Megas Logothetes' and Senators' Reports

[Ignoramus]

Report for 1124:

The Germans have stormed Jerusalem. The Holy City is now in Christian hands. Unfortunately, it appears that the city's inhabitants are already rebelling against their new masters. Also worrying, is the presence of the large French army in Anatolia with no clear objective.

My brother, Isaakios came of age, and is with his father near Constantinople. My other brother Andronikos, also had another noble ask for his patronage. I refused.

The Seljuk Jihad decided to overcome their fears and turned again towards Constantinople. They are still at a reasonable distance from the city.

[Ignoramus]

http://rapidshare.com/files/137026876/LOTR-1125.zip

[TinCow]

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-1c.zip

Changes:

Added 3950 to treasury for Crusade upkeep.
Removed Pagan Magician from Ioannis Komnenos.
Gave Duke of Scopia ancillary to Methodios Tagaris.
Removed Duke of Belgrade ancillary from Anastasios Neokaisareitis and gave it to Nevoulos ek Philadelphias. (The Lemongate is now considered inactive.)
Removed Duke of Yerevan ancillary from Pavlos Chrysovergos and gave it to Ioannis Kantakouzinos.

*Updated in 1a version*
Changed Methodios' queued siege engines from towers to rams at his request.

*Updated in 1b version*
Koulianos Vourzos was somehow still alive, when he should have been killed off long ago due to withdrawal from the game.
Thessalonica ancillary added to Ioannis Kalameteros.
Isaakios Komnenos moved inside of Constantinople. New avatars benefit from 'education' if they spend their time inside the Capital. He spawned outside the capital due to a full garrison. Room was made by killing off Koulianos Vourzos.

*Updated in 1c version*
University traits added.

Ioannis Kalameteros (Deguerra): Trait AcademyTrained
Level Academy_Trained
Effect Command 1

Ioannis Komnenos (Ignoramus): Trait Pragmatic
Level Mostly_Rational
Effect Authority 1

Iakovos ek Kallipoleos (YourLordandConqueror): Castle Education (Castle_Edu)
Level 1 – Squire
Effect MovementPoints 10

Nathanail ek Korinthou (BananaBob):

Level Slave_to_Superstition
Effect Piety -2
Effect Authority -1
Effect TroopMorale -2

reduced to

Level Superstitious
Effect Piety -1
Effect TroopMorale -1

Note that the "Squire" trait has a bug in it. On mouseover, it displays Increased Piety instead of Increased Movement. This is an error in the text description only. The trait gives the proper bonus of 10 movement points. The text description will be fixed whenever I release another version of LotRmod.

Please inform me if anyone else wants a retinue removed before the Influence votes are counted. Also inform me if there are currently errors in who possesses which settlement title.

[Privateerkev]

1125:

Emperor, Caesar, and Senators,

The election is finally over. The tally is complete and I am, as of now, starting my term as Megas. A few things first to get out of the way.

We are very near a financial crisis. The Crusade will be over soon. When that happens, it will no longer become self-funding. Add in the fact that there will have to be multiple private armies created overnight, and we will simply run out of money. I am therefore asking for your help.

1.) If you have extra units under your control in an army/garrison/fort, please disband them.

2.) We have far too many mercenaries. By my count, there are 14 mercenary units. These are a drag on our finances. 11 are in House Komnenodoukai alone. I ask that these be disbanded immediately. I will recruit cheaper replacements for the private armies.

3.) We need to raise taxes. I can not finance buildings with no money. I ask that everyone set their taxes as high as possible or allow me to do so.

4.) Since we have little money, I will make very clear that expensive items will not be financed. And, with no money, we have little need for new military buildings. Please do not put military buildings at the front of your build queues.

With the disbanding of extra units, and the raising of taxes, we can get at least 5000 more florins out of our economy next year. With that money, we can build the infrastructure we sorely lack. Together we can move the Empire in a new direction.

Now on to some finer points of bureaucracy.

For now, the entire navy is under control of the Office of the Megas.

The same goes for all agents of the Empire.

The Armenian Cavalry that is currently with the Caesar, has been seized by the Office of the Megas. That unit is not to be moved.

The spear militia that is currently with Michail Arianitis, has been seized by the Office of the Megas. That unit is not to be moved.

The units currently with Aleksios ek Ikoniou are now part of his private army. Those units are now his and can only be moved by him or someone he designates.

God speed and Good Luck,
Megas Makedonios Ksanthopoulos

The save is now open!

[Cecil XIX]

Taking save.

[Cecil XIX]

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-2.zip

Set taxes at Antiokheia to 'Normal'. Moved the entirety of the Order's forces save Makedonios towards Damascus. Disbanded Turkopoles.

[Motep]

taking save. (unless there is a pecking order...)

[Motep]

I moved Andronikos Kommenos Out of Constantinople, and he is en route to Tblisi...He will get there...eventually


http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-3.zip

[Ituralde]

Taking the save!

[Ituralde]

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-4.zip

Disbanded all Mercenaries under my control, that are not part of my Private Army.

Set Tax rates as high as possible in all of my controlled settlements.

[Ferret]

taking the save

[Ferret]

Moving North-East

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-5.rar

[Ignoramus]

Taking the save:

[Ignoramus]

Somehow my version of the LotR Mod/SS 4.1 is mucking up, so I can't do my move this turn.

[Warmaster Horus]

I'll take the save, then.

[Warmaster Horus]

Here it is: http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-6.rar

Kept moving Manouelitis east. Only 1 more turn to get to Kalameteros.

[Kagemusha]

Taking the save.

[Kagemusha]

Moved East and picked up the Armenian cavalry from Sinop, for Pavlos private army.Here is the new save.

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-7.rar

[TinCow]

Taking the save for Crusade movement.

[TinCow]

Annios Solomon (woad&fangs) was not in too great a hurry in his march to Alexandria. The city was close, his ally Methodios Tagaris was supervising the siege, and there were no enemy armies nearby. As they marched towards the rendezvous with Methodios' men, Annios' column passed another mass of Crusaders along the road. This was the army of Efstathios Laskaris (Ibn-Khaldun). It seems Laskaris' Great Cross had broken an axle... a break that was so clean that it was surely caused by a handsaw. Despite knowing that this was an act of sabotage, Efstathios' men were fearful of abandoning such a powerful symbol of Christ on their Holy Quest, and refused to move until the Cross was repaired. While this work was eventually completed, the army has made no progress this year. As Annios Solomon rode by, his men simply laughed at the misfortune of their fellow Crusaders who had so recently done the same to them out at sea. Eventually Annios joined Methodios Tagaris in his siege of Alexandria, and the combined armies stand ready to assault the city.

Vissarionas ek Lesvou (Ramses II CP) and Stavros ek Amarinthou (Knights_of_Palma) continued their combined marched to reach the precariously positioned Vartholomaios Ksiros (Rowan). Despite the large size of their army, which made logistics a bit less efficient than before, they made good time. Skirting a large Egyptian force on the east side of the river bank, the Crusaders hurried to join Ksiros' camp in the optimal defensive position at the bridge. The effort of the march was very great, though, and they could not muster the strength to reach Cairo this year. However, all three Crusaders are finally encamped together with a major army and they are within striking distance of their objective. Unless there is some significant act of God or treachery of man, they will surely besiege the city next year.

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-8a.zip

I have also moved Savvas ek Militou (Andres) to Arta for safekeeping. I have decided to keep him alive and in possession of his province and Oaths for 1 full Megas term. If Andres is still absent at the end of this term, Savvas will be killed off according to his wishes and his property will be divested according to his last Will.

[_Tristan_]

Taking the save

[_Tristan_]

Save is back

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-9.rar

Per our agreement with woad&fangs, I assaulted Alexandria. The fight went well with only 120 dead on our side. All defenders have been either killed or taken prisoner. Prisoners were offered for ransom for 276 florins, an offer which was refused by our enemies.

In contradiction with our current Megas' proposed Edict, Alexandria was sacked for 8011 florins. (OOC : I'll write a battle report justifying this IC, let us say that it is related to Kosmas' death under the walls of the city).

Will update my SOT soon to reflect the capture of the city.

[Smowz]

taking the save

[Smowz]

Save returned

http://rapidshare.com/files/13936209...25-10.rar.html

As per the Megas suggestion I have disbanded unneeded garrison troops in Belgrade.

Nevoulas has moved into Central Anatolia towards the still wild mountain regions.

[TinCow]

Taking the save to kill off Efstratios Monomachos, as I forgot to do this earlier. (ATPG has repeatedly asked me to do this.)

I also have to add in NN's University trait, which he didn't submit in time for the Senate session.

New save:
http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-11.zip

Aleksios ek Ikoniou was given the first level of GoodBuilder.
With Efstratios Monomachos dead, Durazzo is now completely empty. It should probably be garrisoned by something, such as its owner who is right next to it...

[deguerra]

taking save

[deguerra]

Damn Caesarea...

Taken, but ouch what a battle...

http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-12.rar

Also moved Caesar towards Dardanellia at Igno's request

(actually, if the next person could make sure this is right, and if not do so themselves that would be great! )

[Northnovas]

At a quick look here is the latest save

http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/M2...TR-1125-13.zip

Also moved Caesar towards Dardanellia at Igno's request. Done he wasn't moved in the save moved him on the road to Dardanellia.

Moved Aleksios towards Druzzo and Rebel Army in the area.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Taking the save.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Here it is back: http://www.mizus.com/files/pbm/LOTR-1125-14.rar

Changed tax level in Athens to High(with the permission of deguerra)

Renamed Caesarea to Markianopol.