did pretty well
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland127b.jpg
Lord Jagged's last stand.
The rest was interesting, the Hungarians attacked Poland and Lorraine, unfortunately i had a 0* general in Lorraine and lots of peasants so that fell but the rest held out and i won the provinces i attacked. I bribed Toulouse as well so it all looks set-up for very bloody last 50 years or so!
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...Poland1384.jpg
Poland 1384
Very nice campaign Diehard! Impressive defense of Armenia; think of the propoganda opportunities :P!
Game: XL mod 2.0+2.1 for MTW VI 2.01 + my modifications
Starting era: Early XL (1087)
Difficulty: Medium
Victory type: Glorious achievement
Faction: Byzantines
Unit size: default
Beginning story:
This is the map of Europe, Near East and North Africa in 1087.
https://img420.imageshack.us/img420/539/earlyxl5wq.jpg
Strategy:
The main enemy is Seljuk Turks in the start who are located in Minor Asia and Near East. Possible enemies are Serbs, Papal state, Sicily and Hungary and later Cumans, Kievan Rus’, Fatimids (Egypt) and Armenians.
Possible allies are orthodox Armenians (Kingdom of Lesser Armenia), Serbs, Kievan Rus’ and Novgorod.
Tactics:
Backbone of imperial armies are Byzantine infantry and Trebizond archers led by Kataphraktoi general if is possible or some other cavalry. Horse archers are also used, but later replaced with Byzantine cavalry. I use mercenaries and most of them are Steppe heavy cavalry and Italian infantry (only until 1205).
As Emperor of Roman Empire has discount on various agents, I later trained large number of assassins and few spies. And I have reason for that.
Main story:
1087 – 1110
In the first turn Armenian emissary came and offer alliance. I agreed. I used islands for only one purpose: building ships. Later I used them for recruiting troops. On start everything what I had I moved in Nicae.
On second turn Armenians attacked Seljuk Turks in Rum and conquer province. But Seljuk Turks retreated to castle so Armenians had to besiege them. After some four years Armenians lost Rum and Seljuk Turks went in counterattack. Then I came in action. I invaded Anatolia from Nicae and Seljuk Turks retreated without fight into Rum. Around 1100 I conquered Rum. By this time Serbs betrayed me and attacked from Serbia into Greece but they lost. Serbs also built barque and they invaded Naples, which I lost. Battle was very close. Meantime my Hungarian allies invaded Serbia (before that they conquered Wallachia and Moldavia) and the whole Serbian army retreated to Naples where they besieged my troops in Fort. This was the end for Serbs. I have loyalists’ rebellion first time since I play Medieval. Three Byzantine infantry and one unit of Trebizond archers, spearmen and peasants were enough for destruction of Serbian army and their king was killed in battle.
https://img352.imageshack.us/img352/...jalisti2bv.jpg
Next time: how Pope get married, England and France became empires and destruction of Seljuk Turks by Armenians, Fatimids and my Romanoi plus annoying Sicilian fleet.
This sounds like it'll be good DoS :) I like to play Romanoi too so it shall be very interesting to see how you go about this. I hope you finish this campaign for us. :D
@NodachiSam
Thanks. I will continue.
1110-1140
In Western Europe situation by this time is boring. Nobody is in war with anybody. Castile-Leon destroyed Portugal who was in war with Almoravids and Aragon who was in war with HRE (for both were excommunicated) and later England attacked Almoravids together with Castile-Leon. Holy Roman Empire conquered Venice and Croatia from rebels. HRE became the strongest faction.
I offered my princess to Pope John XXI and he accepted.
https://img47.imageshack.us/img47/61...onabrak1ax.jpg
https://img129.imageshack.us/img129/...eozenio1hm.jpg
In Eastern Europe Kievan Rus’ attacked Cumans and destroyed them. In Near East I was still in war against Seljuk Turks together with Armenians and Fatimids (we all were allies). I captured Armenia, Armenians captured Edessa and Antioch and Fatimids captured Arabia. This was enough for Seljuk Turks’ sultan and he lost everything in civil war except Tripoli. Soon, Armenians captured and executed Seljuk Turks’ sultan and they conquered everything in Near East plus they invaded Tunisia and Malta (both were in control of rebels).
By this time England destroyed Almoravids and conquered 2/3 of Iberian Peninsula plus Morocco. Around 1120 France, Denmark, Bohemia, Hungary and Genoa started war against HRE as it was strongest and largest faction (I was the richest). Denmark relatively easy captured Northern provinces (plus they destroyed Sweden who was ally of HRE), France was held in Lorraine and Burgundy, Bohemia conquered one or two provinces, Genoa was wiped out and Hungary unsuccessful attacked HRE in Croatia and Austria. The only allies of HRE were England and me.
As Seljuk Turks were destroyed and eastern boundaries became peaceful I attacked my former ally Hungary from Bulgaria into Wallachia. They retreated without fought in fort and I assaulted them. The same story was in Moldavia. HRE finished Hungarians around 1140 and conquered Serbia, Hungary and Carpathia and became my new neighbor.
Two things annoyed me in this period: papal bishops and Sicilian fleet. Pope every turn sent at least two bishops in Naples. Crete is my base for training assassins. In one year there were 8 papal and Sicilian bishops in Naples. Assassins couldn’t kill them all. Conversion of Naples was very, very slow… Btw. Pope still sent bishops. Even now in 1233 Naples have still 16-20% of Roman Catholics as there is always at least one papal bishop and my bishop (not priest) is there and like he do nothing.
Just to mention that until 1140 there were no crusades.
Next time: war with Sicily, Fatimids and Kieavan Rus' plus England became huge; Armenia became great power and destruction of France.
Excellent, DukeofSerbia. You've fulfilled the dream of many Roman emperors to restore the power of Constantinople in Minor Asia.:2thumbsup: I understand your annoyance by the heretical bishops of the Pope... Don't worry you still have an Orthodox domination in your Western provinces and I'm sure you'll continue to having it. Because you're one of the best rulers who the Roman empire ever had, oh gloriuos one... (sorry, but it was impossible to speak about the court in Constantinople without praising~;) ). I'm interested in how the genuine empire progresses.
Wow, Diehard_TH, what a big Polish country... Good, good... (wondering)
Glad to see this topic is still alive. :2thumbsup:
I might try some more MTW, I miss the risk style maps. BKB Super Mod for me. :balloon2:
More Bulgaria:
And I'll start it with a battle :balloon3:
https://img110.imageshack.us/img110/...lgars127vk.jpg
Damn Cumans invaded Bulgaria, again :no: !
https://img110.imageshack.us/img110/...lgars138dt.jpg
https://img114.imageshack.us/img114/...lgars140df.jpg
https://img114.imageshack.us/img114/...lgars159ye.jpg
:2thumbsup: Victory for Bulgaria!
@Rythmic
Witch Bulgarian unit is that with sword? I first time see this unit.
@Stephen Asen
Thanks. Those papal bishops make me crazy. Like Pope only recruit bishops and nothing else... :furious3:
1140-1156
Around 1140 Kievan Rus’ finished Cumans and they attacked my Roman Empire in Moldavia from Levidia. New wars were started: England and Castile-Leon together attacked France from back which conquered Swabia and Franconia from HRE and had large army and Armenians attacked Fatimids. I sided with Armenians.
I had problems with Kiavan fleet (longboats). With great loses I sunk their fleet, but the new problems broke out: Seljuk Turks and Serbs reappeared and Sicily continued Kievan job of sinking my fleet and disturbing my maritime trade.
Papal state attacked HRE and conquered northern Italy and after that several civil wars occurred in HRE. They lost many provinces and Balkan provinces became rebels. In 1154 Serbs reappeared in Serbia and after few turns they conquered Serbia and Hungary.
https://img308.imageshack.us/img308/...taksrba8yy.jpg
And they didn’t live long. Their king was old (over 50 years) and his four brothers (princes) were even elder (over 60). Two of them were killed in battle when they tried to conquer Carpathia from rebels. There was 4* general. No more Serbs after 1165.
The same turn (1154) assassin was caught and killed in Moldavia. Ordinary thing except that assassin worked for rebels!
https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/...njenika1vr.jpg
Armenians slowly conquered Fatimids, as they were pretty tough. After Serbs reappeared, Seljuk Turks reappeared in Mesopotamia, too. Mesopotamia was rebel province (former Seljuk’s rebels from civil war) which nobody invaded. Seljuk sultan Mehmed I wanted to expand and he choose to attack me in Rum and second attack was in Armenia. He was crushed as his army was compound of archers and Saracen infantry. He gained poor attacker and doubtful courage vice and virtues. After few turn he died without heir (he was already old) and I invaded Mesopotamia and Georgia which also controlled rebels.
Around 1155 Sicily invaded Naples but I won. And the same story next year. I managed to build large fleet on islands (Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus) and I sunk whole Sicilian fleet. They were so weak that I didn’t want to invade Sicily. White peace was signed and every time when Sicily built ship I sunk its. There are now four full armies of high tech units in Sicily but they can’t invade anybody without fleet…
After I conquered Levidia from Kievan Rus’ their emissary came and offered ceasefire. I agreed. The worst things in campaign weren’t battles or enemies – it was my heirs. The first emperor Alexius had only two sons (6* generals) and his heir had four sons but they had only one or two command (he had nine influence). The next problem was massive number of princesses who nobody wants to merry. My general always had the highest loyalty so I didn’t marry them with princess as there is no effect. Few of them even became a spinster. But the worst thing was that nobody wanted to give princess to my heirs. Even orthodox factions refused to give princess. Finally, Bohemian king accepted which saved me. The whole game I have problems to find princesses for my princes.
Next time: end of Fatimids and France, second war with Kievan Rus' and the first crusade (the English one) is coming on my boundaries plus – the first true empire is born - England.
That my friend is Bulgarian Heavy Infantry. Fine quality Bulgarian infantry.Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeofSerbia
@Rythmic
They look like Viking landsmen with different shield. I had so many battles on bridge but my enemy never broke up my lines. Armoured Spearmen are best for holding enemies on bridge from my expirience. Try with them.:2thumbsup:
1156-1172
Sultan of Seljuk Turks died of illness and I invaded Mesopotamia. After conquest I destroyed every building here and retreated back to Armenia. I had two reasons: Mesopotamia is not rich province and terrain is sandy desert. Most of my army is armored or heavily armored – so, units like that are useless in that type of terrain. After I left Mesopotamia, Fatimids invaded from Arabia and war broke out. They were already beaten by Armenians, but it seems that they wanted more! First some 6* Berber camels general with excellent vices and virtues invaded Armenia and the next turn the same did Khalifah Ali I. Both times they were beaten. Nothing interesting happened except composition of Fatimid’s army. I will say in one word – camels, a lot of camels. ¾ of army were Bedouin and Berber camels. Second battle for Armenia was very close. Every Bedouin camel had at least one valor and mostly 2 or 3 (I gave +1 valor bonus in Arabia for them). This is screenshot from second battle. There were more dead camel’s bodies but I couldn’t catch them all…
https://img100.imageshack.us/img100/...rmenija0hf.jpg
Khalifah Ali I became good runner and weak attacker. I decided to finish him once and forever. My second invasion of Mesopotamia was led by 5* Urban militia general. Fatimids surrendered without fight. My general refused ransom. It was in 1161 and Fatimids were reduced to Cyrenaica. Armenians conquered Arabia, Sinai and Egypt.
https://img224.imageshack.us/img224/...enotkup3cn.jpg
By 1161 situation in Western Europe became interesting. Bohemia conquered Austria and Croatia and Czech king now control the most of central Europe. France was quickly overrun by Castilian and English armies and then broke into civil war. HRE survived only in Switzerland and Genoa and France was reduced to Burgundy and Savoy. England and France signed truce and English armies overrun Ireland (I forgot to mention that Scotland was conquered long time ago by English) which I saw first time that anybody invade Ireland. The real winner was Papal state. Papal armies just conquered those rebel provinces and Pope controls now most provinces between Provence and Venice up to Tyrol. Just to mention that Novgorod was destroyed by Denmark and Kiev after long war.
In 1162 Kievan Rus’ started war again. They controlled whole modern Russia plus Crimea. This time I was prepared for their fleet. After five or six years and there were no more any Kievan fleet in eastern Mediterranean. AI was excellent and they didn’t attack Leviadia from Lesser Khazar or Kiev as there is a river. They attacked from Pereyaslavl. My 8* Katapraktoi general with damn gluttony vice and virtue won again. I killed over 600 prisoners because Kiev had huge army.
https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/41...diaskor2na.jpg
I decided to expand as the new emperor had “only” seven influences. Crimea fell easily. Then I moved my 8* general and his army from Levidia to Kiev. There was grand prince of Kiev. For some unknown reason they retreated to castle. I wrote unknown as I expected battle on bridge. Next turn I assaulted castle with great loses as castle had ring and catapult wall improvement. Those catapult towers can’t miss. Kiev is the key strategic point. Province is reach, Kievans improved buildings and is protected from all sided by rivers except from east which is the most important reason why I invaded Kiev. First time in campaign I was in position to recruit Byzantine cavalry as province was highly developed. In 1167 Kievan Rus’ tried to get back Kiev and battle was on the bridge. The problem for me was that I have only one Byzantine infantry and no spearmen so I used Trebizond archers as swordsmen on bridge. Grand prince Vladimir II was killed by swords of my Trebizond archers’ unit.
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/4...jevskor9tz.jpg
Serbian king died from illness in 1165 and Serbia and Hungary became rebel provinces once again. Three armies of rebels in Hungary led by 4* and two 3* generals and two rebel armies in Serbia led by 5* and 3* generals. My armies were busy with Kievan Rus’ so I sent emissary with three valor in Serbia to bribe 5* general and his army. Initial offer was over 4000 florins but then price was raised over 6000. I agreed but general refused. Next turn I tried again. He wanted 7400 florins. I agreed but he refused. From then he became impossible for bribing. So I tried to bribe 3* general. Price was raised from 3700 to 4900 and general accepted offer. I moved troops from Greece and won next year battle with terrible losses. Rebel army was composed of Slav javelin men, archers, annoying horse archers and Slav warriors and battle was in hilly ground. Those Slav javelin men… My ally Bohemia four consecutive years unsuccessfully tried to conquer Hungary from Austria (there is a river on Austrian-Hungarian boundaries). Finally they succeeded. But rebels retreated to Carpathia led by 4* general who survived. It became obvious that my ally Bohemians plan invasion on my empire…
Around 1170 Kievans sent princess to offer truce. I agreed. Fatimid khalifah was captured and executed by Armenians in Cyrenaica. Minor Asia, Near East and Egypt are in hands of Orthodox states – Roman Empire and Kingdom of Lesser Armenia. Bohemia conquered Carpathia with great losses and French king was captured and executed by Castilian army in Savoy. Armenians attacked England in Algiers and the new great war broke out. My emissary noticed first crusade led by English 3* Templar Knight’s general. Their target is province of Edessa controlled by Armenians. That means they will try to go through my territories. England is strongest, largest and richest faction… Can be worst? Yes and it is. England and Kiev are allies.
Next time: English crusade arrived in Hungary, war with Armenia and Bohemia, Fatimids, Almoravids and Seljuk Turks reappeared plus almost every faction attacked English empire.
castilians
hard
1301
this is my first MTW campaign, i think my empire is decent for a first timer, took me a long time to do it though. my main recruiting stations are navarre, and aragon. having trouble making navies, everyone attacks them when there are like 2 units. need help with battles, how to make money, and any helpful info.i dont knwo how to make it bigger, but i own most of spain, to the edge of italy, and the edge of norway.
https://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j...victus/twe.jpg
bkb super mod.
and i was the navarese, not the castilians.
Keep the good stuff rolling guys :D