I thought I might post a series of screenshots demonstrating a typical campaign, which showcases many of the features in the game. Note that this is all AI -- as a player, I'm just an observer. I'm the lone horseman with the bear banner, just hanging out, Zelig-like.
At any rate, Alexios, the Byzantine governor based in the town of Catania on the east coast of the island, has decided to lay siege to the Norman castle of Gallianum. Byzantine leaders are somewhat more likely to have the "persistent" character trait, which means they will often spend extra resources to take and hold fortified locations, rather than quick and easy raids for booty.
Note the farms and fishing boats surrounding Catania. These only show when the player is nearby, but basically indicate the location of "farms" (which include other economic sites) near a settlement. While a large raiding force may attack a settlement directly, smaller ones will usually just ride around, setting the farms alight.
Alexios sends out his messengers to summon his vassals to the provincial capital. The long jumble of words and numbers under the message is basically a debugging aide, but it lets you know a bit about what is going on under the hood. MeTc means that the unit is on a messenger mission, tasked to travel to a center. D0 F7 C0 means that it has no disorganization, 7 (minor) fatigue, and no concealment. ENC0 means that it is carrying no extra baggage.
First to respond is Manuel, lord of Maskali, who comes bring both his own household troops and a force of levies from the fief. Another lord is also approaching from the distance. AsJo means that Manuel is Assisting Alexios, and is currently in the process of Joining him.
Some time later the army sets out. Missions are frequently given an "h-hour," meaning that the army will not set forth until a fixed time of day. This allows major forces to wait until troops are assembled before heading forth to battle.
Alexios' army of 600 men is on the march in the far right of the frame. In the foreground, a group of skirmishers from a nearby Norman town has ridden forth to harass it, but then thought better of it -- probably because Alexios pulled in some stragglers. It is hiding. Alexios' unit has put out a group of outriders, who have all but stumbled onto the skirmishers' hiding place. Still, they haven't seen the skirmishers yet.
Bad luck -- the Norman skirmishers were caught by the Greek outriders, but the battle was relatively inconclusive and they are routing away. A rout means that you lose most of your baggage, and your wounded may be taken prisoner. Still, the majority of your forces might live to fight another day. Alexios' army meanwhile has continued over the hills, and its outriders will need to catch up.
Alexios has arrived at his target, Gallianum, and is beginning to lay siege. Right now I think his army is pitching camp. However, it has also deployed a raiding party to ravage the surrounding land. Unfortunately for the Greeks, both armies making camp and raiders dispersing to pillage are more vulnerable, and Gallianum has dispatched a small party of horsemen to attack the raiders when they're still dispersed.
Here a passing Norman lord, Walther, has interrupted his raid to investigate what is going on around Gallianum. Alexios brings his host on a sortie forth from camp to drive him away. This works well for now, but such an aggressive response might have unfortunate consequences in the future...
Alexios' siege procedes. You can't see it, but his men are busy at work building a belfry to assault the walls. As the game develops, they may also work on parallel projects -- ramps, filling in the moat, digging mines, assembling catapults, or preparing ladders or rams, if a belfry is not suitable.
All this takes time, however, and a besieging army needs to feed itself. The raiding parties are in the process of stripping most of the area around Gallianum of useable forage, but Alexios has also sent out supply columns to Catania. I think you can see one coming in, and another coming out.
Another larger and more threatening force approaches, and Alexios again chases it off. Here you can see a returning raiding party led by Andreas decide to join him. Andreas was riding back from a foraging expedition when he caught sight of his leader (which was quite lucky, unless it has only just turned dark) and is joining him directly rather than heading to camp.
Alexios catches the smaller party (I'm guessing because he was fresh, and the Normans were tired from marching up all those hills) and engages in combat. Note how the smaller Greek party rushes to reinforce, even though it is much weaker than the Normans, because the Normans are already caught up in battle.
This might seem like a bad move by the Normans to keep harassing Alexios' larger force. But each hour that his army is outside of camp is an hour which they don't get to work on their belfry. Plus, other things can happen as well...
You may also ask why Alexios would go chasing after enemy armies if they aren't large enough to attack his camp directly. Well, a large enemy force in the vicinity means that he can't put out foragers or supply columns to keep his troops fed. Supply versus security is the dilemma...
As Alexios' army rests after lumbering back up the hill. Gallianum deploys a small force of skirmishers to attack the camp. They probably will just cause a few casualties (and if I can implement it properly, lower morale) but it is an annoyance.
The skirmishers have snapped at the camp a few times, inflicting a few casualties and taking some of their own. Alexios' army is back and picks up work on the belfry. Meanwhile, a group of outriders is hunting the skirmishers, but the crafty horsemen are hiding.
Alexios' army has gone lumbering around after the skirmishers, but it's a foraging party which catches them. At last! Now, that belfry must be almost complete by now...
Oops. Alexios, chasing off another party, wanders a bit too far from camp. Gallianum throws all its forces into a sortie against the siege camp.
Disaster. The siege camp is driven off and destroyed (actually it routs a bit, and is then snapped up by another town's sortie). Unfortunately for Alexios, armies will stockpile all of their supplies in camp. Alexios marches back to the nearest friendly town, Adranon, to take stock. (Actually, I'm not sure why his party does this. I'll have to figure out myself whether it was a bug or a feature). In the far bottom right you might be able to make out a small Greek force, maybe outriders or foragers, who got separated from Alexios and are probably wondering how to find him.
Alexios isn't giving up. He has resupplied at Adranon, and is marching back to re-invest Gallianum (he's in the bottom right, with 632 troops). Some of his troops go home, but he is able to more than make up for the manpower. However, he does seem to have lost some of the vassals who were with him -- which can be difficult, as you need them to lead forage, supply, outrider, and blocking parties -- the latter being a party which keeps watch on the other side of the fortress, and can keep away enemy parties so that the main forces is not disturbed.
I've highlighted here the levy of Randaj, which is returning home as its leader (probably a foraging or other force which became separated during the disaster at the camp, is no longer involved in the mission). Some other units are also dispersing back to their homes.
Anyway, that's the campaign so far. I'll try to play out the rest of it shortly, and post the results.
At any rate, Alexios, the Byzantine governor based in the town of Catania on the east coast of the island, has decided to lay siege to the Norman castle of Gallianum. Byzantine leaders are somewhat more likely to have the "persistent" character trait, which means they will often spend extra resources to take and hold fortified locations, rather than quick and easy raids for booty.
Note the farms and fishing boats surrounding Catania. These only show when the player is nearby, but basically indicate the location of "farms" (which include other economic sites) near a settlement. While a large raiding force may attack a settlement directly, smaller ones will usually just ride around, setting the farms alight.
Alexios sends out his messengers to summon his vassals to the provincial capital. The long jumble of words and numbers under the message is basically a debugging aide, but it lets you know a bit about what is going on under the hood. MeTc means that the unit is on a messenger mission, tasked to travel to a center. D0 F7 C0 means that it has no disorganization, 7 (minor) fatigue, and no concealment. ENC0 means that it is carrying no extra baggage.
First to respond is Manuel, lord of Maskali, who comes bring both his own household troops and a force of levies from the fief. Another lord is also approaching from the distance. AsJo means that Manuel is Assisting Alexios, and is currently in the process of Joining him.
Some time later the army sets out. Missions are frequently given an "h-hour," meaning that the army will not set forth until a fixed time of day. This allows major forces to wait until troops are assembled before heading forth to battle.
Alexios' army of 600 men is on the march in the far right of the frame. In the foreground, a group of skirmishers from a nearby Norman town has ridden forth to harass it, but then thought better of it -- probably because Alexios pulled in some stragglers. It is hiding. Alexios' unit has put out a group of outriders, who have all but stumbled onto the skirmishers' hiding place. Still, they haven't seen the skirmishers yet.
Bad luck -- the Norman skirmishers were caught by the Greek outriders, but the battle was relatively inconclusive and they are routing away. A rout means that you lose most of your baggage, and your wounded may be taken prisoner. Still, the majority of your forces might live to fight another day. Alexios' army meanwhile has continued over the hills, and its outriders will need to catch up.
Alexios has arrived at his target, Gallianum, and is beginning to lay siege. Right now I think his army is pitching camp. However, it has also deployed a raiding party to ravage the surrounding land. Unfortunately for the Greeks, both armies making camp and raiders dispersing to pillage are more vulnerable, and Gallianum has dispatched a small party of horsemen to attack the raiders when they're still dispersed.
Here a passing Norman lord, Walther, has interrupted his raid to investigate what is going on around Gallianum. Alexios brings his host on a sortie forth from camp to drive him away. This works well for now, but such an aggressive response might have unfortunate consequences in the future...
Alexios' siege procedes. You can't see it, but his men are busy at work building a belfry to assault the walls. As the game develops, they may also work on parallel projects -- ramps, filling in the moat, digging mines, assembling catapults, or preparing ladders or rams, if a belfry is not suitable.
All this takes time, however, and a besieging army needs to feed itself. The raiding parties are in the process of stripping most of the area around Gallianum of useable forage, but Alexios has also sent out supply columns to Catania. I think you can see one coming in, and another coming out.
Another larger and more threatening force approaches, and Alexios again chases it off. Here you can see a returning raiding party led by Andreas decide to join him. Andreas was riding back from a foraging expedition when he caught sight of his leader (which was quite lucky, unless it has only just turned dark) and is joining him directly rather than heading to camp.
Alexios catches the smaller party (I'm guessing because he was fresh, and the Normans were tired from marching up all those hills) and engages in combat. Note how the smaller Greek party rushes to reinforce, even though it is much weaker than the Normans, because the Normans are already caught up in battle.
This might seem like a bad move by the Normans to keep harassing Alexios' larger force. But each hour that his army is outside of camp is an hour which they don't get to work on their belfry. Plus, other things can happen as well...
You may also ask why Alexios would go chasing after enemy armies if they aren't large enough to attack his camp directly. Well, a large enemy force in the vicinity means that he can't put out foragers or supply columns to keep his troops fed. Supply versus security is the dilemma...
As Alexios' army rests after lumbering back up the hill. Gallianum deploys a small force of skirmishers to attack the camp. They probably will just cause a few casualties (and if I can implement it properly, lower morale) but it is an annoyance.
The skirmishers have snapped at the camp a few times, inflicting a few casualties and taking some of their own. Alexios' army is back and picks up work on the belfry. Meanwhile, a group of outriders is hunting the skirmishers, but the crafty horsemen are hiding.
Alexios' army has gone lumbering around after the skirmishers, but it's a foraging party which catches them. At last! Now, that belfry must be almost complete by now...
Oops. Alexios, chasing off another party, wanders a bit too far from camp. Gallianum throws all its forces into a sortie against the siege camp.
Disaster. The siege camp is driven off and destroyed (actually it routs a bit, and is then snapped up by another town's sortie). Unfortunately for Alexios, armies will stockpile all of their supplies in camp. Alexios marches back to the nearest friendly town, Adranon, to take stock. (Actually, I'm not sure why his party does this. I'll have to figure out myself whether it was a bug or a feature). In the far bottom right you might be able to make out a small Greek force, maybe outriders or foragers, who got separated from Alexios and are probably wondering how to find him.
Alexios isn't giving up. He has resupplied at Adranon, and is marching back to re-invest Gallianum (he's in the bottom right, with 632 troops). Some of his troops go home, but he is able to more than make up for the manpower. However, he does seem to have lost some of the vassals who were with him -- which can be difficult, as you need them to lead forage, supply, outrider, and blocking parties -- the latter being a party which keeps watch on the other side of the fortress, and can keep away enemy parties so that the main forces is not disturbed.
I've highlighted here the levy of Randaj, which is returning home as its leader (probably a foraging or other force which became separated during the disaster at the camp, is no longer involved in the mission). Some other units are also dispersing back to their homes.
Anyway, that's the campaign so far. I'll try to play out the rest of it shortly, and post the results.
