looking forward to this.

The Sicilians start with a humble two provinces, Malta and Sicily. For the moment, the King resides in Malta, while a garrison of 100 spearmen watch over the Keep in Sicily. Two Barques patrol the Sicilian coast, while my emissary and Princess makes preparations to ally with the world.
The little scrolls in the provinces are what you give to generals (preferably of high acumen) to make them governers. High acumen also increases income:



Im playing the Glorious Achievements mode, this way my campaign has an early focus, various Crusades and the defense of the homelands.



Every faction gets these, the idea is to score the most points.

After both provinces complete watch towers and border forts to keep spies and assassins out, Malta starts work on a Fort while Sicily builds a bowers workshop, to train archers.

Meanwhile, to the north lays the byzantine province of Naples. First thing on the agenda is to nick it for the glory of Sicily. The King, with his rating of 4, commands the attack with spearmen and two urban militias.





The great thing about the Kings four star rating is that it increases the valour of each unit by half the command rating, i.e. two. The one star byzantine commander has no effect. Valour is the experience of RTW. Higher valour means they fight better and for longer. They also had an uprising the turn before, which made it a bit easier:


The Kings skilled attacker trait gives him the fifth star, but only when attacking.

The battle starts, the byzantines have the high ground, but their naptha throwers are foolishly exposed from the byzantine infantry on the right.



My King and his Royal Knights charge them down and take most of them prisoner.



With them taken care of, my spearmen engage the byz infantry, my Royal Knights ready to flank:



They didnt stand for long after that, and my knights were able to capture quite a lot, including the general himself, handily adding to my ransom afterwards.



My first victory!





Naples immediately begins building a border fort.

When i end the turn, i find this out. Stupid Germans...



I find out both the Danes and the Italians (Venice) have rejected my offers of alliance, and also this happened:



Meet the Papal States; the only faction which can single handedly destroy your whole campaign in one turn. They can excommunicate you and then tell everyone else to crusade against you, not a lot of fun, so NEVER attack them.



As for the future, i plan to go west into North Africa against the Almohads, as well as taking the Holy Lands and Byzantium by crusading them to death.

[This message has been edited by TheGoldChevron01 (edited 04-13-2008 @ 04:52 PM).]

good update keep them coming and i second the invasion of North africa.

Very interesting to see M1 in action.

Simple games are sometimes the best...great AAR so far!

Simple games are sometimes the best...great AAR so far!

Well, I've only played M1 about three times, but the only thing simpler than RTW is the graphics and the lack of movement points. Everything else is much more in depth.

Retro times are here! Very cool, I wish they had a capture option in RTW, but I guess that didn't happen much in the classical period.

I'd like to see some of the buildings if I may, I want to know what border forts and other such buildings do.

Nice AAR, Chevron! It is always interesting to see the original MTW in action.
Caesar - Border Forts act as spies in all neighboring provinces. Although they don't cause unrest, they do allow you to see all details of the other player's economy and military. I believe that they also seal your borders to enemy spies, although that may only be in Shogun.

Interesting to see this in action.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Even with RTW and M2TW, M1 is still a very cool game and imo can still stand up to the former two. The AI is also slightly smarter than in Rome: the enemy cavalry dont waste themselves on my spears and they like trying to flank a lot.

Probably a bit random, but i saw Mythic_Commodore's sig. The sad truth is that there probably wont be a Spanish Inquisition, they always get busted out of the game quite early, either by France or the Almos.

I took a screen of the buildings i can build in Sicily at the moment for you Caeser, though this game doesnt have a building browser so i cant do any better than this:



Ive labelled them. Upgrading to a castle lets me build more advanced stuff, like governers houses in RTW. The bowers workshop allows more advanced bows, not until the high period though. Spearmakers do the same thing, giving more advanced spear units, and town guards etc give more advanced militia types. Farm upgrades and the trader and upgrades make me more money and the Royal Palace can eventually lead to all the title giving buildings like chacellor, marshall of the army etc. And border forts kill any assassins or spies that try to get in to the province.

So, to continue from last time:

Lord Albergeti is made Count of Sicily for his high acumen:



I always wait to assign titles until i can find at least a five acumen general. I reserve smarter generals for richer provinces like Constantinople as they make so much more money.

This is a bit worrying when ive only just started...



...While one of my sons matures, giving me another 4 star commander. There can be up to six of this per king, so il only show the one but il still say when they mature.



Stupid byzantines...



Another of my sons matures, Prince Aed, a 3 star general, while in Rome the Papacy announces the start of the crusading age:



At least this is something, my provinces are the most loyal in the world. Probably the crappiest of the 'prizes' but better than nothing.



I always get the impression that this game is meant to be more educational than fun ; yet another note of historical interest. Let me know if you want me to stop posting these, they have no noticeable affect on the campaign, just points of interest:



Anyway, enough of this, my boats are in place and its time to advance my plans for Africa.



Thankfully the province is only lightly defended, since im attacking from over the sea, if my army doesnt win i dont get it back, or at least not cheap, my King heads the attack. Valour is equal, but i will win as i have more men:



After a short archery duel with their Berber camels (camel archers) i charge one unit of spearmen at the Ghulam Bodyguards, islamic versions of Royal Knights, while my Knights prepare to flank. The rest of my men charge the berbers to make them stop shooting and skirmish away.



The great thing is that horses are faster than camels, and the excellent morale of the Knights offsets any fear the camels might cause to horses, so my Prince runs them down:



Another Province falls for the glory of Sicily:

[This message has been edited by TheGoldChevron01 (edited 04-14-2008 @ 04:02 PM).]

I like seeing all the historical notes, as well as the other messages. They really show off the game. It is really cool seeing this.

Thanks for showing us the building browser (or whatever it's called), that was really neat.

Good job, too, in taking over Tunisia.

Thanks again for the replies

Is there anything i can do to make this report better in any way? This is my first AAR and im open to any constructive criticism that might make it better.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sicily begins work on farming upgrades and has finished building its spearmakers workshop, which lets me train these beauties. These will be the staple diet for my armies:



Awww, the Holy Roman Empire gets everything...



Now ive reached a points counting year. Thanks to successfully defending my homelands i get 10 points. Although it says 1 point for every 5 provinces conquered in the conquest panel, i still have 1 point even though ive only got 4. Maybe some sort of nice bug?






The Almohads are foolish enough to think that they can take back Tunisia, this will be King on King action:



I get this lovely big hill to defend from. This is a pretty standard defense set up for me, a loose formation archers in front to absorb arrows, my main spearline behind them, my other archers behind them, with other infantry on the flanks, in this case urban militia. My general watches right from the back. I also kept my peasants at the back, the last thing i need is for them to rout and lower morale.



When they finally come into range, my archers begin the archery duel with a considerable height advantage.



I start the melee by charging a unit of spears at the Ghulam Bodyguards before they can flank.



An oppurtunity arises to surround their King. If im lucky i will be able to kill him, if im even luckier i can capture him and ransom him for lots of money (10000Fl is about the norm for a king).



While that is happening, my Prince charges down some more berber camels.



After charging down the last of the Berbers, the King thinks better of fighting and 'leads' his army home.



Of course im not lucky, in the ensuing chase, the King miraculously escapes through all of my infantrymen and then a unit of Royal Knights to get over the border. However, i win, but my spearmen took a real beating. If they do truly have an advantage against cavalry it is minimal at best.



After passing into the new century, my diplomatic standing is as follows:



Sicily is at war with the Almohads. We are not at war with Byzantium at the moment because we lost contact with them after taking Naples: we had no agents or boats in place to see any of their provinces and they likewise.

I am also allied with the Papal States and the Turks. The latter should be valuable when going to war again with the Byzantines.

You might also notice from the bottom left that Malta is building an Inn. This potentially opens up every unit in the game for hire, hopefully i can get some interesting mercenaries to help in the war.

[This message has been edited by TheGoldChevron01 (edited 04-16-2008 @ 03:43 PM).]

Great AAR and i think you only get 1 point for conquest because the other three are homeland.

I think it is perfect the way it is. Keep it coming. It is very fun to read and see the game in action.

Nice AAR. Brought back some memories.
Has anyone noticed that in MTW money wasn't an issue.

EDIT: Hmmmmm in MTW, Spies had no noses.

[This message has been edited by Trottski (edited 04-18-2008 @ 03:35 PM).]

Stormer: I meant that i should only score 1 conquest point for every 5 provinces i own. At the time i only owned three but still got the point. Still, im not complaining

Thanks for the compliment Trottski, but its far harder to stay in the black in Medieval than you'd think.



As you see, i only have 814 florins to play with to break even for next turn. Thats really not a lot when trying to build up four provinces and recruiting an army. However im working toward building my trade route so i should start turning a bit more profit soon.

Talking of province development, i decide to upgrade Malta's fortification from a fort to a Keep. Im going to use Malta for ship building and agents, and a keep allows the buildings for both.



Meanwhile, i try to bribe the castle garrison of Cryenaica to make its conquest a bit easier. The price is reasonable at first:



And then he changes his mind. I try to bribe him using the original price, but he gets so insulted that he steals the money and kills my emissary.



The French try and court my princess. I decline, as my princess is more valuable to me as a 'spy' than an alliance with France at this time:



And then not long afterward, this happens:



So it didnt really pay off too well in the end. I lost an alliance and a princess. You can also see my armies assembling in preparation to take Cyrenaica by force.

Let the Jousts begin!



The Almohads come crawling to me for a ceasefire. I decline, of course, as im soon to attack.



Abu Khamad al-Ghazali, a bright spark from Syria, comes up with Sufism.



Anyway, time to (try and) take Cyrenaica, im looking forward to taking it to remove the threat of attack from the rear as i push west, and so i dont have to type its awkard name anymore



This doesnt look too promising, but i command the attack regardless to see what i can pull out of the hat.



I start by rushing their lines with pretty much all i have, to minimise the time their archers can fire for.



The low morale and poor fighting ability of the urban militia is begginning to show, and they arent doing all that well. As a (somewhat desperate) way to help them i try to kill or rout their general by engaging them with superior Royal Knights.



The enemy general obliges, and flees. This routs a couple of other units, freeing up some of my infantry to flank the few enemy cavalry still fighting. The enemy archers are firing at will, but men are less likely to rout due to arrow fire than to losing a melee. It wouldnt be long until my general sorted them out.



The enemy archers are firing at will, but men are less likely to rout due to arrow fire than to losing a melee. It wouldnt be long until my general sorted them out.



The tide is turning and the enemy begin routing en masse. However, the enemy general has rallied and still stand in the way of victory.



But after discussion with my Knights they thought better of it.



I lost lots more feudal sergeants (best infantry) than ideal, but overall it wasnt too bad after all.





However, now i face a problem that i havent had to face yet in the campaign. The enemy still hold the castle, and the province wont make me any money, or be loyal enough to prevent unrest until they're gone. Such high loyalty means no chance of an easy bribe.



Whats more, i now have a border with the Egyptians, who field massive armies of lower quality troops like peasants. It doesnt sound too threatening, but even peasants are dangerous when there are about 2000 of them. I dont like the look of the size of that force on such a fragile border.



But, some good news is that i can now start expanding trade by building more boats in Sicily instead of troops - Tunisia can now start recruiting basic militias to help defend, meaning i dont have to rely on Sicilian troops so much:

[This message has been edited by TheGoldChevron01 (edited 04-18-2008 @ 05:30 PM).]

The fools in Cyrenaica arent content with just Sicilian rule and long for their barbarous masters.



I find it ironic how this army is for a loyalist rebellion, but the general has no loyalty at all.



While the monks in Sicily begin preparations to receive the faithful for the great holy mission planned for about 10 years time.



Time to deal with filthy rebels who turn away the helping hand of Sicilians.



Our forces begin the battle holding a small hill overlooking an oasis. The unit of 9 urban milita are kept at the back to preserve them for later retraining.



Our well trained militiamen match and rout the opposing militia whilst sustaining minimal losses, while our valourous spearmen set out to topple the enemy general.



Which they do just moments later.



The remaining infantry turned and fled like the cowards they truly are. While Prince Aed was busily capturing them for ransom, he came across the enemy artillery pieces and ran the crews down.



Victory came shortly after.



That should make it clear where their place really is.



In Tunisia, the foolhardy Sultan leads two of his sons and only a handful of men against King Adam. Our meteorologists appear to be delusional, they predict a snowy battlefield in the middle of a desert.



We are graced with a formidable hill to defend from.



As the Sultans sons approach, our sergeants rush to greet them.



While Adam leads his own men on a charge against the desert archers.



The enemy Sultan, aggrieved by the loss of one of his sons, takes his men into the thick of the battle, bent on avenging his son. By this brave but quite idiotic action, our men surround him.



But yet again, the Lord sees fit to bless him with superhuman strength, and again he eludes capture. The enemy are sent with their tails between their legs, and the death of two of the Sultans heirs will weaken them when the time comes for Succession.



However, in the ensuing chase we manage to capture a high ranking Almohad noble. Of course the King takes advantage of this and demands a larger number of florins for his safe return. They pay up.

[This message has been edited by TheGoldChevron01 (edited 04-20-2008 @ 08:26 AM).]

Good i like this AAR, keep it up.

Me too continue! You are winning some pretty decent battles too which is nice.

Im glad you like it, im really enjoying writing it, its been good fun.

The French once again offer up their son for our daughter. Learning from our previous mistake, and also because nobody else likes us, i accept.



Three times the cowardly Sultan has attacked us, and three times he has ran away. His doubtful courage is now clear to his men and the rest of the world.



In Malta a small band of men have come to our Inn looking for employment. We oblige the light Hobilar cavalry service on our Tunisian front.



Meanwhile Prince Aed has become impatient with the defiant garrison of Cyrenaica, and makes preparations to storm it by force.



The Prince decides to leave the assault to one of his lesser generals as he attends to more urgent matters. (auto - the in built castle defenses would make mincemeat of my unarmoured infantry otherwise)



He performs admirably, and Cyrenaica is finally rid of the filth that once oppressed its people and is now fully under the kind leadership of King Adam.





Maltese masons, builders and architects have been working solidly for 8 years and here stands their reward in stone.



Plotting and scheming carries on behind the walls of mighty Constantinople as it always has done.



While in Sicily, the faithful flock to the new Chapter House to begin preparations for the great holy quest.



Such an influx of people, however, brings bad tidings of its own.



One might be honoured to be approached in this way, given the influence of the Byzantine court, but future plans dictate that i must refuse.

[This message has been edited by TheGoldChevron01 (edited 04-21-2008 @ 04:34 PM).]

Great update.
Where will you go next and make mercienaries? do the most of the fighting

After kicking the Almohads out of North Africa im hoping we will lose contact for an auto peace so i can press on against the Byzantines and take some very rich provinces. If not il probably continue on into Spain.

Thats exactly my policy with mercenaries, im not paying them to lounge around, im paying them to fight. Hopefully i can get some interesting mercs before my crusade is ready, so i can put them in it when the time comes and not pay any upkeep for them

Im afraid i wont be able to update until the weekend now though, this weeks turning out quite hectic.

What does it mean they would gain claim to some of your lands? I've never played MTW, so I have no clue.

If the male line of descent of a ruling family died out, the children of a daughter would succeed to the throne. As a case in point, historically the ruling family of Sicily the originally Norman "Tancred de Hauteville," family did indeed die out in the early middle ages and the Sicilian throne passed to their kinsmen, the Hohenstaufen family who were Holy Roman Emperors.