dwhee
Recruit
I thought I'd prematurely write an after-action report for a E&RC game I'm currently playing.
Here is the map, as it stands:
As you might have guessed, I'm with the Laurians. On day 888 we've defeated the Ormeli Empire and the Holy Swadian Empire, and we're currently fighting the Vaegirs. My fiefs include Mourne, Tulbuk Castle, Tulbuk, and Tash Kulun. We started out at war with the Imperial State and the Ormeli Empire. We failed to gain ground against the Imperials however and before long declared peace having taken Getzenberg Castle and having lost Hrus Castle.
We then focused our attention solely on the Ormeli, and before long we were joined by the Swadians, the Lion Throne, and even the Imperials. While this was happening, the Imperials were losing a war to the Vaegirs and the Lion Throne. Within a few months they lost Mourne to the Vaegirs. They also lost Hrus castle.
We took Ozalp and the surrounding castles very quickly. Shortly thereafter, we somehow had a week-long war with the Holy Swadians (it seriously only lasted a week) in the midst of the war with the Ormeli. During this time, we managed to take Tevarin Castle, Ryibilet Castle, and Malayurg Castle from the Swadians. One of the more decisive conflicts I've seen.
After the week-long war I was given Tash Kulun, my first fief.
The Lion Throne and the Imperials did little to help against the Ormeli, but the Swadians were a powerful ally. Before the week-long war they liberated Darende, and after it they liberated Bergama. I was given Tulbuk Castle and Tulbuk after we liberated it. It took us forever, but we finally managed to take Rumelia and the Ormeli were defeated.
I amassed troops in Tulbuk castle and waited for the next war. I will note at this point that I've found The Redeemer, so battles are pretty easy. Once I found all three of the unique guns, I usually found myself using 2 at once. Either redeemer/cannon or redeemer/elephant gun works well. The elephant gun is a must have for offensive sieges.
Anyway, it wasn't long before the Vaegirs declared war on Swadia, and the Laurians thought what the hell and joined in the fight against Swadia. At this point the Lions and the Vaegirs were still having trouble eliminating the Imperials, and at some point Mourne got taken by the Imperials and re-taken by the Vaegirs. The Swadians proved to be wussies, except for their lords. We quickly began taking their remaining castles and we had Ulm captured in the first few months.
Later, The Lion Throne decides they want a slice of central calradia so they declare war on Swadia, and then the Imperials declare war on Swadia. Poor Swadia!
And then, the timing couldn't have been better, I became the marshall. Despite owning 5 cities, the Swadians were on their last knees, with many of their lords in captivity. During my term as marshall, I took Marienburg, Zollern, and Bergama from the Swadians. The Lion Throne managed to grab Vienna, and we only took Darende a few months later, defeating the Swadians.
At this point I had more than a dozen Swadian lords sitting in my dungeon. Every once in a while one would escape and join another faction. One particularly amusing instance was when Ahmet Bey, an Ormeli lord I had locked up in my dungeon very early in the game, escaped, joined the Laurians, and was awarded a castle within days. I don't think I'm allowed in Ahmet's castle.
So at this point, the Vaegirs own all of their original cities + Mourne. The Lions own all of their original cities + Vienna + a bunch of Imperial castles. In addition, the Vaegirs have a few extra castles in the old Swadian territory (Vyincourd, Haringoth, Senuzgda). As the Laurians own 10 cities, the game feels pretty much over. But it ain't over til it's over.
It isn't long before we're at war with the Vaegirs for the first time. We still haven't had a war with the Lion Throne. A comment on the gameplay difficulty- the Vaegirs seem much harder than the Swadians. Lots of gunpowder, and berserker infantry instead of the usual wall of pikes. I'm having casualties nearly every battle.
However, not even the Vaegirs could hold out against the siege of Mourne, with its garrison of 200. As soon as I was marshall again I beseiged the city with a massive army and captured it. And of course, it was awarded to me. Shortly thereafter, the Lion Throne declared war on The Vaegirs, and now we're just splitting up the territory.
Lord Marduk of Mourne with steed and weapon of choice.
------------
So that's where I'm at! I'm level 33, I have a combined garrison (mourne and tulbuk) of about 500 men, an army size of 122, fully built up fiefs (except for Mourne), and lots of prisoners as an investment in the game's future. My question is, what is the game's future? I was thinking maybe I'd renounce my oath on the next city I take. Won't that mean I'll keep Mourne, its 4 fiefs, and the city that I take and its corresponding fiefs? Seems like I could start a pretty sizable kingdom that way. And I was pretty pissed that I didn't get a single one of Mourne's 4 fiefs, even though they all hate me.
I've played lots of M&B, but I've never started my own faction or helped a claimant. Which should I do? Helping a claimant doesn't seem like it'd be valuable at this point.
The other problem is that Mourne and Tulbuk are on opposite sides of the continent!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my experience playing the E&RC mod. It's definitely one of the better M&B mods I've played, and without a doubt the best gunpowder mod out there.
Here is the map, as it stands:
As you might have guessed, I'm with the Laurians. On day 888 we've defeated the Ormeli Empire and the Holy Swadian Empire, and we're currently fighting the Vaegirs. My fiefs include Mourne, Tulbuk Castle, Tulbuk, and Tash Kulun. We started out at war with the Imperial State and the Ormeli Empire. We failed to gain ground against the Imperials however and before long declared peace having taken Getzenberg Castle and having lost Hrus Castle.
We then focused our attention solely on the Ormeli, and before long we were joined by the Swadians, the Lion Throne, and even the Imperials. While this was happening, the Imperials were losing a war to the Vaegirs and the Lion Throne. Within a few months they lost Mourne to the Vaegirs. They also lost Hrus castle.
We took Ozalp and the surrounding castles very quickly. Shortly thereafter, we somehow had a week-long war with the Holy Swadians (it seriously only lasted a week) in the midst of the war with the Ormeli. During this time, we managed to take Tevarin Castle, Ryibilet Castle, and Malayurg Castle from the Swadians. One of the more decisive conflicts I've seen.
After the week-long war I was given Tash Kulun, my first fief.
The Lion Throne and the Imperials did little to help against the Ormeli, but the Swadians were a powerful ally. Before the week-long war they liberated Darende, and after it they liberated Bergama. I was given Tulbuk Castle and Tulbuk after we liberated it. It took us forever, but we finally managed to take Rumelia and the Ormeli were defeated.
I amassed troops in Tulbuk castle and waited for the next war. I will note at this point that I've found The Redeemer, so battles are pretty easy. Once I found all three of the unique guns, I usually found myself using 2 at once. Either redeemer/cannon or redeemer/elephant gun works well. The elephant gun is a must have for offensive sieges.
Anyway, it wasn't long before the Vaegirs declared war on Swadia, and the Laurians thought what the hell and joined in the fight against Swadia. At this point the Lions and the Vaegirs were still having trouble eliminating the Imperials, and at some point Mourne got taken by the Imperials and re-taken by the Vaegirs. The Swadians proved to be wussies, except for their lords. We quickly began taking their remaining castles and we had Ulm captured in the first few months.
Later, The Lion Throne decides they want a slice of central calradia so they declare war on Swadia, and then the Imperials declare war on Swadia. Poor Swadia!
And then, the timing couldn't have been better, I became the marshall. Despite owning 5 cities, the Swadians were on their last knees, with many of their lords in captivity. During my term as marshall, I took Marienburg, Zollern, and Bergama from the Swadians. The Lion Throne managed to grab Vienna, and we only took Darende a few months later, defeating the Swadians.
At this point I had more than a dozen Swadian lords sitting in my dungeon. Every once in a while one would escape and join another faction. One particularly amusing instance was when Ahmet Bey, an Ormeli lord I had locked up in my dungeon very early in the game, escaped, joined the Laurians, and was awarded a castle within days. I don't think I'm allowed in Ahmet's castle.
So at this point, the Vaegirs own all of their original cities + Mourne. The Lions own all of their original cities + Vienna + a bunch of Imperial castles. In addition, the Vaegirs have a few extra castles in the old Swadian territory (Vyincourd, Haringoth, Senuzgda). As the Laurians own 10 cities, the game feels pretty much over. But it ain't over til it's over.
It isn't long before we're at war with the Vaegirs for the first time. We still haven't had a war with the Lion Throne. A comment on the gameplay difficulty- the Vaegirs seem much harder than the Swadians. Lots of gunpowder, and berserker infantry instead of the usual wall of pikes. I'm having casualties nearly every battle.
However, not even the Vaegirs could hold out against the siege of Mourne, with its garrison of 200. As soon as I was marshall again I beseiged the city with a massive army and captured it. And of course, it was awarded to me. Shortly thereafter, the Lion Throne declared war on The Vaegirs, and now we're just splitting up the territory.
Lord Marduk of Mourne with steed and weapon of choice.
------------
So that's where I'm at! I'm level 33, I have a combined garrison (mourne and tulbuk) of about 500 men, an army size of 122, fully built up fiefs (except for Mourne), and lots of prisoners as an investment in the game's future. My question is, what is the game's future? I was thinking maybe I'd renounce my oath on the next city I take. Won't that mean I'll keep Mourne, its 4 fiefs, and the city that I take and its corresponding fiefs? Seems like I could start a pretty sizable kingdom that way. And I was pretty pissed that I didn't get a single one of Mourne's 4 fiefs, even though they all hate me.
I've played lots of M&B, but I've never started my own faction or helped a claimant. Which should I do? Helping a claimant doesn't seem like it'd be valuable at this point.
The other problem is that Mourne and Tulbuk are on opposite sides of the continent!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my experience playing the E&RC mod. It's definitely one of the better M&B mods I've played, and without a doubt the best gunpowder mod out there.
