Pics & History of your Empire

[Innocentius]

Burgundy: 1335 - 1365 A.D.

While Duke Philippe yet remained in Provence, establishing his position and planning for the naval expansions of his little country, the French had not forgotten the loss of the same province.
Simply taking revenge on the Burgundians, the King of France himself commanded a massive army marched into Burgundy itself in the summer of 1336. The Burgundian troops were outnumbered 2:1. Unfortuneately for the French, they had to cross the Rhone before they could enter Burgundy. This was where the Burgundians under the command of Prince Philippe made their stand.
The French trying to cross the bridge were hit by volley after volley from the Burgundian crossbowmen, and once they got across all they found was a compact hedge of halberds pointed towards them. When the King of France himself foolishly attacked across the bridge, trying to turn the tide of the battle, Burgundian cavalry hit him in the rear. The King of France could not be taken prisoner however, as the fierce Burgundians killed him at first sight. At the end of the day, the French had to retreat, suffering heavy casualties:

The next year, the French signed a ceasefire with Duke Philippe. This meant the beginning of a long period of peace for the Burgundians.

At the end of his days, Duke Philippe II saw a few setbacks for his duchy. The economy was struggling, and he was unable to construct the impressive trading fleet that he had hoped for, but a few ships were actually constructed. At the time of his death, in 1342, he had expanded Burgundy widely, and had kept it at peace for many years. He was succeeded by his son Philippe, now Duke Philippe III. Philippe was 32 years of age as he took over the rule after his father.

Philippe III's reign is remembered as happy times, later on often refered to as "the good old days". Burgundy was at peace, however mainly because it lacked the resources needed to go to war. All the money had to be spent on the defences of the country.
During this time however, Burgundy became infamous as dangerous lands to travel through, especially French princesses had a nasty habit of turning up dead.

Philippe drew his last breath in 1364, and was succeeded by his only son, Prince Jean, who matured just in time to be able to claim the throne. Duke Jean I was merely 16 years of age as he took over the rule after his father.

If Duke Jean I was to break the peace remains yet to be told however.

The Duchy of Burgundy in the year 1365 of our Lord:

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Any suggestions for where I should turn next? The HRE is on the decline, facing plenty of wars on plenty of fronts, but their only province bordering to my own lands is the single of their provinces that has a reasonable army (about 1200 of good untis, a few really good).
The French are becoming more and more powerful. I'm not worried about them really attacking me, as their armies are huge, but concist of really crappy units. But I can't really attack them, I can only afford one army per province, so invading them means I have to leave something unwatched (which means this province being invaded by someone else). Also, if I invaded them, I'd probably face numbers so huge not even the much higher quality of my troops could save me...

Any suggestions?

Edit: Oh, just noticed that I have no borders to the HRE anymore. Didn't check carefully enough.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Innocentius, I think that expanding at the expense of the French is your only good option. Here is why.
First of all, I do not think you have enough time to conquer 60% of the map. This means you can only win by GA points. I am not sure, but I think Flanders may be one of your homelands. At the same time, the French have too many provinces and ways to get GA points. You cannot win the game unless you take them out.
Second, if you wait, their armies will be just as huge, but they will also tech up and then beating them would require a lot of luck. You need to get to their troop producing centers as quickly as possible, because if they start churning out chivalric units (sergeants, men at arms, knights), halberdiers and arbalesters you are doomed.
Third, they seem to be overstretched. They are likely to get in was with the Spanish (try to ally with them), and they might even get attacked bu sea. The large numbers of their land armies mean they spent little on ships and maybe even have none or few. The Danes, the Swedes and perhaps with some luck the Scottish may decide that they need to expand somewhere and they may see the French as an option.
Fourth, the French are larger, they have already attacked you once and doing it again will get them excommunicated, if they aren't already. This will most certainly get the Spanish to attack them and after they lose a few provinces a civil war is more than likely to occur. Then you can easily finish them off.
This is why I would go for the French if I were you, even if this means exposing myself a little. The Genoese have a tendency to get in war with the Pope and excommunicated as a result. Therefore they will probably not attempt to backstab you, and you do not want to destroy them, as this will then make a large Papacy your neighbor and then it will be a huge pain dealing with his Popeness once he attacks you (inevitable). You can try taking land in North Africa, if you have a large fleet, but this will stretch your kingdom too thinly and you will have to fight on too many fronts - in Europe against the French and the Papacy eventually, and in North Africa you will be squeezed between the Egyptians and the Spanish. I do not think you have any other options, unless perhaps turtling ehavily and producing armies of inquisitors and grand inquisitors to get rid of the rest of the catholic factions (except the Papacy), and then try to bribe the resulting rebels, but this is going to be extremely hard.

[Martok]

Another great update, Innocentius!

Unfortunately, I think your only real option is to slug it out against the French, huge though they may be.

Attacking the Papal lands is unattractive for all the usual reasons, in addition to which their territory isn't that valuable anyway. As for the Genoese, they would be a pretty tough nut to crack. Attacking across the Alps is no picnic; and with their naval supremacy, invading from the sea is extremely risky at best.

I would suggest taking the French King's lands in the south, particularly Acquitaine and Tolouse (although Aragon and Valencia are pretty nice provinces as well). No it probably won't be easy, but I think that's probably your best route for expansion at this point. It can be done.

EDIT: @Kavhan Isbul: Also good points; great minds think alike.

[bamff]

Out of curiousity Innocentius - who is the maroon shaded faction immediately to your south?

I concur with the other members of your council of war there are attractions to striking West across Toulouse to Aquitaine, and if you are able to take Aragon and Valencia, this will give your economy a boost....

Of course having said all of that, you need the troops to take these provinces, and then to hold them...

[Martok]

Out of curiousity Innocentius - who is the maroon shaded faction immediately to your south?

That would be the Genoese.

[r johnson]

Very nice compaign Innocentius. You'll find that Burgundian troops 1 v 1 are better than French troops. The Scots have done surprisingly well, normally they eventually get defeated by the English. Good luck with your next move Innocentius.

[Innocentius]

Thanks everyone, I've decided to go for the French whenever I get some time to play. My plan is to take Toulouse, but leave Aquitaine for the Spanish (factions actually have a nasty - and stupid - habit of attacking you if your provinces are blocking them from reaching their enemies). But I'll probably just go for whatever province that is the easiest to conquer and hold. Ile de France is nice, since it's almost always weakly defended, thus the French retreat, and when you're to defend it the next year - 'cause they will counterattack for sure - you often find yourself defending a bridge

[Vladimir]

Wage a guerrilla war against the French. Not only do you have mounted x-bows but you have javelin cavalry with an irresistible charge. Raid into their heart or flank, just avoid offensive bridge battles. Burgundy is highly defensible so just use those two cav units in tandem to wear the Frenchies out and temp them to attack you thru a chokepoint.

[bamff]

That would be the Genoese.

Sigh! I really have to get myself either the BKB or XL mod!

Thanks Martok.

[Cowhead418]

Volga Bulgars: 1087-1110 A.D. (Early, Expert)

THE FIRST CLASH

Khan Subudai I surveyed his holdings. His people had only recently came onto the scene, and his Muslim followers felt isolated from the seemingly hostile surrounding Christian populations. However, the Khan's lone province of Volga-Bulgaria had only rebel neighbors, and the time was ripe for expansion. Subudai, an authoritative leader who would not tolerate disobedience, knew that he could not live off the meager and undeveloped farmlands for long, and that expansion was necessary for growth.

After a few years of building infrastructure and training troops, the Khan himself led an invasion force into Muscovy. The rabble of rebels quickly retreated to the fort and was besieged. A short two years later and the Subudai had more than doubled the size of his kingdom. By now the Khan's first-born son had come off age, Prince Subudai II. The heir to the Volga-Bulgarian throne would form his own invasion force and march westward into Ryazan. The rebel force of horse archers and spearmen initially decided to give battle, but once Subudai II started to advance on their position with his archers, they turned and fled into the fort.

Subudai II was an impatient man and he immediately made preparations for assault. The horse archers fought valiently but were no match for Bulgarian Royal Cavalry. Good times were on the horizon as the economy and size of the Volga-Bulgarian empire increased once more. Over the next few years a second son, Prince Temudur, would come of age and alliances would be concluded with several nations including Novgorad, Lithuania, Sweden, the HRE, Aragon, the Cumans, and the Venetians. While Prince Subudai was off fighting in Chernigov, his brother Temudur took command of the garrison in Ryazan. Once again the rebels would retreat to the fort and were assaulted, though the spearmen proved worthy adversaries and dealt the VB a fair amount of casualties.

For now the empire was set, the rebel garrison in Khazar was too strong and the depleted treasury meant bribery was not an option. The Khan now poured all his effort into strengthening the poor economy. Farmlands were built, forests cleared, and trading posts erected. Alims were trained and spread to all corners of the empire to spread the Muslim faith. Meanwhile, Novgorad and Sweden had declared war on Lithuania. Subudai decided to side with the Lithuanians, and this meant that alliances with Sweden, Novgorad, Aragon, and the Venetians were now void. While the foreign powers bashed on each other, the Khan saw a golden opportunity when he noticed that Novgorad had left their capital relatively unguarded. Subudai quickly formed an invasion force and let his new son Prince Ordhun lead the way into Novgorad.

The Prince of Novgorad formed up his troops in a defensive position but soon withdrew from battle and crossed the border into Finland (but not before losing a half unit of Druzhinas and one unit of Vikings). The rich province was conquered with little bloodshed. However, Ordhun was not naive and knew that he needed to fortify the new holdings. A unit of Steppe Cavalry was soon trained and added to the army of two units of archers, one unit of kursybays (like armoured spearmen but with more morale), two units of bashkorts (javelin units), one unit of horse archers, one unit of Cherne Klobuki (cavalry), one unit of slav warriors and the general.

As expected, the Prince of Novgorad came roaring back with four units of vikings, his heir Prince David, a half unit of Druzhina Cavalry, a unit of woodsmen and his own bodyguards. The Volga-Bulgarians outnumbered their opponents by about 500 to 350, but Ordhun knew he was in for a tough fight. He formed his defensive line on a slightly elevated hill and waited for the enemy. The Horse Archers managed to get out in front and harass the woodsmen for a few volleys before retreating off to the right. As the archers dueled with the Boyars, the woodsmen, Druzhinas, and a unit of vikings charged straight at the Kursybays. The Cherne Klobuki moved off to the side in a flanking manuever while the Bashkorts unleashed their javelins into the vikings. As the three units smashed into the spearmen, the Kursybays quickly began to falter. The Cherne Klobuki charged into the Druzhinas rear and managed to rout them.

Unfortunately, Prince David saw this and broke off his range dual to flank the Klobuki. Panicking, the Bashkorts switched their targets to the Boyars and managed to take down many. However, the CK were routed as well as the Kursybays. The Bashkorts then charged into melee with the vikings. They fought well, but the combined Boyars and Viking threat routed them too. The right line had completely collapsed and the archers were now vulnerable. Meanwhile, on the left flank a unit of vikings had somehow managed to trap a unit of skirmishing archers and were cutting them up. The Slav Warriors attempted a flanking attack but were hit in the rear by the Woodsmen and were quickly defeated. The other unit of bashkorts did what they could to help but it was of no use. Soon nearly every unit was routing. It looked like the day was lost but Ordhun and the Steppe Cavalry had managed to surround and destroy a unit of vikings. They then sped off to help the bashkorts and routed another viking unit and then obliterated the remaining woodsmen. Prince David was too busy slicing up archers to realize he was being charged. He was soon knocked from his horse and trampled to death. The last unit of vikings was easily surrounded and routed and by now the Prince of Novgorad had given up and withdrew. Victory had been pulled from the jaws of defeat. Nearly 350 Volga-Bulgarian warriors lay dead on the battlefield afterwards. Novgorad had been held.

But Subudai would not have much time to celebrate the great victory. He spent his final hours just weeks after the battle's end. His accomplishments, however, did not perish with him. Subudai had managed to increase the size of his kingdom more than five times its original size, had significantly improved the economy, and had proved to the world that Volga-Bulgaria was a force to be reckoned with.












Note: It really looked like I was going to lose this battle, but the Steppe Cavalry helped me to a victory with some well-timed charges. This was the first battle I really realized how useful they are. Before I thought they were an extremely weak but fast cavalry unit. After the victory my army in Novgorad was nearly destroyed but strangely the Novgoradians did not attack me again. They had nearly a full stack of vikings in Livonia but just sat there while I rushed in reinforcements. Novgorad is now fortified.

Also, take a careful look at the last picture. I just recently noticed that two of my underage heirs are the same age - making them twins! How this happened I have no idea but I think it is pretty cool.