Pics & History of your Empire

[Innocentius]

Nice campaign, Caravel It's been a while since I saw a Byz-campaign in here.

[UltraWar]

The Teutonic Order / High / Easy / XL Mod

[Martok]

Nice, UltraWar. Looks like you've already largely achieved the Order's original goals. Will you move against the Orthodox Rus now?

[ChaosLord]

Well after getting faced with an inability to lose in M2TW I decided to reinstall MTW with the MedMod 3.14. I started up a game as the Almohads in the Late campaign. After organizing my forces I spent a decade building up an army and teching up my regions some. Then with my heir leading this army I invaded Cordoba. After a decent battle (200 some odd killed, 300 some odd captured, and about 200 lost). After attacking and taking the castle I set about rebuilding my army and teching up some more.

Whil I was doing this the English apparently gobbled up the Aragonese and Portugal rebelled against Spain with a buff stack, leaving me with a very divided Spain to conquer. Sadly my dreams of am Almohad-ruled spain was not to be. In 1328 the Egyptians invaded Tunisia after sinking one of my ships. Then in 1329 my Khalifh died sparking a civil war with my heirs ungrateful brothers. In just two turns I was left with only the army under my new Khalifhs control. I tried to salvage the situation and rescued Morocco from the rebels seiging it, leaving Algiers and Tunisia to their fate.

Of course Spain took that chance to attack Cordoba. I tried to save it but was crushed on the field mainly by their heavy cavalry, my Khalifh was forced into Cordoba's castle to face a siege and death. So my dreams were crushed quite quickly, and in under thirty years of my inept rule.

[Innocentius]

The reign of King Karl I: 1288 - 1310 A.D.

King Karl became king of Sweden in 1288 at the age of 34, already a seasoned warrior from the campaigns against the Danes and the people of Novgorod under his father's rule. Just like his father, Karl was a hot-headed man and with an irritable manner. Karl intended to continue where his father had left; the people of Novgorod under Prince Mstislav VII had yet to be dealt with before the struggle for the Baltic Sea was finally over with. His plans were somewhat hindered by the great famine in Estonia of 1289 though, and all actions were postponed until 1290, when Novgorod itself was invaded.
The matter was executed in the most professional way. King Karl sailed from Sweden with but a minimal army, landing in Vyborg which had already been captured by the combined armies of Torgils Knutsson from Estonia and Lord Bonde from Finland. The three forces now united and together formed the greatest army Sweden had ever fielded. They now marched for Novgorod itself, and King Karl ordered all land that was passed to be thoroughly stripped. Nowhere did they face any opposition, and the terrified peasants fled to alert their Prince in Novgorod of what was happening. It was no more than 30 years since last time a Swedish army marched towards Novgorod, but that time it had been to help the people of Novgorod in their hour of need, now it was to claim their lands. Prince Mstislav VII, terrified by the news brought to him, immediately ordered his army to gather and to retreat with all haste. This was done, and when King Karl finally reached the walls of Novgorod in the late summer of 1290, there was not a soul left to defend them. Novgorod had fallen. Without losing more than a handful of men to starvation and ocsasional accidents, King Karl had not only taken the important harbour of Vyborg, but also Novgorod itself and all lands that answered to it.
King Karl, who saw no need to hurry, now let the war rest and took no further actions against Prince Mstislav VII for many years. In 1291, he travelled back to Sweden to celebrate the 16th birthday of his oldest son, Inge, a boy who in many ways was similar to both his father and grandfather.
Karl also saw to domestic matters. In 1292 there was a great flood in Finland, that seriously affected the harvest that year, and destroyed many houses and other constructions. Karl was quick to travel there, and to have Bishop Filip Engelbrektsson preach to the people of Turku in order to comfort them. He could not stay for long in Finland however, as he travelled to Scania the next year to personally dismiss the Earl of Scania, Birger Björnsson, who had become both lazy, greedy and fat from sitting on his arse for too long. No new Earl of Scania was appointed.
In 1297, Karl finally considered himself ready to resume the war with Prince Mstislav of Novgorod, who was now limited to the lands of Lithuania and Smolensk where he dwelled with the last remnants of his once so glorious armies. These the remains of a once victorious and powerful state were no match for the relative newcomers of Sweden though, and the massive army that King Karl himself commanded along with Lord Eriksson, Duke of Livonia, was more than enough to frighten the Novgorods off. Prince Mstislav fled to Smolensk, where he immediately started planning his revenge. This vengeance came quickly, but all too quickly for the unfortunate people of Novgorod. The very year after he had lost Lithuania, Prince Mstislav VII gathered his entire army, and marched for Novgorod in a desperate attempt to reclaim what had once been his.

The Battle of Novgorod

At that time, no less than Prince Burislev himself was commander of Novgorod, and although still green and untested he was considered by many to be a highly capable commander. Prince Burislev quickly decided that he could not be besieged, and would thus rather risk an open battle against the numerical superiority of Prince Mstislav. Being outnumbered by 3:2 and facing the more experienced Mstislav, his odds were not the best, but he deemed his own troops to be of higher quality than the ones of Mstislav.
The 28th of May, the two armies met on a heavily wooded plain not all that far from Novgorod itself. Seeing that there were no hills or ridges that he could use for defence, Burislev decided to use a somewhat unusual - but in the end highly effective - tactic. He placed his arbalests in two groups with their backs towards two separate forests. These two forests sloped and only left a small gap between them. In this tight little gap, Burislev positioned some fine and hardy spearmen with two companies of swordsmen as backup. Behind them he placed a unit of turcopoles from Livonia, and behind all this he and his personal bodyguard waited. Thus he created a blunt V formation with himself and his peak infantry at the bottom. The enemy forces would have to pass through a rain of fire from his arbalests before they could reach him and - what seemed to be - the main body of his army. It was not, however, as Burislev had hidden the better part of his infantry, reliable halberdiers, in the woods behind these arbalesters. Thus the arbalesters would seem unprotected by the enemy, but in reality, they were all a bait. Finally, he situated another company of turcopoles in the forest on his right flank, ready to chase down whatever enemy units would attempt to escape that day. Prince Mstislav had not made equally good preparations, and his entire cavalry force arrived in a big lump long before his infantry had reached the battlefied. Seeing that he outnumbered his enemy - and not aware of the halberdiers hidden in the woods - Mstislav made a foolish decision not to wait for his infantry to arrive, and commenced the attack without them. Thus, the battle begun.

Mstislav's own turcopoles and his elite boyars rode up and started a ranged duel with the arbalests of Burislev. This proved to be foolish, as the arbalesters could easily outrange his own mounted troops. Soon many of his companies and regiments broke ranks and fled. Angered by this, and having spotted Prince Burislev himself through the crowd, Mstislav took his own unit of highly able boyars and charged straight for the center of the Swedish army. The arbalesters however saw this, and concentrated their fire to Mstislav's boyars. As several volleys hit them at once, the boyars begun to waver and when Mstislav himself suddenly fell, said to have been struck down by no less than thirteen bolts, they panicked and fled. So died the last Prince of Novgorod.
When the rest of of the Novgorod army saw that the Prince's bodyguard fled, they too started wavering. Some of them panicked and fled immediately, but others tried to save the day by finally engaging the seemingly unprotected arbalesters in melee. This was the final and last mistake ever to be done by Novgorod army. The arbalesters quickly retreated as the enemy cavalry approached. Blinded by their desperation and anger, the cavalry followed them into the woods were they were all slain by the still fresh Swedish halberdiers.
At last, the late Mstislav's infantry arrived. They did not arrive to a welcoming sight though. The Novgorod cavalry fled like whipped dogs and some infantry regiments actually turned and fled at once, not even staying to cover the retreat of their friends. Only two full regiments, one of druzhina infantry and the other of armoured spearmen, stayed to fight. These were easily shot to pieces before finally engaged by the entire Swedish infantry and Prince Burislev and his knights as well. As they tried to flee, the turcopoles hidden in the woods pursued them, capturing many. The battle of Novgorod was over.

Despite not even half of the Novgorod army being killed or captured, it was dissolved immediately after the battle. Prince Mstislav had died without an heir, and the people of Novgorod were no more.


The years of peace

After the battle of Novgorod, King Karl was now able to rule in peace for the entire remain of his reign. These peaceful years saw many good happenings as well as a few bad. Bishop Filip Engelbrektsson was murdered in Turku in 1299, and the culprit was never found. In 1302, the entire Kingdom of Sweden suffered as a year with no summer passed, and the people starved and froze to death. But of course there were good times as well.
In 1298 Mats Kettilmundsson rose to fame as one of Sweden's finest generals, he was also the first to command a full unit of knights. Knights were common in much of Europe already, and it had taken them a long time to finally appear in Sweden. Prince Inge married Princess Ángela of Scotland in 1303, and Prince Burislev married another Ángela, but from Sicily this time, in 1307.
In 1304 King Karl I was given 1000 Florins from Pope Romano I, probably an attempt to bribe Karl to fight the excommunicated French. Karl did not however, as the French brought to him a great and steady trading income that assured the prosperity of his people.

In 1310, King Karl I of Sweden passed away in an illness. Although Karl had been a great king, he would always appear weak in the shadow of his ferocious father. But if his father had been remembered as "the Great", Karl would certainly be remembered as "the Good". Under his reign, Sweden had not only finally made itself master of the Baltic Sea but he had also lead it to a unheard of level of technological advancement and prosperity. Karl was succeeded by his son Inge, who became king as Inge III.

The Kingdom of Sweden in 1310:


King Inge III:

[Deus ret.]

nice write-up, Innocentius. I happened to read through the story ...erm I mean the glorious expansion of the Swedish kongdom only recently but I must say it's a really cool one. seems like France dominates the S/W part of the map, let's see when the eventual AI gang-up on them begins

[caravel]

A Byzantine Campaign - Part II

1158 and in a surprising move, Romanus Commanus has invaded and besieged Venice! The army in Rome under Tarkhan Barjik, a Khazar, has also ventured into Tuscany and captured Florence! At sea many victories have been won against the Italian fleets that were taken entirely by surprise! The catholic world is in turmoil!

1159 Venice has fallen in a bloody assault. Lord Commenus, as he is now known after being granted the governorship of Tuscany, is soon to make his way there to ensure that it holds. Prince Constantine and the Varangian Guard will relieve him in Venice. The newly come of age Prince Alexius will now join his father on the eastern frontier with the Saracens. Like his brother he is showing a great aptitude for military matters. Lord Vatatzes and Manuel Commenus have been reassigned to the western front alone to assist operations there.

In an offer of appeasement, the Hungarian Monarch has offered his daughter, Princess Sara's, hand in Marriage to the Prince Constantine. The Emperor was set firmly against this, but the Prince had insisted that he would marry with no other. The marriage is to take place the next year.

1160 As suspected the treacherous Hungarians have abandoned their alliance and have thrown in their lot with the Italians. Their armies marched into Wallachia in the spring bringing them closer still to Byzantine lands. Our spies will be watching the borders much more carefully from this day forth.

The Pope of the Catholics has surprisedly accepted a ceasefire, and the worthy king of the Danes has offered his daughters hand to Prince Alexius!.

In the east the Saracen Caliph has passed away, and has been succeeded by a lesser man. Word comes from the Sinai of a revolt, though it's nature is unknown. Many close the the Emperor are urging him to strike now, though the Emperor, being a man of honour, is reluctant to attack an "ally"...

1161 and that foolish and gluttonous coward, Lord Monomachus is besieged in Naples!! The dastardly Pope of the Catholics having launched a surprise attack! The King of the Danes has made the unwise choice to throw away his alliance with us. It is obvious that this puppet has received threat from the Germans or Italians. Prince Constantine, has departed from Tripoli and will be replaced there by the newly come of age Prince Andronicus. Constantine will rendevous with a contingent of the Varangian Guard in Constantinople and a small but capable force from the provinces. God willing, they will teach this beggar a lesson he won't forget...

1162 Constantine's force encountered no resistance. Naples is returned to Imperial control. Constantine will attack the next year and teach this pretender a lesson or two.

1163 Constantine's Army entered the lands known as the Papal States, the next spring, and there fought with the forces of the Pope until he was slain in the woods. It had not been Constantine's intention to kill him, only to chastise him somewhat, but he and his men had put up such a resistance that Constantine had no other choice. Constantine had wept when he had seen the great man fallen, his armour rent, and his sword broken. The Pope of the catholics was no more, and whom would the people now look to for guidance in these parts? The Castle at Perugia remains under siege. Constantine had appealed to these men to come out but they had refused preferring to die like, as they put it, "true christians". Lord Monomachus meanwhile had been packed off to Iconium, where he is now apparently boasting of his great deeds during the breaking of the siege of Perugia!? Constantine had viewed his presence as somewhat of a liability and though it wise to get him out of the way. The Italian peninsula is now fully under Imperial control.

Two small armies have been deployed to Sardinia and Corsica to wrest these islands from the Italians.

1164 Sardinia and Corsica fell easily. The Siege at Perugia was ended quickly by night. The Italians have not yet retaliated. In the east the ageing Emperor sits looking southward at the desert frontier. "Will they come before my time in this world is done, and if they come not, how will my successor fare against them...?".

To be continued...

[Innocentius]

nice write-up, Innocentius. I happened to read through the story ...erm I mean the glorious expansion of the Swedish kongdom only recently but I must say it's a really cool one. seems like France dominates the S/W part of the map, let's see when the eventual AI gang-up on them begins

Oh yes, the French...They always manage to capture half the map thanks to their ridiculously big armies made consisting of spearmen, feudal sergeants and militia sergeants. They must have "scared" all their enemies (i.e. forced them to retreat) into submission, because their armies wouldn't stand a chance if put to the test. I'm not really worried about them, if I beat them in a few battles in a row - which I can easily do now that I have almost 60000 florins, make 4000 florins each year and can produce +2 armour or better troops in Denmark, Sweden, Livonia, Novgorod and Lithuania and decent troops in Brandenburg and Pomerania + that I can easily outproduce their fleet and have quite a few good generals - they will probably have a civil war, and some re-emergances will occur. They are on their way to over-expanding themselves anyway, so this will probably happen even without my interference. I'm quite content with my borders however, and I have no urgent wish to expand ATM.

Good work Caravel! Seems like your allies aren't very trustworthy though...

[Martok]

Very nice, guys. @Caravel: So where exactly are you on the map now? Do you have the original Byz lands along with Italy?

[bamff]

Nice work, Caravel and Innocentius!

I'm looking forward to the next instalments of both campaigns...

In the meantime, my good sirs, I will offer my own latest chapter in the ongoing saga of my English campaign...apologies in advance - it is a little wordy (yet again)...I may have to change my name to "Bamff the Loquacious"

The Chronicles of Bamff’s English

Chapter 12 – King Henry II (1350 - 1365)
Having ascended to the throne in 1348 upon the death of his beloved father Alfred, King Henry II was most anxious to make his own mark on the world. He had taken advantage of the peace that blessed his kingdom in the early part of his reign to continue the military and economic build up of his kingdom. Whilst it was true that England was still technically at war with Egypt and the Holy Roman Empire, neither of these factions held enough lands, nor possessed enough troops to pose any threat to a leviathan such as England had become, and the rulers of both nations were astute enough to know that maintaining a low profile was their best hope of survival.
For his own part, King Henry regarded Byzantium as the greatest potential thorn in the side of the English Lion. True, the Byzantines had only recently succeeded in the reunification of their empire. True, their empire was still somewhat scattered across the European map, with several provinces so isolated as to make communication within the empire problematic at best. Henry was acutely aware, however, that Byzantium had been at war with England just prior to the collapse of the eastern kingdom. He was also aware that since the Byzantine collapse, England had occupied a number of territories that the Byzantines regarded as their own.
With this potential threat ever present in his thinking, Henry set about presenting a smiling and friendly public face to the Byzantines, whilst secretly transferring troops to regions that may soon come under attack from this burgeoning nation.
Sure enough, in the year 1355, the Byzantines broke the uneasy truce, with Romanus Prvovencani leading an impressively large army south into the now English province of Greece. It is time for Sir Nicephorus Cerlularius to prove his worth to his adopted nation. His defending force are outnumbered, but Henry remains confident – his father was an astute judge of tactical ability, and he spoke most highly of Cerularius’ skill in that regard.
The Byzantines enjoy a significant advantage in terms of numbers, however it is their technical advantage that Prvovencani believes will win the day. Included in his forces are significant numbers of arquebusiers and hand gunners. These weapons are known to induce terror in the ranks of enemy troops. Sadly for Prvovencani, he has neglected to note that neither of his wonder weapons is nearly so long ranged as a longbow or an arbalest; nor do these gunpowder units fare particularly well against cavalry charges. A great many of his gunners, together with many of his cavalry and other troops lie dead before they even come close to the English line. As a Byzantine himself, Cerularius is well versed in the use of mounted archers, and two regiments of Turcopoles add considerably to the mayhem of the enemy lines. Too late, Prvovencani realises that all is lost, and attempts to flee the field – but by this time, what is left of his army is not only facing annhiliation from billmen, varangian guards, and Cerularius’ kataphraktoi to their front, but they are also under attack in the rear from English knights, gallowglasses, and highland clansmen that have now encircled them.
Prvovencani is not fleet enough to escape capture. Greece is saved, and Sir Nicephorus Cerlularius is celebrated throughout England. As it happens, both victor and vanquished are destined to perish in the following year. Cerularius succumbed to a serious infection to wounds suffered in the battle for Greece. His experience had served him well against the Byzantines, but this experience had been bought over many years, and his advancing years did not serve him well in his fight against fever. Prvovencani was to perish in the English dungeons in Athens. With no ransom money forthcoming, this follower of the false cross was summarily garrotted. The parallels of the demise of these two men perhaps underlines the old adage that nobody wins a war.
With the Byzantines tipping their hand by declaring war, Henry now springs to action. England’s long time ally, the Pope, offers his blessing of Henry’s proposed crusade against the Byzantines in Saxony. The English army duly sails from Palestine to Naples.
By 1360, the crusaders have travelled as far north as Bohemia, passing through Venice and Austria after leaving Naples. The force has now mushroomed to almost 3,000 men strong. King Henry is all too aware that the Sicilians, the Germans, and the Poles were not pleased to welcome the crusaders to their lands (Naples, Austria, and Bohemia respectively), however none of these nations dares challenge the passage of this holy army. Henry also notes, somewhat wryly, that all three of these nations have added many troops to the crusade, in a feeble attempt to extract some measure of glory of their own from Henry’s bold venture.
Indeed, so many Sicilian troops joined the crusade against Saxony, that the garrison of Naples finds itself severely depleted – so much so, that this province became all too tempting a target for Doge Vitale IV of Italy. The Italian forces land in Naples in 1361. King Alexander of Sicily (known throughout England as “the Stuart pretender to the Sicilian crown”) is sorely outnumbered, and flees o’er the sea to Malta, after briefly considering Skye.
Don William Sismondi is left to defend Naples castle. The Don and his men cannot hope to hold off the Italians for long – they are cruelly short on supplies, and have no hope of the siege being relieved by their Sicilian countrymen. The castle duly falls to the Italians in 1362.
1362 is also the year in which the English crusade finally reaches its target province. The Byzantine commander in Saxony is Lord Prvovencani. Long has this man harboured a deep hatred of the English, and those fires were lent extra fuel with the defeat and subsequent execution of his brother Romanus in Greece. He is anxious to restore the name of Prvovencani, and to strike a blow against the English at the same time. Sir Richard Burnell leads the English force. Whilst not so skilled a general as Prvovencani, Burnell draws solace from the numerical superiority of his troops – he believes that with almost 4,500 men, he has enough to secure a resounding victory.
As the battle unfolds, it is Prvovencani’s inspired use of the terrain, and Burnell’s impetuous nature that prove the decisive factors. With his men forced to march a great distance before joining battle, they are already exhausted when the breakthrough is achieved. Ignoring this, Burnell urges them to pursue the Byzantine units – and the utterly exhausted Englishmen charge headlong into a second Byzantine force advancing to reinforce Prvovencani. With his men too tired to offer any resistance to this onslaught, Burnell watches in impotent fury as unit after unit breaks and flees from his side. What little resistance remains dissipates immediately as Burnell is thrown from his steed and is summarily hacked to pieces by Varangian guardsmen.
Prvovencani has secured a victory – although it is somewhat pyrrhic. Over 2,000 of his men perished (some 300 odd were prisoners executed by the English when the battle turned). English losses on the day were only 1,018….and the neighbouring English held provinces of Friesland and Franconia would more than make good these losses. As such, Henry is unperturbed by news of the defeat. He is confident that ultimately victory will be his. This indeed proves to be the case in 1363, as the crusaders once again cross into Saxony. This time Prvovencani does not have suffient forces to mount a credible defence. Nonetheless, the proud Byzantine general doggedly vows to fight to the death if need be. The crusaders duly oblige him, and Byzantium mourns the loss of a great general. Byzantium has also lost the province of Saxony. While it is true that some defenders remain under siege, the Emperor is well aware that he does not have any means of relieving the English siege.
Inspired by the English defeat in Saxony, Doge Vitale IV orders Don Anselmo Salviati to take an Italian force south to invade Sicily. Salviati has gathered a very large army indeed, and all are seasoned veterans of the Neapolitan campaign. Lord Langton’s defending army are outnumbered almost 2 to 1, but Langton is a skilled defender.
The English make great use of the mountainous terrain in northern Sicily, positioning themselves atop a reasonably steep sided hillock. Langton positions his Turcopoles on a nearby hill, away from his main force. The Italians will be faced with the option of a steep climb to go over this secondary hill, or to travel through the valley below to reach the English main force.
Don Anselmo Salviati chooses the low road for his troops. As the near the valley, the first volley of arrows loosed by the Turcopoles rains down on them. Several more volleys follow in quick succession. Two regiments of chivalric sergeants break from the main Italian force to charge uphill to the Turcopoles’ position. Their heavy armour and the steepness of the slope make this assault hard going indeed. As they make their way up the slope, the Turcopoles offer no respite, and by the time these two regiments are only half way to their target, one regiment has been reduced to 81 men, and the other to 79.
Meanwhile, Salviati’s main force has come within range of the English archers in Langton’s main force. These Italians soon find themselves not only having to climb a steep slope, as the fast mounting casualties soon force them to clamber over their own fallen comrades. Those Italians that survive to reach the summit find themselves facing fresh units of billmen and chivalric footknights, and these Englishmen make short work of their tired counterparts. Sir Charles Greystoke and his footknights cut a veritable swathe through the Italian ranks. Salviati flees the field, followed by those of his men that survive. 774 Italians have perished and 76 have fallen into captivity. English losses number only 86.
Notwithstanding Langton’s minimal losses, King Henry quickly despatches reinforcements to bolster his general’s victorious army. Henry does not believe that the Italians will be so easily dissuaded by this initial setback.
Henry is ultimately proven right in 1364, as once again Don Anselmo Salviati sweeps south at the head of a large Italian army. As was the case with the preceding conflict, Langton chooses a hilltop from which to meet his numerically superior adversary. Salviati again doggedly persists with a clumsy frontal assault, succeeding in little more than providing archery practice for the English. On this occasion, however, the Italian general is not so fortunate as he had been in 1363, and like most of his men, the Sicilian countryside is to be his final resting place. As the dust of battle clears, it is immediately apparent that the English were in greater danger of running out of arrows than they were of defeat. 1,452 Italian corpses are strewn across the field. 38 shocked and broken men are prisoners. The small number of prisoners speak volumes for how few Italians actually joined combat with the English, as do the English losses of only 121 men.
In the very same year as this battle unfolded in Sicily, trouble arrives from an unexpected quarter, as King Wladyslaw III of Poland leads an impressively large army west into Franconia. Lord Fitzalan is outnumbered, but nonetheless confident of victory. The English front line is provided by the pikemen of Sir Walter Curthose, Sir Jasper Swynford, and Sir Hubert Langton. These units were raised in the Tyrol regions, and while none of them has yet seen battle, they are superbly disciplined troops.
Fitzalan surveyed the battlefield. Wladyslaw had indeed picked a miserable day on which to meet. A light rain had been falling for some time now, and showed little sign of abating.
“No doubt he hopes for some respite from our archers.”, he noted to Swynford.
His smile broadened as he jabbed a thumb over his right shoulder in the direction of 4 units of arbalests that had assumed their position further up the slope “Little does he realise that the weather won’t affect these lads!”
Wladyslaw’s first wave consisted predominantly of javelinmen. Whilst able to pierce armour, the javelinmen are hopelessly outranged by the arbalests, and suffer dreadful casualties. It is not long before they break and withdraw. Their place is soon filled by rank after rank of armoured spearmen. These troops also provide good target practice for the arbalests. Doggedly the Poles continue up the slope. By this time, both men and horses were struggling to maintain their feet in the treacherously slippery conditions. Two units of knights finally arrived at the English line, and charged. The pikemen stood ready, and the front ranks of knights were duly impaled. Whilst the billmen dealt with the Polish armoured spearmen, the English halberdiers outflanked the surviving Polish knights. Trapped between the pikes on one side, and halberds on the other, the knights were doomed. With only 2 other knights still astride their steeds, Wladyslaw panics and flees with the grace of a spavined nag. While he reaches the valley floor in safety, his companions are not so fortunate. The arbalests had simply been waiting for the knights to move clear of the English forces, and they did not waste their opportunity for a clear shot.
Wladyslaw’s flight soon spread panic through the depleted ranks of the survivors, and those that could scrambled back down the slope as quickly as they were able. A rain of arbalest bolts followed every step of their flight, allowing precious few to flee the field.
As the English reformed their line, the rain grew heavier, as if mother nature herself was seeking to cleanse the mountainside of the blood and detritus of battle. A second wave of Polish troops materialised out of the gloom, and stoically headed towards the English line. Several well aimed arbalest volleys proved a real test of the mettle of these troops. It was a test that they failed miserably. As lightning flashed overhead, the Poles wheeled as one and fled the field.
The battle for Franconia had proved a dreadful miscalculation for Wladyslaw. 1,874 of his men lay dead. 218 had been taken prisoner, and he had not the gold with which to secure their release. The pride of his armies in the west had been cruelly snuffed out, and all for the loss of a paltry 196 Englishmen.
It would be a long time indeed, before Poland could again hope to threaten England….and more of a concern for Wladyslaw was that his armies in the west were now so severely depleted, that he was now almost completely at the mercy of the English.
In early 1365, word arrives at court that the Italian Doge has succumbed to a fever. Henry had already received word from his agents in Sardinia that the Doge had fallen into a deep depression after suffering two successive defeats in Sicily, and had taken his own life rather than face a revolt from his own generals. Whatever the true cause of death, the Doge perished without leaving an heir. With no rightful claimant to the Italian throne, the Italian kingdom disappears once more into the pages of history.

[caravel]

@Caravel: So where exactly are you on the map now? Do you have the original Byz lands along with Italy?

I have all of Italy except Milan and Genoa, all of the Byzantine, Turks' and Egyptians' lands except for Arabia, Sinai and Egypt. And also Khazar, Sardinia and Corsica. All of these provinces are well developed. I am planning to hold out for a few years once I've wiped the Sicilians and Italians and Fatimids from the map. I want to fight both a Papal re-emergence and the Mongols of course. I've restricted myself to only four units of Varangian Guards, which I'm trying to valour up through battle. Screenshot coming up soon.

[naut]

Excellent campaigns guys, I have to get back to MTW when I have time.

[King Kurt]

@King Kurt: Awesome, man. It's fun to read an AAR where the author so clearly relishes the campaign they're playing. What year is it in your game, by the way? Sounds like you own around 1/3 of the map or therabouts, and I'm curious as to how rapid your expansion has been.

Martok

Sorry about the delay in replying - all my family including myself decided to get flu last week, so I haven't been near a computer until today!!

It is currently 1308 and I started in 1205 ( I am playing a High campaign)

My empire stetches from Cyrenacia through to Wales and Mercia in the north, round to Denmark, then down to Venice via Bavaria. The only other part of Italy I own is Milan - I had owned all of Italy until the Pope cameback in 3 provinces big time. He now owns all of Italy and Sicily - but not for long!! I am gathering large forces in Venice and Milan with a view to sweep him down the peninsula and bottle him up in Sicily. I even have a Jihad from Switzerland coming to help out!! As for the rest of Western Europe, the only bit I don't own is Navarre where the remnants of Spain have been sitting for about 80 years. This prevents reemergancies and makes the region a hot bed of diplomatic activity with hordes of princesses etc all scurrying about doing nothing.
In many ways, I am sure a lot of my sucess has been due to the fact that the Eggies have left me alone. I have kept a resonable garrison in numbers, but not quality - peasants and saharian cav - in Cyrenacia and this has kept them at bay. They seem to have been at war with the Turks for a long time and I am sure both have had civil wars as there seems to be a lot of rebels about in the middle east. The Turks are a long term ally, but of no use. Mind you, I haven't helped them either.
I will sort out the Pope, tidy up the edges and call it a day I think - I have XL ready to load and want to give it a go - but it has been a lot of fun. My campaigns take ages to play as I do not get a lot of time to actually play - normally about 2 hours a week - but this does mean that I get a lot of time to think and plan - and ask questions on this board!! - all of which helps my campaigns to turn out well.
Finally, when I get to have a go with XL, any recomended factions to try??

[Innocentius]

Finally, when I get to have a go with XL, any recomended factions to try??

Try the smaller factions. Serbia, Bulgaria, Scotland, Ireland etc etc.

I actually inherited my first lands ever today! When my king died I gained both Franconia and Swabia for some reason I'll give you the write up tomorrow I think, I've made som serious progress anyhow.

[Martok]

Awesome as usual, bamff.

@Caravel: Only four units of VG's? Wow, you're a lot braver/more confident than I am then! Overpowered they may be, but I still generally employ more of them than that. I actually try and match up Varangian units 1-on-1 with royals. So if I have the Emperor, 3 princes, and 2 royal uncles, I'll have a total of 6 regiments of Guards on active duty, etc. When a royal dies, I'll station the "extra" VG unit in Constantinople until another royal comes of age.

Sorry about the delay in replying - all my family including myself decided to get flu last week, so I haven't been near a computer until today!!

Ugh. You have my sympathies, bud. I *hate* being sick!

In many ways, I am sure a lot of my sucess has been due to the fact that the Eggies have left me alone.

The success of the Almos and Eggies often seems to depend on what the other does. Neither faction ever seems to make nice with the other, yet they generally don't backstab each other either. Most likely this is because they have enemies enough on their other front(s) - the Spanish/Aragonese and Byz/Turks, respectively - to bother tangling with each other. Still, when those two factions *do* go to war, it's always interesting when it happens!

Finally, when I get to have a go with XL, any recomended factions to try??

I, like Innocentius, also urge you to try the smaller factions. The Bohemians, Portuguese, and Scots are my particular favorites, and the Scandanavian factions are always enjoyable as well. If you want a major challenge, then play as the Armenians or Irish -- the success of those guys seem to depend on luck as much as anything else!

[Innocentius]

First I'd just like to correct myself, it was Franconia and Bavaria that I "inherited" (I'm still not quite sure how and when I recieved them, I was too busy with the eastern part of the map), not Swabia

The reign of King Inge III: 1310 - 1339 A.D.

Inge III of Sweden is indeed a great name in history, and name both feared and well-known during his lifetime. What drove him to the great deeds that he achieved is not known, but one thing is clear: Inge was a man who had great impact on all Europe during his lifetime.

King Inge had been preceded by two great kings; his grandfather Joar I, Hammer of the Danes and his father Karl I, who had been the one to finally complete the task laid upon the Swedish line of kings by its forefather Erik I, the king who had finally no only united Sweden, but defeated the Danes and united Scandinavia. Indeed, in the shadows of his great ancestors, it seemed like Inge would not be able to distinguish himself in the books of history. Just like had been the case when Joar I ascended on the throne, the people of Sweden greeted peace, but Inge was to prove them all wrong. Truly, Inge more than any other Swedish king before him (and perhaps after?) was to be remembered as a conqueror. In fact as the conqueror.
Being already 35 years of age as he ascended the throne, Inge was, like most Swedish kings when they were elected at the Stones of Mora, already a seasoned warrior. This was a tradition that each King of Sweden kept alive by allowing their sons to prove their valour and glory on the battlefield. Although indeed his brother Burislev had become better known as a great commander after his victory in Novgorod, Inge was indeed no newcomer to the art of warfare.
The conquest of Novgorod in 1290 had added the borders of Muscovy to the Swedish kingdom. At first, this had been were the pagan Lithuanians had dwelled, but soon they were driven out by even worse pagans, the Muslim Turks from far south. Inge wished - for some yet unknown reason - war and there was no better reason for war than to drive the hedonists out of these once Christian lands. Desiring war rather sooner than later, King Inge III in 1311 ordered his brother Burislev in Novgorod to drive the hedonists out of Muscovy, as they were weak at the moment. Prince Burislev was perhaps not as eager as his brother, but indeed saw the need for this assault. He duly summoned his army and marched for Muscovy in the spring of 1311 and the surprised Turks ran off without putting up a fight. This was the furthest away from home a Swedish army had ever been, and the furthest away from home any Swede - except for a few emissaries and spies - had been since the viking days. Burislev ordered his men to be gentle with the locals, to avoid a local uprising. This resulted in a minimal loot and very small tax incomes the first few years, but secured the loyalty of the people to their new masters from a distant land.
The Turks however would not just accept this, and themselves invaded Muscovy in 1312 in an attempt to reclaim it. Burislev, familiar with defending against cavalry heavy armies on relatively flat ground easily defeated them in a battle during the summer. We don't know much about this battle except that Turkish casualties were high while the Swedish casualties were modest at worst.
While this happened in the far east, King Inge had made preparations for participating in the war against the Turks himself. He had arrived in Vyborg in May 1311, and had there waited as regiment after regiment of Swedish troops arrived to him. The Swedish supremacy over the Baltic Sea made transportations very easy. This supremacy was however threatened in 1312 as a Turkish fleet entered the Baltic Sea. What a Turkish fleet was doing this far from home noone could figure, and it was easily defeated in a sea battle against the superior Swedish fleet outside Öland. In 1313, King Inge had gathered himself an entire army of fresh troops from all of Sweden, and marched for Smolensk from Novgorod. The recent battle in Muscovy had seriously depleted the Turkish forces, and being outnumbered they all fled south into Chernigov. Some remained though, and outlasted long sieges in their keeps and castles. The last fortification in Smolensk was not to fall to Inge untill 1315.
Meanwhile, in Saxony, the inquisitor Don Giacinto Piccolomini arrived from the Papal States. His name was soon to be hated as he brought with him religious fanatiscism and burned many innocents. He left soon enough, but was to return many times over the years, and his name would forever be remembered and hated by the people of Saxony. 1315 saw further happenings, as the Swedish emissary Inge Henriksson fell to the blade of an unknown assassin in Volhynia, were he recided all since he had signed an alliance with the Poles in 1299. Also, the Golden Horde returned from the east, again arriving in Khazar. Having been kicked out of Europe many years ago, they were now back to try their luck yet again.
Almost immediately after the fall of Smolensk in 1315, King Inge set out to continue his war. Reinforcements from Novgorod arrived in Smolensk to maintain the loyalty of the people, who were not pleased with the many wars and short-lived lords who had "ruled" their land since the downfall of Novgorod in 1298. Inge and his army marched for Chernigov, now isolated from the rest of the Turkish realm (itself being threatened by French crusaders by now). Prince Magnus, Inge's oldest son was left in charge of the reinforcements in Smolensk.
The last Turks set up their desperate defence as there was no retreat for them, the Mongols had cut off their contact with their homeland. Shot down by the Swedish arbalests and when they finally charged the Swedes to rid themselves of the pain of being under fire whilst not able to help it, the Turks were all slain. In a way, Inge here deployed very much the same tactic as his grandfather had in the Battle of Prussia. The Turkish army was destroyed, and Inge showed his seldomly seen kind side, and allowed the prisoners to walk free, only demaning from them an oath never to return to these lands (and of course a neat amount of money from their Sultan). Not long after this, the French invaded, defeated and killed the last Turkish Sultan in Armenia. Another ancient people had met their end.

The Battle of Chernigov


Back home, the people of Pomerania starved badly in 1317, but otherwise the economy was doing well, and the money raised from raiding in the east had added seemingly endless amounts of both gold and silver to the Swedish treasury.
Inge was not yet finished with his already impressive conquests to the east however, as the conquest of Muscovy and Smolensk had brought him borders with another Muslim people, the Volga Bulgars. These stout steppe warriors had carved themselves a good kingdom here around the Volga, and they had - different from most other steppe people - successfully lived through the Mongol invasion from the east now so many years ago. Inge however paid no heed or respect to these stout warriors, and whatever that drove him, he declared war upon these horsemen as well and personally invaded their lands in Ryazan in 1321.

The Battle of Ryazan

The Battle of Ryazan is notable in two ways: first since it was the last battle in which King Inge participated, and secondly since this was the first time the Swedish knights were the key to victory. Their part in previous battles had always been minor.
The Volga-Bulgarian army, being the most cavalry heavy army the Swedes had ever faced proved more of a challenge to them then they perhaps had expected. In his usual manner, King Inge ordered his arbalests to move up to fire at the enemy untill they eventually broke or were forced to attack. He also sent his two regiments of Lithuanian turcopoles to flank the enemy. This proved to be a mistake however, as the turcopoles did not fire many arrows before the deadly steppe cavalry charged at them, out-paced them and engaged them in a melee which the badly armoured turcopoles could not win. They were decimated and chased off the battlefield.
The Swedish arbalesters however were more successful, and their tactic worked very well. Whenever the Bulgarian cavalry had had enough, they charged at the arbalesters who then retreated while the halberdiers behind them charged ahead and drove the horsemen away. This was repeated time after time untill Inge considered the enemy to be tired, weakened and disorganised enough. He then personally led his knights at full speed right into the lines of the Bulgarians who must have been surprised to find themselves beaten in their own game.
Disheartened by the death of their general the Bulgarians soon fled and were chased down in the lot. King Inge showed no mercy towards the captured and ordered them all to be executed on site.



The Volga-Bulgars were not entirely defeaten in Ryazan, and oppostion remained untill 1323, when the last to oppose Inge III finally met their end. After this, Inge now decided that he had seen enough war. He had won many great battles and had conquered vast areas and now he felt was the time to leave things to his sons, and he travelled home for Sweden and then onto Scania and Ystad where he spent the entire rest of his life. His brother Burislev and his sons Magnus and Erik were left as high commanders of the Swedish army to the east.
A short peace now followed, and the conquered lands were truly incorporated into the Swedish kingdom. Titles were given to able local nobles who could run the economy of these lands, and many buildings were erected to gain the popularity of the people in these lands.
Peace was fragile however, and fearing that the Volga-Bulgarians might regain enough strength to counterattack Prince Magnus planned to whipe out his enemies entirely. In 1327 he realised his plans.
As his own army marched into Volga-Bulgaria itself from the west in the summer of 1327, his uncle marched from the north with another great army. The both armies joined but it was decided that Magnus should lead the army, despite his uncle being more experienced than him.
Khan Ogadai III, a cruel man who just like his sworn enemy King Inge was known for not having much sympathy with prisoners captured in battle worried greatly as he realised an army twixe the size of his had entered his homelands, but he and his brave people decided to fight, despite their previous defeat.
Prince Magnus pretty much repeated the tactics used by his father in the Battle of Ryazan, but perhaps came a bit too confident in his numbers, for which many Swedes paid with their lives that day. Although suffering uneccessarily high losses, the Swedes won the day. The Volga-Bulgarians fought bravely and with such skill that Prince Burislev himself, always known as a skilled swordsman, was deeply impressed by their feriocity in battle. Nonetheless, there was nothing that could have saved the Bulgarians that day, and Khan Ogadai and the few remnants of his army retreated to their castle. Both Prince Magnus and Prince Burislev left Volga-Bulgaria soon after the battle though, and left the assault on the castle in which Ogadai hid to a yet untested general, Engelbrekt Björnsson. Engelbrekt succeeded in taking the castle, and Khan Ogadai and his last warriors with him. The Volga-Bulgarians were no more. For this victory, Engelbrekt Björnsson became noted as a decent commander and was granted the title Duke of Volga-Bulgaria for his efforts.

The Battle of Volga-Bulgaria


Many years of peace now came, welcome to the weary - but far from exhausted - Swedish kingdom, and King Inge was able to keep peace throughout the rest of his reign. What had lead him to his sudden change of mind remains unknown as well, but after the Battle of Ryazan in 1321 Inge himself took part in no wars. In 1333 Sune Magnusson, Duke of Livonia died out of age, and was missed by all the kingdom.
News reached King Inge in Ystad in 1334, that the King of France had been excommunicated by the Pope for his hostile actions towards his Catholic brethren in England. This caused mass rebellion and the French Empire, as it was now known, began to crack and crumble. It survived, but its glory days seemed to be over, and with the rebellions during the following years it looked like France would perhaps sease to be the dominant power of Europe.
A few other notable happenings during these last years or King Inge's rule are the famine in Ryazan of 1336 and the completion of a great fortress in Livonia the same year.
In 1338, Prince Knut married Princess Eleonore, daughter of Tancred I of the Holy Roman Empire. This lead to Sweden's easiest "conquest". Emperor Tancred died the very next year, and this caused a civil war in the Holy Roman Empire. Thanks to his marriage, Prince Knut was able to claim the lands of Franconia and Bavaria, who were incorporated into Sweden. But in 1339, King Inge III passed away as well.

Inge, a great man in life, although perhaps mad would indeed be remembered and all Swedish kings after him would proudly think of their ancestor just as he had done with Joar I. Inge was succeeded by his son Magnus, crowned king in Uppsala as King Magnus I, King of all Sweden.

King Magnus I:


The Kingdom of Sweden in 1339:


I know it doesn't look like it, but the French are very weak right now. Many of their greatest stacks turned rebel in the civil war, and they have lost a great deal of troops. They lost all of North Africa, and barely managed to reclaim it, and now the Elmos have reappeared in Marocco with four full stacks. Also I hope some faction will reappear in the Anatolian provinces, otherwise the English, Mongols, Eggies and Venetians are going to have to share. Castille-Léon is also coming back, and will hopefully drive the French out of Iberia.
Finally, there are English loyalists in Wales and Wessex with some two or three full stacks in each.

[Martok]

Excellent as usual, Innocentius! Truly, Inge was a great man.

[Innocentius]

Excellent as usual, Innocentius! Truly, Inge was a great man.

Thanks, Martok I tend to overrate my kings in the write-ups actually to give the text a more storylike touch (like if it was written during the national romatic era). Really, all my recent kings and princes have had terribly low acumen, something the Swedish scholars seem to have forgotten

My current plan is to make Georgia my southern border and settle there and make Volhynia and Levidia my southwestern borders, but as I suddenly gained Franconia and Bavaria I might "have" to change that and take all of eastern Europe instead. The only real opposition are the Russians, but once you get big enough you start acting like a steamroller so they shouldn't be a problem. When you're down to one province, you can afford one army. When you have 20 provinces but only 6 borders, you can afford 20 armies spread across 6 provinces...

[bamff]

I'll echo Martok's sentiments, Innocentius - great write up as usual!

Looking forward to the next chapter!

[ChaosLord]

After getting humbled by my attempt at a late Almohad campaign I started another game on hard, this time early Sicily. With limited routes for expansion I decided i'd expand my holdings at sea first and try to control my area of the mediterannaen. I trained up an army of Sicilian cavalary and muslim mercenaries while building ships to amass a fleet. Finally with my army trained and my fleets ready to sail I attacked the Italians.

I had a few losses but managed to completely eliminate the Italian fleet. With the fleet gone by army invaded Sardinia, then Corisca afterwards securing both islands. At this point the Pope apparently had no problem with my killing of fellow Italians since he was busy excommunicating the English and HRE. I might have pushed forward onto Genoa or Tuscany, but the Italians had been busy while I amassed a fleet and army.

They had been pushing into the godless HRE and built themselves a land empire rather then a sea one. So after I secured the islands and rebuilt my army I negotiated peace with the Italians, marrying one of their Princesses to my heir and signing a ceasefire. I figure in addition to getting peace it also makes any claims I have to these islands legitimate now. During all of this the rest of the Europe was not quiet of course.

Aragon fail to the forces of both Spain and Almohad, then the two fell on each other in a war that still continues. Denmark invaded England and got a good foothold, but then lost Denmark and Norway when Sweden backstabbed them. Sweden and Kievan Rus divied up the steppes with Poland grabbing most of the Baltic area. The HRE of course is no more, swallowed up mostly by Italy and Poland, with France and Sweden taking some slices.

Interestingly in the middle-east Turkey is already gone, crushed by Byzantium. The Byzantines now wage war against the Kievan Rus, competing for control of the black sea. The Egyptians still sit idle, so who knows what they're plotting. This is only by 1135, so I expect some faction re-emergences and civil wars to alter the balance of power. As to where I shall lead the Sicilian kingdom next, i'm not sure. I'd like to control all the island in the mediteraenen but that would need an increase in my fleet and the Byzantines and Egyptians to become engaged in a massive war (Byzantium owns two of the remaining islands, and Egypt the third).

Here is the picture of the current map:

[bamff]

Rake in those florins, ChaosLord! The opportunity for expansion will soon come!

[Odin]

Aragon fail to the forces of both Spain and Almohad, then the two fell on each other in a war that still continues. Denmark invaded England and got a good foothold, but then lost Denmark and Norway when Sweden backstabbed them. Sweden and Kievan Rus divied up the steppes with Poland grabbing most of the Baltic area. The HRE of course is no more, swallowed up mostly by Italy and Poland, with France and Sweden taking some slices.

Interestingly in the middle-east Turkey is already gone, crushed by Byzantium. The Byzantines now wage war against the Kievan Rus, competing for control of the black sea. The Egyptians still sit idle, so who knows what they're plotting. This is only by 1135, so I expect some faction re-emergences and civil wars to alter the balance of power. As to where I shall lead the Sicilian kingdom next, i'm not sure. I'd like to control all the island in the mediteraenen but that would need an increase in my fleet and the Byzantines and Egyptians to become engaged in a massive war (Byzantium owns two of the remaining islands, and Egypt the third).

Here is the picture of the current map:

I found your game to be pretty intresting, have a look at sweden ! I havent seen them perfrom that well in a long time. Not only that but the Pole look like they may actually be able to push east as well.

Nice little game you have going here...

[Martok]

Nice, ChaosLord! What mod are you playing, by the way? Is it one of your own creation?

[caravel]

It looks like medmod. Nice campaign.

[King Kurt]

The continuing saga of King Kurt's great Almo adventure!!

SILVERWING

The small group of horsemen trotted quietly down the winding road through the almond glades. Several had magnificent birds of prey on their arms, sitting, brooding with jeweled hoods over their heads. Slightly to the front of the group rode a single rider, tall, upright in the saddle. Caliph Yusef was deep in thought. It had been a magnificent day's hawking but his mind was troubled with a malaise. Something was bothering him. In truth something had been bothering him for some months, but he could not put his finger on it. From all appearances, all seemed well with the world. His empire now spread from Cyrenacia in the south to the misty realms of Scotland in the north. Scandanavia had recently been added in a brilliant campaign of diplomacy and war. More importantly, 2 mighty armies had gathered in Milian and Venice under the leadership of 2 of his sons - both skilled and brave generals. These armies had swept down the Italian peninsula, driving the Pope's armies before them so that now the Pope cowered on the island of Sicily, awaiting the inevitable end to his corrupt regieme. The royal coffers were full and the Alims of the Muslim world all aclaimed him as the Sword of Islam. But yet something knawed at the back of his mind. In his early 50's, he was in the prime of his life and at the pinnacle of his power - power which surpassed by a long way the achievments of his ancestors, but, somehow he felt incomplete.
The party turned the corner and the road to Algiers opened up before them. The yellow, orange light of the setting sun played on the turrets of the mighty citadel perched above the sprawling city. The smell of the souk, that labyrinth surrounding the castle walls, assaulted their nostrils, replacing the sweet smell of the almond trees. Yusef stirred in his saddle. His mind turned to a strange incident from the hunt. For the first time in a long time, Yusef had allowed Siverwing, his favourite hawk to be part of the hunt. Siverwing normaly lived in Yusef's appartment, a distraction from affairs of state for his master whenever they weighed heavy. Initially, during the hunt, Silverwing had not hunted well, his timing out, often missing the prey all together. From his retinue, the gentle mocking that his favourite hawk had gone soft with palace living had been quoshed with a withering stare from Yusef. Then a wild hawk had appeared from nowhere and a fierce mid air battle had ensued. First of all Silverwing appeared at a disadvantage, but a sudden cunning move had enabled him to pounce and a swift blow had smote the wild bird to the ground. Silverwing had returned to Yusef's arm, his beak flecked with blood and an urgent look in his eye. Come the next bird, Silverwing had lept from Yusef's arm and hunted down the unfortunate bird with a cool, cynical swiftness. For the rest of the hunt Silverwing was the star of the show, ending with the best score of all the birds, many of who were youger than him. Yusef was pleased, but it didn't cure his black mood.

Later that evening, Yusef is disturbed by a messenger while resting in his private chambers.
" My Lord, pardon my intrusion at such an hour, but we have just recieved word that the Spanish have invaded Castile"
Yusef could hardly belief his ears. The Spanish had been bottled up in Navarre for 80 years, weakened by years of inactivity and the smallness of their kingdom. Now they had the audacity to strike at the mightest military force the world had every seen.
"But surely the army of Iberia has dealt with this insect bite." stormed Yusef.
The courtier went deep red and averted his eyes. "Sire, the army of Iberia has been stripped of units for war in Italy. Only skeleton forces remain across the peninsula."
"Then call my generals, we must plan what to do. Have them join me in the Star Chamber within the hour. Now leave me. I must think"
The courtier scurried out the room. Yusef turned and walked to the window. The cool evening air rippled the hangings that kept the night insects at bay sending a chill across his brow. What to do - where would he find some troops to teach this Spanish upstart a lesson? Silverwing suddenly screeched behind him and beat his wings. It was if the scales fell from his eyes - his malaise lifted, the solution was obvious. He strode across the room and lifted his sword from its position of honour above the shrine to his family in the corner of his bed chamber.
An hour later the babel of voices from the gathered generals was shattered by their stunned silence as Yusef burst into the room. He was in full military armour, his helmet topped with a small circlet of gold, the symbol of the Caliph of all the Alomhads. His face shone with radiant energy, alive with expectation. He spoke with a crisp, clear authority.
"Summon my guard and any troops available to sail on the dawn. Tomorrow we sail for Valencia. For too long have I lead a life of pampered luxury here in the palace. It is time to feel the wind on my face, a horse beneath me and my enemies' blood on my blade. Yusef, the sword of Islam rides forth!!"

Reflection
As you will recall, I was getting to the point of wondering how to bring this campaign to an end. I was the biggest military power and have the biggest income which means that the end is inevitable. I had just intended to sort out the Pope and call it a day. I had been a bit frustrated as I had been autocalcing the battles for some time - virtually all were so in my favour that it didn't seem worth fighting. Then this Spanish attack presented me with an opportunity. I am short of forces in Spain as most went to Italy as part of the armies to crush the Pope. This whole area is well behind my front lines, so not much is near, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to use my leader with a scratch force to take on the small Spanish force and fight it out myself - a nice finish to an excellent campaign. So look out in a week or 2 for the final episode of King Kurt's Almo adventure!!

[Martok]

It looks like medmod. Nice campaign.

Doh! Yeah, that would makes sense. Thanks, Caravel.

@King Kurt: I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy the third-person narrative style you've been using in your Almohad campaign; it really ups the immersion factor. It will indeed be bittersweet reading the final installment, following your campaign as long as we have. Still, I'm definitely looking forward to reading of Yusef's final glorious battle!

[ChaosLord]

Yes its the MedMod 3.14, I would use 4.07 but I don't feel like running into bugs/incomplete stuff. The Swedes suprised me as well, I thought they would die off after getting excommunicated but the Pope died only a couple years later saving them.

Anyway I resumed my game, waiting for a good opportunity to expand my empire again. The first chance would come with the Egyptian Sultan died without any heirs. I mobilized my army as fast as I could and took the now rebel-held island of Rhodes. With Rhodes secured I sailed back to Sicily and watched as the Byzantines descended on the lands of Egypt, taking a few provinces before the Turkish re-emerged.

Fortunately for the Byzantines they did it in rebel-held lands only, saving them from war. Turkey gobbled up the desert while the Byzantines took Egypt itself and other spots along the coast. During this time the Danish King also died without heirs after managing to hold off the Swedish hordes in Northern England. After that the Italians made what looks like will be their fatal mistake, they conquered the Papacy.

With the Pope gone and myself as their ally the Italians waged war in central Europe, nearly wiping out the Polish and keeping the Hungarians on the edge of defeat. While this was going on the Byzantines and Kievan Rus continued their never ending war, trading capitols and throwing large armies around. The Almohads also finally overwhelmed the Spanish, but stopped their advance out of the pennisula due to the presence of Italian and French armies on the border.

With the Pope in exile I considered it my duty as a faithful Catholic to preach the faith, so I passed the time by commisioning five Inquisitors and burning various Italian generals at the stake. After I managed to get two of the Inquisitors assasinated and two others up to three valour the Pope re-emerged in Rome. He led an army mainly consisting of dismounted Knights and the Italian armies in Italy were crushed.

They lost Rome, then the Papal States and Tuscany quickly, but the Papacys advance lost faltered when they tried for Venice. The Pope pulled back lick his wounds but the damage was already done. The Swedes and Almohads smelled blood and pushed into the Italian territory. Seeing my own chance I gathered my forces and struck before I had to worry about fighting either of them for control of Italy.

The Italians put on a brave show in Genoa, defending their castle there with only a single unit of Italian Light Infantry but managing to kill nearly five-hundred soldiers at the gates. Luckily half of them were mercs not all Sicilians. With Genoa held I advanced through to Milan where they choose to abandon the castle, then once more Venice itself. They abandoned it again and the Pope apparently decided he didn't like the idea of a Sicilian Italy.

He actually warned me to stop attacking the godless Italians he himself was at war with. Perhaps he simply disproves of the current King of Sicily, King Allan the I. A man known for his perversions yet oddly fervent practices, to make matters worse his bride is a Turkish Princess. With the Turks holding onto Palestine and the Holy City of Jerusalem the Pope must associate his dislike of them with the Sicilian ruler.

Aside from the other things I mentioned the French and English have also been at war, but neither can gain ground versus the other. This brings things up to date, at the current year of 1175. I think i'll leave the Italians alone for now, as they'll likely fall to the combined forces of Sweden, Poland, and Hungary anyway. My biggest threat at the moment is likely the Almohads now that I have a land border with them.

In a war i'd be looking at losing most or all of my trade income due to their massive fleet. I'm hoping they decide to attack France, or at least the Byzantines. Anything to spare my network i've built up. But in preparation for the event i'm increasing the size of my navy and making sure I don't rely too much on my trade income. If i'm lucky, the Spanish and Aragonese will re-emerge and ruin the Almohad empire for me.

Picture of the world as it is in 1175:

[The Unknown Guy]

I´m currently faring poorly in my Al-Andalus campaign. Despite six consecutive huge victories against the egyptians in Cyrenaica, they finally brought around an army that put me down. Facing that loss, and lacking any border protection until reaching Morocco, I decided to put up a scortched earth campaign, and destroy the basic infrastructure in Sahara and Tunisia, which I thought to be on the verge of being overrun. Curiously enough, the egyptians are staying at Cyrenaica, despite the fact I´m not moving from Morocco and am receiving spy reports about mobilizations.

The ones who DID attack, however, were my castilian "allies", who made a foolhardy charge into Cordoba from VALENCIA (meaning a river battle). Thanks to four regular archer units, two crossbowmen, my muratibin foot soldiers, and some leftover artillery from a former jihad, I was able to deal catastrophical damage to their army. In fact, when they charged headlong into the bridge for some reason, I used the second one to slip up a division of ghulam bodyguards and crush their archers (pretty much at the same time a catapult killed the king and set their whole army routing. Note to self: I´m getting many of these "Monty Python" effects lately) I have launched my mostly intact army into a razia attack against Castile, and have burned Toledo to the ground (to the relief of my strained coffers)

Now I need to figure a way to wipe out the remnants of Castile in Spain (They didnt expand against me, they fared against the french and brittons, and with a lot of success. They are around Normandy or so), and wipe out Aragon while I´m at it (they´re crippled anyway, and would most likely attempt some kind of suicide but damaging attack against my lands). THEN I would start moving from my Morocco stronghold towards egypt.

[Geezer57]

Yes its the MedMod 3.14, I would use 4.07 but I don't feel like running into bugs/incomplete stuff.

Don't let the "beta" status hold you back - 4.07 is remarkably stable (I haven't had a single "quirk" show up in my current MedMod campaign - now 100+ years in) and a solid piece of work.

Heartily recommended.

[Deus ret.]

Don't let the "beta" status hold you back - 4.07 is remarkably stable (I haven't had a single "quirk" show up in my current MedMod campaign - now 100+ years in) and a solid piece of work.

Yep, I never had an 'unusual' crash with this mod (unusual in the sense that it definitely wouldn't have occured without MedMod). The only downside to 4.07 is that it lacks the High period....my favourite starting time but apart from that it's highly recommendable.