AAR: End of Days (name of mod) - Shambhala (faction)- vh/vh

[Severous]

Hi

I have a habit of documenting my campaigns as I go along.

Here I plan to show my progress in my first ever mod download.

"End of Days" found in the BI mod section of this forum.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=84314

Why I choose this? Warrior monks fighting hordes of satanic forces! Using perhaps the religious dimension of BI which I liked. Favourable write ups and a good rep of modders who are responsive to questions asked. There is also a clear way to keep my vanilla game untouched. Thats an essential point for me as I have several vanilla things on the go. Plus SubRosa (forum member) got me interested in BI again.

Without further ado: The settings I choose: (click on image to expand)


-Warrior monks.
-The regions they need to own Egypt, Carthage and Rome. Oh well I thought these monk guys started in the east.
-Difficulty...I fancy a challenge. Those are the most difficult settings so I assume at least the equivalent of vh/vh.
-Ive got advice turned on. Seen nothing mod specific so far. Now notice the mod asks us to use 'no advice' setting. So will change that next time I load up.

Please fell free to comment but dont spoil. I dont know whats ahead. If you dont want to know in case if spoils your surprises...then dont read on.

More follows in a minute.

Sev

[Severous]

Here we go. This was from yesterdays playing.

The first battle.

Nothing special here. This doesnt feel like 2to1 odds..the slider is nearly equal. Looks like 5:4. Not a mod specific issue as Ive seen that often. As always its the troop mix and situation that determines difficulty. For those that dont recognize the troops involved I list them in RTW vanilla terms:
Attack:
1xGeneral
1xSpearmen
2xlight swords
3xHA
1xLight cav

Defend:
1xGeneral
1xSpear
1xSword
1xArcher
2xHA

So tactics are just like in RTW. Use missiles to slaughter the enemy as they run around inside the walls. Lost quite a few to enemy missiles and the enemy general was tough.

Overall feel of the mod. Dark. Adds to the atmosphere but resolution issues making text a little difficult to read. Im too used to the bright and crystal RTW. BI was dark when I first played it. I will get used to that.
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Another battle. Horse Archer Monks in action on a high slope. Adds to their killing power.


Result was the first heroic of the campaign.

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I cant recruit any Horse archers at present. Several troops are horde type. Spearmen recruitable in towns seem to vary between 200 and 160 units (this is huge scale). One is good value..another is not. Ive not yet developed a feel for troops to focus on. Horse archers probobly given the advice shown on the top right of the very first image. This faction feels like it could play like Scythia in RTW..yellow colour with horse archers. No surely not...these guys have no hair.
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Another battle. AI attacking me. Confidence high due to my all cavalry force. Will just shoot them to death.

The campaign map has the large open feel of the north east section of RTW. Big spaces between settlements. Watch towers are needed in many areas yet cash flow is very tight at the start.

Battle outcome. A rare clean sweep of experience gains.


And a walk in to an undefended town. Finances starting to come good now. I run a high tax, rapid expansion game. Time to build stables to start pumping out horse archers.


My general gained an unusual and special retinue. I think thats going to become important later in the game. Keeping that quiet for the moment.
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Main niggle remains the resolution/clarity. Is it me or the mod?. Ive checked the mod section of the forum. Cant see any related comments. So ive been turning down detail, checking windows media version, adjusting graphics setting.
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Oh yes. Another thing I can do now with money is hire mercenaries. And what mercenaries they are! Not many around..few and far between...but very different to the Merc Peltasts and Eastern Infantry types.

This is what I wanted this mod for. A bit of fantasy.
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Thats it for now. Will play a bit more later.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

Good stuff, Sev. I'm surprised you played with a mod (as I thought you liked RTW the way it was).

Just curious - what kind of factions are these?

[Kamos]

The Kingdom of Albion.
Francia.
Hispania.
Germanicae.
Islamic nation.
Shambhala.(Indian like)
Satanae.(Vampires mostly)

There are a lot of rebel settlements in between factions as to put them in great strength when they meet each other, also there is a Pope faction but his unit roster is only like 4-5 guys from memory. And I'm looking forward to seeing your work with this Severous.

[Severous]

Hi Prince. Yes I like RTW, and BI and Alexander. They are all still on my PC...just a click away. After 20months it was time for something different.

Heres my pictures for today.
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As Kamos32 says, there are lots of rebel towns to take over. Typical garrison 3-5units. Here the defending rebel spearmen/phalanx can be seen through the door. Thier pikes have pennants that flutter making them visible a long way across the battlefield..even through a door. No problem.

--

Oops. No infantry to push the siege equipment.

Infantry had been left behind by the general. Fewer mercenaries means less opportunity to hire infantry mercenaries. So pace of expansion a bit slower than normal. Plus the fact I dont know this area...never played on this map before. Wonder if it reverts to good old RTW once I get a bit further west.
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General rushes the gate as defending archers have had a pathfinding issue and sent four archers outside.


The first fantasy unit about to go into battle. Large solid guys.


Along with the general the fantastic unit run down the archers that had in error opened the gate.


I loved that battle. Not for the size or complexity. For the atmosphere. Sand storm, battle sounds, background moddified music. Fantastic. Loved it. Great job by the mod team. Only wished I had downloaded a mod before today.
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Here the faction leader and hier are together. The leader aged 50 has a 60 year old wife..so he doesnt need that witch retinue for inceased fertility. His son has a 'witch mother' retinue which is good for generals. So they swap before battle.

Lots of space..wide open areas. This will be the furthest north I plan to go. My twenty regions and required cities need to be in the south.

One region that puzzles me. Top right hand corner. Cant find a city. Its a right maze or mountains, forests and rivers. Ive had two generals looking but have given up. I will send a diplomat. Expect it to take years to fuly explore.
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At the end of this turn I had exactly 0 cash.

The first building in every city is not a building at all. Its that message from the mod team.

Couple of small bugs.
- When enslaving a town the small slave icon is not next to the town.
- Game referred to the Satanic forces as nomads. Cant remember where that was at the moment....I think nomads was the BI term that hasnt been modded.
Neither are a probelm.
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The first contact with another faction. Islamic diplomat accepts peace and trade.


Strategically I plan to go through Egypt and capture Africa then strike North into Italy to capture Rome. Naval game could be interesting later on. I will give up lands in the east if I have to.
--

Did I say I wouldnt go north? No..wasnt me.
Thats an Infantry type mercenary. Came along in the nick of time to push the ram. Rebels have some heavy swordsmen. Is game escalating troop types already....?




Leader and hier. Father and son, take their bodyguards in through the gate as again a few archers by mistake open the gate. Heavy fighting against three units. Here the two archer units rout and the heavy swords will go in a second.


Wont go any further north..promise.
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The loading screen between battle and campaign has been modded. The messages/quotes are also changed. As Im playing a buddhist faction I have to take note of the Buddha quotes.

This mod is very atmospheric.

The quote that made me really laugh...so I missed the screenshot was not from a religious leader..it was from monty python. Hope to snap that one later in the campaign. You will like it.
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Been going 8 years this campaign. This is the third mercenary unit Ive recruited. Not just third type of unit..its the third one. Ive got one of each of the three Ive seen.


The text in the description suggests there will be tough enemies ahead.
--

Tomorrow I think it will be east meets east. Bhuddhist Vs Islamic. A diplomat has seen an Islamic stack...lots of infantry.

--
Thats all for today.

[Subrosa Florens]

Hmm, it appears that the post I just made vanished. This is the second time that has happened on this forum. Well, here goes again.

Hi Severous, I am glad to see you are trying out a mod. I hope you have fun with the change from the usual vanilla game. Looks like you picked one that is really a change too! I have never played EOD, but I always hear good things about it. I am looking forward to finding out what it is like through your war story.

Oh, and btw. YaaY, another AAR from Severous! One that I am partly to blame for! Your AARs are always a treat to read (and look at).

You were talking about the display. I do not think it is your computer, but rather I suspect that it is the mod. It looks like they really went for the dark look to be atmospheric. I think they went a little overboard however. For example, black text on a dark background (such as the date and treasury amount in the UI) does not make for clear reading.

On the other hand the new units look very neat. Ronin, Dracule, buddhist horse archers. Very cool. I wonder what some of the Forces of Darkness' units will look like?

What does the Witch Mother retinue member do? Does she have some kind of magic power that makes the general better in battle? Is she a mother of Witches? Or is she the character's mother, who happens to be a Witch herself? I am guessing the latter. Being a Witch myself I am intensely curious (hmm... note to self, have a son so I can become a retinue member...)

Nomad is a culture in BI. It is the one that the Sarmatians and Vandals belong to. Basically the culture determines what your general cards will look like, what your settlements look like, the background music, things like that. So EOD probably used that culture to make the Satanic forces.

[Kamos]

Don't worry Severous I found some vannila units to brighten up your day(quite literally). I didn't focus the picture around them but their there.

[Severous]

Hello

@SubRosa
I too have lost posts here. The auto log out is quick. I regulary type replies then find ive been logged off. Annoying if you loose a post you have spent time preparing.

Im pleased to report the image quality has improved. Not sure what was the cause but Ive much improved clarity. Colour clash is still there though but much easier now its clearer.

Here is the 'Witch Mother' retinue. +2 morale, +1 line of sight (broomstick recon or visions?). But general is weaker.

Also obvious now is the old RTW map is taking shape now as we advance westwards. Here im wondering if I should take another rebel town. Probobly but will keep the general still this turn whilst the road completes. Might gain a good trait.

@Kamos
Plenty of armour on that picture you posted. Havnt seen any like that yet in this campaign.
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Shield wall, bonus vs cavalry and spears. This mercenary type is a good anti cavalry unit. Here however it takes part in the first night battle assault of the first stone walled city. Two ladders in quiet spots will get us in.

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WAR! We fight Islamic forces for the region that is in the bottom right hand corner on regular RTW. Its a mostly infantry opponent.


Good odds in our favour.


Islamic archers and four of my archery units fight it out. It wont last long.


Those red oriental looking guys are my mercenaries. 2 hit points each. Their swords vs enemy spears. Big general unit nearby. Enemy being charged from behind by my small cav unit..a small unit is ideal for street running/fighting.

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Forces of darkness!
Our first sighting. A diplomat spots two units in the first region of Satan we have seen.

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Battle for Hatra. (I think of Hammunatra..city of the dead in the film the Mummy). Here Islamic forces attack me.


A patient battle. Horse archer won me this.


It was not only Heroic but also the first 'Famous battle' of the campaign.

To the left of the report is a Satanic army marching south toward Antioch. I would like Antioch for myself. That with Hatra would be my front line against the Satanic armies.
That turn also sees the first elite HA recruitment. Much stronger than the others. Interestingly...now I can produce elite HA in Kandahar I cant produce ordinary HA there.

[Kamos]

Well its the top infantry unit for the French so I don't suspect you'll see it soon either best of luck fighting the Islamic Nations.

[Subrosa Florens]

Very cool Severous. I cannot wait until you get to the real meat of it and start battling the Servants of Darkness.

[Halie Satanus]

Those Romans in Kamos's pic aren't in End of Days!!...Just thought I'd mention that..

Loving the AAR...I'd send a spy to keep a check on what Islam are up to...

[Kamos]

They are in custom battles... If you enable Pagans.

[Severous]

Hi

Thanks for the comments guys. Thanks for the great mod Halie Satanus (and mod team).

A small update.

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Man of the Hour works in this mod like in RTW/BI. Once your region tally becomes much bigger than the number of generals the game will award MotH and adoptions.

Generals help convert regions to your religion. I need all the help I can get in these distant Islamic lands. Only Bhuddha knows how Im going to cotrol lands that are even more distant.
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Another Satanic unit. Vampyre Headhunters.

Satan and Islam are not at war with each other. I am at war with Islam and about to siege Antioch. I trade with Satan! Ive also brought a map from a French diplomat.
--

Islam sally at Antioch. Another Satanic army (red colour..what else) is near and its coming closer. But too late. Im going to get Antioch.

--

Petra. Islamic forces dont sally like they did at Antioch. Instead they attack my besieging army from outside the town with a relief army. Odds are the worst faced so far but then the game has always under rated the strength of HA. An infantry only army is not hard to beat with HA.



My first silver experience horse archer. That will form the replenishing/retraining unit for all future HA units of this type.

A famous battle and Petra is ours. Being captian led its also eligible for man of the hour. I get MotH message then in the same turn get this message to say the adoption failed. No new general. Booo. Ive never really worked out why that happens...given and taken away in the same end of turn.


Petra has 0% public order despite 80% garrison and low tax. Reasons are 50% culture, 80% distance capital and loads of religious unrest. Im going to loose this village of 400 people due to rebellion. Unless..?...unless the guy with the special retinue moves up.

If I move my capital further west it will help in the west and newly captured regions. But with huge distances its going to make problems in my well developed eastern regions. A strategic migration maybe called for. Releasing regions in the east as the capital is moved west.

Satanism is now at war with Islam. Expecting to fight the forces of Darkness myself before much longer.

Sev

[Subrosa Florens]

I have been having the same problems with public order in all the Christian cities I take in my current Sarmatian campaign. A settlement with a population of 400 (as you cannot exterminate them lower), an army in the walls of about a 1,000, and public order of zilch.

However, it usually passes pretty quickly, and I have managed to hold on to all the cities I have taken. I have destroyed all the Christian temples/hermitages on the first turn, and started building my own. That drives the unrest even higher, but it seems to burn out quickly. Once I have my own temple built at the first tier things start to settle down. That is without any generals with decent influence or order traits. I imagine it will not be much different with LOD. If worse comes to worse, move your capital to Petra for one turn, lower taxes in the far eastern settlements to keep them from rioting, and them move your capital back in a turn or two.

Vampyre Headhunters? I like the sound of that. If I play this mod it will definitely be as the Satanae. When I looked over their hosted forum there was a screen pic of one Satanae general with the Anti-Christ trait and Lucifer as a retinue member. I do not know what they do, but they have to be good! Well, good is probably not the right word...

Oh, I was thinking about the Witch Mother retinue member a little while ago. I think the greater line of sight must be because of the winged monkeys...

[Severous]

A small update. Would have been more but Imageshack is playing up at the moment.

The first battle involving Satanic troops.

It was not really expected. I sally against the green of Islam (1 unit of archers) and the adjacent stack of Satanic troops joins in. I thought Satanic forces were are war with Islam and neutral to me. But here I need to fight them both. 1:6 odds against.


Here they are.

Scum of the earth. Murderers and thugs. No 'fantastic' units here but they all look good. Like regular infantry from other factions these guys wont do well against horse archers and fort towers.

Go on. Run you Scum. You servants of Darkness. Notice the enemy are exhausted. Play for time and the AI enemy infantry in a bad odds battle always march themselves to death.


Killing the last of the routers when the timer ran out. Blast. 30seconds more and it would have been a Heroic.

Both enemies were gone when the game returned to the campaign map.
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The unrest is impossible to control. Two regions rebel. I will capture two regions. Back and forth it will rage and im not sure the religious alignment is changing away from Islam into my favour. I will move the capital closer to try keeping towns.

--

Taking on three armies of Islam here. The objective is to wipe out them all so leaving the town without garrison.


I march in after that battle.

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A nice retinue gained from that heroic


The general who gained him is at strength 60. A nice size for a general. Yet that is half strength. At full strength he has 125 troops in his bodyguard. Thats like the Alexander unit in the Alexander expansion pack. You see its his personal security rating. Its over 50 ! Its that retinue Ive still not let you know about.

The town of Damascus is at 400 population. I cant control the unrest. Neither can I retrain those excellent 2xsilver exp HA back to full strength. I really want those good HA at full strength so will disband an infantry unit. This will boost the popualtion and allow the HA to retrained up to full strength.
--

My next gaming session will move the capital right here into the west. Bhuddha knows what that will do to disorder in the east of our empire. I have to move west to win this campaign. Needs must.

[Subrosa Florens]

You have Armored Ninjas too? I have to say, I love the units that Shambhala has.

[Severous]

Hi SubRosa.

I like the units this mod has. Like them a lot. I keep changing my desk top picture. Those Ninja's were there for awhile...but ive since replaced them.

Another update.

I didnt expect to win this. It was a hit and run to weaken the enemy. I wouldnt win it but next turn when I returned in force there would be no Islamic cavalry left in those armies.

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A poor odds bridge battle. I hid two units in a distant wooded corner. Lured the powerful enemy cavalry to that area then attacked from out of the woods. The surprise factor hurts the enemy morale. Along with all the other factors that caused the strong enemy general unit to rout almost instantly.


What a great looking unit. This is my current desktop. Pity its an enemy unit. 2Hit point heavy cavalry.


One HA is chased by the enemy Knights. That HA holds its fire. My two other HA run along behind the Knights with Fire at will turned on. Firing into the backs of the Knights will take a steady toll and eventually those three units will rout the remains of the strongest enemy seen so far.


Archers can swim. But not when exhausted. These poor buggers caught between my general and the water chose the water and drowned before they got to the other side.

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Another Knight unit. This is one I can recruit here but not elsewhere. Seems that the mod has area specific recruitment.

Ive just remembered. Walls in BI give public order bonus. Better walls going up all over the empire as Im swimming in money.
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Before I hit end of turn I always list my settlements sorted by public order rating. Having just moved my capital to Jerusalem to help hold the recaptured cities I expected order problems in the east of my empire. Here is the result.

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Satanae attack me. Longest odds so far. Some new units in the enemy line up. Didnt expect to win...but I did.


Killed the enemy cavalry before running out of arrows. I just had to avoid the many remaining infantry. Ran from corner to corner. Nothing could catch me. Timer ran down.


Man of the Hour for that. An excellent outcome as I want generals here in the west to help the religious dimension.

Hey. Whats that Prophecy message?.....
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The mod appears to have made use of the timed event/message system. I wonder what it means?

My money went down a lot that turn. Wonder how they are linked? Not worried..I used to have nearly 40,000 cash which would trigger bad governor traits in BI (its 50,000 in RTW, 18,000 trigger in BI).

That message had caused me to make a mistake. Didnt know that at this point.
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Here we are finishing that big army that had lost to the lone HA. At the point I took this message I thought I heard the 'King is dead message'. I thought it meant my King..as that is who I have fighting here. But no..there he is fighting the Vampire Headhunters. Nethertheless I remained worried until after the battle. I had worried that the vampire headhunters had some special ability that might yet stike my leader down. I assume the headhunter had been the enemy leader unit and it must have been that shout that I had heard.

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I like the way BI lists multiple rioting towns like this rather than lots of individual messages.

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Oh my. Did you see that Satanic army above? And who commands it?

None other than one of the main modders. Halie Satanus. Bet he knows a few tricks or two. Is there some cunning trick going on? Slightly wary.

But who better to face the awesome modder and see through a cunning ploy than my faction leader who has a cunning suffix to his name. With the entire garrison of Hatra its a shoot em up. The infantry of Satan again fare badly against the HA of the Buddha. Sorry Halie...you are going down.

By the way..if I havnt said it enough times already...Great mod. Well done mod team.
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The mistake I made yesterday was thinking that Prophecy had taken away money. It hadnt. Moving the capital to Jerusalem had. That allowed me to control the newly captured regions but caused massive corruption in my developed eastern empire...20,000 extra corruption. Also lower tax to maintain order. Because I had wrongly linked the drop in cash with the Prophecy I didnt move my capital back to the centre of my empire. The result? Two turns later I started with negative cash. 40,000 lost income in two turns. What a financial disaster!
But Im heading west again...Alexandria now in sight.

Sev

[Subrosa Florens]

I think the prophecy meant that the Anti-Christ was born.

[Halie Satanus]

The infantry of Satan again fare badly against the HA of the Bhuddha. Sorry Halie...you are going down.

Wanna bet I rise again...

[Severous]

^^SubRoasa. The anti-christ? In campaign terms might that be some special ability Satanic general? Or an atmospheric message with no game affect? I cant tell.

^Halie Satanus. What came first? Your name on the forum or your name in the mod?


An update.

I said I wouldnt go north. Well I did. I have long owned the two top right hand corner regions. I have agents forward to keep an eye upon the enemy. The first sighting of Germanic units. I will bring up a diplomat to trade.

I trade with all factions except Islamic and Satanic (war).

A bit later and I notice my watchtower has been captured. When an enemy stops by your watchtower it no longer works for you. You cant see the enemy..hey whats the point of a watchtower!!

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An important revalation. No its not another atmospheric quote from the book of Revalation. I reveal now the important retinue gained earlier in the campaign.

The Holy Grail.



The extra personal security increases the potential bodyguard size to its max of 125 men.

This general has been on my front line and won many battles. Other retinue provide lots of extra battlefield morale. Undefeatable. I am about to make him faction hier. (His dad the leader is in his 60's). Having this general as leader will bestow more influence and thats what he needs to control newly captured regions.

Religion is a factor. Islamic regions being captured in Africa have up to 95% unrest due to religion. On top of 50% cultural and 80% distance to Capital im having a mare of a time. I have to exterminate and destoy many buildings. Then hold up the advance to deal with religion...and move capital nearer..causing financial problems.

Overall. Im always short of money, advancing slowly due to religion, enjoying myself.
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The approaching Satanic army stands on the same spot as the previous one. A second heroic and famous win will not register (oldest famous battle marker only is displayed)

I dont usually recruit many different troop types but did so...one of each cavalry..to show case them here in this thread. The description of the Sacred Ninja's made me laugh. The boat is the start of a fleet for eventual transport from Carthage to Italy.

The Sacred Ninja were immediately in action. Along with the faction leader they have spotted an opportunity. Charge!


Lets swivel the camera..what have they seen...


Hey!. The front rank of my cavalry crumple as they hit the Vampires.


It took a third unit to charge into the rear of the Vampires to break them.


The first Satanic general being taken down.


The Sacred Ninja's gaining an experience upgrade (in a later battle)

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An assassin should not stand out from the crowd. Should not draw attention to themsleves.

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The last big battle against Islamic forces in this area is about to occur. With three HA brought up from Sidon as reinforcements I will sally. Another expensive heavy cavalry unit is in my army.

Islamic faction is heading for extermination. It will later lose Tarsus to rebellion caused by my Assassin destroying its Church.
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Some battlefields you love as soon as you see them. Here another Satanic army is fought. A shallow bowl. Horse archers will fire down into the Satanic infantry who exhaust themselves running uphill after cavalry.

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Here is my current position.

Many generals in my stack. Rather than have them govern ive brought most here to Africa. Its their Buddha conversion traits. Each has at least 5% conversion effect. As soon as they move into a region they attempt to convert the Islamic population to my Buddha religion. By converting many prior to capture its easier to control the region once captured. I am trying to avoid moving my capital to Africa as I cant afford the corruption it causes elsewhere.

My Holy Grail carrying general (now faction leader) is controlling just captured Cyrene. His massive influence keeps the lid on revolt.

Red demonic looking cavalry in the army. They have been with me since the start. I cant retrain those Mercenaries. Elsewhere ive disbanded expensive mercenaries to better balance the books...but not that unit. Its the first and most fantasy/demon unit ive seen so far.

Sev