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Lofman

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A new AAR. What a surprise. Unlike my previous ones this one will not be played with my mod (for obvious reasons) but with Magna Terra. For you who don't know Magna Terra is a mod that greatly expands the map, so that not only may you play with the old countries around the mediterranean but with countries as far east as Wa. Considered one with an Indian country (at a later start, after the Maurya Empire is gone and India is filled with many different countries of varying strength) but in the end decided to start at 474 with Zhao, one of the Warring States in China.

War in the East. The Rise of Zhao
May be Decline and Fall but let us hope not, for the sake of the accuracy of the Title anyway

We begin with an overview of Zhao and the other Warring States, as well as some of our neighbours. Be aware that some provinces will always display red borders, a side effect of the fact that Magna Terra uses many, many more provinces then any other mod. They have no effect but to potentially annoying the player slightly.

27y7ua1.jpg

Zhao is the grey country (though as I have written the name on the map I doubt anyone failed to figure that out). We are reasonably strong, our Wang, Zhao Huiwen is a capable man ruling from Handan in the southern part of our proud country. One advantage we have over the other states is our cavalry, we have good access to horses and start with a fairly large number of cavalry, the rest of our army is made up of militia. The other states mostly field militia and maybe archers depending on what resources they have access to, though none have iron at start, it can be gained in some nearby provinces meaning heavy infantry will eventually get fielded.

Qin is probably the strongest state at this time though Chu are also quite powerful. Qi may be smaller but can field large armies as well and are maybe as powerful as we are. Wei and Han comes next in power. Yan, the last of the seven major states have as can be seen a fairly secure position. Lu and Zou are weak minors unlikely to make it far without the aid of a stronger power (in other words, for them to prosper they would need my protection as the ai is unlikely to help them).

The other countries are not that interesting at the moment, though we can note that the Xiongnu have a border with us, they are a powerful bunch of savage barbarians and able to cause trouble.

First I try to find allies, it can be unhealthy to end up in a war against all of the other states. Qi refuses but Wei agrees. As Qi invades Lu I decide to offer an alliance with Lu in the hope that they can ask me to fight Qi before Lu is overrun. My plan is a success and my army marches into Qi. I get a bit worried when Qi manages to get Qin to join their side. And is even more worried by a declaration of war by the Xiongnu. I ask Chu for an alliance which is agreed so I ask them to join us in our war, but not before they ask us to join them in their ongoin war against Han (that have conquered Zou) and Minyue. Qi decides to end the war and cedes Guangyang. Lu is saved and a province is gained.

ossxut.jpg

Unfortunately we are still at war with Qin, who we could defeat if could focus on them, but unfortunately the Xiongnu Horde after a long time manages to arrive and we have to face them instead. Two years of devastating war follow but in the end we manage to get by without losses (although our manpower is depleted). Our Chu allies suffer worse though losing territory. The year after that the last wars end and all the Warring States are at peace.

352qb2c.jpg

Yan and Qin have strengthened their positions and as both are allied there is some cause for concern. However there are a few years of peace until Yan invades Qi. Qi is unable to find allies while Chu, Wei and me join the war, as well as Lu. As Chu leads the alliance we make a quick strike against Puyang and immediately force Qi to cede it.

2mo2n2p.jpg

Unsurprisingly Qi does not fare well against the superior forces arrayed against it.

3499qh2.jpg

We try to see if Qi is interested in an alliance but no such luck. But we are getting stronger and stronger and we must plan our next move. Qin remains our main opponent, and with Yan as their allies we must be very cautious. In the end here is the state of the world at the end of this first update.

21484zo.jpg
 
This is going to be exiting :D I never downloaded magna terra because I felt uncomfortable with the names and weird things.. But this will probably become great AARGH :D
 
Holy wow, those names flew right over my head. I had the map in a second tab just so I could keep up with it. Is entertaining & interesting enough so far, I like it. :]

What's the start-date, precisely?
 
another Lofman AAR.

Nice start, the names are confusing :)

Did i mis your last AAR?

Well you seem to have commented in it so you did not miss it completely. It did end prematurely though.

This is going to be exiting :D I never downloaded magna terra because I felt uncomfortable with the names and weird things.. But this will probably become great AARGH :D

I hope so too.

Holy wow, those names flew right over my head. I had the map in a second tab just so I could keep up with it. Is entertaining & interesting enough so far, I like it. :]

What's the start-date, precisely?

474 AUC (280 BC), the same as in vanilla Rome.

I have to get this mod... :D

That is a good idea.

The mod looks great and with Lofman at the helm it can't go bad, can it?

Well Qin are quite powerful, but I hope I can handle them.
 
War in the East. The Rise of Zhao

Some time is spent in peace, but as I decide to replace my mediocre High General Long Liao with the more capable Zhang Man things get somewhat less peaceful. Long Liao does not take the loss of his position well and decide to lead a revolt.

2qiaigz.jpg

He is quickly defeated. But there is not much time for peace as Yan goes to war against Qi. Just as the previous time they call in Chu who ask us to join. However then Yan agrees to a white peace after Qi occupies their southernmost-province. This allows Qi to call in their allies Qin (they could not previously as Qin was also allied to Yan). So what started as a Yan invasion of Qi ends up as a war between Qin, Han, Qi and Minyue against Chu, Zhao and Wei (and shortly thereafter also Lu as we ask them to join).

2vblflw.jpg

We fight well, protecting Wei from the slightly more powerful Han army as well as invading northern Qin occupying several provinces. Unfortunately Chu is unable to hold back the Qin and Minyue armies invading their territory and they lose Nanyang and Yanying to Qin (although they managed to get Xie from Qi, always something).


21orgbo.jpg

The war was not too bad for us though, although our campaign against Qin did cost us many men. However Yan that caused the whole mess sits to our east allied with nearly everyone else. While we still have a truce with Qin it is decided to invade Yan. As they are forced to stand alone they put up some resistance but in the end they are crushed. We lost most of our remaining manpower but Yan is reduced to just Dukang.

34jdgg1.jpg

Our conquests means we now have direct access to wood and iron meaning we can provide our armies with heavy infantry and archers in addition to the hordes of militia we already had as our infantry. Unfortunately Qin also have access to all the same resources, so they can also get everything but elephants.


faoenk.jpg

We begin efforts to improve our fortifications (just got the ability to construct stockades) but peace does not last long as Qi decides to invade Yan, resulting in a war between Zhao, Chu and Yan against Qi and Minyue. We quickly occupy the Qi capital but their other province is occupied by Chu who refuses to sign peace. The war continues as I really want to annex Qi (have a mission to take their capital). The war drags out (there is a small interlude as Qin attacks the Yuezhi leading to all the Chinese states joining in war against the Xiongnu and Yuezhi, we quickly sign a white peace since we have no real interest in fighting them at the moment, and if Qin would lose it would be great) until Yan decides to sign peace with Qi. As there is a risk of Qi calling in Qin, who are doing decently against the barbarians and have rather large armies, it is decided to just ask Qi for the largest tribute we can get away with.


v668p2.jpg

We did colonize Ordos Nan during the war with Qi, and managed to construct stockades in nearly all border provinces. This is the state of the world (year is 499).

n4tq3l.jpg
 
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Soon only Zhao, Chu and Qin are left.
Qi, Han and Wei are as good as dead. :p
And Yan looks dead already.

Do not discount Han and Wei yet, they have sizeable armies (especially Han). They may not be able to field more then one army, but when it is a huge one it can still be a tad problematic to deal with it.

Whats up with Carthage?

Appearantly Africa (the regional country) declared independence due to rebels (the standard ones). Carthage seems to be falling apart.
 
War in the East. The Rise of Zhao

We spend some years in peace, improving fortifications and irrigation where we can. Eventually though war comes. There is no need to let Yan remain independent for much longer. We invade, and our foe is unable to put up much resistance. The kingdom of Yan is no more. Unfortunately as a result of their alliances we are at war with Qin, Han and Minyue. We can hold of Qin, but are unable to go on any real offensive, and when we ask them Chu refuses to join. Then disaster strikes, Wang Huiwen is captured by the foul Qin!

16ib72d.jpg

Xiaocheng, his oldest son, is now rules Zhao. And before the year ends Huiwen dies (of old age) in captivity, and we once again create an alliance with Chu, we have not forgotten their treacherous behaviour, but we can not risk ending up in a fight with them as well at the moment. After much fighting, we manage to get the Qin to agree to peace. We pay a symbolic sum.

2rq0p3r.jpg

The realm is given some time to recover, but as it is in reasonably good shape merely one year later we first end the tribute from Qi and then we invade. Qi proves unable to withstand our might and their indpendence is ended.

2dha6pf.jpg

Of the Warring States now only Qin, Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han and the insignificant Lu remain. Qin are our greatest threat, though it should be noted that Chu may have the largest armies (though as they seem to lack access to any decent resources it should almost entirely be militia). And a look at the world the year 510

2nkm5qh.jpg
 
Perhaps time to teach the Mongols a lesson in the northwest? Unless Wei Han or Lu have no threatening alliances with either Chu or Qin, then you could take those. And Gojoseon of course. You could take on the two Korean kingdoms easily together I'd say.
 
Korea sounds like a good idea to me.

Who are Wei, Lu and Han allied to?
 
Sorry for the delay (and the coming update will unfortunately not be a long one). I have noticed that the screenshots seems to be resized automatically by the forum. Do they look fine to you (especially the larger ones such as the world maps)?

Maybe expand anywhere where you can, meaning avoiding Qin and Chu. :p
Too scary.

Chu are not scary. They may be big but that is all they have going for them, that and the size of what they consider to be their army. Qin is a problem though, and I really can't ignore them, if I don't take them down they will probably expand even more.

Perhaps time to teach the Mongols a lesson in the northwest? Unless Wei Han or Lu have no threatening alliances with either Chu or Qin, then you could take those. And Gojoseon of course. You could take on the two Korean kingdoms easily together I'd say.

The Xiongnu are at the start of the update almost and at the end completely occupied by the other Chinese states, and there is no peace in sight. Gojoseon I could take easily (their army is pitiful) and I should be able to handle Jin as well but I have no need of those provinces. All they would do at the moment would be to slow down my technology (and since Qin is slightly more advanced this I would prefer not to) for a slight increase in income. I need manpower more then money (can note that my max manpower is quite high though due to wars the actual manpower is a bit lower).

Korea sounds like a good idea to me.

Who are Wei, Lu and Han allied to?

Wei is allied to me and Minyue. Lu is allied to me and Han is allied to just Minyue. So the only one I am not allied to is the one I can't easily reach.
 
War in the East. The Rise of Zhao

As Qin expands into Xiongnu and Yuezhi territory I decide to attack them as soon as the truce ends (partly because Qin have no allies and also because they must be stopped before they become stronger). I ask Chu to join but they decides to dishonour our alliance, evidently not wanting to completely crush Qin, they will not become my allies again, thats for sure. What follows is a brutal struggle lasting five years with countless dead, though I maintain the upper hand and nearly reaches the Qin capital. Wang Zhao Xiaocheng dies of old age in the fourth year of the war and is succeeded by his son with the same name (who is leading one of our armies as he is a very good commander, unfortunately leading armies is the only thing he is good at).

14jsp6a.jpg

What did we gain in the war? Well not much, only Jiuyuan. But a victory is a victory. And we may have little remaining manpower but Qin have even less.

bfnzwg.jpg

Then we have a peaceful period of recovery. An alliance is formed with Han, now all the minor powers are my allies, and I doubt Chu and Qin have good enough relations to form an alliance so I should be able to focus on Qin, they are after all a much greater threat then Chu. And here is the world at the year 520 AUC

2jeu3wo.jpg
 
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Van Lang might seem like a useful ally, as they could draw Qin forces south (if they actually honoured the alliance).
 
Wow, your situation is certainly chaotic. What's your next target?