[Interactive FCRC Preview-AAR]Fall of the Cross - Rise of the Crescent

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

The purpose of this AAR is to give you guys a sneak preview of the upcoming official submod/"expansion" for
Chivalry - Total War; Fall of the Cross - Rise of the Crescent, which starts with the battle of Arsuf during
the 3rd Crusade, through the 1204 sacking of Constantinople, to the rise of Venice and the coming of the
Mongol hordes. The campaign will run from 1191 to 1315.

VERSION: Chivalry - Total War : Fall of the Cross - Rise of the Crescent beta
ENGINE: BI 1.6, but FCRC can of course be played with RTW 1.5
FILES MODIFIED: None, it's the almost finished beta of FCRC
DIFFICULTY: H/M
UNIT SIZE: huge, the Chivalry download thread recommends large; but this mod is set about 120 years after the start of the earliest Chivalry campaign. The European population had grown quite a bit and civilization was flourishing, so that's why I have chosen Huge.
FACTION: For the purpose of this AAR I've chosen Angevin (Anglo-Norman) England.

Everything in red is a note or an explanation of something in the FCRC campaign. Note that the version you see here is a beta, and is not fully representative of the final release.
Also, because this is a preview AAR, I'll sometimes ask you guys what I should do next, so if you want to see anything specific (oh dear, I can feel "do a naval invasion of Mongolian Territory" coming), just say so when I give you the opportunity.

Prologue
1191 Anno Domini

Almost a hundred years have past since the capturing of the Holy City by the forces of Christendom. More than a hundred years since the founding of the Norman-English Kingdom, and more than a hundred years after the bitter defeat of the Romans at Manzikert. And now, a dark cloud looms over Europe. Salah ad Din, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, has conquered the Holy City, and now marches onto the shattered remnants of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Pope has ordered a Crusade, and has found followers in the Kings of the great Realms, but many of the European nobles are too busy fighting each other rather than God's enemies, effectively leaving the Crusaders with a smaller force than those of the 1st Crusade against a larger Seljuk force. Richard I Plantagenet conquered Acre together with Philip II of France, and is now determined to take the Holy City back. Philip returned to France after a despute between him and Richard, and has taken most of his men with him. In Anatolia, the Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich I "Barbarossa" von Hohenstaufen, was making good progress. But alas, He didn't want it to be so; and Friedrich drowned while crossing a river. His army scattered, most returning home, some marching on to meet up with the crusaders at Acre.
This now leaves Richard the only high Noble in the Holy Land; will he be able to retake Jerusalem?
Meanwhile, there is news of a relentless horde moving over the Steppes, currently marching on Samarkand. They call themselves the Монгол, the Mongol. Surely, these heathens won't be able to topple the mighty fortresses of Europe?

[demagogos nicator]

I found a mistake there I think The campaign will run from 1191 not 1991

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

woops

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

So, I'll get this started today: pics are done for the first post, I just had to do something in the weekend, so that's why I didn't start this yet.

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Current Situation

This is the land of the Anglo-Saxons, the Regnum Angliae. Richard rules over this land, though he spends most of his time in Anjou, Francia.


This is West Francia, including Anjou, under the dominion of House Plantagenet, descendants of William the Conqueror. It is here that Richard Plantagenet chooses to rule his domain from, and it is from here that he left for the Holy War.


To the south of Francia is Hispania, where the brave catholic leaders continue to fight against the heathen Moors


To the east of Hispania lies Italia, which is the domain of many lords and dukes, including his holiness the Pope. Here the new Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich von Hohenstaufen is currently invading the Sicilo-Norman kingdom of Naples and Sicily

Don't mind the colour of the Italian faction. It was so alike to the Bohemian, Polish and Moorish colour that I just had to change it. No matter where they'd expand, I'd always be wondering who's who.

More eastward lies the Roman Empire, centered around Constantinople. After a bloody civil war, a new dynasty has taken power there: The Angeloi. Will they be as mighty as their predecessors, the Komnenoi?


And even further eastward are the Steppes. We don't know much about the people living here, but recent news has it that a large horde of fierce warriors rides from across these vast plains to bring death upon every city it faces. The Mongols have arrived!

Yes, they are in FCRC

But now to business. Our brave king Richard stands in the Holy Land, but it is up to you, his loyal advisors, to choose how we will proceed:

Vote 1 Closed

OPTIONS in the Holy Land: 1. March to Jerusalem, take back the Holy City and defeat Salah ad-Din. Do note that this will require extra managing of Plantagenet territory in the Holy Land 2. Pull Richard out of the Crusade and use his manpower in Europe! OPTIONS in Europe: Our European territories lie in ruin. Because of his crusade, Richard has put high taxes on the people of Anjou and England. our options are: A. Lower the taxes in West Francia to make sure that they remain loyal. This will mean a hit on our treasury, though. B. Concentrate on building the economy of our English holdings, so that we have a strong base to build from. It's up to you Please post 1-A, or 2-B, or whichever choice you make

Vote 1's result: 1-A

[dacder]

1-A

[DaVinci]

Well, well

Vote: 1A

You should replace at least one of the Welsh Longbowmen with an Italian Crossbowmen unit (descr_strat) - he had ca. 300 with him, iirc..
And i can't remember that he had Longbowmen in his army.

[Gotenus]

Very nice! I have been an avid supporter of Roma Surrectum, but you have inspired me to follow Chivalry: TW as well!

For my vote:
1B

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Well, well

Vote: 1A

You should replace at least one of the Welsh Longbowmen with an Italian Crossbowmen unit (descr_strat) - he had ca. 300 with him, iirc..
And i can't remember that he had Longbowmen in his army.

Richard's army is a bit of a W.I.P at the moment; I'm more concerned with AI expansion. I've almost got Byzantium to "kick the bucket", and then to be replaced with the Italians (Venice). There is a rare case where the Byzantines survive the starting onslaught and come out as a major power.

Very nice! I have been an avid supporter of Roma Surrectum, but you have inspired me to follow Chivalry: TW as well!

For my vote:
1B

Thank you

[DaVinci]

I'm pretty impressed by your efforts to balance the FCRC campaign properly quite along the ChivTW philosophy of a historical-realism balancing
I'm excited how the end product (release) will play out

My vote is somehow between 1A and 1B, while i personally eventually would play historically with Richard ( trying a Levante subjugation but it must fail - the failure needs then a microbalancing-approach for a strong muslim AI - so i would have to travel back to europe with a rest army, after some adventures in the Levante ).

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Don't worry; even if the battle of Arsuf is won -which is very difficulty-, the chances that the player also beats the garrisons in Damas and Jerusalem are small

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Deadline for voting: tomorrow, 10 PM - GMT +1 (that's my local time =D)

[demagogos nicator]

My vote is the same as the vote of DaVinci

[DaVinci]

I was wrong, Richard had some Longbowmen and Crossbowmen in his army.

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

1-A It is, first post updated, will update the AAR within a hour or so.

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Update

The Battle of Arsuf
When Richard's army left from Acre, his army consisted of French and English knights, lots of men from Europe willing to participate in the crusade, Welsh Longbowmen and Genoese Crossbowmen. The army marched for several days, constantly harassed by Saracen units.

Until they neared Arsuf...

A giant force, under Saladin himself, suddenly fell upon him. Feeling that he had to win this battle, Richard organized a hasty defence...

Battle of Arsuf

I'm going to put all the battle pictures in spoilers, for people with a bad connection. Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  Our forces suddenly saw the Saracens and started to panic. "Holy Sepulchre, save us!" was widely heard. Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  At the head of the Saracen army was Saladin, the most cunning leader this part of the world had ever seen. Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  The Crusader column quickly turned to form a choatic battle line. Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  The Genoese and Welsh opened fire on the Saracens. Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  Meanwhile, a few knights desperately charged a group of Saracen infantry, killing half of them (the Saracens, that is) Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  A group of knights who managed to penetrate Saracen lines slew Saladin, but tides were not fortunate for the Crusaders, and many were surrounded and killed. Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  Richard, knowing that this battle could not be won, ordered the remainder of the army to retreat. A heavy blow was dealt, but there were still fresh men in Acre and Tripoli, and Richard wasn't planning to give up on Jerusalem just yet... Damn, I almost won. After Saladin's death, most Saracen infantry started routing, but my cavalry got split up and were cut down by Mamluks.

Stay tuned for the next chapter

[Zenith Darksea]

Is that the Italians I see in (landlocked) Bosnia on the campaign map?

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Yeah, it's a placeholder. Venice historically held almost the whole eastern Adriatic coast, so I still need to add a region which only has the island and some coastlines there. Will probably be an island settlement with a landbridge.

[DaVinci]

Damn, looks like that Salah Ad Din needs still more special AI survival bonus.

I would add special traits to Richard and Salah Ad Din, incl. eventually special bg's in edu (more men, slight better stats). Imo. such a historical campaign where Salah Ad Din (or Richard) dies too easily is a bit odd.

[demagogos nicator]

Damn, looks like that Salah Ad Din needs still more special AI survival bonus.

I would add special traits to Richard and Salah Ad Din, incl. eventually special bg's in edu (more men, slight better stats). Imo. such a historical campaign where Salah Ad Din (or Richard) dies too easily is a bit odd.