Age of Vikings and Fanatics: Total war

[Rodion Romanovich]

Ok. They're probably best represented as scots owning most of the territory but one or two provinces being rebels... I'll have a closer look at that soon. I'll start researching and deciding about factions very soon, then I'll fix the campaign map bit by bit.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Here's a slightly more pretty map. This is the first version of the campaign heights map, which will generate the landscapes. This is still work in progress, but could give you an idea of which parts of the world will be included on the map - the map edges are positioned where they'll be in the final mod.

[Rodion Romanovich]

NEWS - 2005-05-06
===============
1. FACTIONS
Factions have been decided now. Khazars will be kept, Polish will be represented as rebels. The reasons are the following:
- Khazar was a strong, united khaganate at the time.
- Historically, Poland wasn't united until long after the starting date. In fact, the Polish kingdom which was created long after the starting date was also eliminated shortly afterwards. Not until after the ending date of the mod did a strong Polish kingdom arise.
- Khazars means introducing another culture, which should make things more interesting.
- Khazars have interesting horse units and haven't been included in many games/mods before, so it'd be a nice change to play them.
- The Holy roman empire experienced it's strongest period in 900 AD, something that'll be represented in the mod if the Poland area is rebel-owned from start.
- Not having Khazars as a faction will allow Abbassid khaliphate and Novgorod to grow too strong.
- It is probably possible to make a mod to this mod that can remove Khazar and add Poland, so what I decide now doesn't matter that much.

2. FACTION DESCRIPTIONS
The research phase has begun and here are faction descriptions/plans for 7 of the factions.

Scots
=====
- Description: The Scots orginate from a tribe called the "Scotti" that lived in Hibernia, or Ireland. As long as the Romans stayed in Britain and represented a great threat to both Picts and Scots, the two people fought alongside each other, carrying out numerous raids and attacks on Roman positions. When the Romans left, Picts and Scots became rivals. From around 300 AD to 843 AD they fought a series of wars. A notable event during this period of violence was when the Scottish King Fergus in 500 AD invaded part of the Pictish territory in modern Scotland, establishing the kingdom of Dal Riada. However the Scots were often defeated by the fierce Picts and on several occasions Dal riada was ruled by Picts. This changed around 800 AD, when the Vikings started their raids on the British isles, primarily on the eastern coast where the Picts lived. The Picts were soon faced with a hopeless two-front war, and in a decisive battle in 839, the Picts were utterly defeated. During the coming five years, a period of several short reigns of many kings followed, until in 843 AD, when the new king of Dal riada, Cinaed Mac Ailpin, through bloodlines could easily claim the throne of the Pictish kingdom, thus uniting Picts and Scots again, although the Picts being the smaller group were eventually assimilated. The Scottish position in modern Scotland was strengthened while the Scottish positions in northern Ireland were assimilated by larger Irish tribes and viking invasions. Even though the Scottish position is quite strong at this time after the uniting of the two tribes, the viking raids and the strength of Saxons and other tribes further south will offer a tough challenge for the Scottish leader. They have an advantage in that they only have one front and quite defensible highland provinces, but their provinces are poor and can't support an army large enough to challenge the stronger factions to the south unless they expand aggressively from start. In the long term, the rising faction of Normandy will become a great threat too.
- Starting characters: King (Cinaed MacAilpin).
- Religion: Catholic.
- Surroundings: The Scotland area will consist of Dal riada (on the west coast), Northern Scotland, Middle Scotland and Southern Scotland. The latter three will need better names, and the correct capitals of the provinces must be researched. The Scots will from start own all of these provinces, but their army is weak and they barely have more than what's needed to maintain public order. The provinces are also poor, which requires a fast strike south if they are to improve their strategical, long-term strength which will be needed against the Vikings.
- Army: celtic warriors, highland clansmen, elite clansmen, good spearmen. Little and weak cavalry as long as they only own provinces in Scotland, but if they move south and conquer richer lands they'll be able to afford the support and training costs for better cavalry.

Irish
=====
- Description: The population in Ireland is mostly celtic, having lived on the island since the 1st century BC or earlier. Having originally been followers of pagan druidic religions, they were in 432 AD converted to Christianity by St. Patrick. From then and during the coming centuries the island prospered economically, culturally and technologically. But this mostly peaceful scenario was ended in the early 9th century, when Viking raids begun shaking the island and it's population. Apart from raids against monasteries and towns, some attempts at conquest were also made. In 831 the viking Thorgest sailed up the Shannon and established a kingdom in the Ulster and Connacht regions. Historically he was defeated by Malachy, King of Meath, who then proceeded by defeating another viking army at Sciath Nechtain, but that was not the end of the viking terror, which continued for some centuries. In 852 Olaf the White and Ivar Beinlaus conquered the area around modern Dublin and founded Dublin (although some sources indicate the city already existed under the name of Eblana). In 1014 AD the Irish won an important victory over the Norwegian viking Sigurd, who was defeated and killed in the battle of Clontarf, but at the cost of the Irish King Brian Boru dying too. The viking claims to the throne of Ireland stopped shortly afterwards, only to replaced by claims from the new Norman rulers of Britain. The Irish have a fine tradition of celtic warriors but their isolated position has made the need for a strong army limited, something that is gradually changing around 834 AD when the Viking raids are beginning en masse. The Irish must take up their old warrior tradition and strengthen their army in order to be able to withstand this terror - and perhaps also use that power to conquer new strategic positions. But from start, their main concern is the kingdom of the viking Thorgest, which must be taken if the Irish want a united Ireland, or Éire, as they call their island.
- Starting characters: King (Malachy).
- Religion: Catholic.
- Surroundings: Ireland will consist of 4 provinces - Ulster (northern Ireland - ?), Connacht (western Ireland - Limerick), Leinster (southeast Ireland -
Dubh Linn), Munster (southwest Ireland - Cork). The Irish will from start own Munster and Leinster, whereas the rebel family member Thorgest and his
vikings will control Ulster and Connacht.
- Army: non yet decided. Celtic warriors and good swordsmen will be important. The bonnachts and gallowglasses of M:TW will perhaps be included.

Saxons
=====
- Description: The saxons, the angli and the jutes invaded Britain in the 5th century following the roman withdrawal, and came to establish the strongest kingdoms in the area until the time of the viking invasion. When the Danish vikings started invading the island around 800 AD, the Saxons offered the strongest resistance, from 834 AD under the leadership of the famous Alfred the Great, who, historically, defeated the Danish viking Cuthrum of Danelagen (or the Danelaw) in the battle of Edington and forced a ceasefire which stopped the Danish expansion and created stability on the island for a while and eventually led to the Danes being thrown out of the British isles. But that was not the end of their troubles. More vikings would try to claim the throne of Britain, including Norwegians and Normans (Normandy was created by vikings) in 1066 AD. The saxons have a strong army consisting both of viking mercenary huscarles and local recruits such as fyrdmen, and it is for a good reason that they kept control over much of Britain up to 1066 AD. Perhaps, under a few generations of unbroken strong military leadership they could have gone even further...?
- Starting characters: King (Alfred the Great).
- Religion: Catholic.
- Surroundings: The Saxons are concentrated to the southern and eastern parts of Britain in a tough strategical position. However much of the land to the north will be owned by rebels (mercians, northumbrians etc.) but some will also be owned by the Danes, and there's also the Welsh with their skilled longbowmen if the Saxons move even further. The position is made even more problematic by the fact that it's surrounded by seas and the Saxon navy is no match for the viking longboats. Any expansion attempts will mean starting wars with several factions and unless one or two can be eliminated quickly the Saxons will have many tough centuries of fighting ahead of them. It isn't likely they'll be eliminated by the pressure - at least not in the short term - but they'll be forced to fight defensively for a long time which could weaken their strategic strength. And the many rebel territories to the north are probably easier for Danes than Saxons to capture so they probably won't be of much help.
- Army: Fyrdmen will constitute the main body of the Saxon army, but they'll be supported by huscarles swordsmen and axemen forming the elite, and a mounted nobility which will get stronger as the campaign proceeds.

Welsh
====
- Description: Since the centuries before Christ, Wales has been inhabited by Celtic tribes, among others the famous Silurii, who under the leadership of Caradoc defied the romans after Claudius's invasion of Britain. Wales was eventually captured, but the romans found the terrain difficult and the lack of agricultural land made their interest in the area limited, even though there were possibilities for gold mining and trade. When the romans withdrew, the saxons quickly conquered most of England, but had to stop when reaching Wales, because they couldn't penetrate the difficult terrain. Their expansion however isolated the Welsh from the other Celts in Britain and during the coming centuries their culture developed independently of the other Celts, resulting in a special language, special traditions and a unique warfare supported by the famous Welsh longbow. During this period, Wales was converted to Christianity and existed as a number of petty kingdoms. Not until in 820 AD did the Welsh tribes unite, under the leadership of Rhodri Mawr, also known as Rhodri the Great, who historically ruled the kingdom until in 877 AD. Having held off many invasion attempts from vikings and saxons, he was eventually defeated by vikings and had to flee to Ireland, where he stayed for a year before returning and attempting to reestablish his kingdom. However, weakened by the conflicts, he was killed in a battle against the Mercians. Wales only experienced unity occasionally during the coming centuries, partly due to the tradition of dividing the land between heirs, but remained independent from England until in the end of the 13th century.
- Starting characters: King (Rhodri the Great), Queen (Angharad).
- Religion: Catholic.
- Surroundings: Wales consists of difficult terrain that will be very defensible, but lack agricultural and trade resources. Perhaps the gold mining can help the Welsh, but they must also develop their army and form a professional, united army incorporating the terribly effective longbowmen to support their comparatively weak infantry. The position next to saxons is problematic, but there are also Mercian (rebel) territories to the northeast that's up for grabs. However, the mercians are strong, and the Welsh will have to increase the strength of their army before they can hope to destroy the Mercians. Perhaps, striking the Mercians first will be the best way of preventing them from striking first? But this will in return put the Welsh next to the Danish vikings, who have an even stronger army than the saxons (although much of it is kept in Denmark).
- Army: celtic infantry of good quality (but slightly weaker than the catholic units, especially the elite) to support the incredible longbowmen (and before the longbowmen comes, standard archers of extra high quality). Cavalry are weak and few in number because the poor homelands can't support much cavalry, but if they conquer richer lands there's no reason why they wouldn't be able to form a heavy cavalry force.

Bulgars
=======
- Description: The Bulgars originally migrated into the Balkan area from the east. Having conquered settlements north of Constantinople, they have by 834 AD become a threat even for the mighty Byzantine Empire. The leadership of the faction has only 3 years ago been handed over to Malamir, who historically is known for ordering the conquest of Aegean Macedonia and aiding the Smolyans, living in Aegean Thrace, rebel against the Byzantines. Malamir is part of the feared Ugain clan, where among others the feared Krum are included. Krum had, only a few decades earlier, put fear into the hearts of the Byzantines by defeating them in the open and by besieging Constantinople itself (however, the formidable walls of the city, as in so many other cases, saved it). The Bulgars are as a people outnumbered by the local slavic population, and might therefore have trouble holding their provinces. However, their armies are quite strong, even compared to those of the Byzantine empire, and if they can hold their territory and defeat other rising empires in the area, including the kingdom of Serbia, they have a potential to create a larger empire unless they're exhausted by the conflict with the Byzantines.
- Starting characters: King (Malamir), General (Kav-Khan Isbul, to the south near Aegean Macedon area which is rebel controlled from start).
- Religion: Orthodox. Historically the bulgars converted to orthodox faith in 864 AD, but no such conversion is possible to implement so it's probably best to represent them as Orthodox from start.
- Surroundings: In the battles where the bulgars aided the Smolyans, fierce battles broke out near Philippi and Siar. The Smolyans lived in Aegean Thrace, which should probably be an own province. Serbia must be a province, populated by rebels called "Serbians", who will have a quite strong army to reflect how they could manage to defeat the bulgars. Historically, Malamir was defeated by the Serbians in a war from 839 to 842 (however, losses were limited and no Bulgarian land was lost). Moesia should perhaps be a province, as it was conquered by Malamir during his reign. There will perhaps also be a province called Bulgaria, that the bulgars will of course own from start.
- Army: Not yet decided, but slavic infantry will constitute the main body of the army. Some cavalry and archers will support, including the bulgarian brigands which will be some of the best early, short-range archers. The bulgars will also have good javelinmen.

Khazar
======
- Description: The Khazars, like the Bulgars, originate from the Gokturk empire which was split up in the early 7th century. The bulgars were split up between the volga, danube and black sea area, while the Khazars stayed on the steppes a formed a strong united khaganate (which was however unlike Bulgaria eliminated in the long term). The Khazars were allied to the Byzantines during a long period, during which they aided the Byzantines in fighting many wars: against the sassanids (this gave the Khazars and Byzantines control over the Georgia region), the first Khazar-Arab war (which ended with the Arabs being defeated in a battle outside the Khazar town of Balanjar) and the second Khazar-Arab war (resulting in an attempt to arrange a marriage between the warring parts, but the Khazar bride died or was killed - it's unclear which way it was - and it took some more time until peace was achieved). The Khazars originally had a shamanist religion centered around worship of the sky god Tengri and the less important gods Umay (fertility goddess), Kuara (thunder god) and Erlik (god of death), but they were later also influenced by Confucian ideas from China. Like the Scythians, the Khazar women took part in war and governing and held a high status. Around 800 AD the leading Khazars however converted to Judaism and during the coming centuries the people followed, therefore there are still remnants of pagan religion in these areas although the faction has a Jewish religion. The Khazars had a friendly relationship to the Novgorod Rus but after 800 AD hostilities broke out and historically the viking attacks in combination with the Byzantines breaking the long alliance between Byzantines and Khazars led to the fall of the khaganate.
- Starting charachters: King (Bulan?).
- Religion: Jewish
- Surroundings: The Khazars own the area northeast of the Black Sea, including Georgia and areas next to the Caspian sea, including Armenian territory. They also own the Crimea and the Kiev area (however the latter with low public order and weak garrison), and the heavily fortified city of Sarkel at the Don basin. To the south they have the Khaliphate as neighbors, and to the west their allies the Byzantines. Most of the land between Khazar and Novgorod is rebel owned (including the Pechenegs to the east between Volga and the Ural mountains and the Volga-bulgarians next to Volga), but this doesn't mean the Khazars will have an easy time expanding as they wish. The steppes are hard to control due to brigands, large distances which lower public order, and long frontlines which will require a large army or tactical genius if the Khazars are to succeed in expanding much. A strike on the khaliphate to the south would give the Khazars control over some more stratetic lands, but the khaliphate has a strong army and this will in the long term make the Khazars rivals to the Byzantines - can they really afford to break such a strong alliance and make the Byzantines their enemies?
- Army: Khazar royal cavalry, some horse archers and muslim auxiliaries (Arsiyah) of Alan and Khwarazmian origin. Apart from the standing army of the leader (the Bek), the Khazars could also muster numerous levies in times of war. The Khazars have good cavalry but most of their infantry are temporarily recruited levies and/or auxiliaries so they can't rely much on their infantry line in battle. They also have formidable siege engines, for example used in the first Khazar-Arab war, which were probably kept after that. Pecheneg and perhaps also some varangian (Rus vikings) mercenaries were also used.

Magyars
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- Description: Historically the Magyars moved into the Carpathian Basin around 830 AD, completing the conquest of the area in 896 AD. In 834 AD their empire is concentrated west of the Dnjepr and east of the Carpathian, owning little useful land but with a strong army of skilled horsemen that can support their infantry well. Their conversion to a catholic faith historically led to a good relationship to the Pope, perhaps because they challenged the orthodox power in the Balkans area and thus aided the Pope in the schism fights between catholic and orthodox faith.
- Starting characters: King (?).
- Religion: Catholic
- Surroundings: The magyars own no useful ground at the start, but a strong army, which they'll have to use to conquer some rebel provinces and establish a strong position in the Carpathian Basin area. They'll own Moldavia, and the Carpathia area is up for grabs. To the south there are the Bulgars, but there is a rebel buffer zone between them so the magyars don't need to worry about the Bulgars in a while, as the Bulgars have better provinces to conquer to the south - including Greece. The magyars have relatively little to worry about in terms of military opposition from start - to the north there are mostly rebels - but in the long term their position is problematic, and will most likely result in a conflict with the Holy roman empire, the Bulgars, the Byzantines and perhaps also the population of the Italian peninsula. The area north of the Balkans and south of Poland is perhaps the least strategic position there is at this time when not only the southern, but also the northern front is subject to raids and conquests from strong kingdoms.
- Army: In this period, the Szekely ethnic group constituted the elite of the Hungarian army, which of course also consisted of other ethnic groups in the area. The Szekely horse archers and heavy cavalry will be strong units in the early campaign.

[Rodion Romanovich]

NEWS UPDATE May 8th 2005
===========
Work on campaign map has started. Most provinces in Scandinavia, British Isles, Spain and North Africa have already been decided. More work is needed before provinces of central Europe, Asia minor, Middle east and eastern steppes have been decided - but for those areas, unlike those I have now completed, I'll probably use almost the same provinces as in M:TW.

I decided to throw away the map I've shown part of above, and restart the work on the campaign map, mainly because I want a different "density" of provinces, i.e. I want greater distances between the provinces in British Isles and other areas where there are many cities. The result of this enlargement of the map is that North Africa and the steppes will be harder to conquer and conquer - which is another thing I wanted to achieve. Those who play this mod are supposed to have great problems conquering and holding such areas that were historically hard to conquer and hold, and it should usually be more beneficial to move in another direction when expanding. Another result of this is that you can't simply conquer everything till your reach the map edge and then eliminate one front because the map happens to end there - it's now unlikely you'll ever conquer the provinces closest to the map edge and you can expect trouble there so you'll need to keep troops to guard that area too.

The map will probably also use different terrain, climate etc. than the vanilla R:TW map. The border between snow and no snow for the winter turns will be drawn further north than in vanilla R:TW (but high mountains will still have snow in the winter), to reflect the real situation. There was a small ice age in the 14th century but this is the middle 9th to late 11th century so the snow shouldn't reach that far south.

Screenshots for the campaign map from it's very first alpha state can probably be expected in two weeks.

[roysparky]

Sounds like you've put a lot of effort into the mod so far, great job. Let me know if you need any help.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Sounds like you've put a lot of effort into the mod so far, great job. Let me know if you need any help.

Yeah, I'd appreciate any help I can get . What skills do you have? Skinning and/or modelling? Historian/researcher? Coding?

[Ranika]

If I may, I'd like to recommend some revisions to the Irish/Scottish faction descriptions slightly, mostly correcting errors in time tables. We know now that Celts inhabitted Ireland far earlier than the 1st century BC (more likely the 4th century), and the Scots weren't from a tribe called the Scotti, that was a Roman-British name for all Gaels which just meant 'pirates', and was adopted as a Brythonic term for the Scots (since they were in close contact with them, and were the most well-known Gaelic tribe). The Scots didn't call themselves Scots for some time; it was eventually adopted from the Strathclyders (who were Britons under their rule). They also came from a kingdom called Ulaid, which was a small kingdom in Ireland (in eastern modern Ulster, which was only later called Ulaid as a whole), consisting of several tribes, and the 'invasion' of King Fergus is mythical; Gaels had inhabitted the lands of Dal Riada for centuries. King Fergus did fight the Picts though, but probably over land rights; the presence of Gaelic houses in Argyll from the 1st century BC onward disproves the idea of an 'invasion'. In Ireland, the claims of Normans to the Irish throne never actually materialized until after the 1100s had begun. From Clontarf into the early 1100s, Ireland, while still disunified, was experiencing a period of more peaceful quasi-unity, and the high kingship actually experienced legitimacy (the high kings were successfully collecting homage from MOST kingdoms), but no high king since Brian ever had the strength (or maybe just no motivation) to push for stronger unity.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Ok, thanks. The faction descriptions were only temporary anyway - they'll all be completely rewritten for the ingame version as well as for the forum versions. Thanks for the info.

I think a good faction description should be posted in the factions presentation thread along with the symbols. Scion, would you mind if I edited your posts and added descriptions below the symbols or do you want that thread reserved for faction graphics only?

[ScionTheWorm]

edit my posts, take the first one. it's no problem, actually what I originally intended. stick it too.

[GoreBag]

Kingdom of the Englisc seems good to me, as well as Khaganates and Kaliphates. However, I'd never heard the term "Englisc" before; "Engla" seems right in my mind.

[Rodion Romanovich]

edit my posts, take the first one. it's no problem, actually what I originally intended. stick it too.

Ok, it's sticky now. I've added around 5-7 descriptions, more will come. If you have any comments about the descriptions you can post them here.