M2, HRE Tests PBEM
This thread is to test the possibility of a WotS style PBEM with Medieval 2, along with some new thoughts on players' governance of their avatars, cities, and overall WotS style mechanics.
Part 1 - Players and their Roles
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Participants - Roles
Lucjan - Emperor
Econ21 - N/A
Ignoramus - N/A
Tamur - N/A
Braden (Maybe, if he'd like to be our first Count.) - N/A
{{{Game Difficulties & General Restrictions
H/VH, No retraining except for already full units to give weapon/armor upgrades. Navies can only transport 1 land unit per 1 naval unit. No battle time limit. Show CPU Moves, Manage all Settlements.
Unit sizes Huge.
(Sorry but Large only gives you units of 60, 48, 20...these are ridiculously small.)
One completely eventless turn is given 24 hours for completion. (This is feasible, as most turns in the WotS due to battles and all kinds of other things took many days to complete.)
Battles are given 48 hours to complete before they are autoresolved.}}}
This Test PBEM will be using the HRE, all players (except for Braden, who I'll inform of his possible choices) have access to a H/VH, no battle time limit, show cpu moves, manage all settlements campaign.
This setup will allow the following three types of players.
Emperor -Will be elected by votes for a set period of time by majority rule once voting has been announced, closed in 48 hours, and votes have been tallied. Players who are successfully elected to this position must have the game, be able to carry out the orders of other players, follow edicts, manage his own ducal territory and armies, manage the Imperial army, manage all non-player owned territories, and send/receive save games to/from ducal players for battles to be faught, and speak his mind in the council room.
Duke - Players may choose an Imperial province, not already governed by a player, or have a city/castle bestowed upon them by a generous duke, in order to become a duke. Players choosing this title must have the game, be able to participate in the Edict sessions, Voting sessions, submit orders for their army movements and governed city tax levels, manage their army upkeep and be able to fight a battle (And fight honestly, if you lose, you lose, no real shame in that, it makes the game more challenging and more interesting for the group as a whole), return the saved game within 48 hours of having received it (we understand people have busy personal lives, but we must also keep the game moving at a reasonable rate, hence the 48 hour time limit), and speak their mind in the council room.
Count - Players who would like to participate but who do not have the game may join as Counts. Counts may choose to govern an ungoverned Imperial province, or a generous player with many territories but few governors may opt to bestow land on a Count pending his acceptance. Counts duties include participating in the Edict and Voting sessions, setting tax rates, and speaking their mind in the council room. A Count's income and garrison are controlled by whatever Duke his county belongs to, or if the county is part of Imperial Territory, these are controlled by the current emperor.
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Part 2 - The mechanics of Construction and Recruitment
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Construction - Construction can only be ordered during the Edict sessions, so players must think hard in advance on what the most important buildings will be for whom. Players must negotiate amongst themselves to strike deals on who will support what construction where. A construction edict looks like this. Money for construction comes from the treasury accrued from the previous 5 turns (in the case of turn 1, the first edict session uses money from whatever treasury you start out with.)
Ex 1 - "Duke of Nuremberg - Edict of Imperial Construction Issued for Nuremburg. The City of Nuremburg requires the construction of Roads, a Small Church, and Communical Farming within the next 10 years, in that order. The City of Nuremburg is to be alotted the amount of 2,400 florins for these expenses."
Ex 2 - "Duke of Staufen - Edict of Imperial Construction Issued for Staufen.
The Imperial Wooden Castle of Staufen requires the construction of Stables and a Castle within the next 10 years, in that order. The Imperial Wooden Castle of Staufen is to be alotted 3,600 florins for these expenses."
Recruitment - Recruitment can only be ordered 2 times throughout a 5 turn period for each player (Unless a player is fulfilling a recruitment request for another player who cannot create a specific unit). Recruitment cannot take more than the available number of recruitment spaces for one turn. Recruitment costs cannot exceed total player income x the number of turns passed since the edict session or the number of turns since the last recruitment (again, unless recruiting units for another player), and Army Upkeep cannot exceed the players total income for one turn.
Ex - Player A owns Vienna with 1,700 income. With a current Army Upkeep of 1,200. Edicts have just been passed and the player is now allowed to recruit any 2 times within the next five years. Player A wants to recruit right now. This gives Player A 500 florins to recruit with, as he'll make 500 florins proft this turn. He recruits two units of peasant archers, costing him 440. Player A then has an upkeep of 1,400. He only makes 300 florins a turn now, so he waits four turns. It is the final turn before the next edict session, and Player A wants to recruit again. He has accrued 1,200 florins, but knows his upkeep after the recruitment cannot exceed 1,700 florins. He requests the Duke of Staufen to recruit him one unit of mailed knights. The duke of Staufen agrees and recruits the knights for the Duke of Vienna (This has no effect on the Duke of Staufen's income or his number of recruitment orders for this 5 turn period). This brings Player A's total Army upkeep to 1,650. He cannot exceed 1,700 so he's still ok, but cannot recruit anything further.
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A Further Note on Edicts and Player Powers/Restrictions
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All Players must choose a city and an Avatar. They henceforth become Duke/Count "Whatever Avatar" of "Whatever City". I advise against players taking on roles of merchants, spies and assassins, they're all lost far too easily. However, I see no issues with a priestly, diplomatic or princess avatar. A Priestly avatar may actually be highly interesting if by chance the player actually finds himself sitting on the Papal throne.
Edicts are the equivilant of WotS Motions, they can entail anything, and are passed by majority vote.
Edicts that would change game rules must be marked with a *, as they'll be Noble Charter Ammendments.
The Emperor must place a note in the OOC thread of the pbem whenever a new turn is started. This is to inform players who may wish to make recruitment or movement orders.
The Emperor can make decrees in regards to edicts, over-ruling the edicts given orders, the Emperor can only make 1 of these per 5 turn session, and cannot force a decree on any specific player that would deny them of land they rightfully won. An Emperor cannot decree a duke to unwillingly relinquish control of military units to the Imperial Army or any other army.
Dukes with 2/3 support from the other dukes can ignore an Imperial decree with impunity.
The Capital is to be regarded as an "Imperial City", and cannot be controlled by any player other than the Emperor. Cities or Castles conquered by the Imperial Army also become regarded as "Imperial Territory", which can be used as the current emperor sees fit, or bestowed on new players to create a Dukedom or a County.
The Emperor cannot force the cancelation of any work in progress or an edict passed in an edict session prior to the current one through Imperial decree.
The Emperor controls his own ducal lands, and the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army's income is not allowed to exceed the income of the Capital city.
The Emperor may order a "Call to Arms" in a situation where the Imperial Army has been defeated and an immediate replacement is needed, in which all dukes are requested to provide military support to bolster the Imperial Army for the defense of the Empire. The dukes choose the number and type of units to be sent (if they choose to send any at all), and the Emperor must maintain that this new army does not exceed the total income of Imperial Territory.
Any Player may declare war with a 2/3 vote of support from the rest of the dukes, in which case the involved dukes order the moves of their ducal army in any way they see beneficial to the Empire or whatever way an Imperial decree may command them.
Players who conquer territory with their own Ducal army acquire that territory into their own lands. They receive the income from that new territory, and they are allowed to do with that territory as they see fit.
Players can have a garrison for every city/castle/fort they own, but they cannot have more than one standing army. This is for the simple facet of trying to maintain a significant balance between large and small duchies, and the typical Medieval paranoia involved with giving an underling, no matter how loyal, too much control over too large an army.
Armies stationed in forts, that amount to 5 units or less, are counted as garrisons, but draw money from the duchies total income as if they were a standing army. Armies with more than 5 units in a fort count as the Ducal Army, of which each player may only have one.
Armies 5 units or less in strength that are being transferred between players count as part of the receiving player's ducal army, draw income from the receiving player's total income, and do not penalise the receiving player while they are en route to the receiving player. Basically, until they reach the Ducal army, they count as part of it income wise, but not physically until they actually join up. This is to avoid contradicting the "1 standing army per player" rule.
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Taxes and Movement Orders
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Players with an avatar in a city may tell the emperor to set that city's tax for whatever level the player wishes. Any cities the player has with no avatar (either their own or a non-player avatar) in them are required to be set to "Normal" taxes. This is to indicate the lack of any high authority there in the gathering of taxes for the duchy, and the typical evasion of taxation that would be apparent with no immediate threat of reprisal for doing so.
Players are to place any movement orders they have for their army or units in their army in the Ducal Commands thread. Movement orders should be clear and detailed enough to be understood.
Ex - Duke of Staufen - I'm ordering the movement of my Avatar, 2 Mailed Knights, 3 Spear Militias, and 2 Peasant Archers from the Castle of Staufen to march westwards. Their target is the bridge on the river crossing between the Staufen Region and the Metz Region. Next turn, order them to Besiege Metz.
The message is short and to the point. I really don't think anybody would misunderstand this.
Here's a recruitment order example. Disbandment orders should be the exact same thing just..with..disband in their, instead of recruit.
Ex - I want to recruit 1 unit of Mailed Knights and 2 units of peasant militia from the Castle of Staufen.
Again it's short, clear, and really pretty hard to mess up.
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I think that's everything, if I forgot anything or there are any suggestions let me know.
What I need from the current players now are the avatars they want, and the city/castle they want.
I'll be assuming Dietrich von Saxony at Frankfurt and operate as Emperor, as I've really outlined the bulk of this abomination and won't try to push administrative test issues on somebody else.Frankfurt will be the Imperial Capital, whatever city remains un-chosen by our three other Ducal players - Econ21, Tamur, Ignoramus - and Braden our Count, I will take as my Ducal territory. The Imperial army will be considered that wandering regiment up north by Hamburg.
We can start as soon as I hear back from you guys.Good luck everybody, and happy argueing over avatars in the other thread.
"My IQ test came back. Thankfully it was negative" 
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