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Anybody else having trouble visualizing screenshots (not only in the last update)? It seems like Photobucket is having some problems... :(
 
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Anybody else having trouble visualizing screenshots (not only in the last update)? It seems like Photobucket is having some problems... :(
Look who's popular. :p
 
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All of your images come up with something from photobucket saying "aren't you popular" but its not the image itself? Is this something on my end?
 
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I hit the free photobucket bandwidth limit. I've upgraded to a paid account, so the photos should be back as son as payment processes.
 
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I just want to point out that the Khagan of the Golden Horde is Russian and the Emperor of Rome is Mongol.

Isn't it deliciously ironic?

You mean Leon?

Nice map, seems like HRE want to have a chance with you and is expanding fast, maybe slower than you but still fast

Not sure what you're talking about. What do you mean, revisionism? :p

I think it's time to see a Mongol on the throne of every Empire in Europe. He should marry one of his spare sons to a Prince of the H.R.E. and press the resultant grandson's claim.

Try to uplift the Germans? There are some things beyond even the Empire.

Mare Nostrum... so beautiful.

Agreed. Check out this next post, too.
 
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37. Gallia
Konstantinos XVI had truces with anyone he cared to war against. So he spent several years building cities and recruiting more men.

This was France. First conquered by Julius Caesar, it eventually fell to various invaders. It was conquered by Franks of the Merovingian dynasty, under whose care the kingdom split and weakened. The rulership was seized by the Carolingian dynasty, who went on to conquer much of central Europe. France eventually became independent of the Germans, and conquered much land of it's own: Aquitaine, Aragon, even parts of England. But repeated wars with the Empire had weakened it severely. The eastern reaches were controlled by the Germans, or by Lotharingia. In 1384, the King of France died. Shortly thereafter, a succession war began. In 1385, the Empire invaded.

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The Scholai Palitinae invaded the lands of various French rebels (and eventually the lands of the French king), subduing them. Once subdued, Konstantinos stripped them of their titles and gave the lands to worthy servants of the Empire.

A brief war with Lotharingian rebels gave the Empire some of eastern France.

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By 1388, there were no French vassals left who did not have a truce with the Empire. The Empire controlled the majority of France yet again.

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But in the east, the Germans held a few holdings in Imperial counties. A war was declared to win them back.

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It was apparent that it would be a long task to remove the Germans from the holdings. And yet they could not be allowed to remain in control of Imperial lands. That war finished, the Scholai Palatinae were sent south to Iberia, there to await the ending of the relevant truce. In the meanwhile, Konstantinos resumed the old task of reigning in the power of his vassals.

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The plot was not directly successful, but local levies were enough to win the ensuing rebellion.

The Scholai Palatinae were positioned near Leon with the truce mere months from expiration, when Khagan Timur declared war on the Empire.

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The Timurids controlled much of the east. This would be the hardest war the Empire had faced in decades.

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Rome will strike down the heathen scum!
 
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37a. Interlude: Strategy Request
Konstantinos XVI, Emperor, King of Bulgaria, Lord of the Aegean coast, &c.

The Emperor humbly requests the assistance of all scholars and students of the arts of war.

The Empire has been attacked by invaders from the east. These invaders, under the leadership of one Timur the lame, have raised a army rivaling the might of the Empire itself. This army is trained to travel far and ride hard, and does not suffer the same attrition a normal army would, and thus is gathered in one province.

The forces of the Empire are gathered in one region, but spread out, so as to avoid disease and starvation.

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A few forces are besieging the northern borderlands, but given sufficient time could be brought to bear.

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As can be seen, the full might of the Empire is already afield. But will it be sufficient?

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Scholars and students, what is your advice? The fate of the Empire may rest on the battles soon to come.
 
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Yikes, a possible army of 220k... Will they gather? I guess the most important thing is to choose where the battle will take place, bait them, and hope your army can live through the skirmish phase. Maybe you can ambush the smaller army, and then the doomstack will join the fight when morale is low, so you can inflict more kills than them also. Hard to pull with all the attrition around...
 
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Your only chance is to occupy enough of Timurs land that he can't get instant 100% on you, and to follow his doom stack and assault the holdings he occupys. This will slowly wear down said doom stack, and you might be able to draw into an amunsh. Best of luck
 
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On a more tactical level thinking towards the future you want to bleed that doomstack. You need to try to draw them into a fight where you can bring both terrain and numbers against them. You can always retake land but in the long term reducing the attrition free units down will serve you better I feel. Given the size of you and Timur's size once those special mongol units are gone you can crush him.
 
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Thanks for the advice, everyone. It was enough to get my courage up so that I could fight it out.
 
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38. The First Timurid War
During May of 1389, while the forces of the Empire were in the west, the Timurids in the east finally turned their attentions to the Empire. Their main forces did not lie on the border, which meant the Empire had time to prepare. The levies were called up and ships sent to transport them to the Levant.

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The levies besieged as many Timurid border provinces as they could. By the time most of the levies were in position, a large Timurid army had arrived in Karbala.

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And shortly thereafter, another arrived in Deir.

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The fleets sailed to Iberia to bring the Scholai Palatinae, the only hope of defeating such a large army. The levies assaulted as many holdings as they could, in the hope of making the war look in the Empire's favor. And in Constantinople, as many men were added to the Imperial retinues as was possible.

Just as the Imperial forces were assembled, it looked as if the two main Timurid forces were moving to meet up. At this news, Konstantinos nearly despaired. He sent letters to all tacticians and scholars of war, asking for advice. And while they could offer no sure plans (apart from a strange one involving large numbers of boats and some seemingly-impossible logistics), they gave enough hope for him to continue.

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The Scholai Palatinae spread themselves out to avoid attrition. Any forces in Timurid lands continued to besiege them. And a force was sent to reclaim lands conquered by the Timurids. Then, another ray of hope: the Timurid forces did not combine, and the main army continued besieging lands instead of moving to attack. The smaller force did move to attack, and many men were sent to fight it.

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But when the main army began to travel towards the battle, the supporting forces stood down. No reason to throw away more lives.

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And then, another miracle. The main force sought instead to split the armies of the Empire. The battle would still be lost, but perhaps the Empire would bleed the Timurid army. And every day the Timurids chased Imperial forces was a day they were not besieging Imperial lands.

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As expected, the former battle was lost. Five Imperials had died for every Timurid. But it was a start.

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Eventually, another Imperial army was forced to engage in battle. Against the main Timurid army. They fought bravely.

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Meanwhile, enough Timurid lands were taken that it seemed likely Timur would agree to a white peace.

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And he did so, just before the latter battle was lost completely.


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Those are some insane troop numbers! :eek:
 
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Good work getting a white peace out of that.:)
 
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