The Lions of Hispania - A multiplayaAAR (DV)

[BurningEGO]

The Lions of Hispania - A multiplayaAAR (DV-EU-Vic-HOI convertion)

​

Introduction:

This is an AAr for the multiplayer game There Will Be War - a game that will be played from CK to HOI (EU and Victoria included). In a campaign of such a magnitude, i decided to take over the proud Jimenez family of Léon. I had already played them in March Through Time (another MP campaign ranging from CK to HOI), but things werent... Kind to me. And so here i am, trying to redeem myself of my past errors, and maybe get my so deserved... Vengeance!

For those that do not know, the Jimenez family, were usually co-rulers together with the Iniguez Kings of Pamplona (Navarra) around the 9th century, however, with foreign support from fellow moors and christian spaniards, the Jimenez family sucessfully managed to coup the old government, obviously placing one of their own in power. Their rule was quite insignificant, until, a great man by the name of Sancho III managed to unite most of Catholic Spain, going as far as calling himself Rex Hispaniorum (King of Spains). His legacy was undone when he divided all his titles, amongst his sons - however, it would be revived, later, by Ferdinand I El Magno (The Great), who, managed to unite most of catholic Iberia under his banner and like Sancho, claim the title of Rex Hispaniorum for himself.

But Ferdinand suffered from the same problem as his predecessor - he decided to split his Kingdom between his sons. Sancho II El Fuerte (The Strong), his oldest son, received the Kingdom of Castille. Alfonso VI The Brave, Sancho's younger brother, received the Kingdom of Leon, while Garcia, the youngest of the 3 brothers, was given the Duchy of Galicia. And thus, our story begins.


The Game Roster:

For those curious minds, not knowing who is playing who, i decided to post a screenshot with the players and what nations they are currently playing.

 

[BurningEGO]

The Story (First Session 1066-1085):


Iberia, a divided and crowded Place

After my Father, Ferdinand divided all his lands between his sons, Iberia looked a divided place. And crowded too - there were far more then 10 rulers scatered everywhere. Disunity is a weakness, and if Hispania is to show the world her greatness, I will have to, like my Grandfather (Sancho III) and my Father (Ferdinand), claim the title of Rex Hispaniorum for myself. But this time i will have to make sure my sucessors will not scramble my legacy.

At first glance anyone can see that Leon (currently ruled by myself) and Castille (ruled by my brother Sancho II), are the biggest kingdoms in christian Iberia. Both myself and my brother agree that Iberia must be unified to face the current threat that lies down in the south - the Moors. However, and quite obvious, we disagree to whom should rule it all. I will do everything that is possible, and impossible, to be the one. But i fear my brother will also try to be crowned emperor.

The 3 Brothers

Giving the fact that my oldest brother, was very bad at intrigue, i thought of sending one of my best spies, to strike him down. However, i could not (OOC: accordingly to rules we could not use spies for the first 5 years of the game). War was the only option i had. But my brother is known through all of Iberia for his skills in battle - thus why he is called El Fuerte (the strong). His Alférez (supreme commander), the famous and loved El Cid, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar is not to be understimated, either. My army only outnumbered Sancho by a mere 300 men. So i prefered to do nothing for the time being. However, my youngest brother, Garcia of Galicia, which was sick, dies prematurly. I suspect he was poisoned, but sadly i didnt have the pleasure of being the mastermind behind such. Being the next sucessor to Garcia, my brother, Sancho II inherits the duchy of Galicia. This does not bode well for me. Now Sancho was the one that had the upper hand.

Hopefully, on this cruel world, there is always someone that will give you their hand and will help you on your time of greatest need. Worried about Moorish expansion and about the Christian Kings of Iberia, Ramon Berenguer offers me an Alliance, which i quickly accept.

Shortly afterwards, the expected happens. Zaragoza which had been sending threats to Barcelona attacks them. I quickly send my troops to help my ally and in no time i defeat their armies and take the province of Zaragoza. However, i had to settle a peace, by taking only one province (OOC: accordingly to rules we could not attack muslim nations, for the first session, so i could not attack Zaragoza's vassals and had to settle for all of Zaragoza's demesne, which was only the province of Zaragoza itself). And so the borders on Christian Spain looked like this:

 

[BurningEGO]

Brother against Brother, Cousin against Cousin and the War of the 3 Sanchos

My heart trembled when i received this message. I did not know what to say. Navarra, which was allied to Castille, declares war on me as well. Barcelona, my ally, prefers to remain neutral and does nothing. The bastards!

Since the start of the war, i knew i had no chance of winning. Only a miracle could save me. Since my Father built a magnificent Castle in Leon, i knew it would take Sancho quite a lot of time to take it. So i go on the offensive rather then going on the defensive. I avoided any kind of pitched battles - or i would lose for sure. I quickly take Compostela, one of the 2 provinces Castile controlled and owned. Then i rush for Burgos itself, Castile's remaining province. In the meanwhile, i received the following message: Sancho II died. The fool tried to assault my castle in Leon, and his entire regiment got lost.

Bermudo, Sancho's son, only 2 years old, is crowned King. As a result, most of Castile's vassals have a sudden loyalty drop. The Duke of Castile - one of the most powerful vassals of Castile, breaks away and declares war on his former liege. To make things better, Sancho, the Petty, of Aragon, declares war on his cousin, Sancho IV of Navarra. But the war would soon escalate out of proportions when...

I was totaly desperated when i was notified that my realm was now at war with the Moors of Toledo as well. The infidels surely know when to strike. Either way, El Cid, who was in command of Castile's army besieging Leon, retreats and attacks the Duke of Castile, who rebelled some time ago. Sadly for me, El Cid was quicker then i thought and rushes in to meet my army just a few days before the siege of Burgos, Castile's remaining province, is finished. Cid's army was very exhausted from the entire campaign, and had been reduced to 2000 men while mine was almost on full strength - about 4000 men strong. Our armies meet and clash in the province of Burgos. El Cid was not to be understimated, however, and manages to kill more then half of my army before losing the battle and almost all of his forces. Navarra peaces Aragon, and Sancho IV of Navarra proclaims himself King of Navarra and Aragon in the peace treaty. He was wise, and accepted my white peace as well. Soon afterwards i finally take the Castle of Burgos and...

But i still had to fight the moors. At this stage, they had taken Salamanca and were already besieging one of my vassals, but God came in my greatest time of need and...

Haha! Take that silly moors! These lands are mine, and they shall remain so! With an uneasy peace on my realm i had to rebuild my bleeding economy. So, the heads of the 3 states of society, the Clergy, the Nobility and all whom were not either of these (the Poors), met in my palace for a discussion. I forced all of them to contribute to my royal treasury. Not only did i get out of debt, but i also were left with a nice sum of cash left in my coffers. Even if peace reigned supreme in Leon, i still had some issues to settle. My brother, Sancho II was dead, but i hated him so much when he was alive, that i had to get my revenge on him. Since he was dead, i decided to kill his son - Bermudo, the old King of Castile and current Count of Viscaya and Burgos.

Sucess! Since i was the next one in the sucession line, i inherit these counties (Burgos and Viscaya). I was now the King of Leon and Castile, not only in name, but also because i held all catholic provinces of these same Kingdoms. My Realm was now a power to be reckoned with - not the weak Kingdom my Father gave to me.

 

[BurningEGO]

Southern Expansion, the Siege of Évora and Death

With 2 King Titles, I just needed 3 more to claim myself Rex Hispaniorum. Of course, i did not posess the prestige to snatch the title of King of Navarra or Aragon. But i could, claim myself the King of Portugal. I just needed to get the Duke of Porto (who held 4 provinces in Portugal) to bow before me plus another 3 provinces. The Emirate of Badajoz, controlled the right amount of provinces i required (Évora, Lisboa and Alcacer do Sal). So I declare war and my armies march to glory. I lay siege to Evora but...

A New King: Sancho IV of Navarra, The Noble

(OOC: Thanks to that event, Alfonso, who was controlling the armies, died and passed to the other world). And so, I, Sancho IV, became the King of Leon and Castile.

Poor Alfonso... He wanted to see Iberia unified but will never see his dream come true... He was a great man, capable of sacrificing himself, going as far as dying Virgin and without an heir, to achieve his noble goal. He was shot and killed by a crossbow when he was trying to take over the castle of Évora. The butchery was so big, that there was no space in any cemetery for so many dead people. Some christian priests, that just moved to Évora, decided to create a chapel to honour the brave christians that died fighting for their Lord. A chapel made of... Bones! Alfonso's ones included too! Either way, his subjets will always remember Alfonso, for his luck, for his bravery, and for his Virginity. Rest in Pieces, Alfonso, the Lucky Brave Virgin.

And to ensure these brave men did not die for nothing, I, Sancho IV, made the peace with Emirate of Badajoz as harsh as possible, taking everything i could - except for Lisbon, because the Emirate of Sevilla got there first. If the death of so many brave souls, and the loss of Lisboa were not enough, the Duke of Oporto... becomes a vassal of Hungary!

However, i am faced with problems at home. My vassals do not like the fact of being ruled by the former King of Navarra - the one they fought against not so long ago. The Count of Asturias is the prime example. He is a very rebelious vassal, if you ask me. He did not revolt once, he did not revolt twice - he revolted 3 times in a row! Giving me the brutal Realm Duress trait. The last time he revolted, he was allied with the Duke of Apulia - who i am still at war with. But all is not bad and... The Duke of Barcelona, finally understood that becoming my vassal was the only way he could ensure his lands would not fall to the increasingly Moorish threat.

 

[BurningEGO]

The Game (First Session 1066-1085):



For the small Kingdom Leon was, i managed to do pretty well. I also expanded far more then any of the human countries. Georgia is also doing nicely. That and plus the fact that the Seljuks just annexed more then half of Byzantium makes me wonder if Georgia will try to eat more then their stomach allows them to. Bohemia tried to expand beyond her limits, and hehe, Bavaria decided to cut em in pieces by declaring war together with their overlord, Germany! Neat!

It will not take much longer for Norway to annex Sweden. The bastards also managed to grab Britanny and vassalize them. I do thank KoM for showing me the powers of vassalization - i have just got into war against Apulia, against my will, but it will come handy. Even if i dont have any claims on them. I can easily vassalize them, get prestige, extra troops, extra peasants to tax and maybe even an extra King title later on. Who knows?

But things arent that good - my current king is pretty poor when it comes to stats. My vassals are getting rebelious. I got the fearsome realm duress trait already. The moors in Iberia are pretty strong, and i barely have the power to muster such a big force as theirs. What will happen to Iberia? Will i be able to expand, or will i collapse in the face of adversity? Only time will tell...

 

[BurningEGO]

The Story (Second and Third Sessions 1085-1095):

South Italy - A Land of Oportunity

Currently at war during my second part of my reign, I, Sancho IV, sent roughly about 6000 troops under the leadership of my most recent vassal, the Duke of Barcelona, to Sicily and Southern Italy, with the intention of vassalizing the Duke of Apulia - a norman. People from Iberia have no love for Scandinavians, and since the Normans descend from the barbarian Norwegians, we had to crush them under our feet - a fiting example to what will, in time, happen with Norway.

We lay siege to all their provinces, and when we are almost peacing them, the Heathen King of Beni Helal, ruler of muslim Sicily declares war on apulia as well, and peaces right afterwards, demanding all of Sicily from Apulia. Apulia quickly accepted... (OOC: This is a known bug - if the AI holds no provinces, he will peace with anyone, regardless of what they ask, and even if the ones sending the peace hold no provinces). Either way, we still manage to vassalize the pigs of Apulia - who, after peacing with the King of Beni Helal, held only 6 provinces on Southern Italy. If i wanted to proclaim myself King of the 2 Sicilies, i would have to own and control 12 provinces out of the 17 that existed.

This came pretty close to reality, once the Duke of Milan, who controlled and still controls 2 provinces in Southern Italy sent a message stating he wanted to become my vassal. The Duke of Crete, my vassal, (OOC: controlled by a human) also indirecly aided me in this task, by taking Napoli. So i held 9 provinces. Just needed 3 extra provinces to get my so desired King Title. In the meanwhile, the Duke of Toulouse also recognized me as a far better ruler then my ally, the King of France, and became my vassal. However, things soon turned grim for me.


War and yet more War




I believe, the Infidels did not like our expansion beyond the river Douro (or Duero). Although the Emirate of Sevile was quite powerful and controlled half of Moorish Iberia, they posed no threat to my realm. The biggest problem was that I was not at full power, since my vassals' loyalty were not that high to recruit troops, and most of them barely had any, since i had to crush them over and over because of their petty rebelions against my rightful rule. The Emirate of Seville could muster about 15000 troops - where i could only muster roughly about 20000. Still i quickly decided to peace, giving Évora and Alcacer do Sal, because of a couple of events that were to follow, notably the declaration of war from the part of...



France. That is right. France. My former ally, now my enemy. I believe they wanted to press a little claim they possesed over my lands. I quickly sent my most and only loyal vassals, the Duke of Tolouse and Milan, to fight them. Why should proud Castilians, Catalans, Basques and Portuguese, die because of the French? Let the Italians and the French do the butchery instead. There are plenty of Italians and French around, they are cheap and they are pretty effective. In the meanwhile, my armies in Iberia rested, and were almost restored to full strength - the rebelions within Iberia also seemed to cool down, and my vassals now admited that i was their true overlord. I was pretty confident i could beat France and eventually grab Ile De France from my traitorous ally, but...



The Infidels of Beni Helal decided to attack my vassal, the duke of Barcelona. Now this was a war of catastrophic proportions - the infidels could muster an army almost so big as mine! So i quickly, white peace France. The defense of Iberia will always be a priority. Countless battles are fought, many lost, many won, but eventually the moors managed to get the upper hand against my vassal of Barcelona, demanding Lleida from them. After this, i decided to recognize their claims over that province, and, peace them. They quickly accept. But, i will get my revenge against them...


A Question of Sucession

I am old, i know i will not last for long. But i still have to decide who will suceed me.



Ansuro and Hermegildo both are my sons. Hermegildo, as the oldest, and most skillful, was obviously my first choice, however, his last depression made him almost infertile, and the chances of having children are very slim. Ansuro, in the other hand, has plenty of bastards around. Not wanting to change Iberia's sucession laws, that exist for decades, and upset my realm, i choose Hermegildo as my heir. Shortly afterwards i feel ill and... Ugh...


Hermegildo, a New King

(OOC: and so FINALLY died Sancho... Of Old Age) My father was old, and incapable of managing his realm. Indeed, i am still impressed at the amount of civil wars and disloyal vassals he had. He never managed to crush the infidels, thanks to that, and Iberia's full potential was never unleashed. But i will change that. With my ascension to the throne, all of my former vassals pledged homage to me.

After my realm was stabilized, my first target, was the heathens of Beni Helal, who had beaten Leon some years ago. They held Sicily - which i had to conquer in order to claim the title of King of Sicily which my father so dearly wanted. War is declared, parts of Sicily are taken, and peace is quickly signed after their armies in Iberia are crushed. After this, i controlled 11 provinces in South Italy. Just needed one more for the Pope to claim me King of Sicily. Malta looked a tempting target, and war is declared. Not by me, but by one of my vassals. Malta was part of the Kingdom of Zirid, controlled by a weak and decadent King. Didnt take long for this King to seceed not only Malta, but his capital - Tunis. After this, i am finally crowned King of the 2 Sicilies, and now all my sucessors shall be known as the Kings of Leon, Castile, Aragon, Navarra and Sicily.

And now, i firmly believe the Reconquista can finally continue, and the Moors can finally be beaten back to the hell they came from.

 

[BurningEGO]

The Game (Second and Third Sessions 1085-1095):





As you can see Iberia virtually doubled its size. With the death of Sancho i can pretty much challenge the Moors in Iberia itself. My vassal's loyalty is sky high - indeed, my worst vassal is getting +7% loyalty per month! I believe i am the most powerful Kingdom in the game, controlled by a human player that is. But that comes at a price and my spies have already told me that certain Norwegian pigs are trying to form a coalition against me. If this is true or not, only time will tell, but i dont doubt it. Just to avoid another stupid collapse like the one I faced in the early 1800's in MTT, i have signed secret alliances with a couple of few that i know that are able - and strong - enough to aid me.

I have also stated clearly on public that i would get rid of my french and north italian vassals, once i am able to - i prefer to limit my expansion to Iberia and Sicily itself, or i might suffer the consequences of over-expansion.

What worries me the most, is Georgia (played by another human player) - they can virtually expand endlessly. Long time they can become the strongest power in game by far, and i fear this is not really good for me given the fact that they are in the mediteranean. Maybe some deal can be signed with them? As the old proverb says - if you cant beat em, join em. But can it really be applied to the game? I truly do not know. Norway is also another problem for me, but they are small and insignificant to hurt me in any way. Even if they just finished annexing Sweden. If they ever try to invade me, they will most likely go bankrupt by transporting their troops over the entire atlantic! Scotland is also about to inherit all of England, and going to be a superpower in no time. But honestly, i dont fear them - but i am certain other people should!





This next session will prove crucial to me - i need to expand as fast as possible against the moors in Iberia. The time is running short! Wish me luck!

 

[Van Engel]

Looking good EGO, so who are playing the other countries? Someone to be afraid of? I've never played CK MP before, so I was wondering if long distance warfare is actually viable in this game? I mean it would cost way too much for Norway to invade you surely?

 

[BurningEGO]

Hello Engel! Finally a reply - but i must admit that i am quite surprised that it was you the one writing it!

As for who is playing who, i updated my first post with a screenshot of the player roster. I believe most of us are somewhat new to CK in multiplayer mode, myself included. Exception being King of Men (KoM), Sterkarm and Sid. I believe they have played quite a lot of games already prior to the Deus Vult expansion, but honestly, CK is not a game that requires many skills, like in EU2.

As for a possible invasion of Norway - yes, that will be expensive as hell to them. That is why i do not fear them, for now. Norway does not have the economy nor the manpower to beat me. However i am fairly sure if he ever attacks me, he will do such with a lot of other people. But hopefully for me the only nations capable of beating me in the nearby future are across the sea and will, without doubt, go totaly bankrupt should they decide to cross the seas to attack me, at this moment at the very least. Long distance warfare in most cases seems to be non-profitable, specially against humans players. The biggest problem regarding Norway, is that King of Men (the player currently in Norway), was one of my enemies in MTT, another game similar to this (from CK to HOI), and thanks to him my Spain collapsed (you should remember MTT, since you subbed Absolut, by that time Burgundy, more then once). But worry not, he will pay for what he did. This time i will not be isolated or alone in the diplomatic scene.

And lastly, if i should be afraid of someone, that someone will not be Norway i believe, but either Georgia or Kiev in the long term. Scotland as well but their expansion will be hampered due to the huge amount of prestige they will require to expand and claim titles. As you can see, there are 2 huge empty spaces in the game roster, acordingly to the image on the first post. One is in the most western part of europe (spain-iberia-italy). Another is in the most eastern part of europe (byzantium-russia-middle east). Given the fact that the east is pretty empty, having only 3 countries (Georgia-Kiev-Crete with the latest of the three being pretty weak and mostly incapable of doing quick expansion), makes me seriously worried about my position as the world's strongest human player, specially since Georgia is near me, because they are also in the mediteranean (that fact is meaningless in CK but will prove to be a problem in EU and other games we are converting to, i am afraid).

Btw, thanks for the checking this poor man's AAr.

 

[BurningEGO]

The Game (Fourth Session 1095-1100):

I am sorry but i will only write a short game resume this time. As i said i had to act quickly, and effective in this session. The game started with me attacking the emirate of Toledo. A couple of battles were fought and won, and the AI easily crushed. I barely used any of my iberian main troops - the italians and french are truly numerous! God, i wish my iberian provinces could muster as many men as my Italian-French holdings. Somehow, the Emir of Toledo became my friend after the war. Truly impressive.

More impressive, however, was that my depressed ruler, who was healed just the session before, got in love with his wife, and felt more "virile" due to his passion, and despite having 1 fertility he managed to have a son! Wow! I was pretty much expecting Ansuro, Hermegildo's younger brother to inherit the throne.

Nevertheless, things didnt go well in the middle east. Is that land cursed or something? These lands are prone to giving me problems. My vassal Crete started out by vassalizing Alexandretta, and then Georgia, once again, had to attack us out of thin air. I made a decent deal with them as a peace proposal - they gave me all of the Morea (in-game Achae, roughly all of the land south of Athens in greece), and i gave them Alexandretta. They couldnt keep Achae because it was against the rules, either way.

My expansion then had to cool down, because i almost reached 4 MVLL (monthly vassal loyalty loss) due to high BB points. Kept creating bishoprics once i was able to, giving duchies to everyone and erecting buildings in all provinces i could. It is also worth noting that i kept having revolts in far away provinces like Sicily and Tunis since they are part of my demesne. I must state that is pretty nasty in such rich provinces, but it is a double edged sword - on one side, i get a massive income drop, and peasant loyalty drop per month in the target province. On the other hand, when i can put an end to the revolt, i can refuse to do so by "hanging more rebels" and thus get a good amount of prestige, about 200 to be more exact.

I also managed to convert the CK main map to a black-and-white version, and then i just had to paint the map with everyone's nations. So, for the curious minds out there, who wonder how the game is proceding for everyone, check it out:

 

[Van Engel]

Very impressive Spain you have there EGO.

Just a few questions again D):

* How come Georgia wasn't allowed to keep Morea due to the rules?

* What are your military techs like? Or don't they matter as much in CK?

* Surely it is a better idea to take Muslim territory with your King rather than with vassals so you keep the land?

* And what kind of rules do you guys have about claiming? Can you just claim any old title you want?

Just questions from a CK noob.

 

[Charle_88]

Awesome. Looks like you are the most powerful player at this moment.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Impressive, indeed. The start was very very good, indeed!

 

[BurningEGO]

The Story (Fifth Session 1100-1106):

The First Crusade - onwards to the Holy Land!

This night i had a nightmare. I saw Seljukian Turks conquering Jerusalem, and begining a reign of terror for Christian inhabitants and pilgrims. I saw the Bishop of Jerusalem, being dragged through the streets by his white hair, and flung into a dungeon. I also saw the holiest sacrament of the Church being profaned by the Turks and pilgrims being stripped and beaten on the roads and passes that led to the Holy City. This "invasion" from the part of the Seljuks was more terrible in that it brought in its train a relapse to barbarism, for these Turks were barbarians, hordes of robbers and brigands, who cared for nothing but plunder and violence. But hopefully, that was just a dream. Maybe God himself was trying to alert me of the future? Either way, to prevent such, I, Hermegildo, petitioned the Pope to declare Holy War against the Infidels that currently held Jerusalem. To my disgrace, the Pope refused, stating that Byzantion was more important (OOC: Byzantion was made the crusading target in-game, instead of Jerusalem, bah). But after the terrible nightmare i had, Jerusalem had to be taken at all costs, before the visions i had became true.

And so i order my vassals, Herman of Normandy, Guillaume of Toullouse and Duke Berenguer of Barcelona, to assemble their troops. I also joined their forces, and together our army was composed of roughly 20000 troops. In order to reach Jerusalem, the Emirate of Damascus had to be crushed. War is quickly declared, with, our christian brothers in Georgia helping the infidels, and after countless months of travelling the mediteranean we finally reach Antioch. Our armies are quickly divided into 2. One led by myself and Berenguer, and another led by Herman and Guillaume. I quickly march eastwards while Herman marched south. Herman's army stopped for rest and refreshment beside a river near the ancient city of Dorylaeum, but soon afterwards, with a terrific uproar, thousands of Arabs hurled themselves upon them from the heights above. Hasty messages were sent to summon the other army under my control, and in meantime the Crusaders under Herman fought with desperate valour. The numbers of the foe, however, were overwhelming, and only the tact of Herman prevented a panic-stricken flight. Herman himself snatched off his helmet and cheered his men in the thick of the fight. Sucess seemed hopeless but as evening drew i arrived in the battlefield, and terrified by our courage the Arabs fled. The Path to Damascus was now open!

​

Herman of Normandy at Dorylaeum​

We soon laid siege to the city, which walls looked impregnable. Our army was quite demoralized, and hungry too. While i was discussing with my generals what to do, a priest, by the name of Peter Barthelemy, chaplain of Guillaume of Toullouse, entered the room and told us that he had a marvellous vision. He said, he had been shown by Saint Andrew that in a nearby church, there was burried the head of the lance which had pierced the sacred side of the Saviour. This, the saint had told him, if borne at the head of the army, was certain to bring them success. An excavation expedition is quickly sent to the local, with no sucess at start, but as dusk began to fall in the same day, a worker declared with a joyful shout that the sacred relic was discovered.

Such was the effect of this discovery, that, in certainty of victory, i sent a peace proposal to the enemy, offering them a chance of vassalization before they were utterly demolished. Obviously, they refused, and we assaulted the castle. Fighting with such determination, valour and fervour, it was clear that the arabs were no match for our crusading armies as we entered the city crying "Deus Vult! Deus Vult!". After this proof of our might, the Emirate of Damascus surrendered, offering themselves as vassals. Jerusalem however, still had to be taken. Our armies march further south, and once they reach Jerusalem, all of our men kiss the ground. The nearby trees are soon cut down to build up "machines of war", notably siege towers which had just been discovered the past decade in Iberia. Once they were built, we stormed the castle. The battle seemed lost, but on the Mount of Olives, on the further side of the city, appeared a knight in glittering armour, waving a flaming sword over Jerusalem. The rumour quickly spread that it was St George coming to our aid. "Deus Vult! Deus Vult!" - everyone shouted and in vigour of the assault the walls were won. The amount of Saracens killed in that day were terribly high. As one of our brave soldiers stated after the battle: "Such a slaughter of pagan folk had never been seen or heard of; none know their number save God alone."

​

The Storming of Jerusalem​

But who cares about Infidels? We went to the holy land with the mission that "whosoever killeth an infidel doeth God service.", and, of course, with the mission to deliver God's children what is rightful theirs - Jerusalem.

After Jerusalem had been won, the Emirate peaced and to our amusement the Emir converted to Catholicism and accepted being Baptized. And so we marched northwards to deal with our biggest problem - Georgia. They refused all kind of peaces. And even if i was reluctant to march against fellow christians, i was forced to. Our armies soon met near Aleppo, but the power of the Holy Lance, combined with our Faith, and with the will of God himself, helped us crush more then half of the Georgian Army, sending them on a long march back to Armenia. Byzantium quickly makes use of the oportunity to attack Georgia, and re-take their lost vassals. Recognizing that their liege was no longer on God's grace, most of Georgia's vassals decide to accept me as their overlord. Desperate after Byzantium's attack and after having been smashed at the hands of my army, and with only about 8000 men left to fight with, Georgia finally asks for peace. I was generous enough, and decided to accept their proposal - even if i had just landed about 30000 men in Alexandretta.

 

[BurningEGO]

The Game (Fifth Session 1100-1106):

Damn, this session was caotic. Its getting worse as we advance. Reasons? Countless. Either way, some funny stuff hapened too. Denmark got annexed. Kiev got annexed. Saxony was wiped from the map the previous game. Georgia received a royal beating. Scotland is in the process of disapearing from the map. Provence's dynasty died out - actually it was assasinated. I wonder who was the evil mind behind the plot? Dont look at me.

Now a short resume of the war in the holy land. First of i had to deal with problems at home. In other words, i had rebelious vassals. Notably Barcelona. I used my french regiments in toulousse to do the dirty work. Once Barcelona was beaten up, and since i wanted the holy land, i use my active french regiments, plus my just adquired catalan forces from Barcelona, to march to the holy land. All of Apulia is sent as well. Once war is declared, Georgia, which was Damascus' ally, declares war on me as well. Funny stuff. I didnt notice they were allied, but i never expected Georgia to decide to go against me either, over such a pathetic matter. Atrition proved to be very, very bad. The Saracens were countless as well. But the faithful prevailed, and victory belonged to Léon!

Damascus and Jerusalem were both vassalized. Ironically enough, Georgia, which was trying to protect their allies, soon found himself being attacked by them, since i used Damascus' troops to attack Georgia! Nasty! Either way, i was pretty worried at the amount of men Georgia had. In fact, i was so worried, that i sent ALL of Italy to the holy land. Roughly 50000 men. Yep. After checking Georgia carefully i believe they didnt have half that number of troops, but i was so worried and since i couldnt afford defeat, i prefered to have something to resort to as a last option. Byzantium was quite smart and jumped into the war for easy gains, and virtually tripled the size of their country. I also managed to gobble up a lot of Georgian's vassals notably in Armenia. Now, i just need 1 extra county in Syria, and 2 extra counties in Jerusalem, to claim these king titles. And i shall because "Deus Vult! Deus Vult!". :rofl:

And so i leave you guys with the current political map, screwed as it is (and needing to be expanded in the south-east as well, since i forgot these parts).

P.S: Deus Vult means God Wills It

 

[BurningEGO]

Engel

I believe its a modest Spain, yes.
* Morea became a vassal of Georgia through vassalization. If you have played Deus Vult (CK's expansion), you should know that the AI keeps pledging like mad to whoever has the most prestige and lower reputation. In the previous map you can check that by seeing Poland (the dark blue nation). Accepting vassalization proposals from an AI that does not border any of your king titles, is forbidden, thanks to our rules. Georgia only has one king title (the title of King of Georgia itself), and Georgia only borders 2 Kingdoms - Armenia and Khazaria. Morea is part of the Byzantium King title, and thus, it couldnt have been diplomatically vassalized.
* My tech is amongst the worst in the game i am afraid. But they do not seem to matter much. Apart from "economical techs", that allow you to build stuff. These seem extremely important. "Military techs" dont seem to do much from my point of view. Whoever has more numbers, wins.
* Well, its relative. I, for one, wouldnt let any of my vassals get some rich province like Alexandria, Veneto or Byzantion, in case these were controlled by moors. These provinces are filthy rich. But if your vassals get poor provinces, then i dont know what is the problem. They are actually helping you - that way you dont need to get bad boy points!
* About claiming - we can claim any title we wish.

Kurt_Steiner/Charle_88

Thanks.
Oh, i can muster 170330 men at the present. The only ones that got a bigger army, are the Seljuks. They can muster 170360 men. An extra 30 men.

 

[BurningEGO]

The Game (Sixth Session 1106-1112):

Well, i am sorry again but it seems i will not be able to write a full AAr, once again. I will do such later but for now this will have to sufice - i have only slept about 5 hours the past 2 days. I need some rest for now, so i will just make a short resume of what hapened in game.

France encountered itself in a bloody war versus the Holy Roman Empire, and Norway. So i used the oportunity to put an end to Aquitaine - a very very powerful duchy that kept being proposed to be a human nation. Took less then 5 months to vassalize it, given the fact all its troops were far away deep into Germany. Now since it is part of Leon, no one can get any silly idea of moving there. Shortly afterwards i decided to offer Norway 100 gold coins for Britanny, which they had just snatched away from France. They refused, so i attacked. The cowards, seeing they had no chance against mighty Spain, surrendered without much resistance. Funnily enough, i saw Polish troops walking around my lands. Did these bastards really thought that they had any chance of winning against me even with Norway on their side?

Then i was informed that Norway started expanding into England, and to avoid such, i decided to help Scotland against his little rebels by sending a huge army there and by conquering Ireland for the Scotish. In the meanwhile i continued my expansion in the middle east by conquering what i could, grabbing the King of Jerusalem and the King of Syria titles in the process. By the end of the game, however, a major conflict erupted, with Poland DOWing Muscowy. Poland was already strong enough on its own and could not be allowed to expand anymore into Russia (specially when they wanted to attack me previously), so i offered vassalization to Muscowy, which they quickly accepted. And so i find myself at this moment, at war with the damned Poles - but such is required to keep the balance of power favourable.

The worse isnt the war with Poland - the worse is that there are a couple of evil pigs trying to hurt my reputation, in order to get more people in their side to gang Iberia. I dont know what is that all about, but anyone in his right mind should know i pose no threat to anyone. And so i leave you guys with the current political map, before going to my so deserved sleep:

 

[King of Men]

Looks like you left out Flanders. As for me expanding into England, what the devil gave you that idea?

 

[joriandrake]

Looks like you left out Flanders. As for me expanding into England, what the devil gave you that idea?

not to mention im not crete since session 2, and the title is not even in the main bloodline neither

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

It seems there is no hurry about finishing the Reconquista...