What faction you would play...

[dragases1453]

What factions would you play when the mod will be out...

[ExcaliburFIN]

Hospitallers most interesting faction!

[Nikephoros]

the hospitallers will be my second choice, after the byzantines!
and then the armenians and then the atabeg

[Zenith Darksea]

Aaargh! You left out Georgia!!!

Well, it's the Byzantines for me, all the way.

[infierno]

1st teutonics / 2nd templars

[Templar019]

Templar and Teutonic

[Maethius]

Fist I will play as Byzantium. I just LOVE these fellows!!

[Libertine]

Kingdom of Jerusalem, the history of that Kingdom is enthralling.

[Pompei the Great]

The answer is simple:





All of them!

[~Feanor~]

i would play the Hospitallers (i read a book about them.. now i kinda like them *g* )

[Greek_Warrior]

All Crusaders faction !

[Digenis]

Rhomani'a (=byzantium) !!
of course

[Slaxx Hatmen]

Thats weird, the poll is closed. And i was going to vote for Byzantuim.

[dragases1453]

Oh no problem...we want all byzantium!

[lentonius]

What about those poor muslim factions....

[Maethius]

they can kiss my order militant a**!

[Cayo_Julio_Cesar]

Hospitallers , the black knights rock and they still exist!

[Basileos Leandros I]

Kingdom of Georgia!!!

[Zenith Darksea]

You said it, Basileos! I can't believe that nobody else has asked for it yet!

[Kakhaber]

Kingdom of GEORGIA !!! ....insert Kingdom of Georgia !!! plz, plz, plz, plz, plz


Merged double post. Please use the edit button next time!!! - Trajan


this is little episode from Georgian history:

Though this political unity had the official name of the Abkhazian Kingdom, the overhelming majority of its population, its political orientation and its culture were essentially Georgian. Later on, in the 9th century the Abkhazian Kingdom also was severed of its last link with Byzantium by leaving the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinopole. Soon the West Georgian Church came under the Catholicos of Mtskheta. Thus the ecclessiastic unity of East and West Georgia was effected and created the final establishment of the Georgian language in the Abkhazian Kingdom in church service, public administration and cultural life. Another independent feudal state, the Tao-Klarjeti Principality appeared in southwest Georgia in the early 9th century, founded by the Erismtavari of Kartli, Ashot Bagrationi. Rising against the Arabs, Ashot withdrew into his hereditary province of Klarjeti, liberated the neighbouring provinces of Tao, Kola, Artvani, Shavsheti, and others from the Arabs, and firmly established himself there with the help of the Byzantine emperor, receiving from the latter the title of "Kuropalate."

The most important events in Tao-Klarjeti are connected with name of David III who ruled in the second part of the 10th century. He freed more Georgian provinces from the Arabs. David III rendered effective assistance to the Byzantine emperors Basil and Constantine in quelling the rebellion of the grand feudal Bardas Sclerus in 979, receiving in recognition of his service a number of provinces up to Lake Van. Using his power and authority and supported by the Kartlian Eristavi Ioanne Marushidze, David III began the unification of the Georgian lands. David III raised his adopted son Bagrat Bagrationi to the throne of Kartli (975) and Abkhazia (978). After the death of David III, Bagrat added Tao-Klarjeti to Kartli, inherited the title of King of the Kartvels, and in 1110 added Kakheti and Hereti to his Kingdom, completing the unification of the Georgian territories into one state, with the exeption of the Tbilisi Emirate. The first king of unified Georgia bore the title of "King of the Abkhazians, Kartvels, Hers and Kakhs". Kutaisi was the capital of the kingdom. Under his successor, Bagrat IV (1027-1072), Georgia found itself to be one of the major powers in Caucasia.

But the relative stability established in the region came to an end with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks, who captured most of Persia, and drove westward in the 1060s. They captured Armenia, raided the Georgian province of Javakheti, destroying the town of Akhalkalaki, and devastated Kartli in 1068. The so-called "Great Turkish Conquests" of Georgia started in 1080. Being nomads, the Seljuks turned the lands they captured into pastures, thus depriving the feudal economy of its basis and jeopardizing the very existence of Georgia. Only a small part of West Georgia escaped the constant invasions and devastions. King Giorgi II (1072- 1089) had to pay annual tribute to the Sultan. The Georgian people suffered severe losses but managed to preserve their state organization. Unable to deal effectively with the constant onslaught of the Turks, the throne was passed to Giorgi II's 16-year-old son David, known as David the Builder (1089-1125), possibly the greatest monarch in Georgian history. Personally leading his loyal forces, he attacked the Seljuks and, routing them, allowed the peasants who had fled to the mountains to return to their land. He gradually expelled the Turks from Kartli. David's war against the Turks fortunately corresponded with the arrival of the Crusaders in Asia Minor and Syria, considerably weakening the Turks and distracting their attention from the Caucasus. After winning several victories in 1099, he stopped paying tributes. However, the final liberation of all Georgian lands required an efficient army and further centralized power. The first item on the agenda was the Church reform.

In 1033 by the decision of the all-Georgian Church Council, held in two neighboring dioceses of Ruisi and Urbnisi, the unfit Church officials were deposed and supporters of the King's policy were elected. David IV actually subordinated the Church to the state. It was a heavy blow to the unloyal nobility and provided his rule with a powerful ideological support. At the same time David IV created a regular army by drafting the aznaurs (the gentry) and the peasantry. By the early 12th century, regular troops grew to 40,000 strong. In 1004 he drove the Turks from Kartli and Kakheti. In 1005, he defeated a large Turkish army in the Ertsukhi battle. During 1110-1118, he liberated the towns of Samshvilde, Rustavi, Gishi, Kubala, and Lore. Tbilisi, the capital, was still occupied by the invaders and part of the Georgian army still depended upon big feudal lords, who not always were loyal to the king. At the same time, incessant wars kept the most productive part of the population away from home and farming. To solve this problem David IV added to his army 40,000 Kipchak mercenaries from the north Caucasian steppes, whom he settled in Georgia with their families. Feeling uneasy at the prospect of losing the Caucusus, the Seljuk Sultan Mahmud sent to Georgia, at the head of the Turkish coalition forces, one of his best generals: Radjin Al-Din Ilguzi, famous for his battles against the Crusaders. On August 12, 1121, near Didgori, King David IV won a decisive victory over the enemy's numerous army. After this victory, he took Tbilisi in 1122 and moved the capital from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. Humane treatment of the Muslim population, as well as the representatives of other religions and cultures in the capital, set a standard for tolerance in his multiethnic kingdom. It was a hallmark not only for his enlightened reign, but for all of Georgian history and culture. In 1123, King David IV liberated the city of Dmanisi ,the last stronghold of the invaders in Georgia. In 1124, David the Builder, at the request of the citizens of the Armenian city of Ani, also liberated Ani, expanding the southern borders of the Georgian Kingdom up to the Araks basin. King David IV, died on January 24, 1125.

During the reigns of his succesors, the borders of the Georgian Kingdom expanded still wider from Nicopsia (a city between modern Sokhi and Tuapse) to Derbent (on the Caspian Sea) and from Ossetia (North Caucasus) to Mt. Ararat in Armenia. During the reign of Queen Tamar (1184-1213) , the great grandaughter of King David IV, the Georgian Kingdom reached the apex of its political might. The official title of Queen Tamar reflects her power: Tamar Bagrationi, by the will of our Lord, Queen of the Abkhazians, Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs and the Armenians, Shirvan-Shah and Shah-in-Shah and ruler of all East and West. A unique Georgian Christian Culture flourished in this multinational state. This was the era of great building projects such as Gelati and Vardzia and the flourishing of a literary tradition revered to this day. It was to Queen Tamar that Shota Rustaveli dedicated his great epic poem, "the Knight in the Tiger's Skin," a poem exemplifing all the virtues of chivalry and honor that were celebrated throughout the expanded Georgian Kingdom during her reign. Queen Tamar left to her heir, Giorgi IV Lasha (1212-1223), a kingdom surrounded by tribute-paying states that filled the royal coffers to overflowing. King Giorgi was planning to join the Crusaders to Palestine when the Mongols invaded Georgia. The Mongols were unstoppable and even King Giorgi's 90,000 horsemen were no match for them. Giorgi Lasha himself was killed in battle against the Mongols in 1223.

It was the beginning of the end of the Golden Age. The more than a century long Mongol domination of Georgia caused both the fragmentation of the kingdom and its gradual decline by the heavy burden of taxation levied upon it. Only in the 14th century was there any relief from Mongol rule. Giorgi V (1314-1346), called the Brilliant, stopped paying tribute and drove the Mongols out. He united Georgia once again, centralized royal power, revived the economy, and established close international commercial ties, mainly with Byzantium, but also with Venice and Genoa.