MTW: Poland's High Period of Power

[condors]

i have found defending against them isn't too hard (they will come at you) attacking them can be a little tricky get some calvary with a running speed of 24 (mounted crossbows,spanish jinettes and steppe calvary work when the guys are running away so they don't rally and flank you)

[scooper]

Paczquis are similar to doughnuts. They are usually filled with some sort of cream or fruit. They are very high in fat. They are traditionally made about this time of year. The story goes it us to use up extra lard and eggs before lent and the time of fasting. My mother used to work at a bakery that made them. Good, but not the healthiest things. Each year before lent, the local polish organization has some celebration at which they push paczquis. It is pronounced punch-key. I'm not polish, but I do like those paczquis.

[Anrhydeddu]

if anyone has any combat tips to use on Mongol warriors, let me know

Easy, just don't own any of the territories where they will be attacking. Let them attack some one else and then you mop up the mess after they get done.

[Anrhydeddu]

Chief, if I may be so bold, I feel you are playing too cautiously. You have a very large treasury (just sitting there doing nothing) and there is no reason that I see why you cannot be building 1000-men armies every turn. Not only can you have such large armies defending against the Mongols, Byz and Hungarians (to where you don't have to worry about your homelands) but you can group a few of these together and plow through a dozen territories in no time, back-filling with more 1000-men armies. Right now you have relatively small homeland defenses that no one is afraid to attack, and you have one good size offensive army but not going after your true enemy (Byz). I assume can easily build F. Knights, F.Sgts, F.MatA, Crossbowmen and a good defensive unit I can't remember. That's all you need and when you plunder a province, that will more than make up for the yearly expenditures in building 1000-men armies each year. Just my thoughts in remembering how I easily took out the French and Spanish in a handful of turns.

[Chief Rum]

Oh wow.

Those of you whom have been with me for much of the way are probably familiar with some of the bloodier years in Polish history.

One that comes to mind is 1155, when the Battle of Moscow Bridges was fought with the Novgorods, where Novgorod power was essentially crushed (and where General Horned Frog Purple lost his life, I might add).

Another was the first year of the Polish Civil War in 1180, when I had to fight four battles, including the first one to include a Polish king on the field of battle since old King Wladyslaw I himself and the invasion of neighboring Volhenya in the 1090s. Those four battles in 1180 were necessary just to keep some of my homelands in loyalist hands, and I had to fight two more in 1181 as well.

In 1187, I fought another bloody bridge battle, this time against the Hungarians in Silesia. This one was just as bloody as the one in Muscovy 32 years before.

And 1215 was the year I called the Year of Blood. It began with me sending in the largest army the medieval world had yet seen into Kiev against the Byzantines. Ironically, this was the one battle that was NOT fought, as the Byzantines turned tail and ran. But they stood in Peryaslavl, forcing me to defeat them there. And then I had to fight off a French assault on the Tower of London, a Novgorod invasion of Ryazan, and a Hungarian invasion of Poland, the last of which unfortunately was successful.

Apparently, though, I spoke too soon, for tonight I far surpassed that year. Tonight, I clicked on the End Year button, and then spent the next seven hours waiting for the year to be completed. I fought six battles in all, most of which weren't planned. One of those battles was by far the biggest battle I had ever participated in. And I could have fought a seventh battle, but decided against it. This is also coming off of another year in which i fought three other battles, making nine in two years. And there were so many events this year on top of the battles that will likely shape the future of this kingdom, that this has to be considered one of the most pivotal years in Polish history.

That year is 1236, eleven years from where we are currently. I will see how close I can get to it tonight, although I'm guessing I won't be able to get far. Still, it's a fun ride getting there, too. And since I haven't played beyond that year (couldn't risk another marathon year until I was certain I had time to do it), it could (and probably will) get even crazier than that.

condors: I wish I could say it's been so easy for me. I do think I haven't had quite the right units in place, but it doesn't seem easy defending, and I haven't even gotten around to attacking yet. I had already begun moving in the direction you indicated, moving toward more mobile units, but only time will tell if it will work for me.

scooper: Yum, sounds good. I guess I will have to take a look around and see if anyone around here makes those.

Anrhydeddu: Yeah, letting someone else handle them was going to be my plan from the get-go. It gets a little difficult when you're Poland, though, and a good deal of your expansion was to the east. You tend to end up in provinces the Mongols like.

As for your second post, I would say two things. One is something you have to remember from how I have done things. The other is probably something I should have stressed more, so that it would be more obvious.

The thing to remember is that I haven't approached this dynasty from a conquest-as-goal point-of-view. I have always approached it from a growth through economics and diplomacy, and only resorting to war where necessary. Indeed, the goal is not conquest at all, but glorious achievements. I could have just swept through some countries a number of times, but I have held back because that's not what I am trying to do, at least not directly. I did start the war against the Novgorods, but that was an economic growth necessity that arose from my fear that I would soon be eliminated by the much bigger Byzantine Empire or the Holy Roman Empire. And technically I started the war against the Hungarians in the 1180s, but that was justified by the fact that I was trying to stop their invasion of my rebel-held homeland of Poland. Every other conflict I have been involved with has been started by the other side, and I expanded not out of my desire to do so as much because the AI opponents never seem to make peace.

And the thing I probably haven't stressed enough (although I have mentioned it) is that I have been undergoing a continual armed forces buildup since the beginning of this latest war with the Byzantines. Every province is currently in the process of building units and has been for some time. And, indeed, the buildup was going on for a good while before that as well, as I was forced to deal with the aggressions of Hungarians, French, Spanish and Italians at one time or the other (although I avoided ground battles with the latter two).

So, my point is that while it seems like I just have this one big offensive army, that is just misleading from what I have wrote. I actually have sizable armies in nearly all parts of the kingdom. Not only do I have the 4,000-man army in Kiev at this point in time (1225), but I also have sizable forces in Lithuania, Livonia, Novgorod, Chernigov, Muscovy, Pereyaslavl, Scotland, Wessex, Naples, Volhenya and Rome. All of them individually number more than 1000 men, and a few are more than 2000. Only a couple provinces have less than 300 men in them, and they are mostly out of the way ones like the Scandinavian provinces. The lack of sizable armies in Poland itself is really just a reflection of the fact that I don't have a lot of respect for Hungary. I have repeatedly underestimated their will to invade Poland, which is one reason I'm about to embark on a Hungarian campaign to take care of the problem once and for all.

I had the most powerful army in 1175, then the civil war hit, and it took me some time to build things back up, but by 1215 I was the most powerful again. I have just recently received further confirmation that I am still the most powerful faction in the game, and that the lead has probably widened by a good bit.

So, I hope that dispels any myth that I am not properly utilizing the army-producing qualities of my provinces. It is more that I am placing them in areas where I feel I will more than likely need them to defend myself against the more devastating attacks that my enemies can provide (which is why Kiev, Muscovy, Wessex, and Naples/Rome have some of my largest armies). I'm sure you would argue that Poland should also have a sizable army, but like I said, I didn't have a healthy respect for the Hungarians and they have a habit of staying quiet for a while before attacking again (or at least they did).

Chief Rum

[condors]

look over the battlefield find out where his units are coming from and find the closest to the edge hills woods, flank him have 1 unit engage and 2 others flank that same unit it will turn tail and flee soon enough, i don't worry about killing all his guys i just try to route as many groups asap and kill/capture the general. I have never played as the polish but i have had better success attacking units 3-1 and not worry about every single unit on the battlefield i normally play the danes and vikings in woods or uphill still are effective against the horde and there are better guys available in the high period, make sure you have chivairc men at arms and a goup of knights(make good general), if attacking some siege also i perfer attacking with older units as having your early units getting attacked by late age units caused me to lose a game i thought was in the bag. I was able to route 12k+ army with 4k men using this tactic of sitting on a hill close to where his units come out(they have little time to rally) and have 1 unit engage and then flank that unit although it can't be done all the time i try to do it. Without the general i have seen full unwounded units run away without ever engaging works great send a unit running away and the reenforcement sees him running past and turn tail and goes with him

[condors]

make sure your plans with your providences build order so you can produce the units you need(i think you are doing that but maybe rethink if your building units that are early age units)

My biggest problem has been if the almo's get on a roll through europe in the early age their almo urban militia is freaking unstoppable so if you have had success against them in the early age what units stood up to these guys? They kill/route my vikings are they the best early infantry in the game?

[Anrhydeddu]

Chief, thanks for the enlightenment and clarification. I now understand the situation better. Good luck.

[Chief Rum]

condors: Thanks for the suggestion. I may or may not try that, because I have also generally held to meeting my opponents squarely on the field of battle, rather than resorting to what might be considered a flaw in the game.

What you suggest is a good idea for MTW, but it doesn't really mesh with reality. Obviously, in real life, the armies would likely know well in advance exactly where the enemy is, so suddenly crushing them along one one flank before they are ready and then taking advantage of the resulting morale drop doesn't strike me as the kind of fight I want to win.

Maybe I'm just being stuck in my ways, but I prefer to beat them on as fair a field of battle as possible, using the units each of us came with and with superior tactics. Sometimes I win, and sometimes I lose. I will keep in mind what you said, though, and see if maybe I can find a way to collapse a flank without taking advantage of the "leaping on them from the edge of my perimeter" tactic.

The Almohad infantrymen might be the best such in the early game. I don't really know. I have heard good things about the gallowglasses (as you have discovered in your dynasty) and have seen good things from the Scottish clansmen. I myself never got the opportunity to face them, because in this dynasty, the Spanish actually defeated and wiped out the Almos in their inevitable war. So I have no idea what worked against them.

Right now my plan is to go with many fast units, lots of missile units (especially mobile ones like the mounted crossbowmen), and heavy cavalry for the Mongols' big guns (so I am producing a lot of costly knights right now).

Anrhydeddu: Sorry I didn't clarify sooner.

It will definitely be an interesting few years ahead of me here.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The 1226 Defense of Poland from Hungarian Invasion

Well, I pretty much hinted that another one was coming.

The Hungarians first made their desires toward Poland known when they invaded the rebel-held province in 1185. We forced them to retreat through sheer numbers, and then bribed the rebels back into the fold.

Then in 1215, they invaded again, during the Year of Blood, surprising me and defeating King Leszek and an outnumbered group of soldiers, and felling Lord RealDeal and Duke Godzilla Blitz. Once again, we forced them back without blood loss, through superior numbers.

Then three years ago, in 1223, the Hungarians returned, once again thinking to take advantage of our attentions being focused elsewhere. But I had learned a little from the escapade of 1215, and I had a more sizable army in place. This time, the King repelled the Hungarians, although it was a close one, and the enemy made some critical blunders that otherwise would have made victory unlikely at best.

So now we have reached 1226, and lo and behold, the Hungarians have returned. Will they not give up? I have not reinforced my forces in Poland since the invasion in 1223, so it's pretty much the same guys. I suspect it might be for them as well--one of the reasons I took no steps to further reinforce my Polish armies in Poland was because the Hungarians had no sizable forces in their neighboring provinces (Hungary, Carpathia and Moldavia).

So I have 483 men in place, led once again by our King himself, and the Hungarians have brought 283 soldiers, which strikes me as being roughly equivalent to the remaining forces from when we defeated them in 1223.

I once again had the knights of the King and of his brother Prince Konrad (although that last was just four), some mounted sergeants and crossbow units, some arbalesters and archers, and a mix of infantrymen, mostly spearmen and feudal men-at-arms.

This terrain was different in look than in 1223, but the essential characteristics were similar. Once again we were situated on a high point, this time somewhat of a plateau that seemed to extend for most of the middle and north ends of the battle map. Nearer to the south of the map and where the Hungarians would be coming from, the plateau fell away pretty sharply to a lower area which contained a village and a road or two.

I set up in a similar format to before, using the infantrymen to form a shield, so that my archers and arbalesters could rain attacks down on the enemy without immediate fear of being overtaken by them. And my mounted sergeants and crossbows were ready to harass.

As usual, the Hungarians brought war engines (they always bring at least three), and they started firing at us from the very beginning. I allowed the enemy to come forward a little (which was also a familiar grouping of spearmen, archers, peasants, royal knights and mounted sergeants) and then sent out my cavalry. The mounted crossbows set up on the left and aimed for the royal knight and mounted sergeants. My mounted sergeants I kept back until the enemy was commited to one side and then I sent them forward on the enemy's far right to eliminate the war engine crews.

As the enemy approached, they came within range of my arbalesters, which I am quickly finding to be indispensible, even with their slow rate of fire. I set them upon the spearmen at first )the Hungarian front lines) and then the royal knights when they got close enough. My mounted sergeants succeeded in fighting off/scaring away the war engine crews, but were quickly forced to retreat by enemy segreants and archers and essentially taking them out of the game.

Their spearmen finally reached my front lines, and my mounted crossbows were in skirmishing retreat before a flanking manuever on the left by their cavalry (mounted sergenats and royal knights). I saw that, unfortunately, they were succeeding in flanking me, and I had little to stop them except my royal knights and the rallied mounted sergeants. Fortunately, my lines held before the spearmen at least, and the arbalesters were making headway on the command group of royal knights with the main Hungarian battle force.

Their sergeants and a small remaining group of royal knights from the flanking maneuver came in on us from the side, and I sent what cavalry units I could, including the King and prince themselves. Our mounted sergeants were rather quickly made to retreat, but our knights were crushing their ranks, and my skirmishing mounted crossbows returned to within range. Once I was able to bring over a wing of my feudal men-at-arms line into the action on the flank, it was essentially over. We captured their enemy general, and the Hungarians were in full retreat.

Once again, it was closer than I would have liked, but we held up well enough. We killed 97 Hungarian soldiers and captured 48 more, including the general, a former royal noble. We lost 134 men in defense.

Poland is safe once again.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

1226

War Events

In these troubled times, I guess you can expect longer and longer war events sections.

You already know about the repulsed Hungarian invasion. We ransomed back the 48 men captured and Prince Laszlo to Hungary for the tidy sum of 2273 florins. King Leszek also received props for engineering yet another defeat of the Hungarians, moving him up to +2 COM overall.

But we weren't just invaded there. The Byzantines, apparently stymied by my large armies in the more southern provinces which form our borders, decided to go after lesser fodder and invaded the more lightweight guarded Ryazan. They sent in a nice sized force of 1398 men, and I only had 597 men present to defend it. So I abandoned the province without a fight. Two facilities were destroyed, four were damaged, and the Byzantines took about 2300 from my coffers, roughly equalling my take from the Hungarian ransom.

As critical as these decisions were, though, you should recall that the most dire situation I was facing was the uncannily placed blockades of my opponents at either end of the Mediterranean Sea. The ships could run no more apparently, and finally turned to face my great navy.

My four-barque fleet in the English Channel sank a French barque there without loss. A similar attack on a French barque in the Bay of Biscay, but with a three-barque fleet, was just as successful, but we lost a ship. In the Straits of Gibraltar, we finally freed the gateway to the Atlantic by painlessly sinking the Spanish barque there with a two-barque, two-caravel fleet. And our three caravel fleet caught up with the Spanish barque in the Malta Channel and sank it without loss. We did suffer one indignity in the Aegean Sea, where the Byzantine dromon apparently used its superior speed to advantage against my attacking barque. A more serious two-caravel attack on that lone dromon is being planned for next year.

This is also a year of some not insignificant army movements. For one thing, Ryazan I care about not a whit for really, as it added very little economically. It is for this same reason I allowed the similarly worthless province of Volga-Bulgaria to remain in the hands of the fledgling Novgorods. But beyond that, with more well off provinces like Muscovy and Novgorod and the recently conquered Chernigov. I decided to fortify my armies in Muscovy and Chernigov to deter any further expansion by the Byzantines. I likewise reinforced the armies in Pereyaslavl and Kiev against the Byzantines, and along my Hungarian border as well, sending in sizable forces into Poland and Volhenya.

And finally the clearing of the blockade to the west has allowed more support armies to be sent to Italy, and thus allowing me to continue onward with an invasion that had been somewhat delayed--I sent in two massive armies into the Papal States. There is nowhere for Nicholas V to run to now.

World Events

A lot of other action seemingly centered around me in world events as well.

Silesia was hit by famine, and suffered the usual half-income hit. And a wayward storm sank my barque in the Gulf of Lions, up near Aragon and southern France, necessitating its replacement, and a further thinning of our coastal trade routes (already stretched by our efforts to break the blockades).

And in the one bit of good news, both the French and German Crusades are now in Hungary, and hopefully are conscripting massive religious zealots from that province's armies.

Covert Events

Short and sweet. We caught and killed an assassin in Kiev today. He claimed to be working for the Spanish before we ended his miserable existence.

Economic Events

Income: 17497
Expenses: 15111
Profits: 2386

Treasury: 91362

We are back in the positive, thanks to the successful naval strikes, although we won't be completely back up to norm until every sea has at least one of our ships and that blasted dromon is sunk in the Aegean Sea, where it is effectively prolonging the Byzantines' otherwise futile effort at a blockade.

Expenses continue to inch up as well, so we're cutting things close with the massive army building. It should be noted that for the first time in a while, our treasury really took a hit.

Tunisia increased enough in loyalty to allow us to bump them up to the max Very High taxes. The newly-acquired North African province also completed a Watchtower.

Norway is getting religious on us with the completion of its Church, and Livonia is adding to already significant trade revenues with a Merchant's Guild.

Chief Rum

[Anrhydeddu]

approached it from a growth through economics and diplomacy

Is growth through diplomacy really feasible in this game (besides bribing)?

[Chief Rum]

Well, basically, A, I was taking about bribing.

Supposedly, it has been suggested you can put forth a claim on a throne through marriage, but I have yet to see this actually played out. One of MTW's more annoying qualities is the fact that it's dimploamtic engine is just not very robust or even effective after the early years. As you know, getting out of a war is virtually impossible outside of destroying your opponent. And the opportunities missed for joint attacks or trade treaties or much more enhanced spying is very disappointing. More effective use of that and maybe some other realism factors (faction ending even when you have an heir that is underage, the Pope is treated like a king in the game, etc.) would turn MTW from the B+/A- that it is now into perhaps my favorite game ever.

BTW, thanks to any of you whom have rated this dynasty as a 5-star. It is much appreciated, and sorry the gratitude is a long time in coming (I kept on forgetting, but I must have noticed it at least a week ago).

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The 1227 Invasion of the Papal States

The moment has come. There are few places for the Pope to run to anymore, and he doesn't seem interested in lifting King Leszek's excommunication. So here we are.

I invaded the Papal States with 1611 men, led by recently "acquired" French general Charles Poitevin. The papal forces numbered just 572, and were led by none other than Pope Nick himself. That is one of the unrealistic ways MTW handles the Pope--he is like a faction leader, and fights like a royal knight, and with a full complement of such knights around him. And Popes are young when they ascend to power, like a son, not old like most Popes who got there through years of piety and church backroom politicking.

I was struck by how similar the terrain is to Poland when snow isn't on the ground, although maybe that's just because I just fought in Poland. It is very hilly, but the peaks of the hills are all fairly even. The valleys have some light development, including a couple of roads, but the area is otherwise pretty barren, with only some sporadic splotches of trees in out of the way areas. I did get a chuckle when I saw a patch of what must pass for farmland in the Mediterranean, because it sure as hell looked like a cannabis patch.

The forces of the Pope seemed to also be somewhat similar to Hungary's in that they had a lot of war engines and some mounted sergeants. But they also had a handful of other forces I generally see only in the Crusades, such as Order Foot soldiers. Nonetheless, none of them looked formidable.

The papal forces was set up in one of the wider valleys in the middle of the map, and we were in a valley to the south of them. As we had to approach them, we did so.

They didn't seem to have many archers (some, but not many), so I sent my infantry ranks, which far outnumbered theirs and was mostly composed of chivalric men-at-arms trained in Wessex, pretty much directly at their line, while my archers and arbalesters marched behind and my mounted sergeants harassed the ends and forced the war engine crews to retreat.

One end of their line was at the top of a hill, so one of my flanks swept up that hill to get them, and I think that tired them out a bit, as their unit of archers did some damage to me there. It didn't stop the advance, though, and pretty soon there were three or four pitched battles going on between many chivalric men-at-arms and the handful of infantry the Papacy had in place.

It was a slaughterhouse. The Pope was no commander of war, and his royal knights were doing their best just to keep one of the pitched battles even. My men-at-arms were routing the others, and my mounted sergeants were forcing their archers into full retreat and chasing them down cruelly.

I brought around some more of my ground forces and surrounded the last pitched battle with the Pope and his knights. Once held there, it was simply a matter of time. The Pope wasn't going anywhere, and his guard dwindled one-by-one.

Finally, after holding out by himself for as long as possible (as this game tends to encourage for some reason), Pope Nicholas V was finally cut down from his horse, and quickly put to death by fifteen different poleaxes. I'm sure it was quite a messy end.

The rest of the papal forces, what was left of them, streamed off the field and we had our victory.

We killed 364 men, including that bastard Pope, and we captured another 124. In return, we lost just 262 of our own, mostly chivalric men-at-arms. The men-at-arms units killed 222 men and captured 57 others. The mounted sergeants, as noted, were also quite busy, killing 103 and capturing 49, mostly from behind as they ran from the field like dogs.

The Pope is dead. Is King Leszek now Satan?

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

1227

War Events

The Papal States have fallen, and the papacy has been eliminated as an active faction. The message I received for all this was actually quite interesting. Apparently by defeating and killing Pope Nicholas V and eliminating the faction, I have actually set up a puppet Pope and placed him on the papal throne. My next surprise (and something I thought was more than a little cool) was that much of the papal heirarchy escaped escaped the province and set up a papacy in exile. If I recall correctly, something like this has happened in real medieval history, and I know that more than one Pope has been ine xistence at the same time. Anyway, this exiled papacy cannot meddle in affairs of state until they are officially acknowledged and returned to power, so they are effectively powerless until they reestablish the faction. And, of course, all excommunications, including one on said King leszek of Poland, are null and void.

The province itself is not yet completely under my control. The remnants of the papal armies have taken up residence in the local castle, althought hey are now regarded as Papist rebels. The province itself is under Polish control. Five facilities were destroyed, four damaged and 2050 florins were pillaged. Ransom was refused on the 124 men I captured, not surprisingly, and so they were put to death as a reminder to the local populace of the real power now in their spiritual lives (a Polish sword).

The defeat and elimination of the papacy as a relevant faction also served to increase loyalty around the kingdom, which took some significant hits from engaging in war with them. This had been especially prevalent on the Boot and in Sicily, but now they seem to be almost to the level of normal provinces under Polish control.

The Hungarian invasion of 1226 was apparently just a feint for a much larger force. Despite the reinforcements I had brought in, the Hungarians outnumbered me two-to-one in this, their fourth invasion of Poland in 13 years and fifth overall. The King himself was at risk, so I knew I had little choice. I abandoned the Great Homeland for Prussia and Pomerania. Two facilities were destroyed, five more were damaged and 2759 florins were pillaged by the Hungarian hordes. I emptied out more of the outlying provinces once again to put significant forces into Pomerania and Prussia.

That was the bad news with the Hungarians. The good news is that the previous attacks had steadied my resolve to eliminate the Hungarians once and for all, and with the large army in Kiev, I had the forces present to do it. Even as the Hungarians marched into Poland, I invaded neighboring Moldavia with 1540 men, led by Duke Leszek Jagiellonczyk of Livonia.

At sea, I had good news and bad news. The bad news is that that blasted Byzantine dromon evaded my attacking two-caravel fleet int he Aegean Sea. The good news is that they did it by fleeing to the Dodacanese Sea, near the southwest tip of Turkey--and essentially out of the way for a blockade. The Black Sea and neighboring provinces are now a little more open once again to flowing Polish trade in and out of the area. Well, almost...the Byzantines have constructed a fire galley in the Black Sea which I will need to dispose of, too.

Of course, I still don't intend on letting that dromon stick around long, even in the Dodacanese Sea, so I launch a two-barque attack at the light and quick ship.

World Events

Ryazan, now under Byzantine control, suffered a flood as God bore witness to the new spiritual leader of the kingdom of man. He didn't go too nuts, though, destroying none of the facilities there.

Famine also struck Spanish-controlled Egypt and Byzantine homeland Constantinople, which shocks me not one bit.

I did get one bit of bad news when the German Crusade went up to Poland. Of course, they just ended up picking up reinforcements from the invading Hungarian forces, though, so maybe this is actually a stroke of luck as well.

I have noted before the plight of the Spanish. They really do have themselves in quite bind. The eastern territories of Egypt, the Sinai and Cyranacea are the most heavily guarded by Spanish armies, but that is because of their ongoing war with the Byzantines. The Byzantines have shown on more than one occasion that they quickly take advantage of apparent weakness, and it seems clear that if the Spanish were to abandon their posts along the eastern front, the Byzantines would likely act to take that front in a space of a year or two.

But the Spanish would seem wise to abandon those provinces anyway to help reconquer their own territories, two of which have been captured and are still currently held by Spanish rebels in their civil war. But that's the problem--they can't because now I control Tunisia and the seas. They cannot return to the Iberian Peninsula without a fight. What is disappointing, though, is that it is a fight they should do, because they would likely win--I doubt I would bother to put up much of an effort in Tunisia, as I have other priorities right now, and it's not even heavily garrisoned at the moment.

So the bulk of their armies remains in the eastern end of North Africa, seemingly wafflign between the Sinai and Cyranacea. The provinces of Algeria, Morocco, and Granada--the next strip of SPanish lands--is virtually unguarded. Portugal, cut off by the secession of Cordoba and Leon, is likewise realtively lightly-guarded. And the King of Spain seems content to hang out in Castille and Navarre, the northeastern end of the Spanish kingdom, where he has the only other army outside of the Sinai seemingly capable of taking on the significant 1000-man rebel army of Cordobans that serves as the main block between Spain and relative stability and continuity.

I'm frankly quite puzzled by Spain's lack of action in this regard, and I can only hope it is because of loyalty considerations from the civil war, and not because the game AI is stupid (which I hate).

Covert Events

We put two assassins to death this year. One was caught in Lithuania and revealed himself to be Hungarian. The other was in Wessex, and would say nothing to Polish torturers. I'm fairly certain based on location that he is--I mean, was--probably French.

Diplomatic Events

I wasn't ready to take on the Hungarian forces in Poland, but I have proven before that if I can get out of a fight and still achieve my objectives, I will usually do so. To that end, I have approached Lord Vtalys, the Duke of Croatia and currently a Hungarian commander in Poland, about a bribe, one which my emmissary assures me will cost me 24053 florins. It's a high price, but it would be worth it to take a significant army off of enemy hands.

I also proposed two new marriages to princesses in France.

And in ceaseless futility, I cotninue to pursue other diplomatic solutions, proposing ceasefires to France, the Byzantine Empire and Novgorod.

Economic Events

Income: 18137
Expenses: 15525
Profits: 2612

Treasury: 89673

The expenses creep higher and the treasury lower, as we struggle to right the trade blockades in effect, and yet keep up our always busy construction schedule and continue to amass a large army.

The Papal States are not bringing in income just yet, so I have lowered taxes to very Low to encourage loyalty. I actually still don't know if this makes a difference, but I like to think it does.

Muscovy finally completed its Castle, which of course is a longterm project. In retrospect, I am surprised I even got to the point of building a Citadel in Poland with how often that province is invaded. So it makes upgrades like Castles in other provinces stand out a little more.

Smolensk and Finland both finish Swordsmith, a particular discipline I am finding I have not really built in too many of my provinces. Northumbria added a Spearmaker's Workshop. And Sicily and Pomerania upgraded their trade incomes with the completion of a Merchant and Merchant's Guild respectively.

1228

War Events

I had a quieter year for war events than usual from recent years.

The Hungarians were far outnumbered in Modalvia, so I wasn't surprised when they opted to retreat without a fight. As usual, our arrival triggered off some significant damage to the province (it always seems more than when they conquer a territory). Five facilities were destroyed, three were damaged and 2600 florins were plundered. And the invasion of Hungarian territories has officially begun.

In the Papal States, the siege of the castle completed its first year. Ten defenders fell, leaqving 70 to guard the walls from our occupying army. It is thought that they will probably last about three years.

I maneuvered a caravel into the Black Sea las year, and now it is in place to attack the Byzantine fire galley there. If anything happened with the dromon in the Dodacanese Sea, nothing was reported, and it seems to be just fine (and still in the same sea).

The Hungarians didn't just retreat from us Moldavia--they abandoned the province altogether, leaving no forces behind in Ceta Albea Castle. So we moved some forces from Volehnya and Kiev to help the conquering army, and then quickly pushed forward to the more lightly guarded Carpathia. This new army was 880 strong and led by Tarkhan Kibar, bribed into the Polish army so long ago in Ryazan (almost a century ago now).

World Events

Your usual disaster reigned. Toulouse suffered a flood, but outside of the usual income cut, escaped unscathed. The spreading famine that began in Egypt last year reached neighboring Cyranacea, bringing more troubles upon Spain.

Covert Events

Assassin activity took a step up this year.

An assassin was caught and killed in Volhenya. He seemed Hungarian, which is no surprise. Another was killedin Sweden, and he had evidence which implicated the Germans. In neighboring Norway, another assassin revelaed himself to be from Germany as well, so apparently they are stepping up their activities. And another assassin was killed in Wessex, and was almost certainly French.

Diplomatic Events

The King of France turned down one of the marriage proposals and was mum on the other one.

We were unable to obtain an audience with the Byzantine emperor, so that ceasefire was shot down. France turned us down, as they saw no advantage to it at the time. And Novgorod also refused the offer, although they were careful not to imply a lack of respect.

We proposed a marriage to Novgorod princess Ekaterina, so that we will have diplomatic failures to talk about next year.

Economic Events

Income: 18266
Expenses: 16486
Profits: 1780

Treasury: 87910

With no enemy ships successfully sunk, and another jump in annual defense costs, our profits have dropped again this year next to an unchanging income stream.

The treasury is still inching down, but I am hopeful to reverse that trend once trade is fully and firmly reestablished.

Denmark is finally beginning to build a significant trade-based economy, after it finished a Merchant this year. Naples is trying to become a player in our navy by finishing a Shipwright, a tremendously useful origin for ships when it is so strategically well-placed in relation to many of the factions we are likely to face on the high seas.

Scotland added a Horse Breeder and Sicily a Watchtower as well.

And, of course, this year, we have added Moldavia to the kingdom, which is a province we have added and lost twice now in our history. Moldavia has no natural rsources and only trades in grain. Income-wise, it is shockingly low-developed, with 75 florins for Very Low taxes and 125 for Very High. Its 73% Catholic population (with a significant 17% Orthodox minority) is a both a reflection on its long Hungarian control, its Orthodox origins, and its close proximity to a number of Byzantine territories.

Thanks to the large army in place, we were able to immediately bump up taxes in Moldavia to Very High.

1229

War Events

This year was almost like a carbon copy. Once again, the Hungarians found themselves supremely outmatched, this time in Carpathia. They retreated, once again without even raising a fuss, or even leaving a token force in the castle. We are seemingly marching unopposed across Hungarian territory--never mind that they control Poland currently.

Our conquest was devastating, of course, as five facilities were axed, and six others were damaged. We added 3050 florins to the kingdom coffers. One more province (Hungary itself), and we will have quickly cut across the Hungarian kingdom, cutting off their Polish invasion force from the forces left with King Samuel II in Croatia, and captured Hungary itself besides (which seems only fair considering they have conquered Poland).

The siege continues in the Papal States. We kill 13 defenders, leaving just 57 to man the walls. They are expected to last two more years.

Things get ugly on the seas. In the Dodacanese Sea, I don't know what happened to my original attack, for now it seems that there was just a one-barque attack on that Byzantine dromon. And this wasn't enough, as the dromon sank the barque. And in the Black Sea, my caravel attack on the Byzantine galley went awry, as it sank the caravel without a problem. So I still have problems in the Black and Dodacanese seas.

I have been working to get more serious fleets there, though, so I am able to launch a two-caravel attack on the fire galley, and a two-caravel, two-barque attack on the dromon, now in the Eastern Mediterranean.

I have extended too far in invading Carpathia and Moldavia in consecutive years, and the opposition is stiffer in Hungary, so I am taking a year to prepare for this one. To that end, I move some more forces from Moldavia to Carpathia, including Leszek Jagiellonczyk to lead the eventual attack.

World Events

The French Crusade, which has been staying in Hungary for the past few years, finally tookt he next step and advanced into Byzantine territory by moving into Bulgaria. As usual, the resident Byzantine forces didn't take to this to well, and they sent them back to Hungary. The German Crusade is still in Poland.

Royal Family and Nobility Events

King Leszek's second daughter, Princess Anna, has reached maturity. I don't know yet what I plan to do with here, but there she is. I'm going to keep her in Pomerania for now.

Covert Events

Wow, talk about being a target now. No less than five assassins are caught inside Polish territories this year.

We caught one that seemed Hungarian in Moldavia, maybe even left over from Hungary's previous overlordship of the province. An assassin who revealed himself to be Byzantine was caught and killed trying to get into Prussia.

In Lithuania, we killed an assassin who was suspected of being Spanish. In Muscovy, we killed an assassin with evidence suggesting a Byzantine origin. And in Wessex, a revealed German assassin was put to death.

Diplomatic Events

The bribe of Lord Vtalys not only didn't take--it appears to have completely disappeared, although it seems clear that this was because some brief force reorganization by the Hungarians removed him from fulla rmy command for a year. So I move forward to make the same offer, at a price of 19931 florins. He is currently in control of 470 men, and still in Poland.

My offer to the Princess Ekaterina of Novogord has also disappeared, so I offered again.

And I have approached the Holy Roman Empire about an alliance, one which would make entirely more comfortable than I am currently (especially since I don't seem to have a friend in the place anymore).

Economic Events

Income: 19006
Expenses: 17270
Profits: 1736

Treasury: 84965

Income got a boost with the acquisition of Moldavia, and increased trade for some other provinces, but we matched it with another expenses jump. Clearly the army building is in full gear right now. The treasury continued to drop a little, only putting more urgency on my need to take care of those enemy Byzantine ships.

Sweden, Silesia and Novgorod all finished Castles, putting them back in the ball game for adding more facilities. Prussia added a Royal Court, as I try to build up other provinces up to feudal knight-building levels. Mercia finishes a Merchant to become another member of our coastal trade provinces. Pereyaslavl moved its more agrarian economy to a higher level by adding +60% Farming Improvements. Kiev added a Town Guard, Wales a Horse Breeder and Lithuania a Church to wrap it up.

I was immediately able to bump Carpathia up to Very High taxes, thanks to the large army present. And now that I am checking the province out, I am wondering what kept me from going in there sooner. This province is like inland version of Sweden. It has natural resources of Copper, Silver, and Iron, the last of which could turn the province into a high-quality army production center. What surprised me is that, despite the huge facilities hit by our invasion, the province was still bringing in a stunning amount of income for an inland territory, ranging from 428 florins at Very Low all the way up to 575 for Very High. It's also 100% Catholic with 51% Zeal, so this is definitely one of the more religious provinces around as well. No matter what happens the rest of the way with other provinces, I have to consider this province, with its positive qualities and its shared border with Poland, to be a highly strategic one to keep a hold of.

1230

War Events

After what has to be one of the longer shiphunts in history, I finally manage to hunt down that dromon in the Eastern Mediterranean and sink it. I did not lose any ships in the battle.

The fire galley evaded my latest attack by moving to the Sea Marmara, which certainly doesn't help trade revenue any. A new Frecnh barque has also appeared in the English Channel, blocking off that sea, althought he presence of my caravels in the outer seas ensures that only the ports along the English Channel itself are affected.

In response, I launch a new two-barque attack on the fire galley in Sea Marmara and a two-barque attack on the new Frecnh barque in the English Channel.

The siege in the Papal States advances through its third year. 20 men are killed this yaer at the castle, with just 37 remaining. The castle is about to fall.

And in Carpathia, I now feel I am ready to proceed with an invasion of Hungary. I march into that key province with Leszek Jagiellonczyk heading a force of 879 men.

World Events

The Corsican rebellion which threw out the Germans a few years back presented a diamond opportunity for Italian royalty in exile. This year, the Italians reappeared with two large armies on Corsica and another on Sardinia. Corsican rebels will put up a fight against the fledgling returned faction, but Sardinia is already fully in Italy's hands. The new doge is Marino I. With any luck, maybe I will be able to move forward diplomatically with them where I have failed with most others.

And far back in the east, we got some other interesting news, as an old enemy dies. Prince Mikhail I, the young man who returned the Novgorods to power, if not glory, has passed away after a full 50-year reign. As I mentioned in my history of King Kazimierz II, I hypothesized that the former king himself helped return Mikhail to the throne, for which the new Prince repaid him by invading Ryazan twice and Muscovy once. As it turns out, I was wondering what would happen when Mikhail died, for he had no apparent heirs in the one province the control (Volga-Bulgaria). Apparently, an heir came to age just in time, and Yuri I became the new Prince at the pimply age of 16.

The Spanish continue to suffer from a string of bad luck, as a flood in the Sinai destroys the Town Watch there.

The French Crusade, still nursing its wounds from its defeat in Bulgaria at the hands of the Byzantines, decided to do more repair work in Carpathia instead. And the German Crusade decided to shift gears backwards and run on down to Carpathia themselves. This, of course, was just in time to hit my Hungarian invasion army twice before it left for its invasion target. As I said, I'm sending in 879 men next year; I think it was somewhere around 1100 or 1200 before that, though. Is there some point in time when these religious bastards will actually make it a goal to reach just wherever the hell it is they're headed?

Royal Family and Nobility Events

The Prince Heir has been born, so the line is already safeguarded for now (above and beyond King Leszek's four brothers), but we can always use another potential heir. This year, the Queen gave birth to Leszek's second son, Wladyslaw. This is all the more surprising given that Leszek is already 58 years old, and his last child Swatawa was born more than a decade ago. But I'm not complaining.

Covert Events

Three assassins this year. Another one went down in Moldavia, and once again was revealed to be of Hungarian origin. Another assassin was taken in Wessex, and once again, he was likely French. And we caught an assassin in Lithuania who was considered to be Spanish by his executioners.

Diplomatic Events

My emmissary informed me that, due to changing army values, the bribe amount needed for Lord Vtalys actually has dropped to just 15112 florins. I agreed to offer the new value. Unfortunately, it did little good, as the emmissary found the general to be too loyal. I proceeded to attempt to bribe the other Hungarian general in Poland, a Lord Antal. His pricetag was stated to be 14154. I should find out how it turns out next year.

The emperor of the Holy Roman Empire turned down our alliance offer, suggesting we make war on troublesome neighbors to provide proof of our sincerity.

The new Prince of Novgorod shot down the marriage proposal we made to his late father, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree for young Yuri.

We ran off a string of new diplomatic overtures for next year. We re-proposed an alliance to the Holy Roman Empire, and also to the Sicilians in Malta and to Aragon.

I proposed a new ceasefire to Prince Yuri I, in the hopes that maybe in that way he might be different from Mikhail. I also proposed ceasefires to France, Spain and the Byzantine Empire.

And I wrapped things off by proposing a new marriage to Sicilian princess Sofia.

Economic Events

Income: 19670
Expenses: 17320
Profits: 2350

Treasury: 77001

Income rose a little bit, partly because of the defeat of the dromon in the Eastern mediterranena, although this was no doubt offset by the fire galley moving into the more pivotal Sea Marmara. Expenses rose only a touch, because of the lost armies to the Crusades in Carpathia. The end result is our first increase in profits in a while.

The treasury itself didn't fare so well. Since we completed so many projects last year, the startup of so many new projects really knocked us down a peg, a full 10000 florins.

And we were not without our completed projects this year either. Chernigov finished a Keep, which doesn't take as long as a Castle, but does still tend to put a province down for a little bit. Tunisia added a Port, as it begins to go down the road toward a trade-based economy. New additions Carpathia and Moldavia made finished their first Polish facilities, adding a Border Fort and +20% Farming Improvements. Wessex completed an Armourer's Workshop. And in religious projects, Livonia added a Church, and Rome that Monastery I had them start building after I conquered it a few years back. That last will enable me to build Inquisitors for the first time, and I have never done that.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The 1231 Invasion of Hungary

The time had come to. A victory here doesn't clear up the Hungarian "overpopulation" problem in Poland, nor does it eliminate them as a faction, but it would do so much otherwise. It splits the Hungarian kingdom cleanly in two. It also separates the two largest grouping of their armies, one in Poland and the other in Croatia with their King. And, of course, it is Hungary tiself we would be capturing.

Our ranks had been depleted by the sudden arrival of the two Crusades in Carpathia, but we still had the man-advantage. Leszek Jagiellonczyk, Duke of Livonia and a +5 COM, led a force of 879 men against a Hungarian force of 673 men.

The terrain is similar to Poland's, with a good amount of even-sized hills. There is a sizable depression which steeples up into a valley that extends north, with some decent-sized hills on either side. In the depression is a sizable town and there's also a road leading through it and up the valley to the north.

We are given the high points and the Hungarians the depressions. They are configured much the same way I am used to, with some war engines, mounted sergeants and royal knights, backed up by a line of spearmen and archers.

We ourselves had row after row of chivalric sergeants. I had never used these units before, but my impression was that they were pretty good. The only province I have that can build them currently is Kiev, and I have been doing so since I captured that province from the Byzantines. Since Kiev was the initial starting point for this Hungarian invasion force, it should come as no surprise that these sergeants encompass a large proportion of my force. I also have some of my other usual units, like Leszek's royal knights, some mounted sergeants and crossbowmen, and string or two of archers. We also have some feudal knights, a unit I have heard much about but which I have not had the opportunity to use too much yet.

Despite being the defenders, the Hungarians are quick to push forward to meet us. They do their usual trick, charging forward with spearmen backed by archers and some marauding royal knights, and sending out mounted sergeants and other royal knights to flank me.

What happened next was utterly pathetic. Their lines met up with my chivalric sergeants, and held up for a bit. But then they were already wavering. Then the Hungarians sent in their royal knights and I already had lines that were routing. I sent in Leszek's knights and the feudal knights to help out, but all that did was stall the inevitable. When the first unit or two routs, it usually doesn't take long before the rest of the army is routing.

And then, frustratingly enough, Leszek himself ran from the field! Ugh! He did this in Livonia more than 100 years ago, and it was annoying then, too. After that it was a worthless attempt to rally unit after unit. The feudal knights held up well and the mounted crossbows kept on skirmishing and attacking, but the rest of my army was quickly routing from the field, and being chased down from behind by the Hungarian royal knights.

It was another disgusting display of routed defeat, which happens to me every now and then, often for reasons I can't fathom.

The numbers were just bad. We killed 127 men and captured 5, but the Hungarians killed or captured 499 men, more than half of our invading force. This will definitely go down as one of my more embarrassing defeats, and Leszek's second.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Golden Horde Arrives

While I was getting my ass handed to me by Hungary and planning my next invasions, much further to the east a great chapter in medieval history was about to begin.

The Byzantines around the Caspian Sea had been getting rumors and reports of a great army of foreign pagans making their way to these lands, but few put any weight behind them until now.

The reports became more and more plentiful, so that many scouts were put to death by Byzantine commanders in eastern provinces for it could not be believed, so the scouts must be lying.

But before long, there was no denying it. A vast army, the likes of which the world had yet seen, had arrived on the eastern borders of the Byzantine Empire. And they weren't friendly.

In 1231, by my count, seventeen armies, all 500+ and most about 800 or more, marched into the Byzantine province of Khazar. My conservative estimate placed this great army at upwards of 10000 men, and probably closer to 15000. But they didn't just show up there. They also invaded Georgia and Armenia to the south of Khazar, and also held by the Byzantines.

My guess was the amassed armies was anywhere from 20000 to 25000 men. They were shorter men, but stout and fierce looking, with darker visages not too far off from the lighter skinned of the eliminated Egyptians. Most of them wore little facial hair, and those who did did not allow them to grow beyond a simple beard and a mustache. No hair was seemingly allowed on their necks or cheeks, a sharp contrast to many of the more northern Polish warriors, who wore great beards like Vikings of old. To a man, all had black hair, dark as night.

As fierce as their countenance were (these men do not seem to smile), they looked even more fearsome for how they arrived: wearing brightly colored golden mails and shields, interlocked with stronger iron. They glinted in the sun, and their reflection could be seen for many leagues. And the horses they rode on! Large, powerful animals, sleek like the Arabian stallions of the deserts, but broad like a destriers used by our knights. Their swords were oddly curved, once again reminding one of the curved scimitars of the old Arab factions, but not in so sharp a minor or as thickly. The steel looked sharp and deadly, and the weapon light and easy to handle. All of these warriors also carried with them small bows that did not stand out for themselves beyond the ornate designs on the shafts, but for how effectively the warriors used them, in full run and with deadly accuracy.

And this great mass of armies from the East was led by a man who proclaimed himself in stilted Latin clearly learned from a few captured Byzantine scouts to be one Khan Ogadai III. It was clear that khan was titular, but what lands he was bequeathed to whom he owed fealty was not immediately clear. He proclaimed that the warriors of the Mongol Empire and of the Great Khan Genghis had arrived to add to this empire's greatness.

What was clear was that whatever lands he held in his own right, he intended to add to them. Why was that clear? Because an advanced guard sent before him arrived at the nearest Byzantine encampments in Khazar and fired the spitted tongues and eyes and noses and ears of captured Byzantine soldiers into the encampments, each accompanied by the banner of the empire which had been ripped from the tunic of each dead man's clothing.

The Golden Horde Has Arrived!

Chief Rum

[condors]

great writeup!

[Katon]

So how many provinces do the Mongols get to go through before reaching you?

[Chief Rum]

condors: Thanks.

Katon: Not enough.

Georgia and Armenia or enough out of the way of my territories that I don't have to immediately worry about them. But the main force of Mongols is in Khazar. Assuming the mucho-outnumeroed Byzantines abandon the province, Khazar shares borders with Kiev, Pereyaslavl and Chernigov, all Polish-hel teritories. If they attack Ryazan, to the north of Khazar and currently held by the Byzantines, then they would also be in contact with Muscovy, one of my bigger and more productive provinces (at least for an inland province).

Basically, they are within two provinces of Kiev, Moldavia, Volhenya, Pereyaslavl, Lithuania, Chernigov, Smolensk and Muscovy. They are within three of Poland itself, Carpathia, Prussia, Livonia and Novgorod. That last group of five, of course, are provinces of huge importance to my kingdom, and there are important ones in the other groupings there, too.

My hope is to get an alliance going with the Horde before they advance far enough to want to mess with me (which, while they are big and mean-looking, would be a big step for them, since I am essentially the big bully on the block).

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

1231

War Events

As noted, we were embarrassingly repelled in Hungary and sent packing back to Carpathia. If Duke Leszek still wasn't one of best generals, I would have the dog executed for failing the kingdom so thoroughly twice now. 324 men were captured by the Hungarian forces, so I ransomed them back for 976 florins.

Things went better elsewhere. We sunk a French barque in the English Channel with a two-barque fleet, and we cleared the Sea Marmara of the Byzantine fire galley with another two-barque attack. We suffered no losses in either victory, and thus cleared up room for a good deal more trade into both France and the Byzantine Empire's main trade provinces.

Another Byzantine galley has appeared in the Black Sea, however, and I am aiming to take care of that problem with a two-caravel fleet next year.

In Italy, the remnants of the Papist rebels that were holding down the castle succumbed to our siege, and the Papal States officially fell to us. We now hold a sizable portion of the boot, with Naples, Rome and the Papal States, and the extension of Sicily at the toe, and Tunisia at the "toe of the toe" makes for a nice swath of Polish red in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Well, as I already noted, the Golden Horde has arrived, and in terrifyingly huge numbers, it seems. My hope is to secure a peace with them before they decide to attack us. Perhaps we can whittle away at the Byzantine Empire together.

But I'm not holding my breath. I do a pretty good clear out job from my Mediterranean, English and Scandinavian provinces, moving thousands of men to Novgorod and Lithuania, the closest provinces to the new threat that I can currently reach by sea. These two provinces will likely be embarkation points for other provinces in my eastern holdings as I prepare for a likely invasion. I would have included Kiev in this as well, except that it is already pretty well held by my armies there (a little depleted from being the main source of the Hungarian campaign), and I can't reach it, thanks to that blasted galley in the Black Sea serving as a blockade.

Muscovy is a province of some worth, but my plan right now, if forced to use it, is to set up a massive wall of provinces which will be filled with some--no, most--of Poland's finest warriors. Muscovy would be the only province of any worth that would be sacrificed in this situation. The "Polish Wall" would extend from Novgorod to Lithuania to Kiev, and if Kiev falls (which is likely, given its proximity to Khazar), I would fall back to Moldavia and Volhenya. With control of the sea already pretty much in my grasp, I will have control of the largest souirces of income, the ability to stop the Horde from setting up a navy of their own (and thus trade) and provinces far from the threat of the Horde that should remain relatively unscathed and capable of both producing income and massive armies, should the need arise.

Diplomatic Events

Surprised there is no World Events? You saw that Golden Horde post, right?

Since that was the extent of the worldly news, I went straight to diplomatic rounds, which saw a lot of action this year.

The bribe for the Hungarian general in Poland went up to a staggering 25551 florins. Nonetheless, I agreed to it, and the bastard was still too loyal.

I found a really nice looking rebel Spanish general in Cordoba, a former royal lord named Velazquez, and no doubt related to the lord I bribed in Tunisia. But this guy actually seems to have some value, as a +6 COM general. I need guys like this, since the Golden Horde is going to be able to match me in numbers and the Byzantines have always had the better generals. And besides, if Spain doesn't want to reconquer their rebellious territories, I sure as hell will. This army in Cordoba also has some other notable generals, so landing them would be quite a coup. The bribe is expected to be 5650 florins (which is just paltry when you consider it against that ridiculous offer to the Hungarian general, who sucks--I am only trying to get him to screw with the whole Poland occupation thing).

I am like the ballsy but ugly and neurotic kid in high school who never figured it out, even after being turned down by every girl in the place. Tons of rejections this year. The King of Sicily shot down my marriage proposal. Sicily and Aragon shot down my alliance offers, as they fight to be the most annoying irrelevant faction in the game. The Italians just came back, and my bet is they could take either of these idiots and the morons in Volga-Bulgaria, too.

Speaking of which, Yuri shot down my ceasefire attempt, and he was joined in his efforts by Spain and France, who are also in a competition, only this one is for the right to be the least powerful former western power.

I proposed a marriage to Princess Joan of France, and another alliance attempt with Sicily. I also send an emmissary to Corsica to get to offer an alliance with the Italians, and I send an emmissary into Khazar with the intentions of meeting with this Khan Ogadai leading the Horde.

Covert Events

MMMM...assassins...

These guys are as plentiful now as donuts in Homer's dreams. We catch and kill an assassin in Volhenya of all places (which means this guy was probably pretty good, because he seemed French). A not-so-good assassin was killed in Lithuania, not long after claiming to be from Spain. And I'll give you one guess what the origin is suspected of being for an assassin killed in Wessex (here's a hint; it rhymes with stupid-ass freakin' rance).

Economic Events

Income: 20052
Expenses: 17174
Profits: 2878

Treasury: 71475

One glance at the falling treasury will show you that our constant construction efforts have now surpassed our profits by a little bit, not to mention the havoc that the incidental enemy ship is throwing our trade routes into every other year.

I hope that either war will balance out my armies, or I will be particularly successful with them, so that I might be able to disband a few. Right now, at war with four factions and with the Golden Horde arriving, I can't afford to disband even peasants.

A decent round of projects were completed this year, although there were no big ones, like Keeps or Castles. Wessex finished a Border Fort, so they should be a lot harder forassassins to get into (althought hey seem to be doing a pretty good job of it anyway). Chernigov also added a Border Fort.

Finland and Pomerania added Churches to their territories, as I try to build up loyalty through religion and get to the point where I can bring in some money through religious endeavors.

Volhenya finished a +60% Farming Improvement (which, for an inland province, is a good step toward bringing in more income), Smolensk completed a Spearmaker's Workshop, and Northumbria wrapped up a Town Guard.

The Papal States are particularly loyal, thanks to a decent-sized army in place. I am able to push taxes up to Very High.

Otherwise, the province seems to have little going for it. It has no natural resources or anything fo trade value. It's income range is a pathetic 97 florins for Very Low and 161 florins for Very High taxes. Despite being up until now an obviously Catholic region, there is still a 1% Orthodox population. What does not surprise me is that Zeal is at an amazing 80%. Wow!

Chief Rum

[Alf]

Chief Rum. i am an avid follower and I am already salivating at my road trip to the moutains. I will not be driving, so I have just printed page 2 of this thread : 33 pages. Great reading awaits me !

[Anrhydeddu]

I am anxiously awaiting to see what the Horde will do. My guess is that they will not venture too far westward but instead, spread north and mainly to the south towards the Black Sea area.

[condors]

my prediction is they will invade with 10k+ men force you to retreat or try to take some with you to valhala then plumder every building in the province and leave it for rebels

[RealDeal]

bump

[PsychoCop]

I just want to say, after nearly 3 months of being gone... I'M BAAAAAAACK.

[tucker342]

Cheif Rum,

All of your dynasties are awesome, between this and your Angels dynasty, it doesn't get any better!

[RealDeal]

bump

[Chief Rum]

lol, I can always count on you, Real Deal.

I do plan to return to this. Right now, I am heavily involved in my OOTP5 dynasty. Feel free to check out "Hangin' the Halos".

As I said there, and I'll say again here, the great warriors of Poland have not been forgotten by me--just merely put aside for the moment. I have been planning another installment for some time actually.

But even if I don't get right to it, Viking Invasion comes out in 2-3 weeks, and I am certain that will re-invigorate my interest as well.

Onward Poland!

Chief Rum

[Anrhydeddu]

But even if I don't get right to it, Viking Invasion comes out in 2-3 weeks, and I am certain that will re-invigorate my interest as well.

I read a preview of this and I know it will rekindle my interest in the game. The inclusion of the Vikings will be interesting but I am more interested in the improvements/changes they have made to existing factions and stuff. The only bummer is I thought we could now play a regular game from the "Dark" Ages into the Middle Ages. The Vikings era will only include a detailed British Isle map.

[Anrhydeddu]

Fwiw, I picked up the MTW: Vikings Invasion expansion pack today. I'm very anxious to get back into MTW.

Chief, any chance that, you know...?

[Roberto]

Chaps

There's a warning (in bold type!) on page 4 of the Viking Invasion mini-manual:

"Please note that save games from previous versions of Medieval: Total War are not supported with Viking Invasion"

Whether this actually means they're toast after upgrading, I know not. I'm holding back on installing the expansion pack for a short while - tho' it's hard!

(BTW well done to Creative Assembly and Activision for putting a hard copy mini-manual in the case).

[Chief Rum]

Actually it may be toast without installing!

I have tried to load some of my Poland saves and they aren't going through. No, I have not yet bought Viking Invasion (although I probably will soon).

Has anyone heard of a load up to the screen (the map screen), but then immediately crashing to desktop? I found some things that might have been references to it, but what I found didn't quite fit (sometimes I could move around until I clicked on a territory before it would crash, for instance), and there didn't seem to be any hardset ways to fix it either.

I am very disappointed that I can't currently load up my 1236 Poalnd save, which was the latest save in, yes, this very dynasty right here.

Chief Rum

[Anrhydeddu]

Chief, I am sorry to hear that. That is rather peculiar. My only thought is that somehow the file(s) got corrupted, whether on a sector gone bad or some byte got overwritten. Usually the solution is to uninstall and then re-install MTW (don't forget about 1.1). If it's the save file, then I would reload from a backup.

Actually, I think it might be better to start over with VI. Of the 40 new units, 6 of them are new units that are specialties to Poland (or the Slavic factions). But then again, you probably would be wanting to choose another faction anyways. I highly recommend VI, even the AI is better on the campaign map.

[Lokugh]

Originally posted by Chief Rum
Actually it may be toast without installing!

I have tried to load some of my Poland saves and they aren't going through. No, I have not yet bought Viking Invasion (although I probably will soon).

That's too bad. I just found this dynasty and finished reading. For some reason, when I first saw it in February, I thought it was a Hattrick dynasty. My bad. It is excellent.

I've been playing MTW since it was released, and I do have one piece of advice for you, if you do get it running again. Do not try to hold Rome and the Papal States. Kill the pope, pillage the place into nothing (and sell off everything in there), and then pull out. Let whoever wants it have it. The reason being the Pope in exile will return, no matter how many troops you put there, he'll come back with a couple thousand troops every ten years or so until he retakes it. So, clean it out of everything it is worth then pull out and let some rebels spring up or something. You have accomplished your purpose...you are no longer excommunicated, so don't waste the troops it would take to hold those two provinces. As you noted, they are not worth much econmically.

Lokugh

[RealDeal]

This was a great dynasty. It's a shame it died before its time.

[Chief Rum]

Yes, I was pretty disappointed at the save game errors that brought it crashing to an end.

I have thought about getting another one going, but I have always found another dynasty to work on. Also, I have been sorta waiting for Total War: Rome to come out, which it does this fall. That would be a fun dynasty, too.

Maybe someday...

CR

[Coffee Warlord]

Yep, the big reason I just started up a last hoorah dynasty of M:TW is to tune myself back up for Rome. Been reading about some of the new things they've put in, and if they work HALF as well as they claim, that game should freakin' ROCK.

Must....sack....ROME!