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Mecha-cow? Mekow?
Anyway.
Unrest of that magnitude will surely be remembered for a long time indeed.
Anyway.
Unrest of that magnitude will surely be remembered for a long time indeed.
all hail king of aars catnight...
all hail king of aars catnight...
I almost asked about you if you were making a new aar but then i noticed your signature (so there is a reason for those)
all hail king of aars catnight...
I almost asked about you if you were making a new aar but then i noticed your signature (so there is a reason for those)
I thought Mooski and the battle cattle were a hallucination from 18th Century colonial America?!? A time that hasn't even come to pass yet... 
Anyway, even if the plausibility occasionally skids off the tracks*, the tale remains very interesting. The next Rajah has a gargantuan task ahead of him, trying to rebuild this shattered state. It should prove to be a very different experience from Virkupashka's reign.
*Yes, I know: starting with an Eternal Cow who counsels the high and mighty does seriously loosen the fabric of reality to begin with.
Anyway, even if the plausibility occasionally skids off the tracks*, the tale remains very interesting. The next Rajah has a gargantuan task ahead of him, trying to rebuild this shattered state. It should prove to be a very different experience from Virkupashka's reign.
*Yes, I know: starting with an Eternal Cow who counsels the high and mighty does seriously loosen the fabric of reality to begin with.
Well I certainly did not see that ending to this update! Nonetheless it seems fitting to see Virkupashka bow out in such a flamboyant manner.
dinofs: Mooski made his first appearance in a dream sequence during 'Resurrection: Rebirth of the United States'
RGB: Definitely, though it's amazing what a change of monarch will do for one's outlook.
wolfcity: Indeed!
Stuyvesant: Whoa! Foul! You're the one who asked about battle cattle!
You accepted an eternal cow and tacitly approved of a Benz war chariot, but an armored cow you mentioned throws you? Foul I say!
morningSIDEr: I was a little upset with Virkupashka died at such a young age. He was only 35 or so. I was looking forward to seeing what a God King could accomplish.
Mooski made his first appearance in a dream sequence during 'Resurrection: Rebirth of the United States'RGB: Definitely, though it's amazing what a change of monarch will do for one's outlook.
wolfcity: Indeed!
Stuyvesant: Whoa! Foul! You're the one who asked about battle cattle!
You accepted an eternal cow and tacitly approved of a Benz war chariot, but an armored cow you mentioned throws you? Foul I say!
morningSIDEr: I was a little upset with Virkupashka died at such a young age. He was only 35 or so. I was looking forward to seeing what a God King could accomplish.
Chapter III: Mallikarjuna I
Part 1: Second Verse... (1411-1415)
A Tale of Two Brothers
Mallikarjuna was the first son of Ila, Harihara II's sole daughter. He was born in 1389 and grew into a thin, dark man given to stomach ailments and the distemper that often comes with recurring illness. He was raised in Vijayanagara and trained from a young age to be ready to assume the throne if Virkupashka had no direct heirs. As he was well known at court, no one with any power questioned his legitimacy. Indeed, those in power looked forward to a long period of quiet growth.
Life in his uncle's court was generally tolerable: Virkupashka didn't dote on his nephews, but he didn't rage unreasonably either. The only recorded case of near violence came when Mallikarjuna's brother, Devaraya, stole his uncle's war chariot and drove it into a tree.
Mallikarjuna watched his uncle's increasingly direct battles with his advisors and concluded that great men simply can't rely on the advice of others. The counsel of 'normal' men - those not far advanced on the path to enlightenment - couldn't be valid no matter how well meaning. Indeed, he reasoned that if a 'normal' person should suggest he do one thing, then the best course of action was probably the opposite.
Devaraya took a more objective view of the interplay between king and council: Virkupashka erred in directly fighting them. No, better to just do what you want and manipulate the advisors into thinking it was their idea. Then everyone wins.
The new king's contrary nature became apparent right after his coronation. Orissan officials asked about the possibility of returning their lost territories.
Mallikarjuna said:
A far more suggestion involved forsaking Virkupashka's "peace" flag in favor of the old one featuring Varasha the Boar as a sign that Mallikarjuna repudiated his uncle's aggression.
(Meeting the Foreign Emissaries: Sabre-rattling, +1 infamy)Mallikarjuna said:
Despite an inauspicious beginning and an apparent eagerness to frustrate the reinstated Pradhana, the rich and powerful regarded his ascension with cautious optimism. At least he didn't think he was on a divinely inspired mission to conquer half of India and cultists weren't trying to deify him!
Mallikarjuna also made several quick moves to soothe relations with his neighbors. He halted further expansion of the army and exchanged gifts and envoys with Bijar, Rajputana and Gondwana. Mallikarjuna also won permission from the Ming emperors to trade in Nanjing as well as Guangzhou.
In all this he was supported by his wife, Vaidehi. We know very little of Vaidehi: She was born and raised in Gondwana and came to Vijayanagara in a marriage arranged by Virkupashka. She was petit and demure, with an apparent indifferent courtly education and, of course, few social rights beyond the protection of her husband. On the other hand, Vaidehi was an able hostess and diplomat, skilled at softening her husband's contrary tendencies. More importantly, of all the people in the Vijayanagaran Empire, he trusted her and their affection appears to have been genuine.
Varupaksha Mallikarjun, Senaapati and commander of the Imperial army during Virkupashka's reign, resigned in October. Publicly the king thanked his commander's noble efforts, while Varupaksha expressed his desire to let Mallikarjuna appoint his own commander. Privately he was more direct:
Varupaksha Mallikarjun said:
These were calm years in Vijayanagara - calm, but active. In 1412 nobles in Bangalore, sensing their importance in the Empire (as well as the Empire's relatively strength compared to Mysore), issued a statement renewing their vows of fealty and friendship with 'the noble Mallikarjuna.' (Monarchist faction in Bangalore. Social Outrage in Mysore.) This would have unexpected consequences in a few short years.
Through the spring of 1412, Imperial merchants were all but driven out of Nanjing by a determined effort from Imagawa. Mallikarjuna had never heard of Imagawa, and his advisors proved their worthlessness in his eyes by being unable to find it on a map. Ming trademasters insisted they were a realm of no importance and the problem in fact came from poor Imperial credit. Virkupashka debased the coinage badly to fund his military campaigns and now word had gotten out. The Rajah decided to take the matter in hand.
In January 1413 he dismissed Mahapradhana Verkata Chennavet, the holy man who'd penned the Avaghosanaa Anusthaana Vijaya concerning religious tolerance. In his place came the hard nosed Narasimha Mallikarjun, a distant relative of the now retired general with a reputation for fairness and complete intolerance for any who disagreed. Mallikarjun ordered the return of what coinage could be retrieved for its actual value, severely weakening those honest merchants who obeyed.
Still, by 1414 the tide was turning in favor of the young monarch. (Back to 'Capable' government.) Narasimha's draconian efforts stabilized the economy and affected few enough people to prevent a serious recession. On the other hand, several merchants in Madras and Goa did have to either retire or combine with others to stay in business. This created gaps in supply and trade that Muslims happily filled.
This event also fired for Goa months later.
Much like during his grandfather's reign, Mallikarjuna quickly learned that tolerance led to tension as men, attracted by Muslim wealth, novelty and luxury, converted to worshipping Allah.
Under Mallikarjun, the Pradhana slowly reasserted its rights in the Empire with little objection from the sovereign who appointed them. This new council once more shifted focus from Kongu back to Madras and enjoyed a clear majority. Any ill will due to Virkupashka's callous treatment of their city and people evaporated quickly: They had entirely new reasons to be vexed with Mallikarjuna, who saw no point in listening.
In May 1414, the Pradhana advised their king that if he saw no need to rescue Hindus in Konkan, maybe he'd rescue people of his faith and culture from the cruel Sultan of Raichur. (New mission: Same one Peperna gave Virkupashka a few posts back.)
As Mallikarjuna determined the best way to ignore or pervert the council's opinion, he came up with two options:
First, he could simply remain at peace.
Second, he could attack someone else.
Right.
Giant in the Playground
There were several reasons for Vijayanagara going to war in the winter of 1415. Some were even logical.
Mysore would be Mallikarjuna's real target. The emperor enjoyed very high approval in neighboring Bangalore, and since Bangalore shared cultures with their former homeland (and Raichur) for that matter, unifying the area would be of great benefit to the Empire.
Getting to Mysore meant attacking Travanacore. Travanacore and Mysore were allied, and their truce with Vijayanagara ran out in December.
(For those paying attention, I scaled back the time truces last from 10 yrs in MM to 8. I felt 10 was too much, but I understand the principle behind extending it, so I split the difference with Vanilla. Similarly, since I cancel missions when I get a new monarch to reflect new personalities and tendencies, I scaled the penalty back from -10 in MM to the default -5 prestige).
Technically Mallikarjuna didn't need much provocation or excuse for attacking either state: The Empire enjoyed a valid claim on Mysore due to common culture, and on Malabar because of documents and promises dating to the late 1350s when Harihara I began subduing Madurai. As it happened though, Travanacore's Ravi Kerala Varma recently endorsed worshipping Shiva above Vishnu and Brahma. While Mallikarjuna wasn't as caught up in religious affairs as his uncle, having a kingdom worshipping the destroyer at his back door couldn't be a good thing.
Subjugating or destroying the two smaller states would also allow the Empire to focus their armies on more dangerous enemies.
In early January Mallikarjuna took command of the Mysoran army (Fire 2 Shock 1 Maneuver 2 Siege 1) and declared a general advance. (VIJAYANAGARA vs. MYSORE, Travanacore)
It wasn't much of a plan, and it wasn't much of a war.
In January, Mallikarjuna met Yadu Raya east of Mysore. The Imperial army consisted of some six thousand light infantry with two thousand elephants and a handful of cavalry 'scouts', while the Mysorans had perhaps five thousand infantry and one thousand horse archers.
Much like his uncle had years earlier, Mallikarjuna kept the elephants in reserve and slowly flanked the enemy as his infantry pinned theirs. Yadu Raya chose not to fall for the same trick twice and sent his archers to harass the elephants and hopefully hurt them enough to panic. Arrows rained down on the flankers, and the emperor ordered his elephants to widen frontage into what would one day be called a skirmish or open formation.
Despite this sensible precaution a handful of elephants bolted, but rather than creating panic it forced the elephants into a stampede. Yadu Raya's horsemen, for the most part, dodged the onslaught but determined handlers managed to guide the rush through the heart of the Mysoran infantry. Yadu Raya retreated with over two thousand casualties and would surrender two months later.
In the south, Ravi Kerala Varma defended his realm with perhaps one thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry against eight thousand Imperials. Here it would be the Travanacorans attempting to outmaneuver their foes with flanking horse archers, but Ravi Kerala simply ran into poor luck.
Though much of India had converted to the use of horse archers, the Indian horse bow didn't have the same strength and range of Tartar horse bows or Japanese yumi, and little more than that used by the infantry. Further, Imperial discipline more than made up for Travancorean desperation and Vijayanagara won the brief ranged exchange.
As Ravi Kerala saw his cavalry flee the battle and his men pinned at the base of (Mount) Anamudi, he bowed to the inevitable and surrendered en-masse.
In both campaigns, Vijayanagar lost about 900 wounded or killed.
Through 1415 sieges continued without further incident. Within the Empire there was a great sense of complacency - that the war was 'over there' beyond the Western Ghats and not very dangerous at that. Even the Pradhana could find little bad to say despite having their advice completely ignored. The Empire won with few casualties and would, in time, be strengthened for it.
Dark Tidings
In September refugees fled across the border from Golconda telling horrible tales of forced conversion, looting and murder.
When the Bahamanid/Deccan Sultanates annexed Bastar from Gondwana, they picked up a sizeable Telegu minority. The Telegu, culturally similar to Orissa and eastern Vijayanagar, also held a significant presence in neighboring Golconda. Deccan claimed Telegu 'nationalists' fleeing Telingana after losing to Vijayanagara started causing trouble and fomenting rebellion. (Bahamanids: Telegu Heathens - no idea what this event does.)
They responded by sending Shiite Imams into Golconda to convince the people to accept their destiny and submit to Allah. The fact that armed mercenaries shielded these Imams and dealt with troublemakers didn't help matters. (I noticed their first conversion attempt in September.)
The Pradhana asked their sovereign to stop the fighting and rescue those Hindu 'held in Muslim captivity.' Once more he ignored their advice.
The Bahamanid sultans learned their lesson well: Vijayanagara was more interested in fighting fellow Hindus than Deccan. They'd allowed Muslim merchants onto their soil thrice in twenty years. They'd avoided every Muslim/Hindu war in the same time period. In short, Vijayanagara didn't care and they took advantage of their apathy.
Riots broke out in Raichur, Konkan, Golconda and elsewhere as the sultans' armies put hundreds of Hindus to the sword and forced hundreds more to convert. Rajputana and Bihar declared war and Bahamanid armies surged north.
Vaidehi, at the head of seven guards, risked refugees and bandits both and crossed into Mysorean soil. She found him planning an assault on the city walls and dropped to her knees.
Vaidehi said:
Well, at least this time it's going in the right direction. Which is to say, North.
It will be interesting to see whether Mallikarjuna considers his wife "great" enough to listen to her advice...
and you better hurry otherwise you'll have to re-convert former Hindu lands
(where do you change the expire dated of truces? i think 8 years is a good idea.)
(where do you change the expire dated of truces? i think 8 years is a good idea.)
Very intriguing developments. It was a true pity that Virkupashka died so young but Mallikarjuna appears to have taken up his mantle ably. I've never played MM myself, and I'm not sure I'd want to either, as it certainly seems to be living up to its reputation for making the game alot tougher!
blsteen: Indeed. Wives don't like to be ignored.
RGB: Yep! Finally time to show Deccan what we can do. Maybe.
dinofs: And what happens if he does listen.
JDMS: Yes, though costly, as any war on even odds can be.
gabor: You can control the length of truces (and many other things) from the MagnaMundi (or whatever mod you fancy)/common/defines.txt file.
morningSIDEr: I'm still thinking about how I feel about MagnaMundi. The extra events and such are great for immersion. Getting stomped into the ground - not so much. Since MM has a ton of events to discourage annexing within the HRE, I'm not sure if I'd want to play it in Europe.
RGB: Yep! Finally time to show Deccan what we can do. Maybe.
dinofs: And what happens if he does listen.
JDMS: Yes, though costly, as any war on even odds can be.
gabor: You can control the length of truces (and many other things) from the MagnaMundi (or whatever mod you fancy)/common/defines.txt file.
morningSIDEr: I'm still thinking about how I feel about MagnaMundi. The extra events and such are great for immersion. Getting stomped into the ground - not so much.
Since MM has a ton of events to discourage annexing within the HRE, I'm not sure if I'd want to play it in Europe.
Chapter III: Mallikarjuna I
Part 2: Destiny Deferred (1415-1417)
The world was simpler not so long ago, before Vaidehi troubled him with news of atrocities in the north. Mallikarjuna stood apart, overlooking the battered walls of Mysore, and pondered.
He hadn't objected to fighting Travanacore or Mysore since they were quick, easy wars that could do no real harm. Fighting the Bahamanids and the Deccan Sultanates however, that could easily drag on for years. He shook his head. "I no longer know what to do."
"Vijayanagara was founded for a reason," a voice answered quietly. "To protect the Hindu. You are their king and their champion. It is time to claim your destiny."
Mallikarjuna turned and regarded a cow with solemn eyes.
*******
Out of the Frying Pan
It was a grim ruler who issued orders to Mahapradhana Narasimha Mallikarjun demanding he prepare the empire for a 'protracted campaign.'
This was the type of task Mallikarjun excelled at: He was the type of man who dealt in absolutes: yes and no, black and white, good and evil. He'd unified the Pradhana in his king's absence and now moved decisively to crush any remaining opposition. Under Mallikarjuna's seal (though without his permission or even knowledge), the Prime Minister expelled his two most vocal enemies, replacing them with a cousin and friend loyal to him. (New advisors: Sheriff-2 (to minimize revolts) and Diplomat-1 (to help with infamy) He also sent envoys to Bihar, Rajputana and Gondwana citing the need for a 'Hindu League' against the Muslim threat.
The first two countries ignored his entreaties, but as they were already co-belligerents it didn't signify. Arjuna Simha Gond, Rajah of Gondwana and Vaidehi's brother, eagerly signed on.
As the Mahapradhana secured his position at home, Mallikarjuna ordered his Senaapati (Army Commander), Vijaya Chatterji, (F3 S3 M0 Sg0) to leave a token covering force in Travanacore and advance to the border. In the meantime he risked a series of direct assaults on Mysore itself.
On January 23, 1416 the hungry, harassed and beleaguered garrison finally opened the gates. With Mysore conquered, attention shifted to Trivandrum on the Malabar Coast where Kotha Aditya, the new rajah, held court. Kotha proved to be a shrewd negotiator who understood the diplomatic position better than his adversary:
Kotha Aditya I said:
In fact it took two months of back and forth negotiations to 'end this.' While everything Kotha Aditya said was true enough, it was still true that Travanacore had no army and no allies.
For his part, Mallikarjuna had no particular interest in conquering Trivandrum except to eliminate the need to keep an army in the south. Mysore...could wait for another day, but not forever. The rajah was still grateful to the show of loyalty nobles in Bangalore showed and hoped to unite the Kannadan people under Imperial rule. In the end they compromised, with Travanacore offering to protect the Imperial south in exchange for relative freedom.
(I was mistaken last post: Travanacore was war leader, not Mysore. I'd expected +4 infamy per province (since I have cores, but I'd be annexing them.) I'd forgotten that technically I had no CB on Mysore since they came in to defend Travanacore, so when the option to annex came up it would have been 8 infamy. That's too much right now. As for Kannada: Bangalore, Mysore and Raichur Doab all share Kannadan culture. That also happens to be the Imperial primary culture - even though I didn't begin the game with any Kannadan provinces. IRL there's a problem with India's initial setup: The actual city of Vijayanagara/Hampi would be in Bangalore province.)
...Into the Fire
In Nagpur, on the Bijar/Deccan border, Taj ud-din Firuz Bahamanid watched the Imperial armies mass on Golconda's border with minor concern. Taj ud-din was an older man, having taken the throne in 1397, and would be remembered throughout Islamic India as a prime example of the learned warrior so many cultures idolize. A skilled calligrapher who, in 1407, began construction of a great observatory, he was knowledgeable in a number of Indian languages including Kannadan and Telegu.
Taj ud-din was also a formidable warrior, and a holy one at that. He strongly believed in the virtues of Islam as taught by Mohammad and his cousin and son-in-law, the fourth caliph Ali. In other words, he was Shiite though willing to use Sunnis to prosletyze the faith. When he could do so peacefully, such as flooding merchants into Vijayanagar, Taj ud-din preferred it. When it took a sword and brand...so be it.
He thought Vijayanagara decadent: A noble (if misguided) idea betrayed by a lack of devotion to their gods and their cause. So long as the 'Emperor' wanted to prey on fellow Hindus, he could care less: A stable, tolerant southern Indian state suited his needs perfectly.
After some of his allied sultans chose to be more exuberant in spreading the faith than others, he reasoned that if Vijayanagara was ever going to interfere, it would be now. For months he deployed as many as fifteen banners on the Imperial border as a warning to mind their own affairs. As spring faded into a blistering summer and no attack came, he reasoned he'd made his point and sent the banners north to help subdue Bihar.
In truth Mallikarjuna was only biding his time. (And waiting for a diplomat.) Late in the monsoon season, with torrential rains blasting Orissa and the Eastern Ghats, he chose to roll the dice of fate.
Certainly fate seemed to favor the Hindu, for in his complacency Taj ud-din stripped the Imperial border of anything but token garrisons. This allowed for an aggressive advance, with Chatterji and Mallikarjuna forcing their way north while leaving covering forces to prevent reinforcement.
The original plan called for Mallikarjuna's central force, based in Ahmandanagar, to deal with any local problems while Chatterji gathered his army in Nagpur to intercept any Bahamandi armies coming home. A smaller force would advance up the coast covered by ships in case they needed to retreat.
Through the summer and autumn the plan worked to perfection. Taj ud-din was caught completely by surprise, and by the time he learned of the general attack he'd committed to sieging Mandla in Bihar. Within two months every major city and town on the Deccan Plateau was under siege with Chatterji in control of Nagpur with some eight thousand men.
Nagpur sat at a strategic crossroads along the northern edge of the plateau. Famous for its orange groves, legend had it that Nagpur was founded by Gond princes long before the Islamic 'invasion' of the thirteenth century. Chatterji arrived right at the beginning of the dry season, a brutal period with temperatures still in the 90s (about 33 C) and little or no rain when crops dry, animals perish and famine isn't out of the question.
Home Front
As the war raged and his prince sieged first Ahmadanagar then Golconda, Prime Minister Mallikarjun continued to consolidate his hold. Perhaps the most positive move he made during this time was to order fresh levies throughout the Empire, reasoning that sooner or later the Bahamanid Shah would return to fight for his demense. This proved somewhat unpopular and even sparked an uprising in Parlakimidi where Carnatic separatists hoped to either found their own principality or reunify with Orissa. (Not an event. Probably war exhaustion.)
Further, with the overwhelming support of most of the noble houses, Mallikarjun used the Pradhana to reverse several of the more injurious 'reforms' Virkupashka ordered to consolidate his rule. While conceding his emperor could still appoint or dismiss council members at will, he asserted that the council itself, as an Imperial institution, could not be disbanded. (Non enforcement of ordinances: Let them handle it: Decentralization 1)]/i]
Mahapradhana Mallikarjun won many supporters, but he still faced dissent especially in Kongu Tamil and Bangalore. The former mourned their loss of prestige, while the latter remembered Virkupashka's reign in a favorable light and would happily support a dominant rajah. Indeed, much as cultists spoke of the 'God king's' ascension in Goa years earlier, now loyalists asserted that Vishnu appeared to Mallikarjuna in Bangalore to support his campaign against the Muslims. (Bangalore becomes a center of pilgrimage: I chose the same option as before - take our cut of the proceeds for +1 tax)
Disaster
Through the long, hot, dry winter Chatterji remained at Nagpur. The gods, perhaps angry at Bangalore's impertinence, punished him severely. Wells dried up and famine did indeed strike as the city proved completely unable to feed the Vijayanagaran army. Saboteurs, both Muslims loyal to the sultans and Shah as well as locals loyal to family and kin, intercepted supplies and harassed hunting parties. By April 1417 Chatterji's army evaporated to under 5,000, and Taj ud-din struck.
The Shah of the Bahamanid/Deccan sultanates had subdued Mandla and waited several long months as Chatterji weakened. His own army had suffered at Bihar's hands, but he could still bring some 9,000 men to the fight. Further, he had no choice if he wanted to save his shahdom. Ahmandanagar had already survived two assaults, and soon they would fall as well as Konkan.
Scouts alerted Chatterji to his danger. He appealed to Mallikarjuna, who ordered three thousand reinforcements to rush to Nagpur. The two armies met at a pass north of the city on May 3.
Taj ul-din's army fought in the North Indian/Muslim fashion, with horse mounted archers with sabres supporting lightly armored infantry with sword , bow and spear. The Imperials fought as they had for eighty years - light but highly skilled infantry supported by riders on war elephants throwing spears and shooting bows.
The Bahamanids, correctly as it turns out, guessed that Chatterji would hesitate and form a defensive position given the relative weakness of his men. The Shah therefore delayed his attack, using two banners to pin the Imperials in place while archers took over nearby hills and cavalry ran around the edges of the battle to catch them from behind.
Chatterji planned to fight on the defensive, but when archers rained arrows on his army from the heights he had to choose to either withdraw (and let the Bahamanids mass before him) or push into the pass. He chose the latter leading to heavy fighting as Muslim and Hindu slammed into each other. Discipline seemed to favor the Imperial army, but fatigue yielded to desperation against a Bahamanid army fighting for the right to go home again. Slowly the Shah won his pass. Chatterji tried to deploy his elephants, but in the rocky terrain they were of limited use.
Anyway, the Bahamanid cavalry finally showed on the flank and caught the elephant riders unaware with well placed arrows. Leaderless, these elephants rebelled and panicked their fellows. What had been a particularly nasty melee turned into a massacre as they mowed down friend and foe alike or simply fled the field.
To his credit, Chatterji prevented a rout by raising his banner to show he lived, and leading a determined fighting withdrawal towards his king at Golconda. Taj ul-din chose to consolidate his gains then march towards Bastar on the Golconda border as the weaker army.
News reached Mallikarjuna within days of Chatterji's defeat and the king despaired: With his main army in full retreat, and the Deccan plateau covered by small sieges, it wouldn't be hard for the shah to destroy his army piecemeal and carry the fight into Vijayanagara itself. Any hope of a quick war evaporated.
News also reached Golconda itself where a majority of Hindus, fearing reprisals upon Taj ul-din's triumphant return, simply yielded and submitted to Allah. (Conversion successful.) The Rajah's heart broke as, from his vantage point overlooking the walls of the city, he watched temples to Vishnu and Brahma pulled down.
Broke literally, for Mallikarjuna, Emperor and Rajah of Vijayanagara, abruptly gasped in pain and gripped his chest. He died minutes later.
(At age 28. Sheesh.)
Yhat sounds really like a disaster...
Told you, you'll have to re-convert, provided you're successful with the war.
And one more thing, don't know about MMU (i hate armies evaporating, i remember from the demo), but most often the best, if a bit gamey, way to wage a war in MMP is to let them come, scorch the land, let attrition weaken them and then strike. Going on the offensive seems risky. Too risky in fact. And, frankly, i don't quite like it that way. A looting/plunder system when the value of the lost provinces would have a chance to get seriously diminished long-term, might change it.
(And thanx for the info)
Told you, you'll have to re-convert, provided you're successful with the war.
And one more thing, don't know about MMU (i hate armies evaporating, i remember from the demo), but most often the best, if a bit gamey, way to wage a war in MMP is to let them come, scorch the land, let attrition weaken them and then strike. Going on the offensive seems risky. Too risky in fact. And, frankly, i don't quite like it that way. A looting/plunder system when the value of the lost provinces would have a chance to get seriously diminished long-term, might change it.
(And thanx for the info)
Might have taken too long with that Deccan war...re-conversion is in the future, I suppose. The Hindu ways must be preserved.
