The 14th Century

C14th - Progress
The 14th Century is so much fun. The Mongols were herded down from the Turkish Territories down to Antioch were they were warmly welcomed by the newly finished Cannon Towers at Antioch. While the Mongols rampaged harmlessly away next to the Sea my forces took the opportunity to relieve the Turks of a few cities. Well, it was the appearance of the Mongol Horde in the Turkish Territories that prevented me from obliterating this faction in the first place. As the Turks didn’t deal with them it was up to me to position the Mongols in a place where I could deal with them and that was better on my home ground than on the Turks. I’ve just expanded my home territory so I can deal with the remnants of the Mongol horde when they run away.
Have had two subsequent chances to take the Mongols on at a 1-to-1 strength and lost one in a Dusty, hilly setting and won one in a Cloudy, mountainous setting. It was quite strange trying to play that one with a Minimal Battlefield HUD, especially as the camera angle on a Mountainous terrain setting can be at a fantastic tilt.
Elsewhere some advice from a friend regarding Guilds has seen me whittle away guild buildings for those Guilds which I already have several Master Guild Houses and the HQ. This has left room for other Guilds to approach me and offer their services and when the Assassin Guild approaches you can hardly say no. In fact within three turns Thessalonica had been upgraded to a Master Guild and is now the Assassin Guild HQ. The Theologian Guild has offered their services but not before the Merchant Guild did. My income from Merchants has increased to well over 1000 florins which is impressive. That and the Merchants produced there are not such Numpties. A large no of my Generals stationed in Cities are getting the Explorer Ancillary and therefore getting the extra bonus to sight and Movement.
My Fleet in the North Sea managed one victory over a Danish Fleet and so delivered an Army into Scotland in time to stage an Historical event in 1314. I had an easy victory over Inverness or a hard fought battle for Edinburgh as my two options for this event so I opted for taking Edinburgh. It was a hard fought battle against Heavy Pike. I learn a few things about Bombards such as Ammunition appears to be split evenly over the two and each has it’s own individual line of sight. Had a hilarious moment when one of the Bombards was firing its last few shots at the Scottish Generals unit (of about 10). 1 shot, leaving 9, another shot leaving 8 etc. till they ran out before killing the General. Didn’t manage the victory in the half hour slot I had allowed so I lost and without a proper General (i.e. no family Member present) the invasion army melted into the Highlands.
The pesky Danes were finally sorted out in Arhus when I cornered the King and the Faction Heir within the city walls. A ribault and some Musketeers (Oh! Yes, the 14th century is a really advanced place to be) took out most of the opposition once the Culverin had placed some accurate shots to the Towers and gates allowing my Troops to enter with ease. I have to say the Danish King survived long enough to make a lone charge towards my Musketeers only for my Spearmen to step forward to receive it. The Horse stopped but the rider didn’t and went flying to his doom.
The Spanish conveniently had themselves excommunicated and the Portuguese decided to attack me. Just had the Moors, Russians and the Pope left as neutral/friendly till I couldn’t resist a lightly defended Carthage just a sail away from Palermo (with its Master Swordsmith and Armoury Factory helping me produce finely kitted troops)
Took Baghdad and only have one city left on the Eastern Front left to take from the Turks. Will need to build these up in time to meet the Tuirmids(?) whenever they decide to appear. Objectives left are to wipe out the Turks, the Mongols, the remaining Catholic Factions and then the POPE! Yes, the Pope must die.
What will become of the Catholic faiths leader once I am the only remaining Catholic Faction and I take Rome?
Hopefully somewhere along this path there will come a guy brave enough to adventure into the unknown or someone will master ship building enough to produce craft worthy of crossing Oceans and I will enter the New World. I just can’t wait though ruling a vast Empire is a bit time consuming so I’ve only reached 1328.

1286 - Venice, progressing onwards

Such wonderful inventions such as Lenses and Clocks have been developed. How much longer before enterprising voyagers use them to chart the oceans I wonder?
A surprise for me over in Turkey as Marco Polo decided to tag onto one of my Diplomats. Seems to give Trade and Movement benefits to the Character he joins so not sure why he can appear as Retinue for a Diplomat. However it was nice to see him make an appearance.
A few of my Assassins were turning 60 so tried out a few trickier missions with them, mainly so I could see the Failure film sequences with the hope of seeing the other Snake Failure sequence. Was rewarded with this particular one, which is quite a laugh. Unfortunately one of my younger Assassins got killed during one of his missions and so have a slight shortage now of competent Assassins. Raised one in Nuremberg and he has acquired a Handgun -007 eat your heart out. Still need to train him so he is more effective though.
Bucharest and Bran have fallen, the Hungarians must be struggling for cash one of their field armies turned Rebel just as it was heading to retake Bucharest. Their other Field army decided to attack my army which was heading their direction and despite losing a Ribault and Ballista crew for little damage in return, I used the Terrain to wear down the 3 units of Feudal Knights while peppering them with Crossbolts till they were worn out and thinned enough to use the light Cavalry to drive them off. Have had a few battles against various Rebels that have appeared and used lesser forces to drive off a stronger force which has resulted in a few Men of the Hour promotions.
A bit concerned about my Family Line as my Faction leader and Heir are both approaching their 60's and the Heir doesn't have any children. What happens if they both die in the same turn? Will I have a Civil war to determine my Families rightful lineage?
Bordeaux and Toulouse fell to my Armies after finishing off the English in Caen. The Spanish tried to recapture Toulouse but my superior firepower (3 units of Arquebusiers and a Ribault which has a longer reach than I realised) put this army to flight before it could build enough Siege equipment to even think of attacking the walls. Have an Army heading over to Bruges to take this from the Danes. Put an army on the Bridge between this territory and Antwerp to prevent any relieving force arriving. A Stalwart defence over a couple of turns by the Captain in charge has meant that Antwerp will be ripe for the taking as soon as I have Bruges.
The Poles have declared war, mainly by trying to blockade a few of my Ports however they aren't anywhere near powerful enough to take on my Navies. The Danes on the other hand gave me a surprise by nobbling (OK- annihilated!) my North Sea Navy, which I considered to be quite powerful, and has meant I have had to put together a hasty Navy from my French Territories to replace it in time to complete the Nobles request to Blockade Toledo. Managed to with the reward of 3 Galleass (boy do these ships pack a punch - I am working on Cannon Foundries in cities with Ports so that I can get the Cannon upgrades for ships when/wherever I need to replenish my Navies).
Will see if I can persuade the Poles to keep their attacks to a minimum till I have finished the Mongol Horde, which has now arrived at the edge of my Territory with Turkey (border between Aleppo and Edessa) after being herded South to Edessa by my Armies. One of the Mongols did besiege the City of Edessa but failed to capture it. I'm beginning to think these Mongols are more talk than action. Had a fantastic battle vs. one of their army Stacks which included Trebuchets and Rockets. Can't wait for my Monster Ribault to make it's way over to the frontline and see how it compares to the Mongol Rocket Launcher. Came to the realisation that Mortars are only good for attacking Towns/buildings or for giving you a brilliant Birds-eye view of the battle/enemy as you follow it's shot (use the Delete key). Still to see the effects of a Culverins explosive shot in action. Have taken the Horde down to 7 full stacks and several remnants. Best one was taking out the Mongol Faction leader with an opening (fire) shot from a Bombard. It still took a lot of the battle to persuade the rest of the army to run away but it was a lovely shot to start a battle with.
Moving people with Architect retinue around as several cities are requiring their walls upgraded and Bologna/Constantinople are ready for expensive buildings which will give me Musketeers (Royal Arsenal) and Ornate Plate (Armoury Factories). At 15,000 Florins each it is quite a chunk of cash so the 10% Discount will be welcome. Will soon (in about 16 years) have the best gunners with the best armour with Infantry and Cavalry to protect them. Hopefully in time to travel to the New World (if anyone discovers it). Meanwhile I need to gain some more territory as my building programmes are starting to cripple my economy.

1278 - The Spanish Excommunicated

The Spanish have been excommunicated and also decided to attack me - this fits in perfectly with my Nobles requesting me to blockade Toledo's Port and allows me to expand south from my French conquests.
England decided to attack Rennes so diverted the force heading south from Angers to head north to attack the English City of Caens while a small force from Angers went to relieve the besieged city. This they did, or at least their arrival caused the English to flee after being hit by a Flaming Ballista which sallied forth from Rennes.
Only have two turns left before I can concentrate on the Danish (without fear of excommunication) so took two of the remaining Hungarian towns/castles leaving Sofia as their last refuge.
Hunting down as much of the Danish Family as I can with Assassins so that only the King is left when I go to attack them. The Film sequences seem to go in cycles, last night was stones the previous evening tended to be knifes.
Over in Turkey I'm drawing a noose around the collective necks of the Mongol Horde and hopefully make the opportunity of thinning them out enough to then launch a Full Scale attack on them. Culverins are in production and will be on their way soon.

Winter 1258

The Venetian Empire is now recognised as the most Glorious Empire in the Western World.
Palmerio the Crusader has taken the Rebel Castle in Dolonga and Rheims fell too. The Fall of Marseilles was a very tame affair compared to the previous two battles and I had to wait for the French reinforcements to see the Handgunners in action.
Over in the East the Mongols have retreated back into the Turkish Lands so I will have to plan the next stages like a game of Chess, moving units forward enough that it may provoke or finally catch up with the Mongols but not so that they are in any danger of being swamped by the remaining hordes of Mongols. What does surprise me a lot about the Mongols is the Faction Leader. He has a Command rating of 2 stars and leads half a stack of in-experienced troops. The lowest rating of the other Generals is 6 and not one of their command have less than 3 silver chevrons. The horde that just defeated me only has it's 5 units of Mongol Infantry intact. All but one of the Mongol Foot Archer units and Heavy Cavalry were wiped out and those two units are half strength but have a Gold Chevron of Experience.
Back to the French and I had a lovely surprise when I sent an Assassin after a French Family Member. A completely different Assassin film Sequence. Wow!! And there was me thinking I had seen just about all of the Successful Assassin sequences.

1256 AD - The Mongols : first contact

1st Contact with the Mongols, not quite the way I would have hoped which meant that I came of worst however considering the experience they are running around with I was quite chuffed I managed a close Defeat.
Subsequent waves of Mongols meant that my entire force that was involved in this conflict was subsequently annihilated but that serves me right for not setting the encounter up on my terms.
My Ideal encounter is still a Fort half-filled with Catapult and Archers with Cavalry (and possibly Heavy Infantry) coming in as re-inforcements. This way I should pound the enemy Cavalry element before my Cavalry appear on the Scene. I shouldn't require the infantry really as the Artillery should be safe within the Stockade however I have a few bombards on the Scene and they will need to deploy from the safety of the wall so some Infantry to provide protection from Cavalry Charges would be useful.
So begins the opening Gambit and it remains to be seen if I can mange to set up the next encounters on my own Terms (and win them). Though the Mongols now have more money than me (yes, I'm second in financial terms now) I am aware that they are a horde with no Territory and so can't recruit/retrain more of their own. It was also satisfying to see their Military Rating taking a dive while mine continues to rise. Two of the Stacks of Mongols will prove very hard nuts to crack as they contain both a couple of Trebuchets and Rocket Launchers- both artillery with long range and area effect characteristics. This is all proving to be a very challenging part of this campaign
Capturing 45 Territories was always going to be easily possible on the default setting, though the appearance of the Mongols in Turkey and the Poles subsequently declaring an Alliance with the Turks did slow down this goal quite considerably.
However the Pope has listened to my request to Crusade against the Den of Heathens residing in Paris (otherwise known as French). With Armies besieging both Marseilles and Rheims, ready to assault the walls/gates I will take them and then declare both Armies for the crusade after leaving Garrisons in each city.
I may even declare one of my armies in the east for the Crusade (one the cost of upkeep is free while on crusade, two the movement is doubled so can move the army very quickly from Jeddah up to Caesarea, three the Pope tends to give each unit one point of Experience) but I will have to make sure I take Paris by the time the other army reaches Caesarea otherwise desertions may occur.
Two units of Handgunners will be present at the Storming of Marseille and Bologna is halfway to upgrading its Barracks ready to produce Arquebusiers. Have a couple of Mortars and Ribaults making their ways East and West, some to Paris and some to either Turkey or assist in an assault on Hungary (if the Popes mission to leave the Hungarians alone runs is completed before the artillery reaches the Hungarian Border)
The Poles have allied with the Danes, who then decided to attack me so I have lost my Alliance with the Poles which is a shame. Having said that if I can wipe out the French I should have a better opportunity to make an Alliance with the Scots and it also gives me the opportunity to see if I can woo the Poles back diplomatically before I annihilate the Danes.
Watching a Heretic appear on the border between France and Denmark I resisted the urge to send an Assassin after him as I realised the strategic importance of letting a heretic loose among my enemies. More ammunition for me to help keep the Pope on my side.
Have taken Jeddah with a true Assault the Walls siege, no Spies to help open any gates, and so the last of the Egyptian forces have now turned Rebels. The rebel castle to the south of Cairo is ready to be taken and I'm looking at the possibility of taking either Baghdad and or ... on my way north from both ... and Jeddah, though Baghdad is quite westerly and both towns have a fair no. of Troops. It would however boost my economy infrastructure to have these settlements and wouldn't cause any more friction than already exists with the Rebels (it's a thought and I may even gain some experience for my Troops heading North to fight the Mongols)
Money is a bit tight so one of my Generals with an Architect is currently doing a circuit of Europe to build the Huge walls that are needed for a couple of Cities that require them (10% of 9,600 florins can support quite a few troops or provide extra building work elsewhere)
Noticing and starting to assimilate information about Merchants and how the income for each varies with each commodity and the commodity location. Some of my Top Merchants are earning 90+ Florins and can easily 'acquire' newbie merchants trying to start up trade for other nations. Having said that I was impressed when one of my up and coming Merchants resisted an Acquisition from a Foreign Merchant and actually turned the Tables on them, earning himself the Secure Asset trait in the process.
Having Gunpowder means more of my Assassins are earning the Explosives Ancillary after completing Sabotage missions which now means that what ever they attempt to blow up takes more damage if they are successful.

1240

Some pics to accompany my burgeoning empires glorious history.
MTWIIfaction59V.jpg - 3 Princesses, two of which have/had Subtle knives for personal security. Venice has upgraded to Huge city and is home to the Explorers Guild HQ. Doge Bartolomeo has lost his 'Tyrant' honorific and picked up Cunning after an Assassins successful mission.
By MTWIIfaction61V.jpg he has deterred the Danes from being serious about attacking Staufen and picked up some Brutal Scarring (adding +8 to his hit points)
He then went down to Milan, Bologna and Venice recruiting Spies, Assassins and Merchants as well as implementing a huge building program for some of these cities (including a 25+ turn one for Venice, mainly for Trade enhancements) as well as handing the Crown of Lombardy to a Family member so that it stayed in the Family. The Danes are emerging as the second most powerful Faction and are at war with my Polish Allies, though they sued for peace with me soon after their encounter with Bartolomeo at Staufen.
Took Antioch by MTWIIfaction64V.jpg and so moved my Capital to Thessalonica which caused a huge jump in the Merchant trade from about 300 florins to over 800. My first Heavy Armourer, upgrades to Partial plate is finally built in Budapest and both Governors who have been there subsequently have picked up a Master Smith in their retinue.
MTWIIfaction66V.jpg is after Bartolomeo died and his son took over, treasury is increasing despite construction costs each year of 12,000+ florins
and is just before I took Jerusalem (I have a Knights Hospitallier Chapter in Caesarea and hence the 2 lots of Knights Hospitalier in Antioch -Big black shields with white Cross)
Noticed a sharp increase in Population happiness at the end of that turn.
There is a 15% population happiness from Glory (which has been constant since taking Jerusalem) and a Triumph bonus (starting of at 25%) which has decreased by 5% per turn. Not sure if this is from Defeating Sicily or taking Jerusalem as they both occurred on the same turn.
The Sicilian Capital Palmero has a Sword Smith on it and was also ready to upgrade to Citadel when I got it.
Fought this castle siege on the Battlemap and didn't encounter any problem with the spies opening the gates at all so I felt I've been robbed a bit uptil now as I was believing the 'Bug fix' comments and realised that I may have made an error on my first outing with a castle spy/Spy which lead to me believing the comments about a bug.
At Naples I had to fend of a relieving army and so fought a battle which was weighted strength wise 6:7. It was bloody and had one more General bodyguard Heavy Cavalry unit than I was expecting which wasn't so good. However the Sicilians are no more and the French are now receptive to Diplomacy.
The rumours of Genghis Khan reached the west in 1212 and the Film sequence of their arrival played in 1214.
Was down to Hungary, Egypt and the Rebels being my enemies however by 1216 the Danes couldn't help themselves and attacked Nuremberg. Sallied forth, was helped by a relief force comprising of scattered remnants of different encounter with the Danes. The Archers from this 'relief' force (they were making their way back to some relative safety after their defeat) shot the Generals body guard to pieces and I managed to use the missile units from the City to cause enough damage during this to cause the rest of the army to start moving off, which then became a rout.
Economic warfare isn't enough now for the Danes, either that or they are getting desperate for money and are looking to loot a city or tow
Over on the East one of my spies has spotted two Mongol stacks surrounding the eastern most Turkish town. One stack is FULL, with 3 silver Chevron rated troops (every single one), and the other is 2/3rds full with no experience at all. Not sure if this is all the Mongols or just the first wave. Good Job Caesarea is currently upgrading to Citadel, as are at least two other Castles (Staufen and Palmero)
The road between Jerusalem and Antioch looks a bit like the Appian way with the no. of Crosses being carried about by my priests. Several Imans are trying to make up for lost ground but I'm building Churches as fast as I can to support the priests. A couple of Cardinal are in this crowd making sure that any who lose their faith repent quickly
Implemented an even bigger building program across the Empire when my reserve cash was reaching 80,000 florins and so I'm making a slight loss of about 3,000 florins with a Turnover of 90,000 florins at present.
The Scots and the English have declared war however from what I can see of their Territories the Scots have the upper hand.
The Night Scenery shot was me trying out one of my Generals night fighting ability to see if I could get an actual night fight (rather than a Dusk setting on my previous attempt). Full moon is visible in amongst the clouds (between the flag and the Tree) and the rain made for a very atmospheric battle chasing some rebels of my lands. I realise that my saving of these pics to jpeg format hasn't always been great. However the Full moon in the Battle looked just the same as the Full moon that appeared just above the horizon earlier this week as I made my way to work.