Screenshots / Empires' Maps Thread

[a Dictator's Cigar]

My recent campaign as Kingdom Of Denmark







Quite a journey

[a Dictator's Cigar]

a view on my recent campaign as the Almoravids




Don't know if to describe the difficulty of this faction as hard or easy comparing to others. yet the rich field of options available in the begining of the Almoravid campaign is highly enjoyable. early in my campaign I minimized my kingdom by giving away Valencia and Lisbon to the papacy, thus causing an interior-christian conflict in Iberia that lasted for 30 plus turns and resulted in Aragon collapsing and castile being excommunicated for a long time.






The family tree system became giving after the turn 50 aprox. when I lost the last general I had, suddenly in the span of 40 turns I get two generations of family members while having 8Genenrals to 13Provinces.



Also introducing my favorite Moravid unit: The Black Guard Cavalry, my rescue force against unexpected uprisings in the vast corners of my empire. Also I find the Moravid units to be unique and diverse comparing to other factions, they diffintely worth exploration.




Interestingly my King got Crowne after I maintained all territories, yet the crowning happened suddenly while he was staying in Qurtuba while in theory he has to be in Marrakech with a great Jama. in my campaign Marrakech was still a town, and the FL was in a completely different city, yet for some reason a trigger happens and he becomes crowned just by fullfilling the territory condition without the "Great Jama" condition.



overall very unique campaign and faction units. their navy is not the strongest but still has a unique geographic placement in the world. also the trade potential of this faction is huge as it's merchants can find value places like Greece and Iberia. Great Game.

"save" file is uploaded here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/z4kv3...190th.sav/file

[kostic]

This campaign is played with the version of September 8, 2022 in VH/VH
This military campaign of the Kingdom of France is strategically directed by a friend who has never played a Total War game.


These remarks during this campaign mainly concern the impossibility of making peace with Hre despite numerous attempts. As a history buff, this impossibility of obtaining a truce turns out to be absolutely unhistorical for the period concerned. Truces were indeed very frequent in the Middle Ages.
The difficulty of predicting one's budget is another of his remarks.


The Capetian King Louis VI is struggling to expand his kingdom of France held by many barons and lords who must be reminded of their duty of allegiance

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Three years later, he took Aquitaine and came up against the wishes of the King of Aragon

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In 1143 he will embark on a crusade against Aleppo, but he will divert against Constantinople. Louis will destroy and massacre the population before launching his army towards Aleppo through Anatolia. He will destroy Adana before being assassinated. His men dispersed and Louis was remembered as Louis VI Le fou furieux while in France his son Louis VII ascended the throne

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Ten years later, the son of Louis VI was still fighting hard after paying off his father's debts

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Prince Gilles, a traitor to the Anglo-Norman kingdom, tried to redeem himself by going on a crusade against Aleppo more than 10 years after that of Louis VI.
The city was conquered by the Kingdom of Jerusalem, so Prince Gilles sent his army to Damascus

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What a failure! The prince was killed during the capture of Damascus. The crusaders, too numerous to hold the city, plundered it before attempting to return to their country of origin. Unfortunately for them, their ships were sunk by pirates. This crusade ultimately brought only death and despair

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Two years later, King Louis VII was killed in battle against the Holy Roman Empire. His successor, King Clement, fought hard to take and try to preserve the territory of Lyon. The endless great war against the Holy Roman Empire had begun

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Three years later, Dijon and Rheims were captured by the enemy. The new king, King Dreux, soon died too, trying to save the kingdom against the incessant and multiple assaults of the Germans of the Holy Empire

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His successor, King Auphons, took advantage of a lifting of the crusade against the Moors of Spain to repel the German invaders

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The crusade ended and the country sank into terrible debt as the armies of the Holy Roman Empire continued to arrive in numbers to retake Rheims and the lost territories. Surrounded, the king's army was defeated and Auphons 1st died in the battle as well as many knights

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It was the young sovereign, the new King Olivier, barely 17 years old, that Rheims returned to the kingdom of France.

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The olive king ends up getting the kingdom out of its debt and had to face many attempts by the enemy against the city of Rheims

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Today, the king and the young generals of the kingdom seem on the verge of finally taking their revenge on their worst enemy. After a great victory against an army of the Holy Empire in Provence, the Franks are on the way to conquering the city of Arles and the entire Rhone valley...

[kostic]

Continuation of the campaign:

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In 1175 the kingdom grew significantly under the command of the young King Olivier, barely 23 years old. But peace with the Holy Empire continues to be systematically denied.

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In desperation, King Olivier sends an army deep into the Holy Empire in hopes of capturing a city in exchange for peace.

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The tactic fails. Gilbert the Warrior manages to capture the city of Bremen, but despite the king's generous offers to return the city, offer 1000 florins and trade rights, the holy empire continues to stubbornly refuse peace.
At the same time, King Olivier captured the lands of Poitou, Angers and Brittany to the detriment of the King of Castile who had taken them from the English.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

These conquests do not please the English. The English king sends armies to Rohazon in Brittany.
King Olivier then attacks Rouen and captures the city. He died in battle at the same time as the English king.
Now the new English king (a usurper whom the pope would like me to assassinate) arrives with several armies. Rohazon seems lost and Rouen prepares to repel the assault. Perceval is the new king of France.

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In 1183 under the new king Perceval, the English were repulsed with 2 big battles in Brittany and Normandy. Bremen being lost, Gilbert had the infrastructure destroyed and recovered a good amount of florins. He will perish in a foreign land with his men soon after, crushed by the number.

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In 1184, the empire launched several armies at the same time on Paris, Rheims and Orléans. Despite fierce resistance, Paris falls into the hands of the enemy as well as Rheims.
The kingdom finds itself in difficulty. In addition to the renewed aggressiveness of the Holy Empire, the English continue to land armies in Normandy...

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The situation in 1185 after repelling the empire in no less than 9 battles since 1184!!!
The positive is that peace was achieved with the English and he withdrew his armies across the channel. But why does the Holy Germanic Empire still insist on refusing peace? He is currently excommunicated but continues to attack me.

[j.a.luna]

Woow it is a difficult campaign!! also i find a little annoying that you can not make peace with HRE , you release prisioners no? Maybe Macaras could give an answer about this.
Another things that i see in several campaigns is the a lot of armies knights (with a lot of Mailed knights/miles or feudal cavalry from landowners)
This happened to me in my Russian campaign against the Cumans and also my Sicilian campaign against the Venetians, I think that in the next version it will be changed because it is not fair that I can barely maintain 3-4 landowners units and the enemies in the same army have 4 or 5 landowners units, and more and more armies...

[Macaras]

Hi guys, if nothing changed recently the HRE will agree for peace only in few conditions (providing the relations are not very bad):

- The Pope threatens excommunication,
- their frontline balance and general strength goes weaker then human (in this case will probably not happen),
- some other faction attacks them and they have more enemies than human.
- random peace, small probablility.
- the relations become good (releasing prisoners and not entering their territory)

Money will not buy a ceasefire.. Regarding the city being offered in exchange for peace, the value of the city is not enough on purpose. If the HRE is confident in their strength they know it can be reconquered so will not take the bite. Otherwise it becomes too easy - conquering a city from the sea, and giving it back in exchange for ceasfire.

You know that in the old versions of AI the English wouldn't declare war on France if not bordering in the land. I am happy now that they are attacking, (the price for it is random port attacks that sometimes happen) I think historically English were a constant threat to France, as it was easy for them to make naval invasions..

I know its difficult, but in the end I think it will be very rewarding if you manage to build a strong faction

[kostic]

Hello @Macaras,happy to read you !
It would really be necessary that the option of peace be possible much more easily, even if it means that the conflict resumes if the relations do not improve.
It's been over 20 years - 40 rounds! - that the Germanic empire refuses all my attempts.How to have better relations when the adversary sends his men to death turn after turn ?

The possibility of obtaining a "random peace" if it exists in the code, should be greatly increased if we want to respect the principle that in the Middle Ages, truces were numerous in wars.

[Taliesin Tyrant]

Could there possibly be a script where once a war starts against the player, all the generals of the ai are counted and once so many of them have died then they will be forced to offer a peace? Perhaps a script comes up stating that they have lost too many and would like to sue for peace?
This script might not be able to count the amount of new generals the ai gets during the war, but maybe that is a good thing. As after you kill their best generals and leaders they would naturally be inclined to surrender.

[kostic]

I like your idea @Taliesin.
We could also simply count the dead and decide that the more the number of victims is important for the AI, the more it will be inclined to ask for a truce or to accept a request for a ceasefire.


Just on the winter season, I had to do 6 victorious battles (see the battle counter) which allowed me to directly take over Rheims (thanks to a spy who opened the gates). The empire lost many men but systematically agreed to pay ransoms.
With this money, I was able to recruit mercenaries and continue to repel the invader.

The other positive point is that Pisa asked for a ceasefire and I accepted. Apart from the Fatimids who are far away, I only have the empire left as an opponent.
Though...
Civil war has broken out in my kingdom ! Probably because of my king who is considered a usurper. Toulouse revolted and expelled my men. I will have to fight against rebels at the same time as against the Holy Roman Empire ("holy" empire... he is still under the blow of an excommunication... I am not sure that the pope wants him attribute this qualifier! )

End of tour. Summer period.


End of tour. Winter period.

[SurfinBird]

My V.98 Fatimids (Egypt) / H/VH Turn 83


Destroyed the crusaders last turn. Gonna get my king crowned, when i get one that not too old.
A strong faction, even the units being STATS behind and you generals weaker than the crusaders.







Two regions (Pisa & Sicily) rebel and went to me

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Save file:
Egypt.rar

[kostic]

Continuation of the campaign with France.
My strategy - or rather that of the friend who runs it alongside me - is quite cruel, I must admit: we systematically ransom prisoners of the Holy Empire and he pays most of the time; but above all, we send an army to completely destroy every captured city of the Holy Empire. We ransack, then destroy every building constructed (except the churches, so as not to displease the pope).
Since the start of the war with the Holy Empire, we have used this strategy to:
-Coellen
- Bremen
- Loven
- Utrecht
- Basel
- Trier
- Frankfurt (the capital!)
and the city of Ulm is about to suffer the same fate...


Is it effective?
I doubt it because I feel like the opponent is rebuilding their buildings very quickly, much faster than the player could. Relations with the Holy Empire are at their lowest (Abyssal) and it continues to send more and more armies to Gand (which has just fallen), Rheims, Paris, Dijon, Rouen, Lyon...
In the statistics, the Holy Empire is always well above the kingdom of France. We sometimes wonder where he draws so many resources after all that has been inflicted on him !

The army of my king - Jehan the usurper - besieges Gand. The Holy Empire attacks Rheims and Lyon. He is excommunicated.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Basel was ransacked. Gand was captured by King Jehan the usurper but it will soon be taken over by the armies of the Holy Empire. Jehan the usurper will perish and a new usurper will be appointed
(on this aspect, the current version really has a problem: it seems that the AI ​​always chooses the worst and least legitimate heirs, even when legitimate descendants are available)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After razing Trier and Frankfurt, the punitive army attacks the city of Ulm

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Alex_TotalWar]

Currently playing a great Denmark campaign. H/M difficulty, character-driven expansions.




I had to play carefully to repair my reputation and have maintained a mutually beneficial alliance with the HRE since 1180.

See save: https://www.mediafire.com/file/i1b2g..._1222.sav/file

[j.a.luna]

Basel was ransacked. Gand was captured by King Jehan the usurper but it will soon be taken over by the armies of the Holy Empire. Jehan the usurper will perish and a new usurper will be appointed
(on this aspect, the current version really has a problem: it seems that the AI ​​always chooses the worst and least legitimate heirs, even when legitimate descendants are available)

I think that this problem could be solved with the Next Heir System, it is very annoying that the son of the true king is not the true heir...

[hazman232]

Turn 195 loss as Hungary VH/VH. This is the only Total War experience which can prevent me from snowballing and maintain challenge even after 200 turns. By turn 60, after an unfortunate accident that saw my king killed in a minor skirmish and the civil war that followed, I was down to my final city. My royal family was turned completely wretched and deformed by a stubborn witch. by turn 160 I had taken back my empire from the Byzantines and the Qipchaks and forged powerful alliances with a new and modern army. By turn 195 I had lost it all to a rampaging Holy Roman Empire whom had already vassalized my neighbours Poland and Venice. I only wish they had offered me the same choice.

As always I had an absolute blast and can't wait to do it all over again.

[kostic]

wow! The Holy Empire is truly terrifying! In my game with France, he is finally weakened by several enemies at the same time. My realm is about to really take over.
Playing VH/VH is a great challenge with SSHIP. It's also exciting to see that this mod is improving day by day.

[kostic]

This is my current campaign with the Fatimids. The choice was to divide the middle east on the east coast and then to fight against the Byzantines and the Abbassids.
The Abbasids are almost destroyed but the Seljukids have taken their territory in my place. The Byzantines, on the other hand, are very weakened by my conquests and by the number of generals - including a Basileus - that my assassins have eliminated... I don't understand. My Caliph is a usurper although he is of the direct line of the previous Caliph.

[kostic]

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Fatimids (have not been replaced by the Ayyoubids ) have finally destroyed their Byzantine adversaries and the Abbassids are no longer a threat.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem somehow survived with Tripoli and Damascus, no doubt with the help of the Portuguese who firmly held the region of Aleppo.
Zengi betrayed us but we defeated him. It probably remains on the side of Edessa and was greatly weakened by the Seldjukids.
We are now confronted with the Sultanate of Rum whose territory of Anatolia is surrounded by our armies...


Few crashes, only in battle, you just have to think about making backups so as not to have to redo battles already won !

[j.a.luna]

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Fatimids (have not been replaced by the Ayyoubids ) have finally destroyed their Byzantine adversaries and the Abbassids are no longer a threat.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem somehow survived with Tripoli and Damascus, no doubt with the help of the Portuguese who firmly held the region of Aleppo.
Zengi betrayed us but we defeated him. It probably remains on the side of Edessa and was greatly weakened by the Seldjukids.
We are now confronted with the Sultanate of Rum whose territory of Anatolia is surrounded by our armies...


Few crashes, only in battle, you just have to think about making backups so as not to have to redo battles already won !

Great campaign with egyptians! But some queations my friend...
-What is your opinion about the fatimids unit roster and the rest of the muslims factions?

-Why haven't the Fatimids transitioned to the Ayyubids and later to the Mamluks in your campaign?

- i think that egyptians could be called "Al Misr" a generic noum for this faction, and improve the transition in differents dynasties ( same for Moors with Almoravids- Almohads- Nazaríes/Benimerines)

-Do you think more unique units should be added to the Muslim factions? I see their units too repetitive, I think the Fatimids should focus more on black African troops along with mercenaries to transition into Ayyubids with more cavalry/ghulams and Turkish troops, then the Mamluk professionals would come.

Opinions?

[Sana Kan]

- i think that egyptians could be called "Al Misr" a generic noum for this faction, and improve the transition in differents dynasties ( same for Moors with Almoravids- Almohads- Nazaríes/Benimerines)

Is it possible to implement faction name changing during campaigns with SSHIP? I agree with your idea btw, personally, I usually edit factions names in the .txt file to make them more 'generic' for the time period

[Jurand of Cracow]

Is it possible to implement faction name changing during campaigns with SSHIP? I agree with your idea btw, personally, I usually edit factions names in the .txt file to make them more 'generic' for the time period

In-game perhaps not, but I absolutely agree it'd be better to have more generic, although historical, names for the factions.
I my notes I've got such ideas for changes:
al-Maghrib / al-Andalus = Khalifiyya al-Andalus
Romanía
Aš-Šam
Outremer / KoJ
al-Misr
al-Khalifiyya
But this would be an overwhelming work, and could happen only post-1.0 version.
For the moment, we've got 0.98 and still quite a few things to do.