Vlad III the Impaler

**big_steveo** · 10-31-2006, 06:46

This guy should be in M2TW!! haha what a vicious monster. He ruled over Wallachia in the 1400's and apparently had 30,000 people impaled on stakes at one time! What a crazy bastard.

I had never heard of this guy before, he's insane. He impaled babies and their mother's on the same stake, like a shishkabob!

Anyone else know of this guy?

**Kavhan Isbul** · 10-31-2006, 06:54

Vlad the Impaler, who was later immortalized as Dracula, was a real historical figure, and I believe the stories about him and his alleged athrocities were exaggerated, as they were written primarily by his enemies. This is a long topic, but I think if there are heroes in M2TW just like in MTW he probably should be in, although it is hard to say for which faction, as there is no Wallachian faction. Speaking of heroes, I would love to see Huniadi as a Hungarian hero.

**Katana** · 10-31-2006, 07:03

I would love to see Joan of Arc in as a hero, but I doubt it will happen - she'd only be around for 4 turns (1429 and 1430), so there's not much point. I don't see how anyone could cram in all the fighting she took part in during those years in four turns. Maybe Orléans or Patay will be included as historical battles, though. That would be fun.

**LegioScythia** · 10-31-2006, 07:17

Well he wasn't much of a hero
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_III

**Zenicetus** · 10-31-2006, 07:26

You might start with the Wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_III_Dracula

I read a book recently called "The Historian," sort of a literary vampire thriller that focuses heavily on Vlad's history. I thought it didn't work very well as a horror novel (it's a huge book, without much real action), but the background on Vlad was very interesting, and apparently mostly accurate (discarding the undead stuff). The best part of the book is the atmosphere and detail about parts of the world I didn't know much about. Here's the Amazon link, if you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Historian-Eliz...e=UTF8&s=books

If Hungary is a playable faction in M2TW (or can be activated), then you could role-play Vlad in the game... or rather, start an empire that builds up to that character, since he comes along late in the period of the game. Then you can cross the Atlantic and battle the Aztecs, to see who is more brutal and bloodthirsty.

**ProudNerd** · 10-31-2006, 07:33

Originally Posted by Katana

I would love to see Joan of Arc in as a hero, but I doubt it will happen - she'd only be around for 4 turns (1429 and 1430), so there's not much point. I don't see how anyone could cram in all the fighting she took part in during those years in four turns. Maybe Orléans or Patay will be included as historical battles, though. That would be fun.

it wouldn't be accurate.she wasn't a fighter. She led not fought,.in fact i dont think she ever killed any English personally.

**anders** · 10-31-2006, 08:39

The historian was an interesting read about Vlad and the defense wars against the turks.

Its kind of a shame there arent more historical factions from this region in the game, but if you want to stop the turkish tide, hungary will be a good faction to play.

joan of arc was in medieval 1 as a french general.

**Darth Nihilus** · 10-31-2006, 15:20

I've read those links to him on wiki before and it is a very interesting read . The guys was pretty demented. I remember in the original game that he showed up in in Wallachia under the Hungarians in the late part of the Late period.

I should also add that he had 9 dread and had the "butcher" vice (or virtue, depending on how you look at it)

**Horatius** · 10-31-2006, 16:43

Joan of Arc can't be in, how would you feel if you had a 9 star general who dissapeared after 4 turns no matter what you did? It would just taunt players.

Vlad III of Wallachia was despite the stories his enemies told a good king. In his youth he was taken hostage or captured by the Turks, and the Turks are the ones who taught him torture and brutality. From his cell he would constantly see people impalled or decapitated or tortured in many other creative ways, and that took away the sensitivity most people have from him, and he simply did what the Turks did on a smaller scale in Wallachia.The Turks happened to be intent on conquering all of Europe and had already sacked Constantinople, and he along with only a few other Kings managed to hold off the Turkish attacks. However when he died the Turks conquered Wallachia so his efforts where in vain, and he could not have been as horrible as myth makes him out to be because he had full support from the Church.

On John Hunyadi he was a very intelligent man, however just what great thing did he do? He had plenty of time to relieve the besieged city of Constantinople yet he passed on the chance.

**LadyAnn** · 10-31-2006, 17:03

Why can't Joan d'Arc be in? The importance is the introduction, not the ending. The general, after emerging from a faction, is under player's control. The general could die the next year or he/she could live on for the next 30 years. The historical fact that Joan d'Arc was captured 4 years later could not be played out in game. If she won battles, she won't be captured. The reasoning could go for any other historical figures: we do somesort of what-if scenarios.

What if the French won at Agincourt? There would be no need for a Joan d'Arc...

Anniep

**Vlad Tzepes** · 10-31-2006, 17:42

Well, Vlad the Impaler (Tepes) is one of the most interesting figures in Romanian History. Strangely enough, if he is despised and feared out of Romania, assimilated with Dracula, he is well seen and respected in Romania, as one of the great kings (voievod) Vallachia had during Medieval Times.

There is a legend that during his reign, at a crossroads in his capital city a golden cup stood at a fountain, to appease travelers thirst - nobody ever tried to steal it, as long as Vlad Tepes ruled.

He was cruel indeed, but it seems not more than the usual cruelty of the dark Medieval times. His father was assassinated by the former king, his brother tortured and buried alive by the nobles (boyars), so maybe he got his cruel ideas from other people, after all

His portraing as an unusual cruel king was the result of German merchants discontent. Vlad Tepes brutely executed those who smuggled valuable goods without paying taxes, so the German community in Brasov printed leaflets describing those executions.

He fought the Ottomans, with mixed results. He is famous, in this matter, for a night attack, when he lead a small force, dressed in Ottoman uniforms, in the sultan's camp, trying to find and kill Mahomet II. He failed, but he made history.

And now, back on topic (sorry, I couldn't help saying a little about Vlad Tepes) - I certainly hope MTW II will include historical characters, like MTW I did. Maybe Vlad Tepes could be a rebel Valachian general, so that you could bribe him.

A high dread rating would be a must, and I would give him at least 3 stars...

**Kavhan Isbul** · 10-31-2006, 18:30

Originally Posted by Horatius

On John Hunyadi he was a very intelligent man, however just what great thing did he do? He had plenty of time to relieve the besieged city of Constantinople yet he passed on the chance.

Well, before Constantinople was besieged he led successful campaigns against the Ottomans and defeated them on multiple occasions. He lost the battle of Varna, perhaps due to Vladislav's suicidal charge (had the Polish king behaved more maturely this battle could have had a different outcome, maybe), and while he could not relieve Constantinople due to the afct that he was too busy dealing with domestic enemies (and keep in mind that he was betrayed a few times by his Balkan allies, which surely made him more cautious), he relieved Belgarde. I think that his victories in the 1430s and 1440s (and 1450s) did much to buy some more time for Constantinople, and if his Serb and Wallachian allies were loyal, perhaps he would have succeeded in driving the Ottomans out of Europe and history would have been quite different.
Considering the sheer amount of battles he was in (and most of them he won), he needs to be at least a five star general with virtues such as expert attacker, skilled defender, etc.

**Katana** · 10-31-2006, 19:08

IRT #6
Exactley, she was a leader, and the troops she led fought battles. I don't really care if Joan ever personally killed an English soldier; the important thing is she was a decision maker in the Armagnac royal army.

**TheImp** · 10-31-2006, 19:13

I think Joan of Arc deserves to be a general in MTW. Why? Because as some other persons here have stated above, she was a leader and that's what we ask of a general. I'm not sure Napoleon ever killed a soldier in his life, but what a general he was, wasn't he?

**Perplexed** · 10-31-2006, 19:46

Originally Posted by Horatius

Joan of Arc can't be in, how would you feel if you had a 9 star general who dissapeared after 4 turns no matter what you did? It would just taunt players.

1/2 a turn in M2TW, actually.

Originally Posted by Horatius

Vlad III of Wallachia was despite the stories his enemies told a good king. In his youth he was taken hostage or captured by the Turks, and the Turks are the ones who taught him torture and brutality. From his cell he would constantly see people impalled or decapitated or tortured in many other creative ways, and that took away the sensitivity most people have from him, and he simply did what the Turks did on a smaller scale in Wallachia.The Turks happened to be intent on conquering all of Europe and had already sacked Constantinople, and he along with only a few other Kings managed to hold off the Turkish attacks. However when he died the Turks conquered Wallachia so his efforts where in vain, and he could not have been as horrible as myth makes him out to be because he had full support from the Church.

Why would the Church care if he was a good person or not? What a strange notion that is. If they did give Vlad their support it seems far more likely that their motivation had more to do with stopping the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe than it did with their admiration for his tender and kind-hearted nature.

However, I do agree with you that Vlad Tepes wasn't the crazed lunatic that most people (especially in the West) make him out to be. He may have been slightly unbalanced at times and certainly had a cruel and ruthless streak, but he was in general a well-suited and able ruler. In the face of almost constant war with the Ottoman Empire, extreme and ruthless measures would have been necessary to keep the country under a stable government and to retain an effective leadership, without which Wallachia would certainly have fallen easily. During Vlad's reign these policies seem to have worked well enough, or at the very least we know that the Ottoman Empire didn't manage to finally conquer Wallachia until after his death.

**Watchman** · 11-01-2006, 12:00

Vlad was a choirboy compared to a certain Ivan the Terrible of Russia, anyway. By all accounts that one was certifiably nuts especially during his later years, nevermind now how capable ruler and politician.