Hawkeye1489 – I’m actually a little scared to know how long this thing has become!
I have a Word file from back around the days of Thomas I that had every update.. it was over 900 pages of text, 12 point Times New Roman, single spaced!
von Sachsen – Nope, because Christophoros was not ever crowned as Emperor. He was Megos Domestikos, then Kaisar, but he died before he could be crowned.
Kirsch27 – Wow, a whole bunch to reply to here!
1)I’m glad to hear you think the writing’s evolved for the better! Even now I read the first few pages and cringe often at the graphics or the text. Back then I did update more often—I think my record was four times in one week. Now I’ve settled on a more sedate pace of once, perhaps twice per week. Far more manageable. The update size actually has remained close to the same I think—early on there were large updates as well…
2) Frederica definitely brings the
physical charms to the table… as well as who knows what else!
3) The Egyptian armies, last we heard, are off in North Africa under their aged
Despotes Theodoros, and have yet to return home. One aspect of Egypt you’re forgetting in this scenario is that it is
still a breadbasket at this point. Huge amounts of grain come from there to feed the teeming capital, as well as other parts of the Empire. That power rivals the strength of any
tagmata if someone wielded it properly…
4) Nope, haven’t
met Nikephoros, but I do write about him.
Nikephoros is playing a risky game—for once. He’s shifting the backbone of the Persian field army West. Yes, there’ll be a sizeable force left in the homeland, but he’ll be relying on the politikoi along the borders to stall and slow anything if the Mongols decide to lunge. And you’re right, he’s gambling he won’t have to face all of the potential might Andie and his army supporters could bring. The Persian Komnenids could take the Anatolikon and Basilkion Stratoi. Egypt added? The Balkans added? The numbers start to get daunting.
Then again, Gabriel’s faced daunting numbers before.
vadermath – 1) That’s become my philosophy, to be honest. Photoshopped blank CK maps are better looking, and suit my writing style better.
2) The Romans can certainly hope that’s all Arghun is after. If they’re committed and he wants more, it could spell major trouble.
Sudaxe – Part of the disappearing screenshots was my transition from using just naked CK map screens to using a blank CK map and Photoshop to make something prettier. The other part comes from a change in the way I played the game… I went from being religious about taking screenies all the time to far more lax—less screenies = less screenshots used in the end. As for Andronikos—he’d appreciate the loyalty!
Hasimir Fenring – Welcome to the thread, Count! Love the name!
Vesimir –
1) That pic looks like it could be a modern day head-of-a-spy-agency Sophie.
2) As for the great hottie contest, I’m not fully qualified to weigh in on the women side of things.
3)I thought there was a blood and gore mod for M&B?
4)I saved this update up for you and all the other Gabriel-lovers. I thought you might like it!
Nikolai – It’s a little sobering to think Basil was that long ago. Much of it is simply there’s been a huge increase in the number of replies after each post. In perspective, the end of Manuel’s reign was 1/3 through the Table of Contents… yet is only on page 50 in the thread!
Fulcrumvale – 1)Frederica killed someone, but it was rather casual and she obviously never fully understood the danger she was in. Sophie was magnificent at her job. Except when Basil got in the way…
2)If all falls according to Andronikos’ plan, it’ll be Andronikos versus Gabriel for the big one. One has years of experience, the other has… well. Youth? We’ll see what happens!
AlexanderPrimus – Yup. Frederica was Morgana from
Merlin, Safiya is Lindsay Lohan, Christina was Lucilla from
Gladiator, Sophie was Sibylla from
Kingdom of Heaven, and Basiliea de Hauteville was Anne Boleyn from
The Tudors. Cecilia, incidentally, is Jane Seymour from the same.
And thank you, as always, for the kind words and support!
Drake Rlugia – Welcome to the thread! And it’s been too long since Altani—maybe you like her because she’s a kickass warlord in her own right? Or that even in defeat she shows defiance? Hopefully the next update meets with your same approval!
Qorten – QFT. This has become the hallmark of the later generations of Komnenids. Call it dynastic success or dynastic dysfunction, but the Komnenids are concerned about themselves and their place, not their family, not the empire. While there are and will be some stunning exceptions to this rule, the trend is only going to get worse the more the Komnenid blood spreads…
RGB – 1)They might have many HP, but do they have epic feats or cohorts?
2) As for the Song, I’m not sure. They’re likely fighting for their life tooth and nail against the Mongols still…
cezar87 – Rooting for Roman Persia doesn’t go against rooting for Altani. Altani can do just fine if
Arghun meets resistance…
Enewald – Gabriel’s only 48. Even in old CK he could still have quite a few years left!
I dig the little ditty. I like it a lot in fact. Especially “The Lion is coming.” May I borrow it as a song or ditty in a later update?
asd21593 – This is not the Vader quote you are looking for. *moves hand*
Iceman2508 – Welcome to the thread! Well, Gabriel has the best claim to Thomas II (he is the only son left in Roman lands)…
Whew, that was a lot of replies!
Next update is coming together somewhat, it should be up sometime either tomorrow or Saturday, if all goes according to plan, and I don’t get sidetracked again. Sidetracked by what, you ask?
Well, for those of you that are strategically minded, I have a problem you can analyze.
It’s from an ongoing game of
Distant Worlds (a 4x real time space empire game I’m playing), where shortly (maybe 30 minutes real time after I restart from where I saved, and maybe six months to a year game time, I’m going to find myself involved in a major intergalactic war that will literally find every single race in the galaxy at war.
The war pits me (The Earth Federation) and my allies (Azamol Confederation, several others) against the evil Mortalen Empire (seriously, their reputation has descended from notorious to evil, they’ve slagged several planets). It will be an epic struggle, a fight to the… well, maybe not the death. See below.
This is the current galactic map and situation:
Blue is me and my allies, Red are the Mortalens. Zentabia Fluid, Loros Fruit and Korrabian Spice are ultra rare resources that immensely boost colony happiness. I control the first two, the Mortalens control the last.
Now, my advantages:
1) Vastly superior population size and economy. My alliance includes 3 of the top four galactic economies. In GDP we have a 6-1 advantage over the enemy, and in tax income we have a whopping 8-1 advantage. This has led to advantage number 2…
2) Fleet size. My fleet has a combat power of 71000 altogether, while my two largest allies have about 30k each. Smaller allies together have perhaps 15k, for a grand total of nearly 150k fleet combat power versus their 80k or so.
However, these are mitigated by my disadvantages:
1) Government- My allies economy, as well as my own, are driven by the fact we are democracies, and thus have very high war exhaustion compared to the Mortalen monarchy. I can survive perhaps a year or two of war before war exhaustion starts crippling my economy and thus my ability to support my fleets in the field.
2) Breadth. I have the fastest engines in the galaxy, but we have far more real estate to defend than they do, and far more vulnerable infrastructure. Additionally more of my own fleet combat power has been grouped into my 5 offensive fleets, whereas the Mortalens have a significant portion of their firepower either in reserve, guarding stations, or unknown location.
3) Technology – the Mortalen fleet is almost universally high tech, while my ships outside of the five fleets are a mishmash.
My war plan is as follows:
1) Use the last few months in game before the shooting starts to retrofit my older ships in fleets to ultramodern standard.
2) Ready load troops into each fleet for instant invasion capability
3) Design and commission a new class of heavy destroyer, with heavy torpedo weapons and high speed. These will be grouped into three separate fleets of ten ships apiece, and will be commerce raiders. They’ll hit Mortalen gas mining facilities with the goal of crippling their fleet’s fuel situation
4) Adopt an overall defensive initial stance with the main battlefleets. Use intel to find the enemy’s target systems, and especially the locations they plan to refuel. At the latter, arrange for two of my fleets to be in position to intercept them as they’re low on fuel. Once the initial three Mortalen fleets have been eliminated,
5) Move to full scale offensive operations. Primary target—Mortalen supply of Korrabian Spice.
6) Profit.
Comments, suggestions? The game is extremely in depth in terms of its economy management and strategic decisions… its addicting.