Excellent walkthrough of the world. These Mongols certainly up to no good. And what the hell is up with Frederica and Thomas?
Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR
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8 Tumen.
Argh. Well, either Gabriel will get smashed, or Hulagu will get smashed. Or maybe the Latins will get smashed, and who's really gonna miss the Latins. Yes, the Crusade should begin as promptly as possible
The House of Antemios - stewards and KINGS? Of SCOTLAND?
Thomas still doesn't get the birds and the bees or is there something worse going on?
Argh. Well, either Gabriel will get smashed, or Hulagu will get smashed. Or maybe the Latins will get smashed, and who's really gonna miss the Latins. Yes, the Crusade should begin as promptly as possible
The House of Antemios - stewards and KINGS? Of SCOTLAND?
Thomas still doesn't get the birds and the bees or is there something worse going on?
I wonder what vile acts occurred between Thomas and Frederica to be classified as being dark.
Oh I'm so curious. Could Thomas have a nasty little streak hidden deep in him that even our little German tiger couldn't tame? There was a reference to Freddy being fearful of Thomas, so it leaves plenty to the imagination. And more stuff for Nik and the West. I do wonder what he has hatched in his mind in regards to Italy. As always, you bring amazing updates, BT.
Cheers,
~Hawk
Cheers,
~Hawk
I have a hard time believing that Thomas continued to 'sperg out about his architectural drawings even on his wedding night!
Apparently, Gabriel's advice was insufficient. Maybe he should have provided Thomas with a diagram of how to go about it?
I guess there's no such thing as a happy ending in Rhomanion.
Apparently, Gabriel's advice was insufficient. Maybe he should have provided Thomas with a diagram of how to go about it?
I guess there's no such thing as a happy ending in Rhomanion.
Feels a bit like that crusade where the Venetians 'accidentally' took Constantinopolis. My guess is that Nikephoros 'accidentaly' takes Sicily and demands that the Emperors in Constantinopolis are grateful that he sends unreliable men to fight the Mongolians. That would be mine plan in that case .
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I think the plan is indeed to 'accidentally' take Sicily, and when Romans respond to the attack, hopefully they'll also slaughter the 'Crusaders' also. Double win for N.
Well, I guess it wouldn't be a Komnenid Thomas without some dark mental instability or violent degradation of women involved. Not at all like those nice, upstanding Batatzes...
I eagerly await the inevitable moment when Gabriel's head is presented to Hulagu on a pike.
I eagerly await the inevitable moment when Gabriel's head is presented to Hulagu on a pike.
I wonder what are Thomas' preferences in that area if he managed to scare someone as lustfull as Frederica.
Western Empire FTW! (As long as Albrecht is alive.)
Western Empire FTW! (As long as Albrecht is alive.)
+-180k Mongols? How many did they send the first time? 200k? The East is in deep, very deep trouble. If they don't defeat the Mongols decisively this time they might not have the strenght and troops to defeat or withstand them later, with the West nibbling at the East's territory (that's I'm guessing those tagmata and militia are sent to do there, yes?).
At some point I have to wonder if everyone would just be better off with an independent Italy that would serve as a buffer zone between East and West without involving itself in the civil wars of either state. It'll never happen, but it would make everyone's life much easier.
And I'll add my voice to the Chorus: WTF happened between Thomas and Frederica?
And I'll add my voice to the Chorus: WTF happened between Thomas and Frederica?
80000 riders? Where would such numbers come from, after the constant wars of the Khans? Anyways, it will certainly be a challenge. Remember though, those 100,000 levies are levies, not hardened steppe warriors. So we're talking about a strong force, not an unstoppable tide. Eighteen Tumens? Then I'll be worried. But the Byzantines can field nearly a million men if they were to mobilize en masse.
And the quality of the thematikoi has risen greatly due to the constant infighting, which caused the princes to create their own professional forces not unlike the Imperial Tagmata. I'm not entirely sure if Nikephoros means to take Italy, or what, but if his "crusaders" do make it to the East, they would at least bolster the forces that initially assemble, and be rather useful bow fodder, if nothing else.
I was never really impressed with the Mongol's performance before, and I am still rather unsure as to whether they can really threaten such a large and well established Byzantium. One of the main reasons the mongols were able to sweep across the earth was that they faced small micro-states fighting each other, for the most part. They were a newly unified force in a sea of squabbling peoples.
The various nations in China, India, and Persia never truly united against the mongols, and the Rus were practically in a state of civil war at the time of the Mongolian Invasion, and the Turkish states in Anatolia were also quite divided, though the Mongols did finally grind to a halt by then. In fact, I'm not really sure why the Romans haven't decided to take back their northern possessions.
The MAGYARS stopped the Mongols, at the height of their invasion. Magyars that would have been a mere nuisance to Byzantium. It seems that the malaise that sunk into Thomas II after his ridiculous charge at Neapolis sunk into his people as well.
Also, what has become of Sortmark and the 'Kingdom of the Rus'?
And the quality of the thematikoi has risen greatly due to the constant infighting, which caused the princes to create their own professional forces not unlike the Imperial Tagmata. I'm not entirely sure if Nikephoros means to take Italy, or what, but if his "crusaders" do make it to the East, they would at least bolster the forces that initially assemble, and be rather useful bow fodder, if nothing else.
I was never really impressed with the Mongol's performance before, and I am still rather unsure as to whether they can really threaten such a large and well established Byzantium. One of the main reasons the mongols were able to sweep across the earth was that they faced small micro-states fighting each other, for the most part. They were a newly unified force in a sea of squabbling peoples.
The various nations in China, India, and Persia never truly united against the mongols, and the Rus were practically in a state of civil war at the time of the Mongolian Invasion, and the Turkish states in Anatolia were also quite divided, though the Mongols did finally grind to a halt by then. In fact, I'm not really sure why the Romans haven't decided to take back their northern possessions.
The MAGYARS stopped the Mongols, at the height of their invasion. Magyars that would have been a mere nuisance to Byzantium. It seems that the malaise that sunk into Thomas II after his ridiculous charge at Neapolis sunk into his people as well.
Also, what has become of Sortmark and the 'Kingdom of the Rus'?
I find it quite funny that the angel that revealed the Koran to Muhammed was also named Gabriel. And let the mongol host come, let them crash against the rock that is Gabriel, and let them know, for every Roman that they strike down, a thousand mongols will die.
The magyars didnt stop the mongols, Ogedei just died, so Subutai had the princes turn around so they could vote. Before they turned around the mongols were kicking the hungarians around with little trouble. The hungarian king had even fled out of the country, if memory serves me right.
I seem to recall their king Moses removing them by force of arms, and Ghengis dying on the day of the battle of Krakow. No matter, the point is that the Mongols are not the mighty and invincible force they are made out to be. If this force is shattered, their empire will likely fall apart, due to an inability to continue conquering and an inability to hold on to what they already do have with garrisons. Levies are in almost infinite supply from China, Korea and India. Tumen are not.
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Yes, that'd be correct, but of all Europeans the Hungarians performed best vs. the Mongols overall, stopping Nogai's later attempts several times, but of course the scale of the warfare by then was much smaller and more to the scale of what the Hungarian kingdoms could handle.
Unless of course Kirsch was talking about BT's history, in which case Moses Arpad made the Mongols spill too much blood to really profit from the war and thus effectively stopped them from trying westwards again.
Geez BT, you've done it again! What a twist! Scottish Komnenids! Wouldn't it be quite funny if the British Isles ended up being ruled by a Komnenid with eventually, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II being a relation to Demetrious, Manuel and Thomas II? LOL!
As for Thomas, wow, talk about a "dark turn"! If Frederica is scared of THOMAS (THIS being the woman that beat the crap out of three thugs) something is definitely up. Could Thomas III follow in the reign of madness as his forebearers?
Also, considering that the "Interregnum" has been settled, I wonder if we'll get a new siggy? I mean, I *THINK* its settled.
Last but not least, I'm gonna pester you again for that "Generations Update". I think we stopped at Alexios's name last time.....
As for Thomas, wow, talk about a "dark turn"! If Frederica is scared of THOMAS (THIS being the woman that beat the crap out of three thugs) something is definitely up. Could Thomas III follow in the reign of madness as his forebearers?
Also, considering that the "Interregnum" has been settled, I wonder if we'll get a new siggy?
I mean, I *THINK* its settled. Last but not least, I'm gonna pester you again for that "Generations Update". I think we stopped at Alexios's name last time.....
Just out of curiosity, how do the Mongols sustain the 100s of thousands of levies from China and Korea? Pillaging can only take you so far for so long, and before India was conquered, they would be operating thousands of miles from any reliable supply source. Even just moving them from China across central Asia would be a huge effort.