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Ah, Cumans. Now all you need is couple of more pagan tribes who decide to bandwagon against Pronsk. 
AI certainly timed it's attack well.
AI certainly timed it's attack well.
Stupid brother, marrying some local....
Handaxe?
Did they before that inventions use axes with their foots?
Handaxe?
Did they before that inventions use axes with their foots?
Pause-sablity.
demokratickid: Okay, true, true, but I'm not asking for permanent peace, just a pause in the slaughter. I promise, I'll kill again! Kill, kill, blood, blood, okay? Sigh.
RGB: Wow, I followed the link on the Kolinsky page to that Russian ferret site…nice!
Murmurandus: It's an attractive strategy, for sure. And probably fairly easy to implement.
Olaus Petrus: Well, again, I'm glad that the Cumans' Pecheneg allies didn't join in. And if AI Vsevolod decides to come back for another run (remember, he still holds claims on Chernigov and Polotsk), I'm in deep trouble.
Enewald: Well, at least she's young, fertile, and not completely mediocre. I just think I could have done better.
And, yes, I'll keep an eye out for those foot-axes. (They would definitely make kung fu movies more exciting, no?)
Update.
demokratickid: Okay, true, true, but I'm not asking for permanent peace, just a pause in the slaughter. I promise, I'll kill again! Kill, kill, blood, blood, okay? Sigh.
RGB: Wow, I followed the link on the Kolinsky page to that Russian ferret site…nice!
Murmurandus: It's an attractive strategy, for sure. And probably fairly easy to implement.
Olaus Petrus: Well, again, I'm glad that the Cumans' Pecheneg allies didn't join in. And if AI Vsevolod decides to come back for another run (remember, he still holds claims on Chernigov and Polotsk), I'm in deep trouble.
Enewald: Well, at least she's young, fertile, and not completely mediocre. I just think I could have done better.
And, yes, I'll keep an eye out for those foot-axes. (They would definitely make kung fu movies more exciting, no?)
Update.
1081 (part 3) Saray seems to be the hardest word.
The Cumans had started a war, so we prepared for battle!
Which, in Polotsk, meant having our fort fall to pieces. The local peasants reacted to this with exceeding good sense:
They ran.
Even without help from Polotsk, Marshal Grigorii was able to assemble an army and head for Desht-I-Kipchak. With any luck, he would be able to strike quickly before the Cumans could concentrate their forces.
Adleida of Pronsk continued to know on which side her bread was buttered.
Her praise even led to people saying I was Just. "Gleb the Just" was something I could get used to people saying, I thought.
The battle began, and initially we had a numerical advantage.
But the Cumans brought troops across the Don river from Sarkel, and Yaroslav could only bring up 500 men from Chernigov. (Which made no sense, the Chernigov regiment used be as large as the capital regiment. What was going on here?)
By the time the Cuman regiments from the south arrived, the fight was even, but I had hopes we could press our early advantage to win the day.
Indeed, the Cumans broke, with Sharu-Khan fleeing the field of battle. Meantime, Rostislav Hussain had beaten down a minor rebellion as he headed south, and Agafia's Saray regiment had crossed the Volga and was engaged in a minor battle.
We won, but five thousand men lay dead. Which meant that the siege would be slow unless I activated the Smolensk regiment, which would be costly.
So perhaps it was time to follow in my father's footsteps and call the Estates General to get out of debt.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten what happened to my father when he did that. Damn! My reign as "Gleb the Just" had lasted just six weeks.
God, I was so tense, my back was as stiff as a board.
Well, at least I could crown myself Prince of Podlasia now.
This was the new Countess of Murom. Low-born, but Hubba…Hubba…Hubba. (Well, except for that haircut.)
She was the wife of Mstislav Mstislavich, but had previously been wed to his late cousin, Vsevolod, the previous count.
Who, it turns out, had gone insane before his death. Can't really blame him. Hubba.
This was less good news, that we also had a new Countess of Ryazan (some random German woman). Why had Oda not kept the province to administer herself? This made no sense.
I wrote to Oda, demanding an explanation. The reply I got read, "Lost a province, Master Gleb has. How embarrassing... how embarrassing." I…I think she was punking me. Very weird.
Fortunately, it was then we arrived in Marienburg. Slaughtering rebels would make a good distraction.
Roman mobilized the Smolensk regiment and headed south to join the battle.
However, it looked as though no amount of troops could save Saray.
Bryachislavich mobilized his regiments as we started the siege in Desht-I-Kipchak.
Those regiments headed south, although I wondered if the presence of the Zyriane regiment nearby meant I should attack Zyriane while the regiment was away. But I decided that I didn't have enough troops in the north for that and that it was better to concentrate in the south.
(How the hell did the Cumans have almost 600 troops in Zyriane? I couldn't even muster 60 from Voytaki, which was right next door to that province.)
So…the fort in Polotsk fell down, and the people ran off. And the solution to this is…introducing a theological concept? Really? (Well, it can't hurt, I guess.)
Nothing could save Saray. The one "consolation" was that economy had been ruined (producing less than half the 3.6 gold/month economic base it once had), which meant that it wasn't as bad of a loss at once would have been.
Looking abroad, I saw that Castille, under the toddler-king Guzman, had taken the last of the Badajoz lands and was now at war with the Emirate of Mallorca. The Castillians had taken Valencia but lost Zaragoza. (Also the Emirate of Zaragoza had seized Castellon, and the Hammadid had reabsorbed the renegade Sheikdom of Mzab and thus its Riojan vassal.)
Pope Crazypants had excommunicated yet another King, in his apparent quest to kick everyone out of the Catholic Church except for himself and his buddy, William of England. The Kings of Poland, Scotland, and France (and Dirk van Holland, the most powerful Dutch Count) were now all excommunicated. And Pope Crazypants wonders why no one is joining his "crusade"? Thank God that's not my problem. (I have enough of my own.)
Simeon Nikitich developed stress symptoms. Join the club, kid, join the club. I need a nap, medication, and possibly my wife consenting to have Ksenia join us for a threesome. God, what an awful year.
Well, maybe next year will be better. Maybe we will beat the Cumans and have peace. If only…
(Oh, and in International News not already shown, the Archbishopric of Armenia [the "Armenia" that's actually in Armenia, as opposed to Rubenid Armenia, which is in Cilicia] declared war on the Empire, but will probably be reabsorbed fairly quickly. And there was one Christian realm that did join the "crusade", the Kingdom of Nubia. Which declared war on the Emirate of Cyrenaica…and was promptly wiped off the map. So much for the crusade.)
Peace and serenity to you all.
The Cumans had started a war, so we prepared for battle!
Which, in Polotsk, meant having our fort fall to pieces. The local peasants reacted to this with exceeding good sense:
They ran.
Even without help from Polotsk, Marshal Grigorii was able to assemble an army and head for Desht-I-Kipchak. With any luck, he would be able to strike quickly before the Cumans could concentrate their forces.
Adleida of Pronsk continued to know on which side her bread was buttered.
Her praise even led to people saying I was Just. "Gleb the Just" was something I could get used to people saying, I thought.
The battle began, and initially we had a numerical advantage.
But the Cumans brought troops across the Don river from Sarkel, and Yaroslav could only bring up 500 men from Chernigov. (Which made no sense, the Chernigov regiment used be as large as the capital regiment. What was going on here?)
By the time the Cuman regiments from the south arrived, the fight was even, but I had hopes we could press our early advantage to win the day.
Indeed, the Cumans broke, with Sharu-Khan fleeing the field of battle. Meantime, Rostislav Hussain had beaten down a minor rebellion as he headed south, and Agafia's Saray regiment had crossed the Volga and was engaged in a minor battle.
We won, but five thousand men lay dead. Which meant that the siege would be slow unless I activated the Smolensk regiment, which would be costly.
So perhaps it was time to follow in my father's footsteps and call the Estates General to get out of debt.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten what happened to my father when he did that. Damn! My reign as "Gleb the Just" had lasted just six weeks.
God, I was so tense, my back was as stiff as a board.
Well, at least I could crown myself Prince of Podlasia now.
This was the new Countess of Murom. Low-born, but Hubba…Hubba…Hubba. (Well, except for that haircut.)
She was the wife of Mstislav Mstislavich, but had previously been wed to his late cousin, Vsevolod, the previous count.
Who, it turns out, had gone insane before his death. Can't really blame him. Hubba.
This was less good news, that we also had a new Countess of Ryazan (some random German woman). Why had Oda not kept the province to administer herself? This made no sense.
I wrote to Oda, demanding an explanation. The reply I got read, "Lost a province, Master Gleb has. How embarrassing... how embarrassing." I…I think she was punking me. Very weird.
Fortunately, it was then we arrived in Marienburg. Slaughtering rebels would make a good distraction.
Roman mobilized the Smolensk regiment and headed south to join the battle.
However, it looked as though no amount of troops could save Saray.
Bryachislavich mobilized his regiments as we started the siege in Desht-I-Kipchak.
Those regiments headed south, although I wondered if the presence of the Zyriane regiment nearby meant I should attack Zyriane while the regiment was away. But I decided that I didn't have enough troops in the north for that and that it was better to concentrate in the south.
(How the hell did the Cumans have almost 600 troops in Zyriane? I couldn't even muster 60 from Voytaki, which was right next door to that province.)
So…the fort in Polotsk fell down, and the people ran off. And the solution to this is…introducing a theological concept? Really? (Well, it can't hurt, I guess.)
Nothing could save Saray. The one "consolation" was that economy had been ruined (producing less than half the 3.6 gold/month economic base it once had), which meant that it wasn't as bad of a loss at once would have been.
Looking abroad, I saw that Castille, under the toddler-king Guzman, had taken the last of the Badajoz lands and was now at war with the Emirate of Mallorca. The Castillians had taken Valencia but lost Zaragoza. (Also the Emirate of Zaragoza had seized Castellon, and the Hammadid had reabsorbed the renegade Sheikdom of Mzab and thus its Riojan vassal.)
Pope Crazypants had excommunicated yet another King, in his apparent quest to kick everyone out of the Catholic Church except for himself and his buddy, William of England. The Kings of Poland, Scotland, and France (and Dirk van Holland, the most powerful Dutch Count) were now all excommunicated. And Pope Crazypants wonders why no one is joining his "crusade"? Thank God that's not my problem. (I have enough of my own.)
Simeon Nikitich developed stress symptoms. Join the club, kid, join the club. I need a nap, medication, and possibly my wife consenting to have Ksenia join us for a threesome. God, what an awful year.
Well, maybe next year will be better. Maybe we will beat the Cumans and have peace. If only…
(Oh, and in International News not already shown, the Archbishopric of Armenia [the "Armenia" that's actually in Armenia, as opposed to Rubenid Armenia, which is in Cilicia] declared war on the Empire, but will probably be reabsorbed fairly quickly. And there was one Christian realm that did join the "crusade", the Kingdom of Nubia. Which declared war on the Emirate of Cyrenaica…and was promptly wiped off the map. So much for the crusade.)
Peace and serenity to you all.
31st December 1081
Gleb Sviatoslavich, of the House of Rurikovich
Prince of Pronsk, Ryazan, Cheremisa, Smolensk, and Podlasia (that's nice, anyway)
Count of Pereyaslavl, Tmutarakan, Polotsk, Smolensk, and (ugh) Marienburg
Gleb Sviatoslavich, of the House of Rurikovich
Prince of Pronsk, Ryazan, Cheremisa, Smolensk, and Podlasia (that's nice, anyway)
Count of Pereyaslavl, Tmutarakan, Polotsk, Smolensk, and (ugh) Marienburg
Divine rights, now the ruler has rights to lustful while stressed!
Bring the wenches!
Bring the wenches!
'Pope Crazypants' This term can be applied to most popes in CK. Why would you PO France, your VERY Catholic neighbors? Bloody Pope, now I must go console myself in Russia...
Losing Saray is nothing, if you can conquer Desht-i-Kipchak, it's much better province and it forces Sharu-khan to relocate his capital.
Rurikovich Resurrectus!
Yes, I'm back. What? I just took a nap, much as Gleb loves to do. A quick 20. (Except that it was months, not minutes. Minor detail.) To all of those who missed this AAR, I hope you enjoy its revival. To any who are just discovering it, I hope you don't feel it was better left for dead.
What prompted me to bring it back? Well, I was in the mood one night to re-read my favAARite AAR, my inspiration and touchstone, Real Men Do It Alphabetically—an AARgau, and much to my delight, I found that the pictures were working again. (They hadn't been last time I looked, and it's a difficult read without the images.) A quick 91 pages later, and I was ready to go. Nothing like reading over a century's worth of gamey exploits to fire up the old drive!
Oh, and apparently this thing has actually won an award or two. (Okay, it was two. Or fractions of two, specifically, since there were ties in the voting both times.) Who knew? Well, the people voted for the awards, the people who awarded the awards, and the people who read about the awards, that's who knew. Unfortunately, I fell into none of these categories until I realized that the best way to find this thread was to do a Google-search (rather than, say, setting the board to "Display All Threads Since the Big Bang", and paging through page after page looking for mine), and then, very much to my surprise, I found out about my awards. So thank you all, so very much, so very belatedly.
And now! The responses to the (very old) feedback you've all been waiting (and waiting…and waiting…) for!
Enewald: Unlimited wenching? Hmm, that's a theological concept I can get behind! (Metaphorically speaking, that is. I'm thinking face-to-face for the actual event.) All of a sudden, having that fort fall down in Polotsk is looking well worth it.
RGB, democratickid: Yes, apparently the historic Pope Alexander II was not at all stark raving bonkers, but this one is. Although, to be fair, if we're going by the historic Alexander II, we should remember that he died in 1073. Pope Crazypants is doing okay for someone whose brain has been rotting for nine years, I suppose.
Devin Perry: True, I have backed off of the scutage a bit, but it's still close to the Feudal Contract limit of 50%. Even though I actually gain loyalty from the vassals at that rate, it could be inhibiting regiment size. I'm just shocked that it's to such a degree. (Although, to be fair, Chernigov is in revolt, too; that probably keeps the size down, as well.)
If I can attain peace (okay, everyone, stop laughing) and build myself up to a solid financial base (I said, STOP LAUGHING!), I can cut the scutage some more, but at the moment it makes up almost half of my limited income, so I can't do that just yet.
Murmurandus: I'll take them in any order I can get. I don't even mind if I sleep through the threesome.
Olaus Petrus: True, Kipchakia has its benefits…but I have something more specific in mind for Saray. Although the loss may turn out to be a good thing, given a development in the coming year.
Just a reminder, I only play one year at a time. So I have all of 1082 written out (in various parts), but I'm only going to start 1083 now. Let's see how far I get, this time. *fingers crossed*
And now…at long last…update!
Yes, I'm back. What? I just took a nap, much as Gleb loves to do. A quick 20. (Except that it was months, not minutes. Minor detail.) To all of those who missed this AAR, I hope you enjoy its revival. To any who are just discovering it, I hope you don't feel it was better left for dead.
What prompted me to bring it back? Well, I was in the mood one night to re-read my favAARite AAR, my inspiration and touchstone, Real Men Do It Alphabetically—an AARgau, and much to my delight, I found that the pictures were working again. (They hadn't been last time I looked, and it's a difficult read without the images.) A quick 91 pages later, and I was ready to go. Nothing like reading over a century's worth of gamey exploits to fire up the old drive!
Oh, and apparently this thing has actually won an award or two. (Okay, it was two. Or fractions of two, specifically, since there were ties in the voting both times.) Who knew? Well, the people voted for the awards, the people who awarded the awards, and the people who read about the awards, that's who knew. Unfortunately, I fell into none of these categories until I realized that the best way to find this thread was to do a Google-search (rather than, say, setting the board to "Display All Threads Since the Big Bang", and paging through page after page looking for mine), and then, very much to my surprise, I found out about my awards. So thank you all, so very much, so very belatedly.
And now! The responses to the (very old) feedback you've all been waiting (and waiting…and waiting…) for!
Enewald: Unlimited wenching? Hmm, that's a theological concept I can get behind! (Metaphorically speaking, that is. I'm thinking face-to-face for the actual event.) All of a sudden, having that fort fall down in Polotsk is looking well worth it.
RGB, democratickid: Yes, apparently the historic Pope Alexander II was not at all stark raving bonkers, but this one is. Although, to be fair, if we're going by the historic Alexander II, we should remember that he died in 1073. Pope Crazypants is doing okay for someone whose brain has been rotting for nine years, I suppose.
Devin Perry: True, I have backed off of the scutage a bit, but it's still close to the Feudal Contract limit of 50%. Even though I actually gain loyalty from the vassals at that rate, it could be inhibiting regiment size. I'm just shocked that it's to such a degree. (Although, to be fair, Chernigov is in revolt, too; that probably keeps the size down, as well.)
If I can attain peace (okay, everyone, stop laughing) and build myself up to a solid financial base (I said, STOP LAUGHING!), I can cut the scutage some more, but at the moment it makes up almost half of my limited income, so I can't do that just yet.
Murmurandus: I'll take them in any order I can get. I don't even mind if I sleep through the threesome.
Olaus Petrus: True, Kipchakia has its benefits…but I have something more specific in mind for Saray. Although the loss may turn out to be a good thing, given a development in the coming year.
Just a reminder, I only play one year at a time. So I have all of 1082 written out (in various parts), but I'm only going to start 1083 now. Let's see how far I get, this time. *fingers crossed*
And now…at long last…update!
1082 (part 1): Tmut time on my hands.
Insufferable. Utterly insufferable.
I know that, as my father often mentioned, for you who will one day read this Chronicle, only a few minutes may have passed since you read my account of last year, but for me, it is different. It does not feel as though it has been a year since last I wrote…it feels as if it has been ten years, at least. This year was the most wearisome, insufferable and tiresome year I can ever recall, and I am glad to be quit of it.
I do not want to keep you in suspense. I know, I hid the news of my father's death (and thus my authorship) the first year I wrote this Chronicle, but I see no need for such games now. I, Gleb Svyatoslavich, am still Prince of Pronsk and other lands, our realm survives, the Cumans have not wiped us off the map. In fact, we have grown slightly in territory this year. The problem is, the war with the Cumans has lasted all year long! Battle after battle after battle, and I am numb with tension, except that being numb would be less painful.
So, on to the tale. Here is how we survived the year, through great bravery and greater luck.
As you may recall, at the start of the year, I was fighting the Marienburg pagans:
And doing rather well, if I may so.
Despite his priestly education, young Hugo von Franken still showed an interest in politics.
I don't know why Chancellor Taimur got stressed out. I was trying to be rid of Marienburg, so I had no interest in placating the pagans there; his being a Muslim had no relation to what was going on there.
Yaroslav was trying to finish the siege of Desht-i-Kipchak, when he was attacked by, of all things, a Marienburg pagan who was working for the Cumans. Clearly the worst of both worlds.
Some of the Cumans were attacking Pereyaslavl, so I had to divert Roman's Smolensk regiment to stop them.
Of course. Seriously, someone needed to stomp Marienburg, once and for all.
However, that someone would not be me. I had left my army behind and sped to Tmutarakan, to take charge of the local regiment and drive off the Cumans who were attacking my lovely city. We were outnumbered, but I hoped our spirit would see us through.
I also decided to let Marienburg burn in revolt, as there were more important matters. I told al-Halwas to bring the army east as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, the stupid pagans attacked him as he was leaving the province. Idiots.
I send all my pagans to the church…wait, is that the right phrase?
Yaroslav had won his battle, and I was making good progress. And then 2000 more Cumans showed up.
It was about this time that I started to get headaches.
Fortunately, the Cumans were also worn out, and the new regiments merely followed the old ones off the battlefield, to reorganize.
Rostislav Hussain had brought the armies of the North down, hopefully in time to drive off the Cumans who were attacking Sugrov.
I chased the last of the Cumans away just as I got word that al-Halwas had finally broken free of the Marienburgers.
Father's decision to let Bryansk stay independent came back to haunt us. As Bryansk had allied with my vassal in Merya, and now had dragged them into a war Bryansk was having with Moskva. I didn't need my vassals fighting separate wars, no thank you!
At least Rostislav was able to quickly settle things in Sugrov, and come south to help with the Kipchak siege.
Which was progressing rather well. Meantime, Sharu-Khan ran when our troops arrived in Pereyaslavl, and Ilya crushed a minor revolt in Yaik.
So the Cumans tried again to break the siege of their capital.
However, Rostislav's arrival gave us pretty good odds of winning.
Ilya and Bishop Rodislav set out to try to reclaim Saray.
I would have liked to help, but I was pretty busy myself.
Yaroslav didn't actually need my help, though.
al-Halwas continued to fight his way through annoying rebels, and another regiment came to siege the Cuman capital. But more importantly, the Korchev and Abkhazia regiments came to help me out.
Their help was much appreciated.
Especially since the regiments from the previous Cuman assault were still nearby.
I had instructed Yaroslav, Rostislav and Marshal Grigorii to move on and let Mstislav take Desht-i-Kipchak. Indeed, my leading regiments had reached Lower Don by the time Mstislav had finished the siege.
Now Rostislav would take several regiments to seize Chortitza (site of a disaster in the last war), and Mikhail would add to the forces in Lower Don, who were already under attack in that critical province. If I could only seize Lower Don, I would have access to the Sea of Azov, and would be able to bring my other regiments down to help out in Tmutarakan.
Which would be very useful, considering that there were now seven thousand Cumans massed in Azov.
Ay-yi-yiiii…
Insufferable. Utterly insufferable.
I know that, as my father often mentioned, for you who will one day read this Chronicle, only a few minutes may have passed since you read my account of last year, but for me, it is different. It does not feel as though it has been a year since last I wrote…it feels as if it has been ten years, at least. This year was the most wearisome, insufferable and tiresome year I can ever recall, and I am glad to be quit of it.
I do not want to keep you in suspense. I know, I hid the news of my father's death (and thus my authorship) the first year I wrote this Chronicle, but I see no need for such games now. I, Gleb Svyatoslavich, am still Prince of Pronsk and other lands, our realm survives, the Cumans have not wiped us off the map. In fact, we have grown slightly in territory this year. The problem is, the war with the Cumans has lasted all year long! Battle after battle after battle, and I am numb with tension, except that being numb would be less painful.
So, on to the tale. Here is how we survived the year, through great bravery and greater luck.
As you may recall, at the start of the year, I was fighting the Marienburg pagans:
And doing rather well, if I may so.
Despite his priestly education, young Hugo von Franken still showed an interest in politics.
I don't know why Chancellor Taimur got stressed out. I was trying to be rid of Marienburg, so I had no interest in placating the pagans there; his being a Muslim had no relation to what was going on there.
Yaroslav was trying to finish the siege of Desht-i-Kipchak, when he was attacked by, of all things, a Marienburg pagan who was working for the Cumans. Clearly the worst of both worlds.
Some of the Cumans were attacking Pereyaslavl, so I had to divert Roman's Smolensk regiment to stop them.
Of course. Seriously, someone needed to stomp Marienburg, once and for all.
However, that someone would not be me. I had left my army behind and sped to Tmutarakan, to take charge of the local regiment and drive off the Cumans who were attacking my lovely city. We were outnumbered, but I hoped our spirit would see us through.
I also decided to let Marienburg burn in revolt, as there were more important matters. I told al-Halwas to bring the army east as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, the stupid pagans attacked him as he was leaving the province. Idiots.
I send all my pagans to the church…wait, is that the right phrase?
Yaroslav had won his battle, and I was making good progress. And then 2000 more Cumans showed up.
It was about this time that I started to get headaches.
Fortunately, the Cumans were also worn out, and the new regiments merely followed the old ones off the battlefield, to reorganize.
Rostislav Hussain had brought the armies of the North down, hopefully in time to drive off the Cumans who were attacking Sugrov.
I chased the last of the Cumans away just as I got word that al-Halwas had finally broken free of the Marienburgers.
Father's decision to let Bryansk stay independent came back to haunt us. As Bryansk had allied with my vassal in Merya, and now had dragged them into a war Bryansk was having with Moskva. I didn't need my vassals fighting separate wars, no thank you!
At least Rostislav was able to quickly settle things in Sugrov, and come south to help with the Kipchak siege.
Which was progressing rather well. Meantime, Sharu-Khan ran when our troops arrived in Pereyaslavl, and Ilya crushed a minor revolt in Yaik.
So the Cumans tried again to break the siege of their capital.
However, Rostislav's arrival gave us pretty good odds of winning.
Ilya and Bishop Rodislav set out to try to reclaim Saray.
I would have liked to help, but I was pretty busy myself.
Yaroslav didn't actually need my help, though.
al-Halwas continued to fight his way through annoying rebels, and another regiment came to siege the Cuman capital. But more importantly, the Korchev and Abkhazia regiments came to help me out.
Their help was much appreciated.
Especially since the regiments from the previous Cuman assault were still nearby.
I had instructed Yaroslav, Rostislav and Marshal Grigorii to move on and let Mstislav take Desht-i-Kipchak. Indeed, my leading regiments had reached Lower Don by the time Mstislav had finished the siege.
Now Rostislav would take several regiments to seize Chortitza (site of a disaster in the last war), and Mikhail would add to the forces in Lower Don, who were already under attack in that critical province. If I could only seize Lower Don, I would have access to the Sea of Azov, and would be able to bring my other regiments down to help out in Tmutarakan.
Which would be very useful, considering that there were now seven thousand Cumans massed in Azov.
Ay-yi-yiiii…
Cuman Marianburgers? It's like Russia's worst nightmare - Prussians and Mongols unite to produce an unholy, unstoppable hybrid.
Splendid!
20 months hiatus for CK is not bad, no new patches ruin the AAR.
...there will be no new patches...
20 months hiatus for CK is not bad, no new patches ruin the AAR.
...there will be no new patches...
Wellwaddayaknow... a Zombie AAR... fortunately this one was worthy of it... (especially since it recognizes the great Real Men Do It... )
Huzzah!
Oh, and somebody's ass is going to get kicked... it would better not be yours...
Huzzah!
Oh, and somebody's ass is going to get kicked... it would better not be yours...
I'm back! Back in the castle again!
RGB: Yes, I can see it now…hordes sweeping down from the steppes…in perfect formation.
Enewald: Well, thank you! And I know we're onto CK 2.0 (is it out yet? I can't afford it, anyway ), but the game is still a lot of fun as is. I kept busy during my non-AAR period by doing a Knytling game (because who can resist the urge?) so I have turned Russia red…it's just a Danish red in that game
Murmurandus: Yes, the only way to improve it would be to have actual zombies. Which, given how the battles are looking, is a distinct possibility.
Side note: I'd forgotten that the one-year-at-a-time chronicling can be a little stifling. Just played to the end of 1083 and now I have to write it all up before I can go find out what happens in 1084. Well, it's only fair that the writAAR is in just as much suspense as the readAARs, no?
Update.
RGB: Yes, I can see it now…hordes sweeping down from the steppes…in perfect formation.
Enewald: Well, thank you! And I know we're onto CK 2.0 (is it out yet? I can't afford it, anyway
), but the game is still a lot of fun as is. I kept busy during my non-AAR period by doing a Knytling game (because who can resist the urge?) so I have turned Russia red…it's just a Danish red in that game Murmurandus: Yes, the only way to improve it would be to have actual zombies. Which, given how the battles are looking, is a distinct possibility.
Side note: I'd forgotten that the one-year-at-a-time chronicling can be a little stifling. Just played to the end of 1083 and now I have to write it all up before I can go find out what happens in 1084. Well, it's only fair that the writAAR is in just as much suspense as the readAARs, no?
Update.
1082 (part 2) It's a long way from Tra-apani, it's a long way, I know.
Seven thousand Cumans. Two thousand of us. Not good. And without direct access (or even semi-direct, across the Sea of Azov), I couldn't bring in any reinforcements, except by fighting my way through.
I did however send two small regiments to try and help the force trying to retake Saray.
Meantime, Sharu-Khan led a smaller Cuman force to try and break our siege of Chortitza.
Why do all the weapons improvements happen in the province that's in constant turmoil? Our armorers must be seeing a market opportunity, or something.
Sharu-Khan had apparently rethought that whole "attack Chortitza" plan.
That prompted a very nice peace offering from the local chief, which I Asep-ted. As I have said, Lower Don was of far greater strategic import. I declined the offer from Saray, though, as I wanted that back, but I did take Uncle Izyaslav's offer of alliance, which should hopefully deter Uncle Vsevolod from attacking us, for a while.
Another Cuman attack was brushed aside.
But I wasn't going to be able to brush *this* aside, as the entire 7000+ Cuman force descended on Tmutarakan. At least the peace in Chortitza meant that Rostislav could now help out in Lower Don.
The bad news was that some of our troops fled. The good news was that more of theirs did the same thing.
So perhaps my third triumph at Tmutarakan was mostly luck. I'll still take it, though.
Sadly, I knew why the Korchev regiment had left the field. It was because my friend, Simeon of Tmutarakan (to whom I gave the land, many years ago), had died. He lived to a good age, though.
On the plus side, Roman had a new daughter.
The Cumans kept coming. Now they were attacking Novgorod-Seversky, and Count Mstislav needed to fight them off.
I called some of the Lithuanian regiments east to help out.
We seemed to be driving the Cumans back by sheer volume of people named "Mstislav". Well, better that than "Vsevolod", I'm sure my father would have said.
And victory belonged to all our Mstislavs.
This meant that the Mstislavs could now go to save Sugrov. The Cumans certainly did keep coming. Much like my headaches…
Such as the 3500 Cumans who were now sieging my capital, whose regiment was off in Lower Don or some place. The arrival of those tiny forces in Saray was not enough to soothe me here.
At least the Mstislavs seemed to have reached Sugrov in time.
In fact, the battle was no battle at all.
Ibn al-Halwas and the Trapanids were now very far from home, but perhaps they could save the capital until my Russian troops could help out.
Oleg's sneakiest daugther got even sneakier. She may have her eyes on that Spy Mistress job already.
I could certainly use the help of someone sneaky, given that al-Halwas hadn't been able to break the siege in my capital. Worse yet, the 7000 Cumans were back for another go at Tmutarakan, and this time I only had 1500 defenders, since the Korchev regiment was still disorganized.
Did I mention that I hate this year?
Seven thousand Cumans. Two thousand of us. Not good. And without direct access (or even semi-direct, across the Sea of Azov), I couldn't bring in any reinforcements, except by fighting my way through.
I did however send two small regiments to try and help the force trying to retake Saray.
Meantime, Sharu-Khan led a smaller Cuman force to try and break our siege of Chortitza.
Why do all the weapons improvements happen in the province that's in constant turmoil? Our armorers must be seeing a market opportunity, or something.
Sharu-Khan had apparently rethought that whole "attack Chortitza" plan.
That prompted a very nice peace offering from the local chief, which I Asep-ted. As I have said, Lower Don was of far greater strategic import. I declined the offer from Saray, though, as I wanted that back, but I did take Uncle Izyaslav's offer of alliance, which should hopefully deter Uncle Vsevolod from attacking us, for a while.
Another Cuman attack was brushed aside.
But I wasn't going to be able to brush *this* aside, as the entire 7000+ Cuman force descended on Tmutarakan. At least the peace in Chortitza meant that Rostislav could now help out in Lower Don.
The bad news was that some of our troops fled. The good news was that more of theirs did the same thing.
So perhaps my third triumph at Tmutarakan was mostly luck. I'll still take it, though.
Sadly, I knew why the Korchev regiment had left the field. It was because my friend, Simeon of Tmutarakan (to whom I gave the land, many years ago), had died. He lived to a good age, though.
On the plus side, Roman had a new daughter.
The Cumans kept coming. Now they were attacking Novgorod-Seversky, and Count Mstislav needed to fight them off.
I called some of the Lithuanian regiments east to help out.
We seemed to be driving the Cumans back by sheer volume of people named "Mstislav". Well, better that than "Vsevolod", I'm sure my father would have said.
And victory belonged to all our Mstislavs.
This meant that the Mstislavs could now go to save Sugrov. The Cumans certainly did keep coming. Much like my headaches…
Such as the 3500 Cumans who were now sieging my capital, whose regiment was off in Lower Don or some place. The arrival of those tiny forces in Saray was not enough to soothe me here.
At least the Mstislavs seemed to have reached Sugrov in time.
In fact, the battle was no battle at all.
Ibn al-Halwas and the Trapanids were now very far from home, but perhaps they could save the capital until my Russian troops could help out.
Oleg's sneakiest daugther got even sneakier. She may have her eyes on that Spy Mistress job already.
I could certainly use the help of someone sneaky, given that al-Halwas hadn't been able to break the siege in my capital. Worse yet, the 7000 Cumans were back for another go at Tmutarakan, and this time I only had 1500 defenders, since the Korchev regiment was still disorganized.
Did I mention that I hate this year?
Haters gonna hate! Vsevolod's the best name ever.
Mstislav however is far more revenge-y, suitable for the year of well, Revenge.