I’m going to try the impossible here folks. I’m going to write an AAR for those who like stories and dislike log style AARs. I’m also going to try and write an AAR for those who like log style AARs and dislike stories. Everybody still with me? So if you want to read the story just read the white print and skip certain sections that I write about just below. Yea go ahead and read below.
Okay so lets say you just want the nuts and bolts of the game, screw the story. In that case just skip the white print (story) until you come to…
"Here"
That’s right anywhere you see…
"Green type you’ll be in the game section of the AAR. Just a little story telling but mostly facts. You know those two-handed no nonsense in your face give me facts or give me death parts of the game."
Now for everyone else just read everything, that’s right everything, because I’m going to try to incorporate the game sections into the story. Yea I lied up above about skipping the green sections, live with it. I do that a lot, lie that is. Am I confusing anyone? Tough nuts, as they use to say before any of you were born.
So lets see if any of you were paying attention.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
Playing on Hard/Aggressive settling.
Baudouin III (3-3-3) rules our tiny kingdom made up of two provinces, Samaria and Judea. We have 2,00 Infantry and 500 Cavalry. I can only maintain 10,000. One warship and two galleys float in the harbor. Our national religion is Catholic but our provinces are Orthodox. Our Culture it French and, you guessed it, our provinces are Arabic. We have only 75d in the treasury. What can I say? Life sucks.
To the North is the County of Tripoli and further North is the Duchy of Antioch. I hope to get them both in an alliance ASAP. To the South East are the Fatimids. We aren’t friendly but they don’t hate us. To the East is the Ayyubids who hate our guts. Something is going to have to be done about them and the sooner the better because they aren’t in an alliance at this time.
Goals? Sure I have goals. I’d like to make six figures a year and have a yacht. Oh you mean in the game? Short term the alliance I mentioned above and I’m going to try to take out the Ayyubids. After that who knows. I don’t have any long-term goals so I’m going to see what opportunities come up.
No cheats. I fact I have in-house rules that I’m stupid enough to follow. For the first hundred years I never invest in land, navy or stability, only in trade or infrastructure. This means I lag militarily but that makes it more interesting. Also makes me very careful about taking stability hits. After one hundred years I may modify that rule. Hey I’m not completely stupid. I never take a loan unless the roof is falling in on my head. I just don’t like loans, go figure. I use auto-send for my merchants. I figure if the computer it dumb enough to send its own merchants then it can send mine. Means my trade income usually has the virility of a wet noodle and I’m not talking al dente here folks. During wartime I allow myself to turn Auto-send off so I don’t waste money but when at peace I allow the AI to do its worst. As for battles I have a couple of quirkily rules. I know, who would have thought that? If my forces are stationary and I’m attacked I will not retreat. They live or die where they are. If my forces are moving when attacked I allow myself the choice of retreating or not. Why this strange rule? Hey pay attention and repeat after me "It makes the game more interesting."
Let the game begin.
October 30, 1948
London England
The Royal Stratford Hotel, room 617
Dear Mr. Rowe
The fat man is dead.
I looked up from the letter, stunned for a moment before continuing.
I found him in his room sitting in the parlor armchair. He looked quite comfortable wearing his usual white suit with a yellow carnation in his lapel. From the freshness of the flower and the hotel doctor’s professional opinion he died of natural causes a few hours before I arrived. The funeral is at Saint Marks cathedral on the 30th of October at noon.
Regards
Aurturo Pasquale"
Leave it to Aurturo to talk about the death of a close associate with his usual brevity of words laced with such deficiency of emotion. I looked at the hotel room clock and saw that I had a little over an hour before the service started. I shook my head and thought about arriving in England just four hours ago and here I was already going to a funeral. The hotel doorman hailed a cab for me and as I sped off to the church I thought of the man called ‘The Fat Man’. I conjured an image of him and the memories started flowing at an increasing rate of speed if not clarity. It was hard to believe that I first met the Fat Man almost twelve years ago. Where was it? Yes I remember now…
July 13, 1936
Cairo, Egypt
Just after sundown
The El-Salamlek Palace Hotel, room 312
Okay so lets say you just want the nuts and bolts of the game, screw the story. In that case just skip the white print (story) until you come to…
"Here"
That’s right anywhere you see…
"Green type you’ll be in the game section of the AAR. Just a little story telling but mostly facts. You know those two-handed no nonsense in your face give me facts or give me death parts of the game."
Now for everyone else just read everything, that’s right everything, because I’m going to try to incorporate the game sections into the story. Yea I lied up above about skipping the green sections, live with it. I do that a lot, lie that is. Am I confusing anyone? Tough nuts, as they use to say before any of you were born.
So lets see if any of you were paying attention.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
Playing on Hard/Aggressive settling.
Baudouin III (3-3-3) rules our tiny kingdom made up of two provinces, Samaria and Judea. We have 2,00 Infantry and 500 Cavalry. I can only maintain 10,000. One warship and two galleys float in the harbor. Our national religion is Catholic but our provinces are Orthodox. Our Culture it French and, you guessed it, our provinces are Arabic. We have only 75d in the treasury. What can I say? Life sucks.
To the North is the County of Tripoli and further North is the Duchy of Antioch. I hope to get them both in an alliance ASAP. To the South East are the Fatimids. We aren’t friendly but they don’t hate us. To the East is the Ayyubids who hate our guts. Something is going to have to be done about them and the sooner the better because they aren’t in an alliance at this time.
Goals? Sure I have goals. I’d like to make six figures a year and have a yacht. Oh you mean in the game? Short term the alliance I mentioned above and I’m going to try to take out the Ayyubids. After that who knows. I don’t have any long-term goals so I’m going to see what opportunities come up.
No cheats. I fact I have in-house rules that I’m stupid enough to follow. For the first hundred years I never invest in land, navy or stability, only in trade or infrastructure. This means I lag militarily but that makes it more interesting. Also makes me very careful about taking stability hits. After one hundred years I may modify that rule. Hey I’m not completely stupid. I never take a loan unless the roof is falling in on my head. I just don’t like loans, go figure. I use auto-send for my merchants. I figure if the computer it dumb enough to send its own merchants then it can send mine. Means my trade income usually has the virility of a wet noodle and I’m not talking al dente here folks. During wartime I allow myself to turn Auto-send off so I don’t waste money but when at peace I allow the AI to do its worst. As for battles I have a couple of quirkily rules. I know, who would have thought that? If my forces are stationary and I’m attacked I will not retreat. They live or die where they are. If my forces are moving when attacked I allow myself the choice of retreating or not. Why this strange rule? Hey pay attention and repeat after me "It makes the game more interesting."
Let the game begin.
October 30, 1948
London England
The Royal Stratford Hotel, room 617
Dear Mr. Rowe
The fat man is dead.
I looked up from the letter, stunned for a moment before continuing.
I found him in his room sitting in the parlor armchair. He looked quite comfortable wearing his usual white suit with a yellow carnation in his lapel. From the freshness of the flower and the hotel doctor’s professional opinion he died of natural causes a few hours before I arrived. The funeral is at Saint Marks cathedral on the 30th of October at noon.
Regards
Aurturo Pasquale"
Leave it to Aurturo to talk about the death of a close associate with his usual brevity of words laced with such deficiency of emotion. I looked at the hotel room clock and saw that I had a little over an hour before the service started. I shook my head and thought about arriving in England just four hours ago and here I was already going to a funeral. The hotel doorman hailed a cab for me and as I sped off to the church I thought of the man called ‘The Fat Man’. I conjured an image of him and the memories started flowing at an increasing rate of speed if not clarity. It was hard to believe that I first met the Fat Man almost twelve years ago. Where was it? Yes I remember now…
July 13, 1936
Cairo, Egypt
Just after sundown
The El-Salamlek Palace Hotel, room 312
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