Velikiy Kniaz: Rus Resurgence

[Lehesu]

This will be an ongoing (hopefully) transcript of a Medieval: Total War game using the BKB Super Mod. I have chosen to play as the Kievans in the Early Period. I am not a scholar of Russian history, but did undertake some research prior to starting this game to gain an understanding of the starting position of Kievan Rus in 1087. The AARs will take the form of a series of in-character letters and journal entries documenting the important events as they unfold. Out of character commentary will be used if I need to relate more specific information or if I just get lazy. Please let me know what you think!

OOC: Kiev (grey) is packed next to two significantly larger forces; the pagan Cumans (dark blue) to the south and the muslim Khazar Khaganate (light blue) to the east. Historically, the Grand Prince of Kiev claimed lordship over various principalities north of Kiev, including, nominally, Novgorod. I thus have decided to strike north to retake these traditional holdings. Pereyaslavl was chosen over Chernigov as an easier target; it is also, historically, the first landholding that Grand Prince Ysevolod held under his father, Grand Prince Yaroslav.

The governor of Kiev, Vladimir Chortov, was chosen on the basis of his acumen and loyalty, as a significant number of my starting commanders have less than stellar loyalty.

1087

In this year 1087, Grand Prince Ysevolod I, favored son of Yaroslav the Wise, endeavored to reclaim those principalities that have rightly belonged to the Velikiy Kniaz, the Grand Prince of Kiev, since the rule of Vladimir the Great. The Grand Prince, desirous of recapturing that age of prosperity presided over by his father, and eager to efface the ruin visited upon his kingdom by the venal treachery and boundless avarice of men such as Boris Vyacheslavich and Oleg Svyatoslavich, the latter even being willing to loose the pagan hordes of the Kipchaks upon his own people, set out at the head of an army to first retake the Principality of Pereyaslavl to the east.

The Grand Prince, leery of leaving Kiev open in his absence to the self-serving machinations of spineless nobles, saw fit to confer upon me, his most loyal of companions, the title of Kniaz of Kiev, empowered to collect taxes and levy troops in his name, that Kiev may be restored to that glory which it once possessed as a beacon of civilization in the midst of rootless and godless peoples.

Mark well, my sons, that such a fruit as this came not to one so humble as myself from the brambles of duplicitous cunning and conniving, but from those great flowering branches as spring from the tree of loyalty which, though slowly and steadily grows, is possessed of shallow roots apt to wrench themselves from the soil in the briefest moments of inattention.

Choose well where you place your loyalties, that you may never need taste the fruits of discontent.

A letter from Vladimir Chortov, Duke of Kiev, to his sons

[gollum]

Challenging starting position.

Will be following this ;)

[Cyprian2]

I will be following this, too. Good choice of faction, btw (and one I've often thought about playing). What I like about BKB's mod is that it's not so much about balance (witness the Kievan starting position, among others) as it is about sheer fun and variety; I commend you, Lehesu, for a fine beginning.

EDIT: I appreciate your use of map-shots (something that's not always offered in AARs), but it would be nice, also, to see what units the Grand Princes of Kiev––worthy descendants of Vladimir and Yaroslav––may muster for the glory of the Rus!

[Lehesu]

The only troops really worth mentioning are the Rus Spearmen and the Druzhina. The spearmen make for a resilient front line and the druzhina (I can only train the dismounted ones right now) act as sort of the shock troops (druzhina were the household soldiers of the various Kievan kniaz). Fortunately, Kiev came with an armorer and a swordsmith so my starting equipment is good. Unfortunately, Kiev does not have a horse breeder. I will probably focus on improving my cavalry so that I can get the Chernye Klobuki, a new elite horse archer unit exclusive to the Kiev faction.

Surprisingly, money doesn't seem to be a problem, at least for now. Kiev actually makes quite a bit of money with a decent governor.

I should have the next couple of years up in a day or two.

[PershsNhpios]

That was a most eloquent beginning, Lehesu, thank you for taking the time to make this.

Don't feel obliged to rush another update shortly after - keep a pace starting now which you can maintain until the end of the campaign (Although I realise this is often impossible).

I have never played BKB nor read an AAR based upon it before - nor seen Kiev represented in other AARs (Though bamff probably has one somewhere!), so this is a very unique experience for me.

Thank you again!

[huth]

Such a interesting faction you've chosen, very tough beginning. I know that they're not the same people, but because what you wrote is a letter, I just recalled about this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reply_o...zhian_Cossacks :P