Post Your Empires/Pics here!

[Aenima]

Someone mentioned this in a thread before hand, so I figured it'd be good for everyone to post pictures of the world at present in their games and to give us a guided tour of things

Also, before anyone posts pics here could someone please post a reply saying how to encode those "show more" tabs in a post that reveal pictures or text so that we don't have giant pics takin up space here? figured it'd look more organised and simple, cheers

[Riothamus]

Someone mentioned this in a thread before hand, so I figured it'd be good for everyone to post pictures of the world at present in their games and to give us a guided tour of things

Also, before anyone posts pics here could someone please post a reply saying how to encode those "show more" tabs in a post that reveal pictures or text so that we don't have giant pics takin up space here? figured it'd look more organised and simple, cheers

Great Idea Aenima

[margio]

Ave Aenima, Great Idea ...!
What I have done:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

write [ spoiler ] at the beginning to open (without spaces before and after the word spoiler)
includes text & images & whatever
write [ /spoiler ] at the end to close (without spaces before slash and after the word spoiler)

I know that there are other commands, but I don't remember them. Furthermore there is a thread somewhere that explain all commands, but despite of my last search of it, I am not able to find it again. Hope it helps.
See your conquests leading...?

ayeaye Sir

[Aenima]

erm ive actually gotta ask for your help first

im pretty sure "Print Screen" is the key that takes a screen shot, but where do the actual pics go? ive tried looking for them but had no luck. cheers!

[legio_XX]

ya me to i want to show you guys my new WRE defences at the east limes haha

[Joar]

erm ive actually gotta ask for your help first

im pretty sure "Print Screen" is the key that takes a screen shot, but where do the actual pics go? ive tried looking for them but had no luck. cheers!

Press "Print Screen", yes. Then just open Paint for example, right click and paste it in. Save and upload.

[margio]

Hi Everybody,
"printscreen" is one way to take screen shots, but I prefer to use Fraps. It can be downloaded from www.downloads.com. Pressing the F10 button you get files with "bmp" extension inside folder of your choice. Then you can convert to light files as "jpeg" with Photoshop or other similar programs. Finally uploading them on "imageshack" or "photobucket" you can then post here ...
Soon my Ostrogoths campaign update... after capturing some towns around starting lands (Salona, Ulpia, Sarmisegetuza, etc...), the objective was WRE lands as historically conquered by Theoderic the Great, but despite of alliance ERE attacked me, so now the objective of my leader Theodoric (or Theoderic) are the rich lands of Greece...

ayeaye Sirs

[margio]

Hi Everybody, it’s 483AD and Ostrogoths are building up a nice kingdom…


Hereby what I have done, specifying that it worked and works for me, but my experience tell me that every campaign is so different, that I am almost sure that restarting the same faction and acting the same I will not get the same outcomes…
Rio’s BRG VII.5 (463AD - H/H setup) are really hard to manage, mainly at the beginning, when you/we are obliged to micro-micro-manage your kingdom/empire to avoid bankruptcy and defeat… For the first 4/5 years (maybe more depending on faction played) you/we have only the troops provided at the beginning to start capturing lands (exterminate population give money) and a lot of problems to face and manage as economy, health and happiness, as defense and diplomacy. To enlist troops other than for towns’ defence means to drain your already poor economy, so you will learn every advantages and disadvantages of your men
But succeeding you will be really satisfied of your work and you can rest looking at the color of your lands on the monitor.. but just one turn, because your enemies doesn’t like your colour…

Starting with 1 turn buildings (Burials, Food Trade, Metal Trade, Horse Trade) then I built alternatively for economy, happiness and health. The only military building in all towns was and is Practice Range that allows Saxon Hunters and Goth Raiders that are good for towns garrison together with Gothic Spearmen. For towns defence my suggestion is to build Academy as soon as possible for Stone Walls: they gives a big bonus against enemies sieging!
Garrison in my towns is made by three Gothic Spearmen, two Goth Raiders, one or two Saxon Hunters. It can be too expensive, but they are the right number to keep happiness well (anyway helped by buildings) and together with Stone Walls they were and are strong enough to rout (till now…) any sieging enemy.
Fighting armies are made by two Ostrogoth Heavy Infantry (5 units from the beginning), three Gothic Spearmen, four Goth Raiders, two Saxon Hunters and four Goth Horse Archers. They are not the best units of Ostrogoths, but they are a good balance to save money, gaining experience through battles they can now face almost every enemy and they can be retrained in almost all captured towns keeping their full number.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Central Ostrogoths Kingdom with my Capital City

Southern Ostrogoths Kingdom

Western Ostrogoths Kingdom (with a boring plague...)

North-West Ostrogoths Kingdom

Eastern Ostrogoths Kingdom

Conquered West Ostrogoths Kingdom (ex WRE lands )

Conquered South Ostrogoths Kingdom (ex ERE lands )

Conquered South Ostrogoths Kingdom (ex ERE lands ...again)

From the beginning I am in war with WRE, but with exception of Assassins, Diplomats and a couple of little armies I have never seen them.
I was in war with ERE and Slavs (those last didn’t like that I captured Campus Iazyges after they have lost it for rebellion…). After a couple of siege to Ulpia and Greuthungi, ERE give up, even because in war with Sassanids and Vandals (both my allies and underwriting support), signing ceasefire and useful trade rights.
With Slavs it was longer (5 years about) and hard (meantime I was in war with ERE). All battles were around Campus Iazyges and Gepidea, and my economy was mainly focused to support two armies for this war. Their warriors are very strong, but they lose in cavalry (at least the Slavs fought till now), so my Goth Horse Archers made whatever they want keeping distance from infantry.
Once asked for ceasefire (and trade rights), the faction heir Theoderic had enough experience and traits to try the exploit to conquer Italy and with an army made tough by five years of wars I directed towards WRE lands. Firstly it was Curla (I don’t like enemy behind), then Mediolanium, Aquileia, Ravenna, Arretium… Maybe they were drained by war with Vandals or AI focused on military buildings only (as for some others factions…), but I never found an army to face my invasion and even the towns were poorly garrisoned, with exception of Ravenna even if with 10 units only. I’m not saying that it’s too easy and anyway it’s historically correct, but I thought that it would be more difficult…
Anyway I had to stop (I prefer to stop), because ERE attacked my lands with three strong and full stacks armies, and my army left to guard was not enough to face this invasion. So Theoderic had to delay to be the Conqueror of Rome, becoming first the Conqueror of Costantinople… I left one army to guard Italy (Vandals are really close), I chose to fight with my two other armies enlisting two little armies made by Gothic Spearmen and Goth Raiders: it was expensive and I lose battles, but the little armies drained ERE armies and when attacked by my bigger armies it was easier to win…ERE lost Naissus, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Adrianopolis, Thessalonica and Apollonia and now my generals are directed to capture all Greece firstly, to attack then to the east till Costantinople capture.


Concerning other factions (as you can see by the maps) Suebi, Berbers, Romano Britones and Romano British were destroyed. Goths, as Vandals, Franks and Sassanids build up a big empire and they will be probably be the main hard wars in the future. ERE have a stil a big empire, but attacks made by Ostrogoths and Sassanids are making it weaker.
In the north Saxons and Picts are fighting hardly to control all lands… but at present they are still far…

How are going on your empires/kingdoms...?
News... Images... Update... ?


ayeaye Sirs

[Aenima]

nice one margio, looks like youve carved a nice chunk of the med for yourself! ostrogoths are one helluva faction, their heavy infantry can really cut a swathe through most opponents, must be great fun to be on the good side of their blades

as for my own, im gettin round to it soon, its just ive had so many frustrating WRE campaigns that ive had to restart a lot. defeating one faction, coming into connection with a new one, having them attack me and then having to defend new lands was really putting a strain on things so i decided to try a different approach to the campaign, as ill explain when i put up my own stuff (which i promise will be soon!)

still, thanks for great pics and description there, always refreshing to see another persons game playing out

[andrewmc]

You have some big garrisons in your cities, impressive empire

[margio]

@ Aenima
hi thanks for your words. I agree with you: the first line made with Ostrogoth Heavy Infantry can hold whatever attack, but with the help of troops throwing javelins just behind (for me now Goth Raiders and then will be the Veterans) and with a deep screen ahead made by Goth Horse Archers, they can be devastating… at least till now… Future battles will confirm it or not.
BTW playing WRE you chose the hardest faction IMHO. Just as an example with the money needed to upkeep a WRE army, it is possible to enlist almost two Ostrogoths armies: that also if the WRE army is not made with Roman troops only… and considering that the first goals fro WRE are increase income and keep lands!
I am really curious to see your "different approach"…

@ andrewmc
hi and you are right. My towns are guarded by three spearmen (four in the towns on borders), two raiders and two hunters. They are expensive to upkeep, but acting in this way I can keep happiness (of course with building helps), I can attack rebels raiding around (if not full stack) that slow down import/export, and keep my towns, while my armies are focused to capture enemy lands... By the way I think that it's a good balance between costs and attack/defence factors... at least for me playing Ostrogoths, but I think that with Roman Factions it cannot be made the same...


ayeaye Sirs

[Riothamus]

Very impressive Margio! And your detailed posts are very much appreciated. I'm curious how ur gonna handle them Franks

[margio]

Thanks a lot Rio ...
I can guarantee that it was really hard and I think that it will be not easier... great job ! When I thought to take a rest, something happened and I was again under pressure...
I don't know what I will do with Franks, even because I have to guard my lands even against Vandals and Slavs... furthermore some of my towns start to have people not so happy (Salona it's the worst example)... furthermore I cannot stop now the war against ERE and delay too much the conquest of Italy... I am feeling something will happens :hmmm:...

ayeaye Sir

[Riothamus]

Thanks a lot Rio ...
I can guarantee that it was really hard and I think that it will be not easier... great job ! When I thought to take a rest, something happened and I was again under pressure...
I don't know what I will do with Franks, even because I have to guard my lands even against Vandals and Slavs... furthermore some of my towns start to have people not so happy (Salona it's the worst example)... furthermore I cannot stop now the war against ERE and delay too much the conquest of Italy... I am feeling something will happens :hmmm:...

ayeaye Sir

Thanks margio,

The Barbarian factions that conquered Roman lands are penalized heavily within those lands, so as the Romans are faced with unrest in foreign lands and especially in foreign caps, the Barbarians and also the Sassanids are faced with the fine line of of expanding or building up there newly occupied lands that were Roman.

The BRG II will increase the Wre and Ere ability to defend itself so they should be formidable especially if they are around several decades to build. The ERE has the better chance of this for the WRE is attacked by many more surrounding factions.
The tempo sort of speak has been raised.

[Riothamus]

Feel free...stickied

[Turkeys!]

I've started a campaign with the Franks in 463AD, at the time of the picture it is 475AD. I am at war with the Burgundii and the Romano-Gauls. I have a ton of money from my cities and have taken Brouges and the Burgundii capital, I have also taken all of the Roman cities and have their capital of Soissons under siege. My cities aren't making as much money as they used to though. I plan on probably going to war with the Visigoths soon, most likely after I destroy the Burgundii and the Gauls. They have already started threatening me but I haven't seen any troop buildups. The Romans and Alemanni keep fighting over one settlement that neither seem to be able to capture. The Goddodin Tribes have been destroyed and it appears that the Saxons are going to take over Britain soon, unless the Picts, Gaelic Tribes and the Romano-British stop them. The Sassanids have been advancing up north and encountered the Bulgars too. It appears like the major powers are beginning to form too.

[margio]

Hello Turkeys!, seems that you have succeeded to have great income for your treasury, that related to Rio's mods it's a very BIG SUCCESS !!!
Soon my WRE Campaign ...

ayeaye Sir

[Riothamus]

I've started a campaign with the Franks in 463AD, at the time of the picture it is 475AD. I am at war with the Burgundii and the Romano-Gauls. I have a ton of money from my cities and have taken Brouges and the Burgundii capital, I have also taken all of the Roman cities and have their capital of Soissons under siege. My cities aren't making as much money as they used to though. I plan on probably going to war with the Visigoths soon, most likely after I destroy the Burgundii and the Gauls. They have already started threatening me but I haven't seen any troop buildups. The Romans and Alemanni keep fighting over one settlement that neither seem to be able to capture. The Goddodin Tribes have been destroyed and it appears that the Saxons are going to take over Britain soon, unless the Picts, Gaelic Tribes and the Romano-British stop them. The Sassanids have been advancing up north and encountered the Bulgars too. It appears like the major powers are beginning to form too.

Nice Turkeys!

Gotta play the Franks on the hardest levels. They are the easiest of all the factions to play. If the Vandals, Visigoths and Ostrogoth's have time to expand they will become a worthy a challenge

[Turkeys!]

Update on the campaign

I have to shift that army besieging Soissons to combat a Burgundii full stack, I ended up using it to spearhead an invasion on the Burgundii and it did pretty good, took two cities with it. I've bribed the Romans into fighting the Vandals and gave them 7000 denars because they look pretty low on men. I took all but two of the Burgundii settlements and have completely isolates Soissons and they don't seem to want to be a protectorate at all which is annoying. The Visigoths are going to be attacking me soon, they have been building up full stacks and are going to be hard to go against. They are the only regional threat to me due to their huge powerbase in Hispania. The Bulgars have built up a sizable empire in the East, they are starting to also make headway against the Sassanids after a brief stalemate, The Huns took one province but appear to have also lost one and have some full stacks bearing down on them so they are gone. The Gaelic Tribes completely destroyed The Picts and have them down to one province. The Romans are in danger of losing all of their island cities except for Messana. The Berbers are nice and quiet and appear to be doing good. The Slavs have built up a bit and have it going nice for themselves and so have the Langobardi. I appear to be having a bit of a Dark Age coming for me, all my cities population growth is slowing down, my economy is starting to weaken slightly so I may have to start drawing back and tuning down the city garrisons, on the other hand, it could simply be a brief low point and nothing but better safe than sorry. Oh and the Ostrogoths appear to be sitting where they are doing nothing and the ERE has been trying to hold its lands together against the Sassanids, so far , they have been sucessful in defense but haven't done much in the ways of offense.

Here's a picture of the world map in 480A.D

[margio]

Hello Every BRG II Players ...
It’s 478AD now for Western Roman Empire campaign, original difficulty and H/H setup.

Focused on economy for some years (mixed sometime with happiness, health and law), I kept Western Archers, Foederati Warband (not all…) and Comitatenses units only acting as defensive army if attacked by Vandals, Ostrogoths and Rebels. Near all others factions I sent Diplomats for ceasefires and/or trade rights.
It was very hard, sometime I couldn’t build due to poor income, but with the help of a deep study of buildings tree and buildings needed for, on 468AD I reached a nice income per turn. I cannot say the same for town’s income, but I could not wait more to re-build the Roman Empire.
In the meantime I fought a Vandal army coming from Corsica and two Ostrogoths armies trying to attack Aquileia. After that they both directed their conquests towards others lands, while Ostrogoths asked for ceasefire. Filled casualties, re-trained and upgraded my troops (in Rome) I disbanded Foederati Warband and enlisted Legio Lanciarii, for a pure Roman fighting army with Comitatenses,Western Archers and cavalry made by three Generals. I enlisted also a little supplying army, to keep my units full.
The first objective was Salona for which the strong full stack garrison was much decreased by a previous attack by Ostrogoths, so the capture was not so hard. Then my spy advised that Ulpia despite of continuous attacks was still kept by Rebels, so it was the second capture. Once established order and law on those two towns, by my fleet I transferred troops to capture Sicily. Firstly Messana and then Syracusae. Probably Vandals tried the same, but the garrison were strong enough to reject the attacks, but they cannot avoid casualties, so the remaining troops were quite easily won by my Legions. I knew that by my spies too… Lilybaeum capture was harder, casualties higher, but I could re-fill them with my supply army, that was then sent to re-train in Rome.
The fleet was then directed towards Sardinia, which Caralis and Turris were easily captured, because defended by few and low end troops. The strategy was to capture Mariana and then with a stronger army to direct towards Africa to capture Carthage, Thapsus, Zama and Chullu, but a Loyalist Revolt in Bourges obliged me to change mind… I thought for awhile if leave Bourges to its destiny :hmmm:, but I was in war with Burgundii anyway, so I decided to help Bourges …
My Legions (with Equites Sagittarii now) attacked firstly Genava, then Valentia and finally Aventicum. Each town was captured fighting its garrison and an army of reinforcement , but I could always fight with full unit stacks (my supply army worked very well…), and Burgundii had low end troops or very few elite troops. I was deciding to fight Burgundii till their destruction, but they asked for ceasefire, probably because attacked by my allied Franks…
So leaving strong garrisons and waited to establish good economy and order in the captured towns, my Legions returned to Mariana. I was sieging it when a a full stack Vandal army arrived by sea attacked me … it was a very hard battle, with the two armies joining their forces before attacking, but I won even it was quite a pirrus’ victory. Now my fighting army is resting in Rome, and I should focus to re-fill my economy… I have a good treasury, but many of my towns have negative income, excepted the captured, Ravenna, Rome and Arretium with very big negative income for Genua and Curla…


Concerning the others Factions, looking at the map they are all capturing lands, with Saxons, Sassanids and Bulgars the most active. DoS and Franks are in war from the beginning capturing and losing towns, while Romano British were destroyed


I have to say that Beyond Roman Glory it’s an awesome mod, where the care and attention have to be always the maximum for your population. I was very very positively surprised of Burgundii’s reinforcement come to help their towns and of the Vandal army come from the sea to help Mariana.
GREAT WORK Bretwalda Riothamus !!!!