Matt Filla - Oct 8, 2004 8:25 am (#219 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Last night we continued our playing of the Grand Scenario. Charlemagne's empire split in the very first round, so there was a lot of discussion on how to divide it up (made more interesting by the fact that the split was triggered by a "Leader Dies Heirless" card which caused some areas to revolt, including northern Italy). We ended up with these three pieces: 1) A Slavic empire (based in Poland) including eastern Germany 2) A T-shaped central empire including western Germany and Saxony/Flanders/Friesland, 3) A French empire with Rome tacked on. The fifth player (me) took Russia, and the sixth player took England. After reclaiming Kiev from the Byzantines and grabbing the Baltic Pagan states (Prussia, Livonia, Lithuania), taking advantage of my 9 combat stature (!), I spent the rest of the evening trying to rule my empire into a taxable state, hindered by a horrible admin stature (finally, at the end of the evening, I got a leader with a decent admin score, so hopefully next week I can get some positive social states). The Western empires suffered horribly from the Vikings and Saracens, until their combined efforts finally took the Vikings out of play (at least for now - they aren't converted yet). Due to the raiders, the western empires are quite poor - I see a lot of ruling in their future. Byzantium has an excellent tax base, but a lot of unrest and a 9-1-3 leader (IIRC), so they may be going on the warpath next week. We all experienced the joy and frustration of the game - it's very clear to me that with all the randomness of the game (leader checks, event cards, those oh-so-frustrating year cards), it doesn't pay to plan for much more than the current round. This isn't a knock on the game - I find it very intense and a lot of fun. Some general thoughts: - Man, dealing with the raiders sucks big rocks through small straws - I felt for my Western brethren. Luckily, I have several centuries before the Mongols arrive. The rules for the raiders are kind of a pain to implement, and they seem to do a ridiculous amount of damage. As the Russian player, I can see where they serve as a check on the western empires (which otherwise have a huge advantage in population and quality of areas over the eastern parts of Europe). - There is a card (Caliphate) which does not seem to have any use - to play it, you need to have a Muslim court. We could see no way that this could happen. The only scenario with a Muslim power is the last one, and the dates on the Caliphate card only go until 1000, which would make the card out of play for that scenario. The only empires which can be taken in the Grand Scenario are Christian ones. Are we missing something? We removed it from the game. - There should be a lot more neutral status markers in the game (especially -3s) - we were forever running out of them. Should be less of an issue as we go forward, as more and more of the map comes under player control. Also, there are some civilization structures (e.g., the cathedral in Ireland in the Grand Scenario) which start neutral, yet there are no neutral civilization markers. - The map sure is pretty. Matt Filla - Oct 15, 2004 8:01 am (#232 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 866-890 AD: A frustrating period for all involved, I think. Lots of bad cards and spinning of wheels (the sort of turns where you play five ruling endeavors in a round and end up with your empire about the same as when you started). I (Russia) finally have a tax base, but it took me a lot longer than I had hoped. Most of the action took place on the other end of the board, where a Venetian magnate has been causing all kinds of havoc (and refusing to die). With it's high population and strong fortifications, Venice is about the worst place for a magnate to arise. Everyone has been hoping for the magnate to just die, but all the leader checks have been hitting the players instead of the magnate. Right now, he controls northern and central Italy, and has been fighting back and forth with the Byzantine player for the Balkans. A magnate in northern Spain managed to take all of the Iberian peninsula before keeling over. The Vikings are no more, having seen the light of Christianity, so northern Europe has finally been able to start recovering from their depredations. The Saracens are still around, but with every possible area for them to pillage reduced to -3 at the moment, they're inactive (they made a desert and called it peace). No dominating power as of now - Byzantium is in the best position moneywise, but an heirless leader and the Venetian magnate have kept them from being able to expand too much. Now that I have money, I hope to be able to bring the Baltic pagans around to sharing our love of icons. The Slavo-Germanic empire made a grab for Wallachia, but I couldn't bear to see them fall into Catholic heresy, so I brought them under my protection. Thoughts/questions: - We are playing that the social state used when determining leader stature for a fortification endeavor is that of the area being fortified. The chart speaks of using the social state of the base area and the population of the target area - we figured those two areas were one and the same. Correct? (The year cards have no results listed for the base area, which seems to bear out our interpretation.) - When converting a group of areas at the same time (e.g., the Norse pagans, where if one area converts, they all do), does the converting player get points for each area (i.e., 15), or points only for the one conversion (i.e., 5)? Matt Filla - Oct 22, 2004 9:57 am (#241 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 890 AD - 921 AD: After expanding his empire all the way to the gates of Russia (!), the Venetian magnate finally died while leading an army into southern France. The offical cause was old age, but there were rumors that the French emperor put a little something in the old bastard's wine. The scramble for the pieces of the Venetian empire is underway, although a new magnate has popped up in Italy (hopefully not related to the despot of Venice). The appearance of a comet in 911 AD caused widespread confusion throught the world, but the effects were felt most strongly in Byzantium, which suffered widespread famine as the peasants left the fields untilled and cowered in their huts, and where the emperor keeled over in shock at the strange occurence, sadly before he had been able to sire any heirs. The Saracens continue to ravage the Mediterranean coast. Rumblings have been heard from Hungary, perhaps presaging some fresh outburst of barbarity, but in a preemptive strike, the Slavo-Germanic emperor has invaded this backwards land and is attempting to bring them into the (sadly misguided) light of Roman Catholicism. Back home in Russia, some hard work by the benevolent emperor brought a good level of prosperity to his land. Sadly, the hard work of converting the pagans of the Baltic Sea to Orthodox Christianity has drained his resources (the stubborn fools keep rebelling). Proselytization continues apace. After some "discussion", spheres of influence were agreed to between Russia and Byzantium, and between Russia and the Slavo-Germanic Empire Overall, the past 30 years were not kind to Europe. Alternating cycles of plenty and famine, poor bloodlines among the ruling families, and the vagaries of fate have combined to keep much of Europe underdeveloped and have caused much pulling of hair (and uttering of curses) among the emperors. Matt Filla - Oct 29, 2004 8:38 am (#247 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 921 AD-945 AD: The light of Christianity continued to spread as both Hungary (Catholic) and Lithuania (Orthodox) are converted. Another comet caused chaos, although of a managable level this time. The Italian magnate died, and another rose in Champagne, quickly stomped into the ground by the German emperor. Several heirless leaders (amazing how often those cards come up, even with the optional cards added to the deck - of course, drawing the comet card can cause you to draw pretty deep into the deck) left a trail of uncontrolled areas from Croatia to Volhynia - it is expected that there will be a scramble among the empires to claim these territories. Having reached a certain level of prosperity at home, England looked across the North Sea for room to expand. Norway had recently thrown off the German shackles, and England, taking advantage of that, soon had her first significant overseas colony. With Denmark in German hands, Norway controlled by England, and Sweden under the thumb of the Slavo-Germanic empire, conflict is inevitable. Heresy continued to spread in France, with Brittany and most of the Mediterranean coast overflowing with Catharism, Arianism, and many other -isms. The French emperor seems content to let this heresy flourish - it is rumored that the Pope may be summoning him to Rome for "discussions". After completing the conversion of the Lithuanians at great cost in gold and time and suffering under a mediocre leader, Russia finally got an administrative genius on the throne. Significant domestic improvements are expected in the coming years (including, hopefully, a secure tax base for once). Questions/issues (just one, really): - Creation of civilization markers is done "as a ruling endeavor". Palaces allow you to rule multiple areas (those with palaces) as a single endeavor. Can a player build multiple civilization markers with a single card by using his palaces? For example, if I had a palace in Moscow and one in Kiev, could I spend 8 gold (4 per civilization marker), play a single ruling endeavor, and (if successful) place a commerce marker in both Moscow and Kiev? We ruled no, as it seemed to make palaces too powerful, but is there an official answer? Personal comment: There were moments in the last couple of sessions where I felt that the frustration level of the game started to overwhelm the fun. This was partly due, I'm sure, to the truly crappy cards (I'd like to have one turn pass in this game without someone drawing the "Year of Famine" card that affects Russia), dice rolls, and leaders I was getting, but in a six-player game, spending 5 minutes to play my turn and getting nothing done, and then waiting 30 minutes until my next turn gets a little old. I will be interested to see if this feeling is confirmed as the game continues, or whether I just am feeling the effects of some bad turns. Matt Filla - Nov 5, 2004 10:31 am (#269 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 946-975 AD: Another comet (that's three in 75 years) appeared in the sky, and once again the Byzantine empire fell to pieces - apparently, chunks of the comets are landing in downtown Constantinople, right on the imperial palace. Disaster struck the Slavo-Germanic empire, which was quickly reduced to merely the Slavic empire after all the non-Slav provinces broke away - an unending succession of mediocre leaders has not helped. A long reign by the Russian emperor led to an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. Trade flourishes throughout the empire, the people are happy, and the imperial coffers are overflowing. His successor was a no-talent loser, but fortunately he died after ruling for a single year. The new emperor, having inherited an empire in excellent shape, is looking to make the conversion of Prussia his legacy. Succession troubles made for rocky times in England - the English monarchs seem to have trouble producing heirs. At one point Scotland and Ireland threw off the English yoke, but were forcibly brought back into the fold. An English foothold in northern Spain balances their thriving Norwegian colony (apparently, England's next move will either be A Spa-Por, or A Nor-Swe, F Bal S A Nor-Swe ) Byzantine soothsayers predict the coming of trouble from Syria in the next century - plans are being made to defend the eastern frontier of the empire. The German empire has been blessed with a string of good rulers - German expansion is rumored to be causing concern in the capitals of Europe. The French emperor finally appears to be taking the large pockets of heresy in his demesnes seriously - talk has been heard of something called an "Inquisition". As the millenium approaches, the people of Europe are uneasy - do all the comets in the sky presage the end of the world? Will there be another one? Laborers are strengthening the ceilings of the Byzantine palace just in case... Matt Filla - Nov 12, 2004 9:36 am (#281 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 976-1010 AD: The old millenium came to a close without another comet (and all Byzantium heaved a sigh of relief). The last 25 years of the 10th century were a time of peace, a time of strong rulers, a time of overflowing treasuries. And then it all came crashing down. Trouble started in France, where the death of the emperor before he could father an heir led to vast stretches of the empire breaking away and the end of the Inquisition before it had really begun. The new ruler spent the next few decades recapturing the lost territory, and the heretics continue to preach their pernicious doctrines. The quick succession in Russia of not, one, not two, but three incompetents who couldn't tell which end of the sword was the pointy one (that's three straight "1"-combat stature leaders, folks, in as many year cards) was too tempting for the Slavic emperor (renowned for his military skills) to pass up. In a totally unprovoked act of aggression, he invaded the Russian empire, capturing the entire western half in one sweep. Understandably outraged, the Russian emperor declared undying hatred for his western neighbor and, with much whining and pointing out of the growing threat the Slavic empire was becoming, launched a series of completely inept attacks (the only kind he could really do) aimed at retaking the lost provinces. With the help of the sizable treasury bequeathed to him, he was able to hire enough mercenaries (who learned very quickly to ignore his military "suggestions") to win back Lithuania, driving straight for Poland, the capital of his foe. The Russian pleas for help had not fallen on deaf ears. With a massive treasury and an able emperor, Germany saw a ripe opportunity to move east while his neighbor was preeoccupied. His masterstroke prepared, tragedy struck as the German emperor fell off his horse and broke his neck as he prepared to lead his troops over the frontier. Despite a very long reign, he had apparently forgot to father an heir. The resulting chaos prevented a full assault on the Slavs, but two provinces fell to the Germans in a short campaign. England took advantage of the chaos to seize Sweden. Faced with a raving lunatic on his eastern border, an empire with deep pockets on his western border, and an opportunistic England causing trouble in Scandinavia, the Slavic emperor began talking about peace terms. The Russian emperor rejected any terms other than the return of all captured provinces. A renewed offensive saw the Slavic army reach the very outskirts of Moscow, but the tide was turning. The Russian counteroffensive nearly reached Warsaw - a final climactic battle for the Slavic capital (with a Russian army heavily subsidized by all the other empires - except Byzantium, who did not see fit to help their Eastern Orthodox brethren; this will not be forgotten) was won by the Slavs only at the cost of draining their entire treasury to pay for mercenaries. With both empires exhausted, the Slavs agreed to return the captured Russian territories in exchange for peace. The Russian emperor, surrounded by wiser nobles, wiped the foam from his mouth and accepted the terms. The final result of the war - two devastated empires and an unchanged border. England now controls all of Scandanavia, and Germany has expanded eastward. Russia looks to begin the long rebuilding process, while the Slavs wonder what the final cost of their aggression will be. Looking at the burned and trampled fields of the Russian steppes, a Russian noble with a philosophical streak was heard to mutter, "War - what is it good for? Absolutely nothing." There has been a noticeable drop in the quality of leadership throughout Europe - it has been dubbed the age of mediocrity. A magnate appeared in Syria - quickly defeated by the Byzantines, he is nevertheless a harbinger of things to come. As the continent rests after its violent spasm, eyes are turning north to a rising power across the channel. With her strong outposts in Scandinavia and Iberia, the name "England", spoken with concern, is being heard more and more in the capitals of Europe. Matt Filla - Nov 19, 2004 12:53 pm (#288 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 1011-1050 AD: After the wars of the previous years, Europe was ready for peace. In Russia, the effort began to rebuild from the ravages of the Polish invasion, and this took up most of the time and money of the Russian empire. By 1040, the reconstruction was mostly complete, and the emperor was ready to begin the work of converting the Latvians. They have shown a stubborn tendency to cling to their false beliefs, and it is clear this will be a long-term effort. Byzantium faced another Syrian foe, and waged a stubborn back-and-forth war with the upstart Muslim prince. Despite this, fearing the impact of hordes of uncouth Westerners upon Byzantine lands, the Byzantine emperor resisted the temptation to ask his fellow emperors for aid. However, the Polish emperor called for a crusade, ostensibly to reclaim Jerusalem from the infidel, but in truth to rid his country of the many second and third sons of the nobility, who were causing trouble throughout his realm. Response to this call was muted. His recent foe, the Russian emperor, added his voice to the call, knowing full well that no Russian soldiers or money would be spent on the endeavor, and seeing an opportunity to point the armies of Europe southward. Germany reluctantly agreed, but England and France, beset with domestic troubles, said no, and by using some well-placed influence within the Catholic Church, managed to quash the notion. Five years later, with a new emperor of significant diplomatic gifts, Poland once again called for a crusade, again supported by Russia. This time, the call was a success, and the armies of the West began gathering in Hungary. Byzantine citizens hid their gold, their jewels, and their daughters. Alas, when news of the crusade reached Syria, so fearful of the Western armies was the Muslim leader that he dropped dead of terror on the spot. With no outward justification for their march on Jerusalem, the crusading armies disbanded, and war was averted. The Byzantine emperor heaved a short-lived sigh of relief. Short-lived, because another comet appeared in the sky. In what was becoming an all-too familiar occurrence, the comet presaged disaster for Byzantium. Citing the comet as evidence of divine displeasure with the current ruler, the entire non-Greek speaking portion of the empire broke away, reducing the empire by half. And so the Byzantine tale of woe continues. In the north, the unstable nature of England's far-flung empire was made all too apparent, as revolts in Leon, Sweden, and Scotland flared up following the death of the English king. The new Burgundian emperor finally took action against the large heretical pockets within his realm, and has begun rooting them out - following his lead, the German emperor burned heretics throughout northern France, restoring the primacy of the Catholic church to that area. Poland, also, joined in the auto-da-fe (it's what you oughtn't to do, but you do anyway). It has been a bad time be a Cathar in Europe. Fearing the Russian presence on the northern and eastern borders of his court, the Polish emperor moved his court to Bohemia. The official reason was given as "the mountain climate, which is more suited to his majesty's health". No one was fooled. Comments: - We decided that since the Syrian magnate died during the Magnate Phase between the Crusade Determination Phase and the Crusade Phase, that the crusade was called off. Not sure if this is the correct way to play it, but we thought it was funny. - Prior to my war with Poland, I had taken advantage of a ruler with a high admin stature to build commerce markers in all the East Slav territories. This proved invaluable to me after the war, and allowed me to recover much quicker than I had feared. I think they are the best of the new civilization markers. Matt Filla - Dec 3, 2004 9:37 am (#300 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 1051-1080 AD: This was a period of expansion, and although it started out fairly quietly, by the end things were very active indeed. A couple of short-lived Syrian magnates didn't last long enough to hurt the Byzantines (although one of them captured Anatolia and then died during the victory parade). A brief outbreak of heresy in Asia was quickly quashed by Byzantium. There were some minor dynastic troubles in Russia and France - a few provinces broke away, but were brought back into the fold. Russia left its former territory Wallachia independent while making some domestic improvements - this would prove significant down the road. Germany, blessed with a big treasury and a good leader, began expanding along the coast of the English Channel, taking Normandy, and then Brittany (where he wiped out the heretics which had be living there unmolested for over a century). Things were so good in Germany that the emperor declared a 10-year tax holiday, as there was no room in the treasury for more money. Byzantium, remembering her glory days, took the first steps towards returning to southern Italy, where the Orthodox inhabitants were looking nervously at the slow French advance down the peninsula. It seemed that this would be the site of the next major conflict, but then things took an unexpected turn. With little fanfare, Byzantium invaded Wallachia, a territory which the Russian emperors had firmly declared to be within their sphere of influence. Appalled by this unprovoked aggression, Russia declared war, and encouraged the other rulers to grab their own pieces of Byzantium while they could. The Russian counter-offensive recaptured Wallachia and continued south into Bulgaria. The Bohemian (nee Polish) emperor, knowing a good chance when he saw it, took Serbia by diplomacy, staying out of the way of the two clashing armies. France took the rest of Italy. Germany began planning an invasion of Macedonia, but once again, chance intervened just as the armies were ready to move. The tax holiday had been interpreted by the outlying parts of the German empire as weakness on the part of the emperor, and all the non-German provinces (with the exception of the Saxon north) seceded and became independent. Foiled once again in its plans to capitalize on strife in Europe (see the account of the Russo-Polish war of 1000-1010), Germany began retaking the rebellious provinces, and Byzantium was spared the problems of a four-front war. With its territories being gobbled up by the European vultures, Byzantium recaptured Bulgaria, and then, in what seemed to be a symbolic gesture towards peace and a return to the status quo antebellum, stopped short of invading Wallachia again. This possible peace gesture was ignored by Russia, who recaptured Bulgaria, and launched an invasion across the Black Sea, taking Trebizond and Anatolia. The expected Bohemian invasion of Macedonia did not materialize, as an unexpected diplomatic offensive into Croatia netted that former German province for Bohemia. Angry grumblings have been heard in Germany - additional hostilities may be on the horizon, while the Russo-Byzantine war shows no sign of letting up. Comments: - Although I (Russia) have been as peaceful as can be, I (and my not very desirable provinces) have been the target now of not one, but two unprovoked wars, despite my very clear delineation of the (very reasonable) Russian sphere of influence, and the consequences of crossing that line. I'm still wondering what I have done to deserve this. - That "Division of the Empire" card sucks big rocks through small straws if you draw it and are big enough to get hit by it. The French emperor has been confining his conquests to his own language group to avoid this very thing. Matt Filla - Dec 10, 2004 3:39 pm (#312 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario Report 1081-1110 AD: The Russians and the Byzantines ended their war, exchanging Trebizond and Anatolia for Byzantine gold. There were some magnates and some heresy and blah blah blah. Sorry - I tried to come up with something to write about, but hardly anything happened. Everyone drew bad cards and there was famine and even the two comets didn't have much effect (since no one hangs onto many cards any more). I spent the entire night trying and failing to raise the social states of my areas (and it seemed like everyone else did too). So that's the lesson of this week's AAR - there are periods in this game when it can be kind of boring. Hopefully I'll have more to write about next week. Matt Filla - Dec 17, 2004 11:53 am (#317 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Ongoing Grand Scenario report 1111-1145 AD: It was a dangerous time to be an emperor, especially in Byzantium, as leaders were dropping like flies - at least two Byzantine emperors died during the funerals for their predecessors. The English lost their Norwegian province and part of their Spanish empire when their emperor died - the Spanish territory was regained (and even expanded), but the Bohemians quickly pounced on Norway. The German emperor managed to rule his court area into abject poverty somehow, including a near-foreclosure on his palace. The conversion of the Baltic pagans was finally completed, as the Livonians embraced Orthodox Christianity. The Catholics countered by bringing Serbia and Croatia into the Roman fold. With the Saracen threat gone, the French emperor was finally able to begin rebuilding the southern provinces of his empire. One lone Muslim stronghold remains in the southern tip of the Iberian peninusla, soon to be gobbled up by England or France. As another comet appeared over Europe, to everyone's surprise Byzantium did not collapse. At first, it appeared that there were no bad effects at all. However, a few years later it was discovered that the Byzantine emperor had died when the comet appeared after all - it's just that no one had noticed. With the ascension of a military genius to the throne of Bohemia, war appeared imminent once again. This time, the Bohemian armies were pointed west, where a quick strike into Swabia would cut the lines of communication to Germany's southern provinces, including the rich area of Venice. However, in what was becoming a common story over the past few centuries, war was averted when heresy erupted in Poland, once the capital of the empire, now a border backwater where dangerous ideas had been festering. Faced with the threat of heresy spreading to much of his empire, the Bohemian leader turned his armies around and reconquered the rebellious heretics (with the aid of a (very) small financial donation from the Russians, who wanted to keep the heresy from crossing into their lands as well). Soon after, he died, and Bohemia's martial fervor subsided. With almost all of Europe under the control of the major empires, there were very few areas left for an upstart to create a power base, and accordingly, there were no magnates during this period. Even Syria was quiet. Comments: - When Bohemia's plans to invade Germany were thwarted by the "Outbreak of Heresy" card, just as German plans to attack Bohemia (then Poland) during the war with Russia were cancelled by a "Leader Dies Heirless" card, we coined the the term "Kardma" to describe to cosmic balancing of the scales brought about by the event card deck. - Although we haven't made a final decision, it seems like we are approaching the end of this game, and may call it in a couple of weeks. After four or so months, we're ready to move on to a new game. Matt Filla - Dec 31, 2004 1:24 am (#338 Total: 343) Pewaukee, WI Final Grand Scenario Report 1146-1225 AD (covers two sessions, but mainly the most recent one, as I've forgotten a lot of what happened before Christmas ): Fully alerted to the Syrian peril, the Byzantines built an elaborate system of fortifications throughout the empire (with the added effect of helping to keep the peasantry in line at tax time). With the completion of these fortifications, the peril from any but the most skilled Syrian magnates was ended. Despite the expenditure on these defenses, the Byzantine treasury continued to overflow with money - other emperors could only look on with envy. Eventually, Byzantium's territory stretched south to Jerusalem. The Russian empire reached new heights of peace and prosperity - all areas were at their peak social state, and even though the Russian tax base could never be anything other than mediocre, the emperor's coffers were pleasingly full. Word began to trickle in from the East of a new power - called the Mongols by some, devils by others, it was clear they were moving west. Anticipating their onslaught, the emperor built fortifications along his eastern border, known as the Good Enough Wall of Russia (it was OK, but not Great - could have been better). When the first Mongol horde arrived, the fortifications proved Good Enough - aided by the unexpected death of the Mongol warlord, the invasion was stopped at the border. The German empire split once again, with all the non-German speaking provinces breaking away for the second time in as many centuries. Although the emperor was able to reconquer most of his territory, Venice, jewel in the Imperial crown, remained independent. England turned her back on her former Scandinavian lands, focusing on her burgeoning Spanish territory. The Reconquista was finally completed, with Granada, the last Muslim foothold on the continent, falling at last. Scotland continued to be a problem, rebelling again and again (and again). Money also continued to be a problem for the English emperor, whose treasury was always hovering on the brink of bankruptcy. The heavy hand of mediocrity lay upon Bohemia, with uninspiring leaders and just plain bad luck conspiring to create an endless cycle of unrest and suppression. The emperor cemented his control of Scandinavia (with Sweden in particular enjoying a high level of prosperity), but in general these were uneventful decades for the Bohemians. France began the task of converting southern Italy, which had clung to the Orthodox faith of their former Byzantine rulers. Paris was retaken as well, and the Mediterranean coast was slowly becoming prosperous after centuries of Saracen depredations. The French emperor also brought the islands of Corsica and Sardinia under his control. As the thirteenth century began, Europe looked forward to the future. Treasuries were full (except in England), prosperity was high, civilization was spreading, and all was peaceful. Sadly, what appeared to be a comet (by now a ho-hum affair) turned out to be a gigantic meteor instead, and in 1225 it struck the European continent, destroying all life there and creating drastic climatic changes which wiped out the entire human race by 1250. The End Final thoughts: - It was a very enjoyable game (everyone agreed with this). That said, it ended at the right time. After 89 rounds, I think we were all ready to call it quits. - As someone else said here before, I think 4 players is the right size for the Grand Scenario. With no handicaps (which the smaller scenarios have), Russia and England never had a real chance to win. Byzantium and the three remnants of Charlemagne's empire are the competitive starting positions. - The optional rules added to the Decision Games version of EotMA are nice, and I would always use them, especially the civilization markers - I would have been in horrible shape without the commerce markers I built throughout my empire. The extra cards were particularly nice to have, and added a lot of flavor to the game. - The final order of finish was Germany, France, Byzantium, Bohemia, Russia, England. Germany won by a pretty decent margin. I was pretty happy with my performance, given what I had to work with. - I look forward to playing this again, although probably one of the shorter scenarios. I'm not ready to tackle the Grand Scenario again any time soon. I hope everyone enjoyed the reports. I had a lot of fun writing them, and will probably do the same for my next game, which will be Sword of Rome (look for them in that folder). We start next week. Del Elson - Jan 4, 2005 10:51 pm (#370 Total: 388) Campaign Report I'll try to keep this brief -- we ran a campaign game recently with modified campaign rules (URL posted earlier). At that point we decided that it was no longer worth continuing because the Byzantine player had a very handy lead that wasn't going to get caught. Mostly this was the fault of the rest of us fighting each other constantly while he gobbled up all of Eastern Europe. After Charlemagne and the Byzantines, the empires were: # France, court in Ile de France. # Italy, court in Lombardy. # Germany, court in Franconia. # England, court in Wessex. # Poland, court in Poland. One feature of the modified campaign rules allows a leader to collapse (and score) his empire when he draws a Leader Dies Heirless card. For the first 100 or so years, strangely enough, there were none of these drawn. After that they came out thick and fast, with the Lombards scoring fairly highly and moving their court to Venice, and the English abandoning their empire to be replaced by the Swedes who did quite well. The Polish player appeared quite late, and was immediately set upon by the Byzantines. Offering a peace deal and 3gp per turn for the return of Volhynia and no further action in the east (towards the muscovite provinces), the Byzantines effectively turned the poles into a client state. An effective piece of gunboat diplomacy if nothing else. This is what pretty much turned the game, as the poles were constrained to being a minor blockade between the rest of us and the Byzantines, allowing Byzantium fairly much a free hand. The Venetians and French then set about fighting a bloody war over Lombardy. Each side refused to concede the province, both treasuries were drained, and even a short abortive crusade (which ran out of money before reaching Jerusalem) failed to stop the war. Eventually the Venetians conceded almost immediately before the French drew a fairly nasty Leader Dies Heirless event, losing that province and a few others which were then snapped up by the Venetians as the French attempted to rebuild. After two brief mongol raids we decided they Were No Fun, and stopped the game. Byzantines won handily, followed by the Venetians and then the English / Swedes. We reset the map to 1385 for the late period scenario game. This was again fairly bloody, with wars being fought by all sides on all fronts. The Turks suffered a few setbacks (first event card drawn was the Black Death, closely followed by Leader Dies Heirless) and the European powers again set on one another. A brief war between the English and the French resulted in the ceding of Brittany, and another between the French and Germans resulted in the exchange of Flanders for Burgundy. This was followed by a French-Angevin border dispute, resulting in the ceding of Tolouse to the Anvevins, and a promise by the French to divert more efforts against the Turks. This peace deal lasted one round (Leader Dies Heirless again) after which the French set about rebuilding, the English advanced into Scandinavia, and the Germans toyed with the Poles and a heretical magnate state which appeared between them. A brief period of panic ensued. Sure that the Germans were winning at this point the English and French struck against the Germans, the English driving into Franconia and Bavaria and forcing the Germans to surrender as their empire was sliced in half, while the French liberated all of the Italian provinces by driving into Lombardy and Verona. Further panic ensued as the French and Turks appeared too strong. The French were set on by the Angevins, which really only resulted in the revolt of Tolouse as the Angevins were set back on their heels. A German attack into Burgundy was similarly repulsed with heavy losses. The Turks were attacked first by the French (through Croatia) and then the Germans (from Hungary) but losses on each side were minor. Finally, everyone reached some sort of status quo. The English gave back their German provinces, some desultory containment attacks were launched against the Turks, and the world seemed in balance. Being the only power not to have a major war launched against it, the game was won by the English. The Turks were a close second, and two last minute Leader Dies Heirless events again saw the French reduced and the Angevins all but eliminated. The Poles never recovered from the heretics, and several bad years of famine. Much fun was had by all. Summaries: # If you fight a war, 1 on 1, it costs vast sums of money and you get nowhere. Both sides end up losing. If you fight a 2 on 1 war, the 1 almost always gets beaten, but not always especially if both 2 pull bad cards (witness the failed Angevin/German assaults on Burgundy). # 9 combat leaders are to be cherished. 9 admin leaders ditto. # If you sit in a corner of the board in a nice safe position and watch everyone else kill each other, you will win the game. # The group I game with is bloodthirsty but fun. # In a short scenario starting with many neutral provinces, an uneven distribution of Leader Dies Heirless and Recognition of Claim cards (the French player failed to draw any RoC cards all game, and got 4 LDH cards vs the English 0) unbalances the game. In a campaign game it all comes out more even. Del