Post about your current campaign.

[jman47]

I thought this would be a fun idea. Post here about your current campaign and what you are doing. A bit different than just posting a pic of your empire, tell us what you are/have been/will be doing in more detail.

Currently Im having a good time in my English campaign. Its about 1150, and besides taking rennes and caerneveron, ive mostly been crusading against the fatimid hordes. I always hate how the pope seems to have an affair with cairo, so instead of being forced to take a useless (to me) settlement and march back across the map, I preempted it by calling a crusade on Gaza, a more defensible settlement I can use to help the crusader states and have easy access to jerusalem. After defeating about 3 stacks worth of troops and 4 generals, I managed to take it and have held it since the 1120's. The crusaders are holed up in Kerak and antioch after a jihad on jerusalem saw them lose everything else, bit they have held on and I plan on making them a nice buffer state. I have a second crusade on Alexandria with my stack one turn away, and plan on sackibg it, cairo and damietta, and destroying all the buildings to break the fatimids back, who have been severly weakened already and have mostly had only stacks of spear militias and seige units to fight with since losing their best castle. After that my stack will link up with my territory in gaza, take jerusalem and then start working on other settlements to gift to the crusaders.

Back home Ive been using (or abusing) forts to defend against the scots and french, the former which has seen several armies and generals die uselessly in the walls of forts, and the latter which is also fighting my very powerful HRE allies and been unable to mount a competent offense on me. As an interesting note, nobody has taken bruges yet, so once I get some spare florins and a free stack I have a good shot to go deal with it myself, and those annoying flemish pikeman.

So, what fun shenanigans have you all been up to?

[Saibot42]

Going with advice I got from another thread I took Metz much earlier than usual, leaving Staufen turn 1 to grab mercenaries and move towards the border castle. Turn 2 a Geonese princess was right outside Bologna so I grabbed a marriage alliance which has produced heirs. After taking Metz I left a skeleton crew and crossed to Stettin to secure the crown for command and authority, then with Prague falling to the Polish I took that army across to Bern to secure my western front claiming it around turn 29 and losing Heinrich I to age turn 30. Milan looks like it's going to the Geonese for now, so Emperor Heinrich the II will probably take Dijon and join Genoa's war on France. Will probably call a crusade on one of the Spanish settlements under Moor control, and actually join it this time(requested one on Lithuanian lands which I never joined just to keep the pope from crusading against Cairo). Sort of facing both a general crunch and a cash crunch, but should be able to manage it.

[Duck of Death]

Turn 160ish (1380 AD)...
Im England.
My royal family (which I usually try to keep pretty much father-son-like) has changed hands 4 times to 3 different houses (Plantagenet to Stewart to Grey & back to Stewart).
I have 39 territories and went from 16 Generals to only 2 Generals in the span of about 12 turns (the 14th century plague really wiped me out).
Of the 2 Generals I have, they are father and son. The 40 year old son is King and his 60 year old father is the Prince... so that's weird.
But... the plague has passed and I moved both my generals back to London (surrounded by my own spies and assassins), so they're pretty safe for now.
And I have 4 sons/cousins soon to come of age, so my family will look a little healthier soon.

On the world stage, my Empire is looking much better then my family.
I control all of the British Isles (Scotland has 3 territories, but they are my vassal).
Ive spread my Empire out all over the map.
I have 3 territories in NW France, 5 in western Africa, Navarre in Spain, all of Sicily, 7 in Greece, Visby (the little island near Russia) and the 2 southeastern-most territories in the Persian Gulf.
I also have the territory where Amsterdam would be (I forget its name), Mecca and Medina.
Ive made a fortune over the course of 4 or 5 crusades by taking properties in southern Spain from the Moors and selling them to allies and also wiping out the Fatamids and selling all their lands to the Crusader States.

As far as I can tell, Im the first country to upgrade my Navy to be filled with Carracks, so I own the seas wherever I go.

I have 3 citadels (in Nottingham, Corinth and Nicosia) so my money is getting sucked up building new professional armies in those places.

Aside from me, the top countries seem to be France, the Dutch, Crusader States (thanks to my help & theyre still paying me tribute 1000 a month for the next 80 years or so from all the land I sold them) and Papal States (who own all of Italy except for Sicily (which I swiped when the Sicilians got wiped out)).

Most of my lands I got through diplomacy (trades and $$$). Ive managed to not go to war with any Catholic nation so far (except for Scotland early on when they attacked me).

[LuckyPistol]

Turn 160ish (1380 AD)...
Im England.
My royal family (which I usually try to keep pretty much father-son-like) has changed hands 4 times to 3 different houses (Plantagenet to Stewart to Grey & back to Stewart).
I have 39 territories and went from 16 Generals to only 2 Generals in the span of about 12 turns (the 14th century plague really wiped me out).
Of the 2 Generals I have, they are father and son. The 40 year old son is King and his 60 year old father is the Prince... so that's weird.
But... the plague has passed and I moved both my generals back to London (surrounded by my own spies and assassins), so they're pretty safe for now.
And I have 4 sons/cousins soon to come of age, so my family will look a little healthier soon.

On the world stage, my Empire is looking much better then my family.
I control all of the British Isles (Scotland has 3 territories, but they are my vassal).
Ive spread my Empire out all over the map.
I have 3 territories in NW France, 5 in western Africa, Navarre in Spain, all of Sicily, 7 in Greece, Visby (the little island near Russia) and the 2 southeastern-most territories in the Persian Gulf.
I also have the territory where Amsterdam would be (I forget its name), Mecca and Medina.
Ive made a fortune over the course of 4 or 5 crusades by taking properties in southern Spain from the Moors and selling them to allies and also wiping out the Fatamids and selling all their lands to the Crusader States.

As far as I can tell, Im the first country to upgrade my Navy to be filled with Carracks, so I own the seas wherever I go.

I have 3 citadels (in Nottingham, Corinth and Nicosia) so my money is getting sucked up building new professional armies in those places.

Aside from me, the top countries seem to be France, the Dutch, Crusader States (thanks to my help & theyre still paying me tribute 1000 a month for the next 80 years or so from all the land I sold them) and Papal States (who own all of Italy except for Sicily (which I swiped when the Sicilians got wiped out)).

Most of my lands I got through diplomacy (trades and $$$). Ive managed to not go to war with any Catholic nation so far (except for Scotland early on when they attacked me).

Eh? What submod be this?

[Duck of Death]

SS 6.4

By "the Dutch", I meant Denmark.... I just refer to them as "the Dutch"

[Saibot42]

Crusade was called on Vilinus, don't think my guys will make it in time but I may end up with Thorn.

[SanadaYuki]

Turn around 50 The Cuman Khanate report to the world

Region :
We the peaceful people of the Steppes has embraced the people of Ryazan, Astrakhan, Murom, Serdobinskaya and Azaq to our peaceful confederacy.

Economy :
Trade is going well in Kazan, Murom, and Astrakhan, although most of the steppes doesn't yield to much profit to our coffer.

Piety :
Our people's faith to Tengrir is being challenged by other religions especially in Embi, Jaisk, Tragoviste and Baia. But the most problematic issue is the emergence of heretics of Tengrir in our lands, there are 6-7 heretics that we know of, each with sizable followers. We may need to use darker ways to deal with these heretics...

Foreign affairs :
We are allied with the free-men of Novgorod, the Romans also proposed an alliance, however the council believed it is wise to refuse that generous offer for now, as we should not forget their attack on Tragoviste during the first Khan era.
The traitorous people of Khwarzermian Empire will be cut down to the last, they have attacked us again although they were the one scared themselves to offer us peace offering. Our Mighty Khan is currently besieging Urgench and we expect good news and great loot soon.
The pitiful Dutchy of Kiev is besieging Baia, it seems they are bitter Azaq chose to join us instead of them although their failure to conquer Azaq was their own fault. Our warriors is ready for them
We must be careful about the barbarians countries in the West, it seems they have some kind of weapon called Crusade....

Military : Our forces is still too spread out over the Steppes, we need to find a way to unite them.

SS 6.4 Savage AI RR/RC on

[Bardha]

Lithuania late area VH/VH - turn 188.

I currently possess 85 provinces: after getting an alliance with Novgorod, Poland and the Papal States early in the game I took out the Teutonic Order (although they are still not officially "destroyed"; even if they don't own anything anymore, they still appear in the turn marker). At this time Novgorod was attacking the Kievan Rus, eventually eliminating them. Then I moved into Scandinavia to secure my northwestern border and take out the Danes. Meanwhile my alliance with the Poles broke, after the Hungarians (with whom the Poles were allied as well) attacked me. I took out Poland very easily, but conquering Hungary took some more time. This took me all the way into the Balkans, including Greece, and up to Canakkale and Constantinople itself. I also took the islands of Crete and Rhodos of Venice. Meanwhile my northern armies had completed the full conquest of Scandinavia.

At that time the Mongol invasion slowed down, so I decided to break up my alliance with Novgorod before they would be able to retake all their territories lost to the Mongols. I was a bit slow though, and had to grind them down the whole way into the most eastern provinces of the map (the Cumans had been destroyed some time before). Meanwhile both Venice and Sicily attacked me as well, while the Moors took the whole of France and a large part of Germany. I kicked the Sicilians out of Greece (they only had Durazzo and Arta anyway; Corinth and Athens were still rebel after more than 100 turns!), and started to drive back the Venetians out of Germany (that they took from the Holy Roman Empire), while they were pressed hard by the Moors to their west.

I also got into a war with the Moors near Groningen and Hamburg. It was (and still is) a long war, with massive battles and numerous casualties, but eventually I pushed them back and took Antwerp, Bruges, Caen, Nuremberg, Cologne and Frankfurt (the latter was Papal States territory after they took it during a crusade). England remains on its island, which is just fine. Venice has crumbled under the combined pressure of the Moors and myself and is reduced to 1 territory (Insbruck). I got into contact with the Fatimid Caliphate as well, just about when I was finishing off Hungary and tried to take Constantinople. The scenario was similar as the one with the Moors: massive battles and I suffered a lot from their Mamluk archers. Eventually I captured Constantinople, Smyrna, Nicea (which was still held by rebels after the implosion of the Byzantines) and Isparta. I constructed 7 forts and defended the area, effectively halting the offensive (not really necessary to invade the whole of Anatolia). I pushed the Fatimids back over the Caucasus as well. Indirectly I was helped by the Timurids, who attacked the Fatimids in the far east.

I recently invaded Italy. I got pushed back from Venice, which i still held by the Moors, but I conquered Bari and the other fortress on the Adriatic (Acosta?) near Venice and Bologna) from Sicily. I'm also besieging Naples at the moment, as well as Rome, which is my final target to finish the campaign. It was a hell of a ride, but well worth it! At around turn 100 I thought it would be a piece of cake to finish it, as the worst had passed already I thought, but then I got into contact with both the Moors and Fatimids. Both had a large empire and immense resources, and both were stronger than me. Taking them on both at the same time with somewhat inferior units was really cool. And although I didn't utterly defeat them (no point in doing that unless you want to conquer the whole map), it is clear that I won.

[Justinian Australis]

Currently playing as the Romans with the HIP submod and am loving it to bits, it just feels realistic. I am around the year 1160 and have made some pretty reasonable gains. Made the mistake of trying to advance too quickly after capturing the city south of Angora before pushing on towards Sis, with the aim of Antioch however the Zengids have taking this region so that will have to wait for now. The Seljuk's I have down to one last province and after merrily assassinating their generals I was about to push on to their final stronghold when the Fatimids decided it was high time to invade and attack Lefkosia (in Cyprus) with a large stack. For a few turns I managed to buy peace from them but after relations soured (abysmal) they decided to resume the siege, necessitating refitting my forces at Sis for a quick assault across to the island for victory before returning to Sis. A nearly half stack of elite troops plus some siege weapons are about to be put on a boat and they will launch lightning raids upon the Fatimid coastal cities, in the manner of those daring Byzantine invasions several centuries before, where the cities will be looted before moving on. After that I will put the Seljuk 'empire' out of its misery.

In the west it is extremely quiet thankfully but recently the Sicilians decided to invade and attack Dyrrachium but the Emperor advanced from his base at Ras and inflicted a catastrophic defeat upon them. Early on I went to war with the Serbians after having formed an alliance through the marriage with my princess however they decided to betray us. They besieged the city east of Ras but mysteriously disappeared after one turn. The Empire was in no mood for reconciliation so an army decended upon Ras like locusts and sacked it before occupying it as a crucial base for the region. I contemplated crushing the Serbians for good but decided on peace which was happily accepted. We then begun funnelling money to the Serbs after the Venetians went to war with them. So right now, even as the Hungarians grow powerful, all is quiet in the West, with the Qipchaks doing nothing exciting to the north of Constantinople. I have been having a bit of fun trying to capture a lucrative gold mine in Hungary, after an English merchant swooped upon mine and now extract over 5000 gold per turn. I've tried assassinating and overtaking this English chap but he has proven too hard. I will perservere though as this mine could produce enough money to fund a proper army for the western themes.

Fun times ahead!

[Bardha]

Currently playing as the Romans with the HIP submod and am loving it to bits, it just feels realistic. I am around the year 1160 and have made some pretty reasonable gains. Made the mistake of trying to advance too quickly after capturing the city south of Angora before pushing on towards Sis, with the aim of Antioch however the Zengids have taking this region so that will have to wait for now. The Seljuk's I have down to one last province and after merrily assassinating their generals I was about to push on to their final stronghold when the Fatimids decided it was high time to invade and attack Lefkosia (in Cyprus) with a large stack. For a few turns I managed to buy peace from them but after relations soured (abysmal) they decided to resume the siege, necessitating refitting my forces at Sis for a quick assault across to the island for victory before returning to Sis. A nearly half stack of elite troops plus some siege weapons are about to be put on a boat and they will launch lightning raids upon the Fatimid coastal cities, in the manner of those daring Byzantine invasions several centuries before, where the cities will be looted before moving on. After that I will put the Seljuk 'empire' out of its misery.

In the west it is extremely quiet thankfully but recently the Sicilians decided to invade and attack Dyrrachium but the Emperor advanced from his base at Ras and inflicted a catastrophic defeat upon them. Early on I went to war with the Serbians after having formed an alliance through the marriage with my princess however they decided to betray us. They besieged the city east of Ras but mysteriously disappeared after one turn. The Empire was in no mood for reconciliation so an army decended upon Ras like locusts and sacked it before occupying it as a crucial base for the region. I contemplated crushing the Serbians for good but decided on peace which was happily accepted. We then begun funnelling money to the Serbs after the Venetians went to war with them. So right now, even as the Hungarians grow powerful, all is quiet in the West, with the Qipchaks doing nothing exciting to the north of Constantinople. I have been having a bit of fun trying to capture a lucrative gold mine in Hungary, after an English merchant swooped upon mine and now extract over 5000 gold per turn. I've tried assassinating and overtaking this English chap but he has proven too hard. I will perservere though as this mine could produce enough money to fund a proper army for the western themes.

Fun times ahead!

Sis, Ras, Serbians, Zengids,... which submod are you playing?

[jurcek1987]

Sis, Ras, Serbians, Zengids,... which submod are you playing?

SSHIP

[KaiserPhilipV]

It's the end of the 14th century, pretty much. I'm playing the Late Campaign as the Holy Roman Empire. My Empire stretches (though with some interruption) from the Highlands of Scotland, to the streets of Granada, to the cold forests of Scandinavia, to the heartlands of Lombardy and the canals of Venice, to the Western Marches of Poland, to the Carpathian Basin, and across the Mediterranean in the East from the banks of the Nile to the walls of Antioch. Things are pretty great domestically - careful planning is keeping all my vassals happy; economic prosperity, lots of trade, and religious homogenity have made everyone pretty happy to be subjects of the Empire.

My rule of the seas has been challenged. A healthy and stable early start to the Campaign allowed me to focus on building up my economy, and thanks to my allies being buffers to any problems I might have I was able to build a navy that I daresay would've rivaled the Ottomans at their height. There was a time I and my allies unquestionably controlled trade on the High Seas. Those times have vanished with politics and changing alliances over the last 300 some-odd years. My biggest menace right now are the Danes, their dragon-headed vessels proving to be quite a problem. Punitive naval action is held back by the Papacy who greatly favors the Danes despite being the fact I'm the whole reason he's sitting in Peter's Chair in the first place. The last of the Moorish attempt at breaking the blockades has vanished.

Speaking of the Moors, there's a lot of interesting stuff going on over in Iberia. I control Granada and Andalusia, thanks to the efforts of Wolfgang Herse (recently renamed, "the Conqueror" by the game) who I affectionately refer to as "Wolfgang the Caliph-Killer." In acts of personal daring he has personally killed three Moorish Caliphs in battle and lead many a cavalry charge in which more than a few Moorish Taj's and Taifa's heads rolled. The Ayyubids have taken notice, and last turn they sent three - count 'em, THREE - assassins at once to try and kill Wolfgang. All three of them were killed in the attempt - I like to think he did this when all of them tried to attack him at once in a three-to-one fight, like Manuel da Fonseca (ignoring the fact he actually killed five). An army of Moors is presently headed to the poorly-defended Granada (most of the Iberian Expeditionary Legion is garrisoning Cordoba, with Granada being filled with units in the process of retraining). A second and third legion is being deployed to Murcia and Valencia respectively, and they should be able to quickly storm their capitols being undefended as Wolfgang's conquests have left the Moors strapped for manpower and focused what they have to Southern Iberia - and North Africa, as Sicily is rapidly making short work of their holdings therein. The Sicilians are enemies of mine due to an event in the Grand Campaign referred to as the "War of the Great Conspiracy." But it's been over a hundred years since that time and about half that since any of the powers that were a part of the Great Conspiracy entered into battle with Imperial forces, and the Aragonese (the only remaining native Iberian power, the Moors having toppled the thrones of Portugal and Castile) have made peace with me. Hopefully this will start a domino effect and we can normalize relations with the rest of the factions involved in the conflict.

The British Isles and how I got there in the first place is a long story, but I'll keep it to current happenings. My joint-reconquest of them from Scotland with England has gone well, though I've been pulling most of the weight. England did manage to take Dumonia though, which is good. The only dominions still left to Scotland are Ireland, Northumbria, and Mercia. The rest is in my hands. England has made a move toward Nottingham and I've sent my forces from Winchester and London to assist. The king and Crown Prince are waiting for us with the last remaining Scottish armies on the mainland. I'm going to sell those fiefdoms that can be rightwise called English back to the King of England for a flat payment of 1,000 florins each - hell I'll even throw Normandy in there. I'll redirect those garrisons to Ireland and liberate them from barbaric Scottish tyranny. But don't worry, I'll still get my pound of flesh out of the English dominions: I've monopolized all the resources in the English realms, essentially setting up what I call the "British Imperial Company." Trade Rights will ensure they get a slice of the pie, but I'll more than make up the expenses incurred from helping the English regain their homeland.

For once, nothing is going on in Scandinavia. The Danes have finally seen the futility of continued attempts to remove me - you'd think me taking the Jutland and their capitol of Arhus would've shown them that in the first place, along with the network of fully-garrisoned island forts that watch the Zealand crossing.

Eastern Europe exploded into war between me and Poland after they attempted to invade Bohemia and were just barely rebuffed. My garrisons immediately sallied out under fresh and ready commanders in a punitive expedition. In a season we captured Krakow, defeated their then-existing field armies, and laid siege to Thorn where the Grand Duke was then holding court. My original plan was to also invade Masovia, but we sustained too many casualties fighting their armies in the field, and I daresay based on what I've seen thus far the Poles are the closest things I have to an equal in Eastern Europe. The Pope's heartstrings were tugged for the Poles though (I personally regret that it came to this in the first place, having a fondness for the Duchy myself, and miss when we were friends against the Lithuanian pagans) and he ordered a Pax Christi between us. So I'm waiting Thorn's garrison out and rebuffing attempts from Plock to dislodge us, while sending an army around Poland into land controlled by Kiev in an attempt to circumvent the Duchy. Which is just as well; the Teutonic Knights while holding on valiantly are in need of help against the Novgorodians and Lithuanians. I'm not much troubled by Kiev; in recent years they sent a force of 6,000 into the Carpathian basin which I was able to destroy with a force of a little over 2,000 thanks to gunpowder, advanced formation tactics, and the superb quality of Imperial troops. Only the Boyas and Druzhina have ever been able to give me pause, and they seem to possess them in short supply. I've taken the fortress of Halych after a field battle before its walls and a costly siege. There's a Kievan host within the territory, but I'm confident we could rebuff them.

The Holy Land territories and Egypt continue to be prosperous, but at present the Turkish War against is us proving challenging. We've recently acquired Syria and hold it in spite of their attempts at reclamation. They are making headway into Persia and I fear encirclement, even though between Persia and my territories in the Middle East is one of the harshest deserts in the world. The Turks have surprised me before - their Ghulams match and even best in some cases my own knights which have no equal in Europe that they have yet met. Their infantry is solid and I can't always match their skirmish cavalry.

That's all that's going on with the present turn.

God I love this mod.

[flyingcat]

Late Campaign/Khwarezm/VH-VH,Gracul without any BGR/ Turn 12(AD1231)

Having defeated core Turkish and Egyptian forces on the southwest front,Shah(Only Family Member) successfully sacked Damascus and march towards Antioch and Aleppo.
While two of his lieutenants captured Yerevan,Tbilisi,Tabriz and Trebizond,another general managed to capture Ahvaz and Basra on the southern front.
Baghdad and Mosul have been under control since turn 3.

Mongols are marching slowly on the east front,only captured 5 cities.
Every settlement in Chorosan will be abandoned,with only 1 spear guarding.

However,3 full stacks of elite units will be assembled between Kermanshah and Ray by turn 20.
Furthermore,Shah and his expeditionary forces will come aiding after conquering Constantinople and Egypt by around Turn 35.

Then the Mongols will be repulsed and overwhelmed by countless militias and high-star generals!
Hopefully so.

[Kataphractos]

Early campaign with Holy Roman Empire, M/M, Year: ~1287

First ~100 turns were rather quiet. Had a scuffle with Genoa and took their capitol, and did the same to Denmark and just weathered their attempts to take back Arhus while dodging excommunication threats. I was angling to see how long I could go without getting excommed for the most part.

Then Hungary, who I thought was tied up with Byzantium, steals Vienna from me. This cannot stand, so I take it back, and am promptly excommunicated for it. Cue most Catholic factions going to war with me. Two crusades would be called on Frankfurt, and the first one was lost after a French army mauled my defending army (but lost) and a Portuguese army took the city before I could reinforce it. But at least I took out eight of the 15+ crusading armies sent at the city. The second one is still ongoing, but thanks to preparations and building strategic forts after the first crusade, no army has come close to threatening Frankfurt a second time.

Long story short, I wanted revenge on Portugal, who had become the regional power in Iberia, controlling half the peninsula. I took some of my southern troops and landed them in Fez and took Markarresh as well, and then started a slow march north through Iberia, kicking out the Portuguese, Aragonese, Moors, French (they held Valencia from a prior crusade), and Genoa (they somehow ended up here after I kicked them out of Italy and north Africa). Scotland wiped themselves out trying to take Bruges (first time I've killed off a faction without capturing a single one of their territories), England and France have been beaten to a pulp and are no longer a threat, Denmark has been pushed into Sweden and has only a couple territories left, Venice is gone, Hungary eventually died out, and the Crusader States are being taken out by my only ally, the Byzantines. Damn CS...I ran interference for them after a crusade to prevent Jerusalem from falling into Muslim hands and they turned their backs on me at first opportunity...they deserve their fate at Orthodox hands.

Not surprisingly, I'm still excommunicated even with faction leader changes and three popes coming and going, and frankly, this is the longest I've been excommed (~80 turns). I'm more surprised I haven't had any regional revolts, but my emperors keep getting the "Offends the nobility" trait, and I've had a few generals (and even an heir!) go rebel and get the "You are NOT my king!" trait...never seen that one before.