Pics and History of your Empire

[Chaotix]

Nice campaigns, everyone!

@ ATPG: The supply system is now optional for SS- when you install it you just have to make sure that the supply system is not included in the installation. I personally like the system, but I suppose it could be annoying for blitzers... also, the map is HUGE. Not only does it cover more area, the map is also scaled up, so provinces are bigger.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Nice campaigns, everyone!

@ ATPG: The supply system is now optional for SS- when you install it you just have to make sure that the supply system is not included in the installation. I personally like the system, but I suppose it could be annoying for blitzers... also, the map is HUGE. Not only does it cover more area, the map is also scaled up, so provinces are bigger.

My main objection is that it was broken, buggy, and easy to circumvent. Also it seemed unrealistic. I suppose if I hadn't been in my home territory for 10 turns, it could become a problem. But it was almost as though as soon as I stepped out, my morale and supplies would drop substantially.


Need to fix it, tone it down, and have it apply even less on crusades and jihads (unless it drags on 20 turns)

[Galain_Ironhide]

My main objection is that it was broken, buggy, and easy to circumvent. Also it seemed unrealistic. I suppose if I hadn't been in my home territory for 10 turns, it could become a problem. But it was almost as though as soon as I stepped out, my morale and supplies would drop substantially.


Need to fix it, tone it down, and have it apply even less on crusades and jihads (unless it drags on 20 turns)

I've just started my first SS6.1 GC as England (I downloaded this weeks ago and never installed it), whilst I'm only in the early stages of it, I have enjoyed using this mod. Well to be frank, its a whole heap easier to expand quickly than in the mod DLV5.73. I played a GC as Spain using that one and you are forced to take things slowly due to the negative income effects on literally just about everything (and plus an even tougher supply system with armies in the field). I do miss the stone forts that are positioned in all provinces throughout the game map in DLV. You can download a forts mod for SS6.1 but unfortunately you need M2TW Gold edition - which I don't have . I think the SS Mod Developers should consider making stone forts a permanent feature for future patches/editions of SS.

My intentions for this GC is to sit low for maybe a 100turns and wait for the AI to develop itself a little before I begin my conquest. Don't know if I'll be able to help my self from taking a province or two (or 3 or 4) though. We'll just see how soon boredom sets in .

To stay on topic -

I like how the Venetian Empire has turned out Walternat0r - Keep it up!

[Walternat0r]

Ey up, I haven't been playing much recently cus I made the mistake of buying Spore, and now my life has devolved into an endless cycle of dancing, eating, and flying random creatures spawned from the dregs of my imagination. However, I had a little stint (About 5-8 turns) and now look a bit like this

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I've gotten rid of Portugal and traded Oporto and Murcia for Granada with Spain. They were having a hard time with Aragon so I figured a couple of settlements nearer to the action would help them out some. Also, Granada is much closer to Fortress level :)

After I took the final picture I took Cork from Ireland so they're trapped in Galway now, once i've taken them out i'm going to gift all of sunny Ireland to the Pope in exchange for Rome (thats the plan anyway). Then expand territories around the Baltic coast, am not planning on going inland as the corruption is huuuuuuge up there.

[Monk]

No write up for these, don't have time and I've let it go a long time without documenting/ screenshots of a few things. But I'll be sure to do so after this post. Basically I wanted a chance to out-do the Mongol AI in MTW, and SS 6.1 has a late campaign, so taking a break from Vanilla mod (which is pretty fun btw) I jumped into SS again for a little mongol action. My find? Every battle I enter into I'm outnumbered, but I'm never outmatched.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

From my war against Khwarezmid Empire. Heroic victories like this were just par for the course, if not increasingly nail biting to fight. Sure, you have great troops but in the beginning you cannnot replinish them. You have 4 stacks to conquer the Kwarezmids.. you're not gonna get anymore until they are dead.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

My Mongols adopted the virtue of marching concentrated, and fighting concentrated. Early on I didn't let a single stack go anywhere unless another was right there with it. The Kwarezmids were way too powerful to Underestimate. As you can see from the mini-map that approach was working.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A great victory here! Jebe the Tyrant finds the faction leader of the most hated enemy, it wasn't easy to track him down, the AI did a good job of protecting him and instead just sending me cannon fodder princes to massacre all the time. After a quick seige, the pain in my side known as the Kwarezmid empire was no more.

After securing Baghdad and Basra, I thought about resting on my conquests and building up a little bit. I could just imagine Genghis khan, his troops arrayed before him as the conquests had come to a halt, "Then it is finished." one utters.. but the Khan just smiles. "We have only just begun."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The jihad was headed straight for Acre and the Kingdom of jerusalem. KoJ had severely weakened the Caliphate, the Fatimids were on the ropes having lost Cairo. So I thought I would knock out two factions with one Jihad, hit the crusaders hard then mop up the Fatimids!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Another battle results screen, nothing special. This is from when i cornered the Crusader king in Kerak and forced him to sally. The Knights of Antioch and Knights of Jerusalem were really no match for my well trained horde and mercenaries who swept through them like sickle to barely. Notice all the gold chevrons

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The king was without heirs and imagine my surprise, KoJ is eliminated! The Fatimid tried to move quickly to reestablish lost lands but I put a stop to that.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The attack on KoJ and later on the Fatimids really strained my resources and I'm always hurting for troops, but I just moved two fresh stacks across the desert to reinforce the Levant. Once i mop up Fatimid resistance in the corners of the desert, the Turks will be next.

You can see the Moors were eliminated, by Portugal of all people! That means after the turks are gone I'll be the sole remaining Muslim faction in the game. Unless the Cumans are muslim and not pagan... Oh, i smell another conquest coming on!

write up will acompany next update, hope you guys like the screens!

[Walternat0r]

Good stuff Monk! How many turns has that taken you? I find with SS6.1 a slower approach is generally best, considering the effects of supply and whatnot on morale. Although... gold chevrons troops probably wont notice the difference lol.

I've never tried a Mongol campaign myself, although reading the Conqueror series by Conn Iggulden has definately sparked a strong interest in doing one! What are they like financially? With 4 cavalry based stacks are they not rolling in debt by the time you get a small (~5 settlement) khan-dom going?

[PBI]

Nice stuff Monk, I've been thinking of trying a Mongol campaign.

I kind of assumed that thanks to the insanely low upkeep for Mongol units, once you get over the initial imbalance between troop levels and number of provinces and started to make any decent income it would get very easy to support a huge force, did you find this?

Looks like fun, I might try it as my next campaign.

[Monk]

Good stuff Monk! How many turns has that taken you? I find with SS6.1 a slower approach is generally best, considering the effects of supply and whatnot on morale. Although... gold chevrons troops probably wont notice the difference lol.

I've never tried a Mongol campaign myself, although reading the Conqueror series by Conn Iggulden has definately sparked a strong interest in doing one! What are they like financially? With 4 cavalry based stacks are they not rolling in debt by the time you get a small (~5 settlement) khan-dom going?

I'm at about turn 35 or so, only up to 31 was covered in my screens though.

You're right, the Mongols are in serious debt, they start out with about 120,000 gold to give you a head start but that money runs out quick. There's a money script that each turn takes away from you 5000 gold (You can see it in the console, add_money -5000.) The money script is there to prevent the AI horde from growing to big too fast, but I find it an annoying obstacle that I have no control over. There's been numerous turns where my treasury indicates I should make 10k that turn only to find myself in the red.

Troop upkeep is super low but your troops are mostly cav so they are horrible in sieges. I've kept at least one infantry unit in each stack to help siege but most of the time if I can't force the enemy to sally it turns very bloody.

I kind of assumed that thanks to the insanely low upkeep for Mongol units, once you get over the initial imbalance between troop levels and number of provinces and started to make any decent income it would get very easy to support a huge force, did you find this?

Mongol units have a very small refresh pool, so even after you destroy the Kwarezmids you're still going to be hurting for troops. I am finding that the max I can maintain at one time is about 3 stacks of cavalry, I could easily switch over to an infantry based army and field maybe two more stacks than that.. but that's just not horde-like!

The upside is my troops are, pound for pound, the best in the game. There's a reason why those guys are at 3 silver-2 gold chevrons. They've survived since my initial campaigns against the Kwarezmids.

[TheLastPrivate]

My main objection is that it was broken, buggy, and easy to circumvent. Also it seemed unrealistic. I suppose if I hadn't been in my home territory for 10 turns, it could become a problem. But it was almost as though as soon as I stepped out, my morale and supplies would drop substantially.


Need to fix it, tone it down, and have it apply even less on crusades and jihads (unless it drags on 20 turns)

Yes, and it doesn't affect captain-led armies (which the AI ever does so often) which makes for a good concept/challenge but sadly not implemented too well overall (maybe even impossible to implement correctly).