Bay 12 Games Forum

What do you get when wrong-culture, wrong-religion, excommunicated-ruler kingdom annexes its vassal?



Patriot rebels, of course.

Emperor Konstantinos, however, denies any involvement, considering high risks of detection would be a deterrant for him to try.

That they're numerous and well-equipped is simply the will of God, he says, nothing else.



Finally we manage to get to Land 8. Training Fields will be built everywhere in the Empire, prioritizing the coastal Muslim provinces (for their advanced troops).



Whilst we've lost the core on Cyprus, Emperor Konstantinos managed to wrangle them from French influence and turn them Byzantine vassals.



Greece is fully Byzantine now! Conquest of Southern Italy is our next mission.

To ensure that we're prepared, alliance with Naples has been annulled and their military access rescinded, prompting Neapolitean King to withdraw troops from Crimea.



Emperor Konstantinos decides to gamble and afterwards nothing untoward happens in Kappadokia.

We can only assume he stared down at the angry crowd till it dispersed. Or something like that.



After looking through local maps and documents, it seems that we've forgotten about our core on Island of Crete.

Its only 'reliable' allies are Castille (Catholic Defender of Faith, who has multiple treaties with us), and Georgia and Armenia, our friends in Caucassus.

Once again, Emperor Konstantinos has decided to gamble, and force the ancient Cretean domain into Byzantine fold.



Some courtiers in the Palace has loudly complained that the Emperor probably likes his dice too much.

'Do not fret!', he re-assures them, and he has a reason. Georgia, and not the dreaded Castille, is the leader of the war.

If we're fast and efficient enough, we can annex Crete, beat up Georgia and abscond with prizes without the Spaniards even landing on our soil.



The gamble didn't pay off, and Castille managed to rampage through Greece.

Yelled at by his advisors, Konstantinos XI quickly sent tribute to leader of the war, distant Novgorod, which resulted in end of the war.

Still, we've got Crete. A core province is invaluable, while ducats can be regained.



Not long after conclusion of the war, Emperor Konstantinos XI was found dead in his bedroom. Royal physicians ruled out foul play right away, saying that he died 'of natural causes'.

Pretender Manuel was quickly deal with, while regents from Imperial Court are zealously watching over young Theodoros.

They make sure he will be taught well about virtues and vices, especially that gambling is very, very, very bad.

Fortunately for the Palaiologos royal family, little Konstantinos is born not long after Michael's demise.

Ioannes has decided to remain in the imperial palace while preparations are made to raise a 3rd Thema, because relations are breaking apart between local Muslim states, giving us perfect opportunity to defeat and annex Ottomans once and for all!



Those preparations need to be postponed; unfortunately, Golden Horde is at our borders again.

Emperor Ioannes hopes they can be beaten off quickly.



Alas, the victorious Ioannes IX is dead! Regents now take care of the imperial affairs and the little Konstantinos.



War with the Golden Horde (and Qara Koyunlu) ends, as expected, fast.

We're currently waiting for Konstantinos to grow up. Meanwhile, Bulgarians, Sunni zealots, Noblemen and Turkish patriots pop up every so often to keep our armies ready for fighting.



Both rebels and the nomads keep us company for years before Konstantinos XI finally rises to the throne of Byzantium.

Immediately the generals are notified and our troops converge on the borders of Ottoman provinces, which suffer a civil war thanks to a turkish pretender to their throne.



Meanwhile, Hungary seem to be kicking Bohemian arse so well that the ancient Principality of Nitra reappears on the map.

Go Hungarians! Keep the vile pretenders of Rome away!



Konstantinos got himself a new vassal, and by the way of diplomacy, too!

Unfortunately the attack on Ottomans had to be postponed, because while our current Emperor was growing up, the Muslims 'got it together', as to speak.



Succession problem has been resolved. A minor noblewoman became Konstantinos' wife, as we had to swallow a bitter pill of prestige penalty.



As years go by, Konstantinos seems to concentrate on internal matters of the Byzantine Empire.

Infrastructure - marketplaces and armories - are built, and Orthodox missionaries are sent to once again preach words of God upon Anatolian peoples.



As it turns out, however, its the Muslims who throw war into hands of Konstantinos.

Too bad we have Naples, Achaea, Serbia and Bosnia at our side.

Soon enough, we will teach Morocco and Ottomans a lesson!



At last, at long last - the Ottomans are no more!

This allows us to reestablish the old system of Thema.



No longer there's Yazgod or Sivas or other such names on the Anatolian maps.

Instead, we have Cilicia, Sebasteion, Seleukia - all of the old, good, Byzantine names! As a gameplay bonus this decision boosts our Manpower reserves by +25% maximum. Yay!

Shortly afterwards, as our navy sails to Berber shores, Sultan of Morocco sues for a white peace - Emperor Konstantinos XI of the Byzantine Empire accepts.

Players:
Brunhilde Saden: 23/23
Niels Eisenmarke: 22/22
Siegfried Jubastacheit: 22/22

Allies:
Captain Astleich: 23/23
Tom: 11/18
Miroth: 18/18
Adarlan: 18/18
Lars: -3/18
Bors: 18/18
Vincent: -1/18
Eve: 17/17
Leia: 17/17
Thera: 17/17
Odranna: 17/17
Sidae: 17/17
Timothy: 16/16
Osim: 16/16
Talia: 16/16
Shera: 3/16

Enemies:
Murderer A: 22/22
Murderer B: 22/22
Murderer C: 22/22
Murderer D: 22/22
Killer A: 18/18
Killer B: 18/18
Killer C: 18/18
Slayer A: 20/20
Slayer B: 20/20
Raider A: 20/20
Raider B: 20/20
Deneb: 19/19
Akvoh: 28/28

TricMagic of The Ocean's Kingdom of (Blue):
-SCs: QUA, PIC, SPO, ZEL
-Fleets: TSI, dPV

melkor of The Empire of (Crimson):
-SCs: SHE, LON, YOD
-Fleets: PAL, aDR, LON

TopHat of Commonwealth of (Red):
-SCs: KIR, WNL, BAL
-Fleets: iOR, WNL, KIR

TankKit of New Confederation of (Cyan):
-SCs: KER, RAY, MNG, TAS, RUB, RYN
-Fleets: GAL, aAN, RUB, RAY, RYN, MNG

Doomblade187 of Triumph of (Dark Green):
-SCs: RIP, MOY
-Fleets: MOY, zRT

a1s of The A1iens of (Light Green):
-SCs: ADA, CRH, PAL
-Fleets: CRH, ADA

Kashyyk of People's Republic of (Purple): (Has Capital!)
-SCs: JAC, ART, CAR, SOL, SHP, TEA, FWI, HAY
-Fleets: SHP, bDE, HAY, FWI, kCU, MAR, TEA, JAC

While Imperial Court is doing its best to foster amicable relationships with Italians (Naples are now allies with us!), Emperor Manuel has some rebel-purging to do.

Its either Bulgarians or Sunni zealots nowadays.



Those Bulgarians are starting to get on my nerves.

Fortunately for us, our Muslim subjects got their hands on new infantry formations - Azab - meaning we can get them too from Bithynia.



Dangit Morocco, I'm busy recovering!

Fortunately, both Wallachia and Naples stand by our side; Neapolitean fleet and Wallachian soldiers will greatly help in this conflict.



Pretty sure that this particular troop was led by some Yarinid guy.

Did we kill Sultan of Morocco in battle??



Apparently, we did!

Not that much, mind you, as seems he had adult heir at the ready.

Still, serves them right for Jihading us.



Compared to previous wars, this one isn't that bad.

Morocco has problems coordinating troops and its transport fleet prohibits large landings. We will try to crush their armies and then demand Adana during peace negotiations.



Yes, good, Moroccan allies are flaking out...



...aaaand another Emperor dies!

Both his successor and the successor's prospective heir have very decent stats.



Ioannes IX didn't want the core in Antalya to expire, but that has drawn half of Muslim nations - and Venice, for some reason - into the conflict.

Morocco's white peace is therefore quickly accepted, and all efforts are directed against Mamluks, Ottomans and Venice.



Mentese is annexed and another province is taken from the Ottomans.

Meanwhile, Naples, Bosnia and our own Byzantine troops are besieging Venetian holdings in Greece; Athens and Bursa are already occupied!



Evading Venetian fleet is an intense piece of work, but we managed to fetch our troops through Anatolia and Greece.

All but Crete and Rhodes are now under our control, but Venice is stubbornly refusing to come to negotiation table.

No worries; their war exhaustion is piling up, so all we need to do is wait a bit.



I think Tripoli got them wrestled out from Moroccans; too bad we have a core on Adana!

(its annexed six months later)



Ah goddammit!

Golden Horde has hacked its way through the Ottomans, and now declared war against us!



Wars with Golden Horde and Venice (and Mamluks) continue on.

However, we seem to have everything under control for now. Especially after we've saved up money (thanks for Austrian subsidies) to become Defender of Faith.

That bonus morale and war exhaustion reduction sure is handy~!



The Horde's troops were destroyed, and we're free to (re)civilize Sivas province.

Meanwhile, Venice, despite being at brink of collapse, refuses to yield to our demands.



On Friday, 29th May 1453, Venice finally relents, returning Athens, Naxos, Bursa, Janina and Albania to us.

Crete was freed by someone else, whilst Mamluks begged for white peace and where given it. Rhodes is currently undergoing a rebellion by some Greek Patriots, too.

Soon, the Empire will be fully restored!

As we try to recover from the terrible wars that cost us nearly anything, Morean peasants rise in revolt.

Shortly afterwards we obtain a National Idea slot. We will take Military Drill, for Muslim units are technologically advanced, and we must counter-act this in any possible way.



Morea can wait; we cannot let Turkish nationalists seize any of our provinces.

Fortunately, Manuel has assembled a troop of five thousand muslim soldiers by now.



We bounced the Turkish rebels off onto Ottoman territory, and then Manuel swiftly dealt with Morean peasants.

I'm gonna report that, Italians (including Genoese and the Pope) are extremely busy fighting for their lives against Georgia, because obviously its remote Christians you gotta subdue rather than the local Muslim menace.

Typical Italians.



More and more Turkish nationalist rebels, whom we bounce off onto Ottoman lands.

By now, the Ottomans have about 10k troops left; its mostly their vassals, Serbia and Bosnia, who do most fighting.

I'm not sure what's going on with Ottoman-Timurid war, but its been ongoing for twenty years now.

As much as we could try and blockade the straits to stomp across Balkans with our Wallachian allies, the Ottoman Navy, 30+ ships strong, would quickly deal with our galleys and cogs.



What's this OwO

Ottomans, OTTOMANS, I know you hate me, but pls, keep the black death raiders away from our borders.



Oh.

That's actually a bit dangerous.

I hope Ottomans pay tribute to the Timurids to stop the expansion of the REDS. Or at least concede defeat? Come on Ottomans, you're down to 10k soldiers, you're risking a lot.



Haha, what is prestige amirite?

We bleed so much Prestige from un-taken core lands that 10 points is nothing.



Peasants are getting less rowdy, our Army is rebuilding, and our economy has recovered from the plunge.

I ask that you just ignore the red stripes across the border. We don't about the red stripes around here. It's better this way.

Wait, where did the Ottoman Navy go?



They've scuttled it.

They've scuttled the fleet to save money.

All of it.

Bruh.