I play my own moded Grand Campaign, I find it much better, if anyone wants a copy, e-mail me
Byzantium has Thrace, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Rumelia, Dobrudja and Ionia, a slightly larger starting Army & Navy, and more cash - as well as giving Constantinople a level 5 fortress from the very start. This makes for a far better game, especially in Europe and Arabia, due to the fact instead of being eaten up almost immediately, the Eastern Roman Empire actually wages some interesting (and often fruitful) wars with the Balkans and the Turks. They occasionally go on to reclaim the Holy Land and I twice saw them take back Rome and unite (most of) the Empire.
The
Dutchy of Athens get Morea, which was previously Byzantine's second province. This basically unites Greece and gives them a bit more weight, as oppose to being annexed by Byzantium or the Ottomans early on.
The
Kingdom of Jerusalem now exists, beginning with Sinai, Judea (capital), Samaria, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. This of course means we're assuming that the Crusaders took back the Holy Land at some point after the Third Crusade. I think it's cool, because they start with a good sized kingdom, a decent army and 500 ducats. Thus, they will either make an attempt to re-conquer the surrounding lands, or they will simply be engulfed (again) by the Arabs and Turks. It makes for an interesting game, because they are the only Crusader Power in the region with the exception of the Byzantines. Naturally, an unholy alliance of the Jews and the Romans vs. the Arabs and Turks makes for a fun game
The
Papal States hav cores (and thus CBs) on all Italian provinces, as well as on Constantinople. Likewise, the Byzantines have a core on Rome. This means the Papal States become slightly more aggressive, and often try and unite Italy fairly early on, etc.
The
Ottoman Empire now starts with Smyrna, Anatolia (capital) and Angora. You'll notice they've lost a few provinces to the Byzantines. This was done to stop the Ottomans from taking most of the known world south of the equator by about 1600. I found that made for an amazingly boring game in many instances. Now they have to unite the Turkish lands east of Constantinople. From there, you have a number of routes. If you think you're strong enough, march west and try and take the city back, or you can try and reclaim the Holy Land from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, or you can go east into Arabia. More and better choices I think. And they're more of a challenge.
That's pretty much it, bar a few minor changes. Not quite done yet, as I have yet to incorporate the country of Germany. I noticed earlier today it was possible to create them as a Vassal with Austria in both the GC and the Age of Exploration. So, I'll give them some land (I won't give them all of Germany; the whole point of my Grand Campaign is to allow for more strong, indepedent nations and more 'what if?' stuff, as oppose to the Spanish, the Ottomans and the British carving up the world between them, as was often the case.)
Anyway, hope that provides some more fun after boring of the default GC. I've saved this over the original seen as it's not *that* different and it is better I would say.
Hope it helps,
Jim
