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Hi, this is a most excellent thread general_bt, an amazing mix of a fluid narrative style and intriuging characters! I've been lurking for a few months while catching up with the thread and i've got to say this is the most impressive AAR i've read on these forums so far.
One thing i've noticed is that you didn't create a postreign analysis of either Thomas III or Nikephoros IV like you did with previous emperors. Have you abandoned the concept or are you waiting for Gabriel to pass on before creating a summing up of the old 'trinity' that once ruled the empire together?
 
Alexios I – Welcome to the thread! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed what’s come so far, and yes, that’s my plan—wait till the last of the trinity passed and make a joint reign summary for all of them.

RGB – Arghun didn’t bring all his steppe cavalry to Persia, he brought what he could get on short notice—Altani’s tumen. He’s still got plenty in India and the rest of his empire. Caspian Pass’ losses are more damaging to this campaign than his whole realm.

FlyingDutchie - The tumen got savaged, but Arghun still has a huge force--and there's a major siege ahead, where all those infantry will be useful... Quite a few Persian soldiers got out (even after losing 30,000, there were 70,000 survivors), but rallying them and forming them into a cohesive army again will be the problem...

Laur - Depends on how much flying he plans to do. ;)

asd21593 - If Gabriel or Alexandros can somehow salvage the remainder of Nikephoros' army, the Persians still have 120,000 in the field once Gabby's men show up. The problem is that unless something drastic happens, Alex is going to be pinned up in Isfahan, while Arghun will be free to send some men to block the passes over the Zagros, knocking Gabriel out of the equation...

Sergei Meranov - I'm not as quick as I used to be... a regular job and a whole slew of other distractions has slowed it down...

Frozenwall - That would be the biggest magic trick of Gabriel's life... he's got 50,000 people in Mesopotamia, the last cohesive field army in Persia. There are 70,000 survivors wandering around, and his capital to defend. Somehow, Gabriel has to:
a)Get his smaller army across the Zagros Mountains
b) Defeat the Mongols in detail, or
c)Rally the survivors of Caspian Pass to join his forces, and/or
d) Meet Arghun in the field, and pray and hope for the best.

His best case scenario is Arghun splitting his forces. If Arghun keeps his army together, however, Gabriel's going to have major problem--even if he attacks while Arghun is sieging Isfahan, the odds are daunting.

Qorten - Isfahan has been one of the two 'capital cities' of Gabriel's Persia (the other, obviously, being Baghdad), so it is extremely large and extremely well defended. Any siege of the city is going to last a while...

Kirsch27 - I got a social life is the big thing that happened... :rofl:

Enewald - If he lives. Basil's martial was even higher and he came close to dying shortly after the start of his martial career...

Nikolai - Essentially. :cool: I used to get 2-3 updates per page. Now its one per page, sometimes every other or every third. The current pace seems to be a stable one though! As for Alex and his cape—I’m not so sure that bright purple velvet is that chic. Then again, my own boyfriend says I have no fashion sense, so take the criticism as you see fit. :rofl:

Carlstadt Boy - It's not rude at all! My updating has slowed down greatly... once per week is about the norm now, instead of the 2-3 times per week of the first year. New goal is to get it finished before CK2 comes out. :)

Vesimir – It’s doubtful the Turks would come like that—if they do, it’ll be with reduced forces. The Turks are split right now, as there are many who think the prospect of the Caliph being formally under a non-Christian ruler is dangerous and heretical. It’s a big enough issue that a schism could result…

AlexanderPrimus – They’ve officially and fully supplanted the Turks and the French as the Big Bad Guy. The Empire is simply too powerful for another single realm to be a real threat, aside from the Mongols…

Zzzzz… – Its more of a question… will Alex show that 21 is rooted in strategic sense and tactical wizardry, or is it rooted in simply being a killing machine? The former could pull a victory together with a paperclip and some glue. The latter would just die in a spectacular, possibly heroic fashion… Alexander the Second, who enters lore for being promising and dying at such a young age? We’ll have to see!

armoristan - Not really a hoss, more a charismatic ‘good cop’ to Nikephoros’ sarcastic ‘bad cop.’ Nikephoros is clever enough to negotiate, he’s more than clever enough to have used his laconic reputation (and his nephew’s more… loquacious one?) to his advantage. To bad he’s gone now… :(

Next update is partially done… it will probably be finished slowly. My boyfriend saved up his money, and bought me both Civilization V and Empire Total:War yesterday. Needless to say, I haven’t accomplished any writing since! :rofl: If I can pry myself away, looks like the update will be ready, on schedule, Thursday or so…
 
Laur - Depends on how much flying he plans to do. ;)

Actually the Mongols did not use the carpets for flying, but to prevent royal blood to be spilled onto the ground, just as Hulagu did with the last Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mustasim, (Feb. 20th, 1258). But I see Arghun does not fully respect this tradition, or maybe Nikephoros was not of sufficient royal stature to warrant such a method of execution?
 
But I see Arghun does not fully respect this tradition, or maybe Nikephoros was not of sufficient royal stature to warrant such a method of execution?

I understood it as Nikephoros choosing to go down fighting. Although Nikephoros was a quiet man, he sure didn't choose a quiet end. The Mongols couldn't put him to death if he'd already lost his life in battle.
 
Ahhh, a Persian loss! Dammit! Though, at least we're certain of the fact that Persia will survive, in one way or another; I believe a fairly recent "into-the-future" interim showed a future Byzantine Emperor fighting the Persians yet again. I just hope that future Persia will still be led by the Gabrielids. I think we all saw Alex using Andi's possible arrival as leverage with the Caliph as a very bold bluff, but what are the actual chances that the banner of the Emperor in Konstantinopolis will once again be seen in Persia? I think that Andronikos would be a fool not to use this chance to conquer Persia yet again; his generals must surely be getting at least a bit uppity by now, as Alexandros pointed out. Then again, it seems that Andie's been making sure of staying on friendly terms with the Mongols, at least for now. ARGGHHH! Why must you keep us in this diabolical suspense, BT? Whyyyyyy...?!
 
I don't think he'll bother with it, honestly. He's got enough to worry about without starting a war, and he's not a warrior king to begin with. He MIGHT, if only to get revenge on Altani, but other than that I can't even see a motive, because Persia is so far away and so chaotic it wouldn't even be worth the trouble to administrate it, and he probably isn't that inclined to swoop in and save his cousins either.
 
General_BT, I just finished your AAR so far, and even though I normally don't post replies I have to say this is AWESOME! I'm a big fan of Byzantine intrigue (and Florentine, but given that there's already de'Medicis and Borgias around I have hope that will surface too), and you do an amazing job recreating it, this is a plausible and impossibly intricate alternative history...

Maybe you should rework it all slightly and publish it as a novel, it's starting to remind me of a super size-version of Marguerite Yourcenar's "The Abyss", and that's a huge compliment.

Also, Thomas the architecture lover's insane plan with the Sea of Marmara still makes me snigger whenever I think of it.

Vale! :)
 
I don't think he'll bother with it, honestly. He's got enough to worry about without starting a war, and he's not a warrior king to begin with. He MIGHT, if only to get revenge on Altani, but other than that I can't even see a motive, because Persia is so far away and so chaotic it wouldn't even be worth the trouble to administrate it, and he probably isn't that inclined to swoop in and save his cousins either.

True. I suppose this will make the inevitable Persian victory even sweeter. The Gabriel line must survive, they're the only link to the crazy Thomasine dynasty we have left!
 
What about Antemios? ;)

I wonder how long his clan will last, that is really one of the most interesting side-stories in this world. Seems like his family's position is pretty precarious once he dies or is no longer regent, though.

They might be executed just for being greek if a rather xenophobic clan chieftain manages to take the reins of the Kingdom in the chaos after the viking invasion, and I think that's a likely outcome to band together in the face of the viking invasion and french threat and I can understand how any leader who rises up in this time would be very anti-foreign.

It's also happened historically with the Britons, in almost every case where an invasion by mainlanders occurred, it seems there's always an Arthurian hero rising up to drive the foreigners out, and this tradition can even be said to continue until Llywelyn the Last in 1200's Wales. And of course William Wallace is the prime example for the Scots, though he seems less of a rebel leader, more a legitimate royal commander in this timeline.
 
I think the Greeks in Scotland would remain safe, as long as it's understood by everyone that as "foreigners" they can't become kings themselves. Why go xenophobic on such useful people? :) It's not like they follow an alien religion or anything. And they're probably only a handful of people - hardly enough to be blamed as scapegoats for anything by the common people.

BTW are we going to hear from Sortmark again at some point? With the Mongols on the move, I'd be curious to hear how their situation is.
 
We know the Antemine Scots will manage just fine, remember we got a sneak peek into the future a while back.:)
 
I think the Greeks in Scotland would remain safe, as long as it's understood by everyone that as "foreigners" they can't become kings themselves. Why go xenophobic on such useful people? :) It's not like they follow an alien religion or anything. And they're probably only a handful of people - hardly enough to be blamed as scapegoats for anything by the common people.

BTW are we going to hear from Sortmark again at some point? With the Mongols on the move, I'd be curious to hear how their situation is.
Then again, after a few generations, I don't see anything a little strategic marriage (and a few well placed deaths) can't fix.
 
For the Scottish fans: if you recall, it just so happens that William the Bruce and his wife, Basiliea Komnenos, are the guardians of the young infant King Constantine. Chances are, he's probably going to grow up with a pro-Komnenos attitude. If he grows up at all. ;)

If BT is amenable to the idea, and enough people want to see it, maybe I'll be able to crank out one more Antemios update before the old boy kicks the bucket, and let everybody see just where he wound up after that latest debacle. Sound good to everybody?
 
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for the scottish fans: If you recall, it just so happens that william the bruce and his wife, basiliea komnenos, are the guardians of the young infant king constantine. Chances are, he's probably going to grow up with a pro-komnenos attitude. If he grows up at all. ;)

if bt is amenable to the idea, and enough people want to see it, maybe i'll be able to crank out one more antemios update before the old boy kicks the bucket, and let everybody see just where he wound up after that latest debacle. Sound good to everybody?
yay
 
For the Scottish fans: if you recall, it just so happens that William the Bruce and his wife, Basiliea Komnenos, are the guardians of the young infant King Constantine. Chances are, he's probably going to grow up with a pro-Komnenos attitude. If he grows up at all. ;)

If BT is amenable to the idea, and enough people want to see it, maybe I'll be able to crank out one more Antemios update before the old boy kicks the bucket, and let everybody see just where he wound up after that latest debacle. Sound good to everybody?
Yes! I don't mind I little side story ever now and then
 
For the Scottish fans: if you recall, it just so happens that William the Bruce and his wife, Basiliea Komnenos, are the guardians of the young infant King Constantine. Chances are, he's probably going to grow up with a pro-Komnenos attitude. If he grows up at all. ;)

If BT is amenable to the idea, and enough people want to see it, maybe I'll be able to crank out one more Antemios update before the old boy kicks the bucket, and let everybody see just where he wound up after that latest debacle. Sound good to everybody?

Hell yeah! Though, I think we'll all be a tad disappointed if we don't see any more Comyn updates even after the demise of Antemios the Miserable.
 
Yes, let's see more Scots-Komnenids!