This Is Madness 2 - Imperium Sine Fine (Interactive Mega Campaign)

[Attalus]

And here I am, comfortably sitting in the middle of Greece

The best being living near Konstantinopolis

 

[Pilot00]

I can only Imagine the faces of the imperial officers sighting the huge Azzy warships sighting one by one.

Somebody make this two AARs a movie already or two...or three...or five.

 

[luciusmalfoy012]

I'm confused by the mercenaries...

I ran it through google translate, and it's Polish...

But they have heavy Pisan accents? And one of them is named Domenico? Surely you could have found a different Italian name..

 

[Zqrfmb]

Thoughts:

- The classic 1.8 strategy of the moldava march is in effect, as any good emperor would employ
- With that in mind, armed mongols are now freely roaming imperial territories, I'd like to know more flavor-wise about the moldavans, as they were compared to the varangians
- Gotta love those AE shenanigans for messing with the HRE
- Markos is an amazing character, it will be a shame when his time comes because it means you will not be able to write more dialogue for him, maybe we should also make him a saint as well.
- Clearly, we need more galleys
- Anything west of Italia is just dead weight for the imperium, we can't do a thing against the xenoi until we are certain we won't have ten thousand mongol horsemen charging into our exposed rears.
- Aww yeah, Cairo has returned and our control of the red sea has expanded, as well as our control of ethiopia. My senate house will now go from destitute backwater nobility to somewhat poor backwater nobility, but with the possibility of expanding to medium-wealthed frontwater nobility.

 

[McGrey]

Great first chapter. You won a bit and lost a bit, although the first seams to prevail. But at what coast. All that loans... how much money is the empire making anyway?

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

- Anything west of Italia is just dead weight for the imperium, we can't do a thing against the xenoi until we are certain we won't have ten thousand mongol horsemen charging into our exposed rears.

So you think we should continue to expand East, and save the Xenoi and Pisa for once we have weakened the Mongols?

 

[Zqrfmb]

So you think we should continue to expand East, and save the Xenoi and Pisa for once we have weakened the Mongols?

Pretty much, yeah. unless we go 2x over our FL with galleys. The xenoi are going to gradually shave off buffer provinces while we go east, slightly slower if we end up getting local nobility along the way.

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

Pretty much, yeah. unless we go 2x over our FL with galleys. The xenoi are going to gradually shave off buffer provinces while we go east, slightly slower if we end up getting local nobility along the way.

I can certainly see your logic, but I'm worried what may lie in the East. If we can make allies, then there is hope for the Imperium. Given the setting though, I fear we may find more enemies, making the situation even worse. I want to reclaim all the territory we need so our stability will go up. Of course, that's easier said...

 

[luciusmalfoy012]

I can certainly see your logic, but I'm worried what may lie in the East. If we can make allies, then there is hope for the Imperium. Given the setting though, I fear we may find more enemies, making the situation even worse. I want to reclaim all the territory we need so our stability will go up. Of course, that's easier said...

I doubt we will find 'enemies' in the east. Even if they are Westernized and powerful, none of them will cross the Indian ocean to attack our closest provinces. On the other hand, there may be nations in India and China we can ally as result of them rivaling the Timurids and the Horde.

We need to keep the Timurids from forming the Mughals. Finding India, making allies, or guaranteeing the nation that holds the provinces the Timmies need is the best way to do that, in addition to continuing war against them. I would also propose us taking Mecca for the bonus missionary.

Remember, if the Timurids form the Mughals, we are fucked. so so so fucked. They will get the Mughal ideas as well as Ottoman tech and units.

The Horde will be our weakest enemy most likely. They will have to reform their government to even have a chance of holding against our superior tech, and even then they will be Muslim tech.

 

[Attalus]

I doubt we will find 'enemies' in the east. Even if they are Westernized and powerful, none of them will cross the Indian ocean to attack our closest provinces. On the other hand, there may be nations in India and China we can ally as result of them rivaling the Timurids and the Horde.

We need to keep the Timurids from forming the Mughals. Finding India, making allies, or guaranteeing the nation that holds the provinces the Timmies need is the best way to do that, in addition to continuing war against them. I would also propose us taking Mecca for the bonus missionary.

Remember, if the Timurids form the Mughals, we are fucked. so so so fucked. They will get the Mughal ideas as well as Ottoman tech and units.

The Horde will be our weakest enemy most likely. They will have to reform their government to even have a chance of holding against our superior tech, and even then they will be Muslim tech.

I agree with you. Except on the Horde. It will take a while for them to not become a threat, I think we have seen it in the first war.

 

[Zqrfmb]

I agree with you. Except on the Horde. It will take a while for them to not become a threat, I think we have seen it in the first war.

Give it until tech... whenever eastern gets their v ersion of the tercio, the hordes will be toothless if they have not reformed. That said, I've actually seen a horde reform in 1.8, sooooo...

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

I'm fine with stopping the Horde from reforming and the Timurids from forming the Mughals, and finding allies in the East (or people to conquer) would be fantastic. I still say we'll need to eventually Westernize to survive. Not anytime soon, but eventually.

 

[Pilot00]

Westernising with three powerful enemies on the door? Only if somehow we can pull off a triple truce, but thats worrying in on itself.

 

[Ponce_The_Great]

Give it until tech... whenever eastern gets their v ersion of the tercio, the hordes will be toothless if they have not reformed. That said, I've actually seen a horde reform in 1.8, sooooo...

The thought of the senators clamoring for war against the Horde...I might need to let Decius live as long as possible just so that he can die of happiness of seeing the senators vow to reclaim lands lost to the Horde.

I'm not as experienced playing non western nations in EU4 so can anyone explain how westernizing works (so far i understand, good tech wise, not good when 3 large empires are ready to tear you limb from limb, just want to know exactly what westernizing entails)

 

[KingJerkera]

As much as the concerns about the Timirids are good the real elephant in the room is the Pisan and Xenoi problem. If we can not beat up the Pisan and Xenoi within the next 100 years or so we can just kiss this game good bye. Simply put the horde and the Timirids are both going to eventually not be good enough in tech for them to beat us. The Pisans and the Xenoi on the other hand WILL because the Xenoi are western tech and the Pisans right next to them have only one direction to grow. TOWARDS AND INTO US. The horde and Timirids can fight EACH OTHER. The Xenoi only share common borders with us and a vassal of the horde and they don't have the majorly interesting provinces. WE DO. So what I'll like to see is that the next 15 years we spend switching from military spending and land offensive ideals to dip spending and a sea domination or else we are literally doomed. Why sea dominance? Because, thankfully, the AI seems to view protecting their lands as priority and didn't have many land troops in Europe which means most of them will come by sea. That one victory showed us that we don't have to fight them on land. We have to fight them by sea. Or else every 15 years we will get screwed over by the Xenoi and we'll lose. That is all.

 

[Undead Martyr]

Yup, thinking we'll go naval next time.

 

[viola]

Yup, thinking we'll go naval next time.

No, Religious is what we need: cheap Casus Belli on everyone and boosts to stability. After all we are not going to attack the Aztecs right now and Religious will grant us more bonuses in the long run, immediately after that we will get Naval.

 

[CzokletMuss]

He is the prince of heretics after all.
Reading such a chapter was easy for someone possessing black magic !
Edit :
Just finished reading and it's amazing
You managed to not lose too much territories in the West while reclaiming Aegyptus from the Timurids. The Senate is rejoicing
Could we have a translation of the Polish mercenaries ? (I assume it's Polish )

Thanks! I'm glad that the Senate's decision haven't brought doom upon the Imperium - at least this time. As for translation: not really, that's kinda the point of a Bilingual Bonus you know

Holy shit...
This is incredible, and will certainly affect how my next character will be played. Overall, the Imperium is much better off than it was previously, although those loans... The Imperium is rather fiscally irresponsible.
How many troops did the Aztecs have on the continent? If we can build a large enough fleet, the Aztecs can be stopped, it would appear...
In addition, since it has been 15 years, it would be if there could be a period, perhaps at the beginning of the next Senate session, where the Senators can reveal what has happened to their characters in the past 15 years. I am thinking that letters, a speech to a crowd of the Senator's choice, a speech to the other Senators, or perhaps a short, 5 min or so scene between the previous character and the next, or another family member. I feel it would be inappropriate to start the next Senate session without allowing the Senators to change characters or provide exposition for them.
Este-Ravenna is going to be fucking pissed about the Pisans...

Thanks! The loans were a hefty price to pay but I had to do it - the manpower was really low and I couldn't risk getting The Peasants' War, so I had to use mercenaries.
As for how many troops xenoi have in Europe - I have no idea. I hope they have less than 150,000 or it's gonna be really, really hard to win a war against them...
I have some plans to make interaction deeper and more fun and to allow you more possibilities to role-play - stay tuned, I'll announce this soon

PISA!!!!!!!!
That was suitably grimdark, wow, the Aztecs are scary.
I'm thinking maybe naval next...

They are indeed. The Senate will decide which Idea Group the Imperium takes next but yeah, I hope you'll choose wisely.

While the Imperium did suffer some loses, both in personal territory and our allies being attacked by Pisa, I agree with Attalus and luciusmalfoy012. The Imperium is in a better sitauation now that we have reconquered Aegyptus. The next Senate Session will be rather interesting. We have a lot to consider before making our next move. The Imperial Navy did an amazing job fighting the Xenoi, given their resources.

Yup, it'll definitely be quite a spectacle The Imperial Navy suffered c. 40% losses but managed to stop one of the xenoi fleets, which to be honest was a pleasant surprise - when I saw that they have 16 heavies I thought that I'll lose. A glorious victory of Roman sailors!

Just reading about the assassination attempt gave me shivers. I love the flavour you not only add to the AAR but in game too. Keep up the great work and can't wait for the next senate session!

Thank you very much for these kind words, I'm really happy that you enjoyed these additional "scenes"

Pisa must die. Painfully, and not quickly.
Then, after that we will have murdered the little greedy merchants, we will release Pisa as an Independent Nation and we will proceed to kill it a second time! Because there's no kill like overkill, but I digress...
Anyway, the war with the Aztecs went surprisingly good, only few territories were lost to the Xenoi themselves and the rest can be quickly regained through a quick and viciously brutal war against the Pisans, who ultimately are just a pushover. Yes, our Economy might be in shambles but who cares about the Economy anyway?
But most importantly: the lack of pyromaniac nuns is extremely disappointing, and I'm sure that it was their absence that caused the defeat in the West. :closedeyes: This problem must be fixed as soon as possible! The Imperium cannot stand without a specialized army of armored nuns prepared in blind burning of everything and unchecked genocide!

I agree - Pisa delenda est! As for the lack of pyromaniac nuns:

Seriously though, in this world women's main duty is to give birth to lots of children, so that they may die horribily protect the Imperium from barbarians. If the Imperium starts losing as much women as it's losing men every year (at least 100,000 died during the Mongol invasion according to my estimates), than it would simply run out of bodies brave Romaioi ready to defend the Christendom.

Would Aquitaine accept vassalization? They would make a wonderful march...

Good question, I haven't checked.

Pisa is a protectorate under the Aztecs; attacking them drags the Aztecs in. BTW, Quantity seems to be working well; we were able to recover quickly from the Horde War and attack and beat the Timmies.

Even worse - when I was doing tests to see whether the converted game works (3-5 years at most), at least 3 times when Pisa attacked Aquitaine after a year of stalemate for some reason Xenoi Xolal joined them in the war and assumed war leadership. I don't know whether this is a bug (normally overlord isn't called to its protectorate's wars), but if this happens the xenoi may join the war even if it's Pisa who DOW the Imperium.

You know, I wonder how badly the infrastructure of Aegyptus is damaged from constant back-and-forth fighting, wars, and raiders.

Constant? There were maybe three wars fought there in the last 50 years - comparing this to the rest of Europe it's a blooming garden!

I still didn׳t read everything and I need to go to sleep, but so far it's glorious and amazingly written!
One question through- Aquitaine also entered the military allience of the Germans and The Horde against us... Isn't this worth mentioning? They were great allies in CK2, after all

It was mentioned on the screenshot, although you are right that it wasn't mentioned in the text. But why should it be? If it was important, you would surely be told about it, citizen. Or do you question the actions of imperial officials? Hmm?

Impressive start of the EU4 campaign.

Infuriating losses against the Azetcs, but overall there's improvement for the Imperium. Net territorial gains, with Timurids fully pushed back from Mediterranean coast - on the other hand, Western Mediterranean seems lost for decades.

Bloody Aztec navy is a monster. You'll need far better navy tech and ships before you can actually cut them off. I doubt Tunisia can be salvaged for now. It'll be a long grind before you can push back the Xenoi from Europe and Africa - though that's possible in the long run, but you'll need to have severely weakened Horde and Timurids before you can commit the full force of your troops West.

Still, good start, imho - thankfully because the Horde didn't attacked when you were at war with both Timurids and Xenoi. Good luck for the next 350 years!

Thanks! I said it's gonna be quite epic
Timurids are pushed back from the sea but there are still Mongols and Pisans who have access to it - as long as Mare Nostrum is not secured, I can expect amphibious landing anywhere in the Imperium during the war, especially considering the improved AI in 1.8 patch.
Aztec navy is just as big as their army - that is, at least few times bigger than mine. I don't really know how to deal with it save for the galley spam. But even if I secure Gibraltar, they have the coast of whole flipping Europe to land their troops on
And yeah, I guess only the fact that all my rivals (Xenoi Xolal, Timurids, the Horde) hate each other will save me from being attacked by all three of them at the same time. It may happen though, since AI takes into consideration the size of a standing army when calculating who's gonna be attacked next. So if I lose the war against one of them and I'm left with low manpower and less than 20k troops, the other two will surely DOW me and Pisa would gladly join them. And then I'm done...

On a secondary note:
Glory to Pisa! I would have never dreamed that Pisa would expand at the Byzantine's expense. Truly glorious days!

It's good to have you here, Enlil If you weren't a blasphemous Pisan-loving, Dark Gods-worshipping, xocolatl-drinking servant of xenoi it would be cool to have you in the Senate!

Dang it. I'm out of home now and to think it was all because of ships. That said I think my next location will be southern Italy and hopefully my house will survive long enough to laugh at the western foe's doom.

The House may die but the Imperium shall live on!

Personally I kept expecting Cherson to fall and then Decius would be killed during the siege and his son would be pretty easy to write "Kill the Barbarians, destroy the Horde! Kill them all!" for the rest of his lifetime. Now I guess I actually have to work on writing Decius's son and seeing how he turns out.

That would be a good death, a warrrior's death. And since there is a good chance I'll lose Cherson at some moment it may actually happen

I may need to relocate the Tsoukaloi what with Pisa and the xenoi encroaching in the west. Though, Illyria isn't lost yet, so maybe not.
Also, I get the feeling that TiM would make a great short film series or even a play.

Dam i also have to re locate from tunis to somehwere safer

And here I am, comfortably sitting in the middle of Greece

The best being living near Konstantinopolis

Even within the Walls of the Queen of Cities a man can't be completely safe. Truly we live in a dark times...

I can only Imagine the faces of the imperial officers sighting the huge Azzy warships sighting one by one.
Somebody make this two AARs a movie already or two...or three...or five.

It would surely be glorious

I'm confused by the mercenaries...
I ran it through google translate, and it's Polish...
But they have heavy Pisan accents? And one of them is named Domenico? Surely you could have found a different Italian name..

One of them is from Kingdom of Poland and knows only Polish, the other is from Pisa and knows Pisan, Polish and some basics of Greek. As for the name, sorry, it's completely unintended!

Great first chapter. You won a bit and lost a bit, although the first seams to prevail. But at what coast. All that loans... how much money is the empire making anyway?

Thanks! Right now - AFAIK - my balance is at +8, with -18 being spent on mercenaries and -16on interest (loans). Total income is more or less +110 but I may be wrong.

As much as the concerns about the Timirids are good the real elephant in the room is the Pisan and Xenoi problem. If we can not beat up the Pisan and Xenoi within the next 100 years or so we can just kiss this game good bye. Simply put the horde and the Timirids are both going to eventually not be good enough in tech for them to beat us. The Pisans and the Xenoi on the other hand WILL because the Xenoi are western tech and the Pisans right next to them have only one direction to grow. TOWARDS AND INTO US. The horde and Timirids can fight EACH OTHER. The Xenoi only share common borders with us and a vassal of the horde and they don't have the majorly interesting provinces. WE DO. So what I'll like to see is that the next 15 years we spend switching from military spending and land offensive ideals to dip spending and a sea domination or else we are literally doomed. Why sea dominance? Because, thankfully, the AI seems to view protecting their lands as priority and didn't have many land troops in Europe which means most of them will come by sea. That one victory showed us that we don't have to fight them on land. We have to fight them by sea. Or else every 15 years we will get screwed over by the Xenoi and we'll lose. That is all.

A good, although quite depressing, analysis of the situation IMHO.

Thoughts:
- The classic 1.8 strategy of the moldava march is in effect, as any good emperor would employ
- With that in mind, armed mongols are now freely roaming imperial territories, I'd like to know more flavor-wise about the moldavans, as they were compared to the varangians
- Gotta love those AE shenanigans for messing with the HRE
- Markos is an amazing character, it will be a shame when his time comes because it means you will not be able to write more dialogue for him, maybe we should also make him a saint as well.
- Clearly, we need more galleys
- Anything west of Italia is just dead weight for the imperium, we can't do a thing against the xenoi until we are certain we won't have ten thousand mongol horsemen charging into our exposed rears.
- Aww yeah, Cairo has returned and our control of the red sea has expanded, as well as our control of ethiopia. My senate house will now go from destitute backwater nobility to somewhat poor backwater nobility, but with the possibility of expanding to medium-wealthed frontwater nobility.

1. Yup
2. I'll expand on that.
3. Damned Germans and their AE malus...
4. I like him too - which is unfortunate, because it means I have to kill him in some horrible way before he transforms in some kind of a Mary Sue
5. Absolutely
6. True, I don't want anyone chargin in our exposed rears.
7. We'll see about that

It's pretty late in Warsaw now and I'm quite tired, so I'll share some of my thoughts concerning the first chapter and plans for the future tomorrow. What's important is that you can expect an annuncement to be made concerning role-playing even when there's no Senate Session being hold But more on that tomorrow. Thanks everyone for kind words and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter too!

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

Given the Imperial Navy's impressive victory, I would hope the Blue Demes, so deeply connected to the navy, would be rewarded in some fashion. Perhaps some titles...?

 

[CzokletMuss]

Given the Imperial Navy's impressive victory, I would hope the Blue Demes, so deeply connected to the navy, would be rewarded in some fashion. Perhaps some titles...?

Perhaps :sleep: