Age of Charlemagne: Let's build a Kingdom together! Update 1

Luciana · January 28, 2016, 12:15:20 AM

YouTube

So for anyone who was around before, you may have seen/contributed to my playthrough of Attila with the Teutons. Sadly, the faction/mod glitched out, so all progress was lost, and thus, our thread.

BUT REST ASSURED it's back for another, and this time it will be in Age of Charlemagne as

*drum roll*

The Kingdom of Mercia!

"But Luciana, wasn't Wessex the one to unite England?" you may ask in a stupid voice. Well yes it was, but that mod has no objectives for it yet so shut up, we play pretend. So replace Wessex with Mercia and there you go.

——-
What is this, exactly?

Age of Charlemagne is an epic expansion for Total War: ATTILA, set in the Middle Ages on an sprawling new campaign map of Europe. There have been kings and kingdoms before, but this is a time where truly great men united entire nations, built lasting legacies and defined what it meant to be a king. Can you be counted amongst them?

You’ll face a new age, but an exhausted world, weary of conflict and battle. New technologies and new ways of waging war will only get you so far. A good king is a shrewd man, who knows precisely how far his people can be pushed. Do not mistake a reluctance to go to war as a sign that a nation is unprepared for it. Europe remains a melting pot of conflicting ideologies and long held distrust. While the old Empire is now a fading memory, the threats and consequences of its passing echo, resonating in new dangers and pressures for fledgling nations.

Gone are the days of mighty Rome, or the ever intimidating Huns. Instead we are at the beginning stages of the Medieval Ages. Naturally, the Medieval Ages means more colorful armor, banners, and units.

Opportunity presents itself in tying together vast new kingdoms, powerful new states that can be marshaled under a banner of civilization drawn from ashes. Greatness awaits you, if you have the steel and vision of Charlemagne.

What is the objective?

Naturally the objective here is to unify all of England under the Kingdom of Mercia, and transform it into the Kingdom of England (the game actually changes that title too once you do, how cool). After that, we will consolidate our forces and push north and east to take over the rest of the British Isles. It won't be easy, and we'll face stiff opposition from many of the surrounding Kingdoms who are also vying for rule over the Isles. But they don't have the glory of ~~Wessex~~ Mercia behind them. They will be crushed beneath us.

What's the point of this?

Well since my car is dead and I'm not job hunting anytime soon because of it, I wanted to try this again. It was fun to do with you guys, and Verbs Dark Souls threads made us all interact, so I'm hoping this has some varying degree of the same effect. I'll update the OP with my updates so you can easily catch up, and a good reminder. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN EXPERT ON ANY OF THIS TO OFFER YOUR OPINIONS. I WELCOME ANYTHING. I'm trying to make our empire a little interactive. Like I said in the old thread. We either fly together, or sink together.

Few tidbits of info for this DLC that makes it different
- War Weariness: Basically always going to war is a bad thing. Rome has fallen and your people are tired of all the constant fighting. So over time if you keep attacking one after another, your moral will drop and you'll slowly fall apart. I think this is an interesting mechanic. It makes you actually think tactically on wars you will enter. Maybe attacking a huge empire isn't such a good idea, or a faction with a lot of allies.

- Unique Kingdom and Story Events: As I said before, it will transform us from the Kingdom of Mercia into the Kingdom of England. It will also feature cool story events that will help play into the more cinematic experience I hope to provide with this. It's another reason I went for Mercia, rather than the 'correct' Wessex. Until someone adds story/objectives for them like they have a few other modded factions, I'll stick to this.

——-

So! With our stupid anthem at our side, and our delicious cup of tea

let's do this.

Ushan · January 28, 2016, 01:13:59 AM

Angles are better than Saxons anyways.

Luciana · January 28, 2016, 01:15:49 AM

Quote from: The Brand on January 28, 2016, 01:13:59 AM

Angles are better than Saxons anyways.

Why not combine them together and have it be the ANGLO-SAXONS!

Ushan · January 28, 2016, 01:16:29 AM

Quote from: Luciana on January 28, 2016, 01:15:49 AM

Quote from: The Brand on January 28, 2016, 01:13:59 AM
Angles are better than Saxons anyways.
Why not combine them together and have it be the ANGLO-SAXONS!

Why not build a dyke and make the Saxons pay for it?

Luciana · January 28, 2016, 01:21:39 AM

Quote from: The Brand on January 28, 2016, 01:16:29 AM

Quote from: Luciana on January 28, 2016, 01:15:49 AM
Quote from: The Brand on January 28, 2016, 01:13:59 AM
Angles are better than Saxons anyways.
Why not combine them together and have it be the ANGLO-SAXONS!

Why not build a dyke and make the Saxons pay for it?

I'm not Roman enough.

Ushan · January 28, 2016, 01:42:45 AM

Quote from: Luciana on January 28, 2016, 01:21:39 AM

Quote from: The Brand on January 28, 2016, 01:16:29 AM
Quote from: Luciana on January 28, 2016, 01:15:49 AM
Quote from: The Brand on January 28, 2016, 01:13:59 AM
Angles are better than Saxons anyways.
Why not combine them together and have it be the ANGLO-SAXONS!

Why not build a dyke and make the Saxons pay for it?
I'm not Roman enough.

B-but the Saxon's are taking our jobs!

Luciana · January 29, 2016, 02:11:48 AM

Gonna update soon before bed. I feel I need to kick this off. Actually get SOME people involved.

True Turquoise · January 29, 2016, 02:21:46 AM

Hype

Kiwicake · January 29, 2016, 02:30:24 AM

Quote from: True Turquoise on January 29, 2016, 02:21:46 AM

Hype

Super hype

Looking forward to it, Luci

I do need to play this myself though

But I'll be reading this for the PRETTY PICTURES that my laptop can't do because Total War is a super intensive game

Mr. Psychologist · January 29, 2016, 08:22:01 AM

TEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS

Azure · January 29, 2016, 08:33:50 AM

Well, I'm excited to see where you go with this

-That is, if you keep with it

gats · January 29, 2016, 11:18:08 AM

Watch out for those pesky Irish pricks they cucked one or two of my settlements IIRC when I tried on my playthrough as Mercia to unite the British Isles

Luciana · January 29, 2016, 01:04:47 PM

Quote from: Mr. Psychologist on January 29, 2016, 08:22:01 AM

TEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS

Don't remind me...

Quote from: Azure

Well, I'm excited to see where you go with this

-That is, if you keep with it

Updating now~

Luciana · January 29, 2016, 02:12:28 PM

Okay, I was going to update last night because I'm trying to actually record one video per update or two as a "fight of the day" kinda thing. Ran into recording issues and the video MIGHT be a little choppy. Bear with me, I'll sort it out soon. I just feel I need to get an update. Anyway, let's get started.

—--

Intro

Quote

From its heartland in central England, Mercia extends its reach to every corner of the island. As the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Mercians dominate the land south of the River Humber.

In the late 6th century AD, the five English shires of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire were united under a single leader, giving rise to the Kingdom of Mercia. Creoda of the Iclingas is most often cited as the first Mercian ruler and the founder of its capital at Tamworth. Yet opinion on the issue is divided; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not refer to him as a king and some scholars question if he was nothing more than the product of a monk's fevered imaginings!

Nevertheless, it is the Iclingas dynasty, beginning officially with the reign of Penda in approximately AD625, that has given rise to a period of untold stability. Although their line has been plagued by assassinations, betrayals and deaths in battle, the Iclingas have been able to expand Mercian borders to encompass most of the midlands and the south of England too.

In AD757, Offa became king, following a civil war in the wake of King Aethelbald's murder. Consolidating his midland provinces, he looks upon the southern kingdoms avariciously, desiring to bring them under Mercian control. Respected by the Franks across the channel, and rightly feared by Englishmen everywhere, Mercia is poised to become the single greatest power in the British Isles - a single, united kingdom under the rule of a mighty king!

Words from Adviser

Quote

"The Anglo-Saxon lands fall, submissive to your rule - the Mercian Kingdom dominates. Yet the island is not yet fully conquered...

To the southeast, Wssex lingers - weak but undefeated - and to the west the pernicious Welsh remain a thorn.

Subjugating both will secure your borders, yet Northumbria poses your greatest thread. It threatens to overthrow the Picts and become a powerful enemy - the only answer is its absorption into your own realm.

Across the waves, Ireland offers promising territory but should be approached with caution - its people are unruly and more than a little dangerous.

And to the east, vicious men seeking blood and plunder cast voracious eyes upon your shores - be ever vigilant of the Viking Danes.

Despite these challenges, control of the isles shall be yours - take up your sword and make Mercia great!"

So basically, what I got from this is I need to unite England ASAP before the ever pesky Vikings come over to mess things up. Not on my watch.

——

Preparations for war

Spoiler

Let's take a look at my starting territory

Spoiler

To the North is my biggest concern, Northumbria. They're easily the one that rivals me in strength and territory, but we don't want to attack them both at once. For you see, I start this game at war with two factions to my West in Wales. So let's make sure our borders are protected.

Spoiler

I managed to get a Non-Aggression pack with Northumbria and Wessex secured, and the province to the South-East of Wessex is my puppet state. I gave them a few gifts of gold to get on my good side, lest they revolt (and they can) and give me 3 wars. I was even more lucky a few turns later for Northumbria to ask for a trade route and offer 200 gold for it too. Seems they need some money.

And lastly, I forged a Non-Aggression pack with Charlemagne, the most important deal in the long run. You see, with him, he is the most powerful faction starting off and only a channel away from my borders, so I don't want to upset him. The other reason, is if you take a look at his traits, you can see 2 important things. Loyal, and Admires strong empires.

Non-Aggression is the first way to forging alliances, which can open you up to trade agreements, and military access/pact. Now once I unite England, and eventually the English Isles, I will be a very powerful Kingdom. Since he likes that, it will get on my good side even more, so if I can have #1 on my side, I think I'm pretty much set.

Now that that's done, let's do some research

Spoiler

As you can see here, you can either research into the Military tree, or Civic tree. Basically, one is for how your units perform on the field/off the field, where as Civic helps you with public order, research rate, and buildings for your cities. Buildings can unlock many a thing, from spies, to additional, and more powerful units. Still, our goal here is to try and unite England before the Norsemen pop over, so let's focus on Military for now.

——

Battles/Conquering

So as mentioned before, the Kingdoms to my west are at war with me. Gwynedd being my first. So let's invade first and catch them off guard.

Forces are just about even, give or take. It'll take the skills of the generals on the field to win this one.

Battle 1

Spoiler

INSTANTLY I am at the advantage. They are making the charge towards me, and just look at the terrain.

and therefore, I already have a massive advantage before our forces even begin to attack.

As you can see, they're attacking uphill, so that instantly gives my men the advantage. It wasn't long before their first units broke while my archers pelted the forces from behind. My cavalry quickly swarmed them and they broke. First skirmish belongs to Luci.

That was the story of the day it seemed though. Beating the enemy back, flanking them, and then overwhelming them. Naturally, I won.

I pursued down his remaining forces in the snow and once more, overwhelmed a beaten and broken faction.

Rip.

So, now that that Kingdom is dealt with, we need to push South to the other foolish Kingdom at war with me.

The Kingdom of Powys, fighting outside of their capital town. They have everything to fight for here. A loss and their aspirations for a great kingdom are all but destroyed.

Battle 2

Spoiler

As you can see, our forces are on even ground this time, however they are outnumbered more than 500 people.

Chaaaaaaaaaarge

My enemy forces began to engage. Sadly I was STUPID here and completely forgot one of my cavalry, so they died to spears rather quick. Still, They all funneled in the middle, so once more, I was able to slowly flank around to their sides.

It eventually led to all the men throwing down their weapons and running. Basically how my battles have gone so far can be summarized in this video.

YouTube

Rip +2

So that's where we leave it off for now. In two quick years we've taken out the smaller Kingdoms on our side. With our borders in the north secured, and our puppet state warming up to us, I can begin the push on Wessex.

Territory
768

769

Battle of the Post (again, will fix this laggy issue. Just for anyone curious)

YouTube

Thanks for reading! Any input/opinions/suggestions are welcome!

True Turquoise · January 29, 2016, 02:25:01 PM

Filthy Anglo-Saxon tbh

you messed up on battle 2

Kiwicake · January 29, 2016, 02:42:43 PM

God save the queen, Luciana

Thun · January 29, 2016, 03:00:40 PM

Isn't Charlemagne a band?

Ushan · January 29, 2016, 06:26:00 PM

Quote from: Thunder on January 29, 2016, 03:00:40 PM

Isn't Charlemagne a band?

Yup.

Ender · February 01, 2016, 05:41:57 AM

Dammit luci

Ender · February 02, 2016, 11:00:11 PM

Age of Charlemagne: Let's build a Kingdom together! *Update 1*

Age of Charlemagne: Let's build a Kingdom together! Update 1