500 AD global campaign - Year 512 battles are up

[jomni]

Liang army (kongxinga) to fight Wei army (jomni) in Jin
Chinese (Southern Qi) vs Northern Dynasties in Middle Eastern Agricultural
Liang victory results: LootsProvince

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The Wei just cannot stop Liang. Despite mustering a substantial amount of levy Han foot and bow units, most of the fighting was performed by the Xianbei cavalry (overlords). The Han infantry reluctantly fought their brethren from the south and did not fully engage. The defeat of the cavalry wings led to a loss for the Wei.

Liang (17) : Wei (46)

[Nijis]

Battles recorded - I think we have maybe three or four more to go.

[kongxinga]

Liang army (kongxinga) to fight Wei client (jomni) in Daba
Chinese (Southern Qi) vs Chinese (Southern Qi) in Northern European Agricultural
Liang victory results: LootsProvince


Wei (jomni) Victory.

Rout percentages Liang(kongxinga):Wei(jomni)=60:57

A closely fought but well deserved victory to the Wei clients. The Wei strategy of utilizing the Han vassals to defeat the Liang incursions is paying dividends.

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I'm also going to need a auto resolve in this battle, mostly because it dropped off the radar since I set it up wrong.

Dumnonia army (kongxinga) to fight Visigoths army (RexHurley) in Aremorica
Romano-British vs Visigothic in Mediterranean Agricultural
Dumnonia victory results: RemovesEnemyInfluence
Visigoths victory results: RemovesEnemyInfluence

[jomni]

It’s certainly better for the Han to fight under Han generals and using Han tactics as opposed to having them fight under Northern Dynasty generals who treat them badly and are not good at infantry tactics. I’m eagerly awaiting for the Fubing troops to be available.

So what’s happening to this campaign?

[Nijis]

Just a few battles to finish up...

The Ostrogothic lancers overrun the Byzantine legions on the fields of Magna Graecia but at a high cost, 30 to 60.

Another bloody Gothic victory in Illyria, 44 to 63.

[kongxinga]

I'm going to be away from computer for a while, so I would like to have Liang moves and battles auto resolved or have someone sub for me. I'll be back in time for 516 battles, either taking up Liang or another nation.

[Nijis]

Hi all - I think I'll probably suspend this campaign, both because I want to update the system a bit and because 14 years is a good, solid bit of time. I'll type up a final description of the history, and a report on the last turn's battles. Thanks to everyone for participating!

Once the new DLC comes out, I hope to put together a new campaign in that new period. I'd be delighted if any of you wanted to come back to it!

I'd be quite interested to hear feedback. I made a design choice early to have a lot of ebb and flow in the game, where control is often fleeting and you have to go back and fight many of the same battles in the same territory. This is particularly pronounced both for the smaller kingdoms, like Dumnonia, who rarely have the resources to do an out-and-out conquest, and bigger empires like the Chinese dynasties whose opponents have lots of resources to stage counteroffensives.

I think this is good both as simulation of history and for multiplayer balance, as there's always a chance for a comeback. But it might get repetitive for players.

So, I wanted to add a simple system for internal dynamics to the kingdoms, where you gain prestige from the external fighting that you can then "spend" to develop your country's institutions or, alternately, commission some sort of national chronicle or saga. You become like Alfred, fighting on the battlefield and then using your political capital to create a lasting state. Or, if you're losing on the battlefield, the heroic last stand can be an inspiration to later generations. This would be mostly optional - a player wouldn't have to do it - but it would provide an extra level of narrative interest.

Again, thanks to everyone for playing, and I'll put together a report as soon as I can!

[kongxinga]

Back at the computer, looking forward to the new campaign, and I would like to say great battles with all the players (mostly Jomni). We had some real nail biters.

I think looking back, we probably should have crammed the players closer for more insane action. Whether that means losing provinces, or just having one region (I really like silk road battles, but the Far east was pretty lonely) it would probably be a better dynamic. This might be a far east only problem though (Europe map changed a lot).

I hope we can see more logistics in action. Armies in hostile and even nominally friendly territories need to hurt the surroundings more. From what I believe from my reading, pre modern armies did not live off surplus, they lived by taking what was there and making the inhabitants starve, so armies traipsing around should probably ruin the land more, kinda like the AGEOD system of having the lands having a chance of being pillaged.

Looking forward to any new features.

[jomni]

New version of Silk Road just syncs some stuff.
It’s not updated to Wolves timeline at the moment.
I’m still working on that. Can concentrate on Europe or Central Asia.

[Nijis]

Thanks for the feedback! I've been thinking about where to go, and I'm leaning on the side of making it slightly more abstract. Specifically, to make turns last four years, to have campaigns but not armies, and to allow multiple provinces to sometimes change hands with a single battle.

I know this runs against kongxinga's suggestion, of more explicitly modelling logistics AGEOD-style, but I want this system to offer something that FoG Empires does not. I don't think I'll match Empires' well-balanced and complex systems, so I think instead I'll go for broad sweep.

For the single-player version, logistics would be somewhat abstractly represented. You can be an Alexander, plunge deep into enemy territory without thinking of your supply train, fight battles at Level 5 and flip entire regions to your side if you win a great victory. Or you can be cautious and fight at level 2 and 3.

[Schweetness101]

is it too late to join this?

[Nijis]

Hi, and thanks for the interest! This campaign has ended, but I hope to start up another one fairly soon, maybe set in 700 AD or 900 AD. I can DM you when we do.

[Challenge1]

I would also like to be part of any future campaign you start. Looks very impressive!

Thanks in advance.