The uhh... Grey Horde

[macsen rufus]

IIRC you can't withdraw bribed troops to another province - I'm sure you get a warning about this at the pre-battle screen, same as with loyalist uprisings. That's why I always try to bribe enough of them to be able to win the unavoidable battle. Unless you send in extra troops I think you only get the two options - fight it yourself, or autoresolve.

I do like to have at least one Mongol stack amongst my forces, and as so rightly pointed out, they are CHEAP to feed There's nothing worse than having no money the year the Khan dies

And yes, rebels can attack, though it's not common it does appear to occur more around the steppes - I'm sure the size of rebel armies has a lot to do with it....

And Roark, if you get your emissary busy it may be true that the Russians have survived the Khan, but you still have the opportunity for them not to survive the Mongols You need to teach them a lesson about freebooting points off your efforts, after all

[Sensei Warrior]

IIRC you can't withdraw bribed troops to another province - I'm sure you get a warning about this at the pre-battle screen, same as with loyalist uprisings. That's why I always try to bribe enough of them to be able to win the unavoidable battle. Unless you send in extra troops I think you only get the two options - fight it yourself, or autoresolve.

Hmm I might have been wrong then, tread carefully Roark. I wonder what I was doin with the French and Italians then, maybe withdrawing off the field?

And Roark, if you get your emissary busy it may be true that the Russians have survived the Khan, but you still have the opportunity for them not to survive the Mongols You need to teach them a lesson about freebooting points off your efforts, after all

Agreed.

[Roark]

Well, it turns out that the rebels are still hungry for Turkish lands, despite their entire royal family being wiped out.

Since the Khan's death, I've face two years' worth of nightmarishly large invasions in Georgia by the "Khazars" (as they are now called), first 4,000 troops and then 5,500. I've held on so far, but only just.

My supplies of ultra-specialist mercs recruited from the Inn in Lesser Armenia (1x Billmen, 3x Lancers, 2x Cuman Warriors) have now dried up, and I'm left with pretty ordinary mercs attempting to hock me their wares at exorbitant prices (read: Mounted Sarges, SHC, Genoese Sailors etc).

Things are looking grim, most especially because, as the Khazar forces continually invade me (and get killed/captured), their stack compositions keep changing and my emissaries are completely unable to bribe anyone!!

Anyway, my income from confiscating rebel lands is fine, but I don't have anything really nice to spend it on. My regular Turkish strategies are useless against the Mongol Khazars, because their horse archers are second to none (except maybe Szekely).

So I just have to sit and take it and wait for them to run out of troops or stop invading. My troop production is fully committed to this Eastern theatre, and the French and Germans have both just launched crusades against me...

Meanwhile, the Russians have wiped out the Teutonic Order and the Cumans. They have one full stack sitting in Lesser Khazar, but I haven't got any agents up North, so I can only imagine how big they are right now... 3 of their emissaries have just moved in to have a look-see...



This is exactly why I love the Seljuks. Never a dull moment.

On a happy note... my staunch allies, the Bulgarians, are doing quite well. It's nice to see underdog factions proliferate somewhat.

[OmarPacha]

If the rebel raiding party is only of 4000-5000, then you may have a chance simply bribing half of the khazars army; better if you let them take the province and retreat to the castle and begin to bribe - focusing only on a few stacks (not less than 3-4 emissaries for each stack).
Next year go to break the siege but enter the battle screen and retreat; this will prevent the rebels to assault the castle while you take only minor losses among besieged.
Third year you should have the support of bribed army and fight the battle to release the province, anyway defeat gives you time to move troops from neighbor regions.

[Roark]

Well after 4 years of mindbuggering assaults by the Khazar Mongols on poor old Georgia, I finally started successfully bribing the rebels stacks.

I've been earning around 30,000 florins per year just from confiscated lands (!), which I've just been pumping into bribery missions to deplete the huge numbers of Khazar Mongol stacks. Out of sheer laziness (and shortly after my fiancee's pleading to "come to bed, for Pete's sake!") I autocalced two years' worth of rebel vs bribed-rebel battles.

For anyone who's interesting, the only available battlefield options are Command the Battle Personally, or Autocalc. Unfortunately, you can't just cut and run with your newly-bribed stacks.

ANYWAY, the depleted rebels have finally stopped attacking me and, next turn, I'm counting on my 4 triple-starred emissaries delivering me 4 fat stacks full of Mongolia's finest, after which I plan to disband most of my lily-livered Turcoman Horse until I can build a Master Horse Breeder with a Ribat and Armourers Guild.

Here endeth the saga...

Meanwhile, in the space of 3 years:

- My allies, the Bulgarians, have betrayed me, setting off a chain reaction of alliance cancellations.
- My allies, the Sicilians, have declared a crusade against me. More alliance cancellations.
- The Pope has announced to the Catholic world that he hates me, god hates me, and he wants everyone to kill me.
- At the doorstep to Constantinople: Fat crusades sponsored by the French, the Germans AND the Sicilians.
- My only ally, the Ayyubid dynasty, slowly gather their armies in Syria and Palestine, preparing to stab me in the back...

I'll have Janissaries marching off the production line in about 8 years. Just need to survive until then.

Alla-hu Akhbar!!!!

If the rebel raiding party is only of 4000-5000, then you may have a chance simply bribing half of the khazars army; better if you let them take the province and retreat to the castle and begin to bribe - focusing only on a few stacks (not less than 3-4 emissaries for each stack).
Next year go to break the siege but enter the battle screen and retreat; this will prevent the rebels to assault the castle while you take only minor losses among besieged.
Third year you should have the support of bribed army and fight the battle to release the province, anyway defeat gives you time to move troops from neighbor regions.

Tricky!

[Martok]

Well after 4 years of mindbuggering assaults by the Khazar Mongols on poor old Georgia, I finally started successfully bribing the rebels stacks.

I've been earning around 30,000 florins per year just from confiscated lands (!), which I've just been pumping into bribery missions to deplete the huge numbers of Khazar Mongol stacks. Out of sheer laziness (and shortly after my fiancee's pleading to "come to bed, for Pete's sake!") I autocalced two years' worth of rebel vs bribed-rebel battles.

For anyone who's interesting, the only available battlefield options are Command the Battle Personally, or Autocalc. Unfortunately, you can't just cut and run with your newly-bribed stacks.

ANYWAY, the depleted rebels have finally stopped attacking me and, next turn, I'm counting on my 4 triple-starred emissaries delivering me 4 fat stacks full of Mongolia's finest, after which I plan to disband most of my lily-livered Turcoman Horse until I can build a Master Horse Breeder with a Ribat and Armourers Guild.

Here endeth the saga...

Good show, mate. Glad you were able to withstand the Khazars' onslaught.

Meanwhile, in the space of 3 years:

- My allies, the Bulgarians, have betrayed me, setting off a chain reaction of alliance cancellations.
- My allies, the Sicilians, have declared a crusade against me. More alliance cancellations.
- The Pope has announced to the Catholic world that he hates me, god hates me, and he wants everyone to kill me.
- At the doorstep to Constantinople: Fat crusades sponsored by the French, the Germans AND the Sicilians.
- My only ally, the Ayyubid dynasty, slowly gather their armies in Syria and Palestine, preparing to stab me in the back...

I'll have Janissaries marching off the production line in about 8 years. Just need to survive until then.

Alla-hu Akhbar!!!!

Ah, the joys of playing the Turks -- mayhem & mischief everywhere. Good luck on the rest of your campaign, Roark (although hopefully you won't need it)!

[Sensei Warrior]

Man this sounds like a rip roaring game. WHOOT! Good for you. Lets see ...

Sorry bout the bad advice with the whole abadon the provence thing, I must have been withdrawing the army of the field after I gained them. Hmm, now even I wonder what I was doing.

(and shortly after my fiancee's pleading to "come to bed, for Pete's sake!")

Just a word of friendly advice, your fiancee should be pleading with you, but not for that.

Keep us posted, I'd love to hear how the next 8 years turn out.