Lords of the Earth
Campaign Nineteen
Turn 54
Anno Domini 1166 - 1170
Turn 55 Orders Due By: Saturday April 9th. Orders will not be accepted after Midnight MST on Sunday, April 10th.
A |
I will no longer be taking money directly for turns. Instead, players sending funds by mail should make all checks payable to Thomas Harlan and send them either to the
Thomas Harlan
Below are my Email and Regular mail addresses:
Email: ancaric@throneworld.com
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Please do NOT send payments to my Paypal account, use the one listed above.
Players at zero or negative credit at the time of deadline or will have a negative balance at the conclusion of processing will not have their orders processed, plain and simple. So get your orders and payment in before processing starts or life will become very unfair very quickly. Finally, players with a negative balance are liable to get their country reassigned without notice. You have been warned.
Important: it has come to my attention that players have been implementing the agro surplus rules incorrectly, assuming that they can just trade in agro for gold or NFP on a one-for-one basis. Please remember that what you can do with your agro surplus is tied to your Base (pre-tax rate) Income. Look a table 2-17 on page 19 of the 5.10 rules for the conversion rates and what the gold and NFP can be used for. If players continue to not pay attention to this rule when converting their agro, I will not allow conversions.
As mentioned above, I’m going to try to keep alterations to the rules to a minimum (a double “yeah, sure” regarding my chances). Here are some things to keep in mind:
Hands Off Trade and the IMA action (clarification): here’s what you can and can’t do regarding moving MSPs around.
ú Inter-nation Trade Fleet: May be freely initiated, starting MSPs determined by computer. To add or move MSPs requires an IMA action.
ú Internal Trade/Fishing Fleets: May be freely initiated, starting MSPs are added by the player. Additional new MSPs may be added to an existing fleet. To move MSPs between existing fleets requires an IMA action.
Moving a fleet to a new port requires an IMA action, regardless of type.
Route Type: LTR and LTO routes always take precedence over any Sea Trade Route between nations. Keep this in mind when initiating routes. Once an LTO/R route exists between two nations it may not be converted to sea trade (barring events that force the route to close).
HBZ and Transports: please note that transports are mobile units for purposes of building within the HBZ, so if you want to build them in a port outside HBZ you’re out of luck most of the time.
ADDITION: Transports are assigned to or taken off a route at the start of the turn. Consequently, units assigned to a route may not be used for transporting stuff and MSPs converted to transports may not be re-converted back to MSPs in the same turn.
Allied Leaders Revisited: the following are changes to the rules concerning allied leaders. Any troops attached to an allied leader may not be detached for any purpose. They stay with the allied leader at all times. Allied leader units may not be demobilized, although they will go away if the player decides to reduce the control level of the allied region or if the allied leader dies and is not replaced. Players may build or assign additional units to the allied army but such units become part of the allied army and may not be taken back.
Female Leaders: while I don’t want to disallow them totally, the Dark Ages were a pretty male dominated time. Consequently, a female Royalty member may only become Queen, Empress, Regent or Heir if they have a Charisma of AT LEAST 10. A Princess will only become an active leader if her Charisma is at least 8 (eight) or greater. Any Charisma statute less than this will result in no generation (although you can still marry them off). Any existing Female Rulers, Heirs, Princesses may remain. The only exception to this is if the sole available heir is a princess, in which case she becomes ruler regardless of Charisma (and the subsequent DF check gets an big bad negative modifier as the local nobility resents the presence of a female giving orders and intruding on their bailiwick).
Demobilizing Units: some of you are trying to demob units and rebuild them elsewhere on the same turn. This is a no-no, as rule 5.4.6 indicates. However, unlike the rules, I will allow demobilized units to be rebuilt elsewhere on the turn following their demobilization or later. The NFP simply go into your saved NFP slot.
The Homeland Income Multiple: has decreased to one.
Gold, NFP and Agro transfers: beginning immediately, any inter-player transfers will only become available to the recipients the turn after they are sent. So if someone sent you stuff on turn 41, you have to wait until turn 42 before you can use it. Gold and NFP will be placed in their respective saved sections. Agro will be placed in the reserves. Note: players sending agro must spend gold to preserve it in transit. Keep this in mind when deciding how much to charge for your surpluses.
Entropy, or Viagra hasn’t been invented yet: any male Royal personages attempting to begat kiddies after the age of 50 has a severely reduced chance of siring any new bundles of joy. Just so you know.
AP reminder: please remember that it is the slowest unit of a given force that determines which unit modifier applies to determining APs/year. So if your army of light, elite cavalry includes even one heavy infantry unit, the footsloggers are slowing everyone down. Also if a leader has a combat rating of four or less, he has a –1 AP per year modifier regardless of what he’s doing; unless he’s alone, in which case neither the positive nor negative Combat Rating applies. Thanks to the player who pointed out this error on my part.
WARNING!!! Players who insist on not keeping track of AP expenditure in their orders run an excellent chance that their leaders will do nothing the entire turn, so grit your teeth and do the math!
Shooting oneself in the foot: Just so you all know, if your king continues to produces heirs after he has an established heir in place (i.e. one who has generated stats, it always goes to the eldest male by the way.) the possibility of something bad happening upon the death of the monarch is increased.
INTEL STUFF: When performing Infiltration and Counter Infiltration Intel Operations, it is always best to specify which sector of your nation you are trying to protect or subvert. The sectors are listed in rule 8.3.11 in the basic rulebook but I will repeat them here: Espionage Service, Government, Royal Family, Military, Populace, University and Religion. Players who order an op against an unspecified target will have a SEVERELY reduced chance of success.
MORE INTEL STUFF (Leaders acting as an Ops or Bonus Point): Leaders conducting an Espionage action may need to be where the action is in order to conduct certain actions. For example, a Veronan leader attempting to act as an OP for a CM in
Tech Level and Projects (NEW): certain Megalithic, Societal, Economic and Government Types are now dependent on a nations tech level. A nation must meet the minimum Tech Level requirements in order to engage in the following projects.
Megalithic Projects: the building nation’s tech level must equal or exceed the modified level of the project. (This is a change from the rules).
Government Type Tech Level
Tribal 1
Feudal Monarchy 2
Centralized Monarchy 3
Oligarchy 3
Imperial 3
Democracy 3
Dictatorship 8
Constitutional Monarchy 8
Federal Democracy 9
Slave 1
Agrarian 2
Guild 5
Free 8
Feudal 1
Caste 2
Clan 3
Open 8
A QUESTION OF TIMING: Certain builds take an entire turn to perform (although for clerical reasons are usually done at the same time as the rest of the builds). These are:
ú City Construction (both new and additional levels)
ú All Megalithic Construction Projects
ú Colonies: Okay, this only applies if the colony is placed in an already occupied region/city and the natives have to be or are otherwise suppressed or conquered. Example 1: an army conquers a region. The colony can only be created the following turn. Example 2: a player attempts to emplace a colony in an occupied region and it fails its revolt check. The colony can only be created the following turn. Example 3: as in 2 above but the region passed its revolt check. The colony may be created that turn. Example 4: as 2 above, except that the player conducted an RG action on the hapless inhabitants. The colony can only be created then following turn.
What this means is that you may not take advantage of a given build of this type on the turn that it is constructed. For example: you may not base MSPs or build PWBs at the increased city capacities until the turn after the construction is done. Similarly, PWBs may not be built in excess of a region’s old terrain type the turn it becomes cultivated or colonized to a higher GPv. So plan accordingly.
Great Wall segments on a coast: I have made this a level 2 project to reflect additional hydro-engineering factors. (Draining swamps, etc).
The Care and Feeding of
Unnamed: May not be occupied or built on and are generally considered part of an adjoining larger landmass.
Named, but no (-/-): may be occupied but NOT colonized. Cities may be built on them to a max size of three. Islands of this type with an “H” are hostile and may have not have cities built on them.
Named, with an (-/-): may be colonized to a maximum of (1/#), cities may be built on them to the regular max for islands.
Very Important: Players desiring to build projects, cities, colonies or units on an island must ship the gold and manpower to build them there (unless of course, the island is your capital or homeland) Public Works may be built without shipment.
Selling Agro Surplus: please remember that if you’re shipping surplus agro, you must pay to preserve it just as you would if you’re putting it into reserves. Agro in reserves can be sold without having to do this as it’s already been paid for.
YARD CAPACITY: Yard Capacity costs are now assessed for all heavy units as well as all ship units. Below are the appropriate sections from the Modern rules supplement.
The construction of all ship units as well as all heavy-prefix land units requires the use of (in addition to GP and NFP expenditures) Yard Capacity of the appropriate kind. Each ship or heavy prefix land unit type has a Yard Capacity (YrdC) cost listed below. This is the Yard Capacity cost when constructing the unit. For most types of nations Yard Capacity can only be used at a
Cities,
Table 3‑9. Intrinsic Yard Capacity
Source |
Capacity |
Notes |
|
5 |
Usable only by Nomads or Barbarians for the construction of Heavy units (including ships, if in a coastal region). |
||
City |
GPv × 5 |
Usable for the construction of Heavy land units. |
|
GPv × 5 |
Usable for the construction of ships and heavy land units. |
||
Note:
The city-based Intrinsic Yard capacity is listed on your stat sheet as part of the City description, between the city PWB and the City Type like so:
Avalon [3+30i15p4]
This city has a GPv of 3, 30 public works an intrinsic Yard capacity of 15, is a port city and has 4 wall points.
The only way that intrinsic Yard Capacity may be increased is through city expansion. Additional capacity gained through such expansion may not be used on the same turn that the city expansion occurs.
Important: HBZ and primate construction restrictions are still in force, so just because you have the capacity to build something at a given site, doesn’t mean that you will be able to if the city is out of your HBZ.
Unit Type |
YrdC Cost |
HI |
1 |
HEI |
1 |
HC |
1 |
HEC |
1 |
XT |
1p |
T |
2p |
HT |
3p |
XW |
1p |
XEW |
1p |
W |
2p |
EW |
2p |
HW |
3p |
HEW |
3p |
P = may only be built at a port.
Some discrepancies between the maps and the Stats program have cropped up:
None at present.
As a general rule, in discrepancies of this kind, the stats take precedence over the map.
Taira Tanko Mitsuoke, Daimyo of Kwanto, Shogun of
Diplomacy
No orders. Shun died and was succeeded without incident.
Rokaku III, Lord of the
Diplomacy None
No orders. Rokaku died and was succeeded by his son, Rokaku.
Nang Ha, Beloved of Ganesha
Diplomacy Jambi (ea),
The Javanese did some diplomacy and that was about it.
Taree II, Prince of Maree
Diplomacy Eha-Rana (fa)
Taree was wroth to learn that his attempts to trade with the
In other events, more citizens were shipped into Akama and Wasientan, increasing them both to size 2.
Ghorgon, King of the
Diplomacy
Ghorgon came into his watery inheritance and immediately set about rebuilding the Kingdom of his ancestors, dispatching diplomats to the Fijians. Far to the south, a fleet of Maori ships off loaded hundreds of workers in Te Wai Ponamu, who immediately began cultivating the wilderness there.
Chao the Grim, King of Shan’si, Watcher of the
Diplomacy None
The re-urbanization of the Korean peninsula continued with the construction of yet another, port, Morning Calm on the ruins of old Kaiching, in Koguryu. In addition, Jin’xi and Golden Moon continued to grow to sizes 8 and 6 respectively. Work on the royal infrastructure also continued with the postal road between Bao Ding and Lu’an being upgraded to a royal road. Finally, work began in Jin’xi on a great monument to Buddha.
Cao Shen Han, King of
Diplomacy
Major segments of the southern Great Wall were finished, with new sections on the borders of Kweichou and
Diplomacy None
No orders.
Bao Dai IV, King of Champa, Lord of Vijaya
Diplomacy
Bao Dai ordered the construction of a great temple to Brahma in Vijaya and work began on it in earnest. Also built this turn, were two fortresses, a citadel next to the walls of Vijaya itself (Fort Bao Dai) and another in the hinterland of
Anucha, Deveraja of the Kambuja
Diplomacy Kredah (t)
Chandarith died in late 1166 whilst in Kredah and was replaced without much comment. Despite this event, the locals of Kredah were sufficiently impressed to join the Khemer cause. In other events, the road between Nakhon and Mon was completed and a new port, Kuantan, was built in the latter region.
Vikram, Raja of
Diplomacy None
Ava and Pegu were finally repopulated back to their old population levels (a (3/5) and (3/6) respectively). Royal road links were built between Avan and Pegu and hence into Khemer territory in Thaton. Hindu missionary activity continues among the Buddhist of Bhutan at a glacial pace.
Gagan, King of Chola, Lord of Tanjore
Diplomacy Belur (f)
Did some diplomacy and that was it.
Mogli II, Emperor of
Diplomacy None
No orders. Mogli died and was succeeded without incident.
Alp Arslen, Lord of Karakocho.
Diplomacy Beshbalik (ea)
Work began on putting Beshbalik under cultivation.
Al-Haji, Emir of Samarkhnad
Diplomacy Firoz Kohi (a),
In an impressive achievement of diplomacy, Al-Hajji’s diplomats managed to induce many of the Persian principalities to the south to join the Emirate, thus gaining access to the
Bashtu, Kagan of Khazar and Saksiny
Diplomacy Urkel (hostile, diplomat thrown out!), Bolgar (c)
Attempts to stitch the Khanate back together met with limited success. Elsewhere, Sarigh-Shin continued to grow at a rapid rate, reaching level 9 and Kara-Kemen increased to level 2. Bashtu was the recipient of a great deal of cash from the Byzantine court. An event that led the kagan to get very drunk on kumis, so elated was he.
Hasan Ibn Yusuf “the Great”, Sultan of
Diplomacy
A royal road link was built up the border with the Buwayids, to facilitate trade. Aside form this and some diplomacy (well, ok, a considerable amount of diplomacy), Hasan kept to himself...or at least he tried to, but a number of Frankish missionaries showed up and tried to convert the locals only to get killed and/or imprisoned for their pains. In addition, a prominent shrine was burnt to the ground near
Tajir ibn Ibriham, Emir of Emirs, Protector of the Caliph.
Diplomacy
Believing that nothing as unimportant as a little mountainous terrain should stop urbanization, Tajir’s engineers raised a
Sulemain ibn Umar, Emir of
Diplomacy Zufar (c)
Umar died in late 1167 and was succeeded without incident. The new Emir ordered the construction of a new road link between
Constantine Paulos, Emperor of the
Diplomacy Rhodes (f), Ochirida, in
The usual spate of city expansions occurred.
Finally, Flavius died at the end of 1169 and was succeeded without incident.
Aleksandr I, Boyar of
Diplomacy None
Additional money and manpower were thrown at the road between
Stanislaw I, King of
Diplomacy
A shipment of grain to the Byzantines was sent without storing it properly with the result that it rotted in route. In other, less bureaucratic matters, the royal road between Danzig and Pomerania was completed and a postal road was built between
Ahti Viikberg, Duke of
Diplomacy None
Ewald Govner, Duke of
Diplomacy Pomern (f following allied leader death).
Like the Poles, Ewald sent a great deal of inadequately stored grain to the Byzantines with the result that tons of the stuff wound up sitting on the docks of
Valdemar Germanicus, Emperor of
Diplomacy Tyrol (t),
Things were fairly quiet here. Massa-Carrerea grew to size 5 and Milano to size 8. The great Sea Wall in
Gerard Capet, King of the Franks
Diplomacy:
Gerard stayed busy, as is his wont, overseeing the construction of yet another road link, this one between Vermandois and
Miguel II, King of
Diplomacy Talavera (f),
The Spaniards were also very active. Catholic missionaries converted the last of the Muslims of Estremadura to the true faith; Talavera was put under cultivation; and two new road links were built: the first from
Ehtelred Harethson, King of the Angles and Saxons
Diplomacy:
Gregor, King of the Swedes
Diplomacy None
All in all, things were quiet in the Great White North, eh? Tronheim and
Dag Jornson, King of the Norse
Diplomacy Strathclyde (+1 to YfC)
Attempts to plumb the reaches of the
Bashar ibn Umar, Emir of Morroco
Diplomacy None
No payment, turn not processed.
Muhtadi Mujahid ibn Fadi, Fatamid Caliph of Egypt
Diplomacy None
Well having cut trade with the “filthy Greeklings”, Muhtadi awaited the expected Byzantine attack, except that the Greeks didn’t oblige, at least not so directly. Instead a wave of killings swept through the various elite communities running parts of the Fatamid government as well as the intelligence services. Initial investigations were confusing as evidence pointed to both Byzantine and French involvement. In another development, Byzantine attempts to flood the Egyptian countryside with Orthodox missionaries kept various local magistrates very busy, rounding up and executing the infidel scum.
Despite all of this, life did continue with some degree of normality with
Komla, Lord of Kumi-Saleh
Diplomacy No effect.
A curious lull fell over the fighting in
Ta’ziyah Surinama, King of Nupe and Oyo
Diplomacy Gurma (fa), Kanuri (nt)
Ta’ziyah took advantage of the lull to do some diplomacy among his neighbors and to build a port, Wawa, in Oyo. A small Ghanan force was caught mucking about in Hausa and destroyed.
Akroke, King of
Diplomacy Niete (fa)
Akroke thanked his various gods that no one decided to attack him and set about ruling his kingdom. A new port, Kebbi, was built in Gagnoa and a postal road route was built between
Susiseko II, King of Kanem and
Diplomacy No effect.
Having been smacked around twice in ten years, Susiseko decided he would be better served engaging in more pacific pursuits, so he retired to Daza to rule his land.
Ugo Wambolea, King of Bakongo
Diplomacy None
Knowing when to cut his losses, Ugo pulled his troops back to Kongo and made peace with the Togoans. On the domestic front, both
Asserate III, Chief of the Nyasa
Diplomacy Chilwa (f)
A new port, Nampula, was built in Makura.
Ntombhela, King of Rozwi, Lord of
Diplomacy None
Xai-xai and
M’tesa II, King of
Diplomacy None
No orders.
CONCERNING SMALLPOX [PLEASE READ]:
Hello,
There is a chance that contact between the New World and
1) The Good News is that just because some intermittent and slight contact may occur, it does not automatically mean that smallpox will show up.
2) The Bad News is that when (not if, when) Smallpox does arrive, it will be very, very, BAD!
3) Did I mention it will be bad? No? Well, it’ll REALLY SUCK!
4) No (and I mean no) aspect of your country will be unaffected. The best way to deal with it is to just accept it and start rebuilding once it’s passed.
5) Orders written for the turn a nation is struck with Smallpox will not be processed, as everyone will be too busy dying and/or suffering horribly to do anything remotely constructive. On the (very, very faint, practically nonexistent) bright side. There will be no charge for the turn for a country hit by pox.
6) If, after (or before, even) the destruction, you decide you do not wish to continue playing, I will refund your balance.
Just trying to warn people about what may happen.
The Ref.
Grey Owl, Chief of the Tlingit, Lord of the Far North.
Diplomacy None
The
Dark Coyote, Ruler of
Diplomacy None
Miwok expansion and colonization of the northeast continued. Tucannon and Nez Perce were settled to a (2/4) each; Lemhi to a (1/1) and Shoshone to a (-/5). The Yokuts have now reached the Continental Divide. In addition, the cities of
Motega, Chief of the Anasazi, Lord of the
Diplomacy None
The Anasazi continue to be busy to both the north and south. Both Ute and Unita were colonized (to (1/2) and (1/5) respectively) and both regions were cultivated. To the south, the Baja cities of Navolato, Guaymas and Eagle’s Bluff continue to grow (to sizes 10, 10, and 5 respectively); while at sea, Admiral Jacy managed to map the
Patamon, The Great Beaver of the Snake
Diplomacy None
No orders.
Diplomacy None
The
Eagle’s Feather, Chief of the Yamasee
Diplomacy None
Chatot was colonized to a (1/3) region and the foundations for a new port, Okaloosa, were laid in the region as well. On a sad note, Eagle Feather’s son, Croaking Bullfrog, vanished whilst attempting to explore the North Sargasso Current, proving that those who go looking for trouble usually find it.
Huytahata, Grand Hegemon of the Maya
Diplomacy None
Alzure died and was succeeded by his son Huytahata, who was enthroned in a lavish ceremony with much blood and sacrifice. The jungles of Lenca were re-cultivated but the jungles reclaimed Chontal. Further north, the road links into the
Tamox, Lord of the
Diplomacy None
Arawak navigators were a-sea again, this time probing into
Rama, King of the Chibchan
Diplomacy None.
Rama decided to ditch his Spanish name, which was good because the Spanish haven’t arrived. He then renamed his Kingdom and dispatched an emissary to far off Texcoco to acquire samples of the finest Toltec poetry. The messenger then returned to
Panib III, King of
Diplomacy None
Panib, displaying an intense LORDS squeeb-like desire to have as much money as possible (and virtually guaranteeing that the Ref will blow his country apart out of sheer spite), decided to send colonists into the fetid jungles to the northwest to settled the god-forsaken wilderness there. The initial wave of settlers from
Cochari, Emperor of the Incas
Diplomacy None
Sat quietly and built lots and lots of public works. Work also began (at glacial pace) of a road between Choco and the malarial infested swamps of Cuna.
Amaru II, Lord of the South
Diplomacy None
Work continued on the Caranga – Guanacane road.
Ake, King of Shokleng
Diplomacy None
Urcon passed on and was succeeded by his son, Ake, who immediately exhibited the same squeeb-like must-get-in-touch-with-the-Incans-at-all-costs disease that had afflicted his northern neighbor. To the southwest, Charrua was colonized to a (2/4), Minuane to a (1/8) and Abipon to a (-/3). Minuane was also cultivated.
Malachite, Emperor of the Mapuche
Diplomacy None
Emperor Mochan died at the beginning of 1166 before he had a chance to do anything. His son quickly picked up the reins. Settlement continued in the northeast with Errandi being settled to a (-/3) and a fortified landing area being built near the mouth of the River Plate. A royal road was built from Millcayac south to Puelche and work on a second link was begun in Chechete, eventually to run through Errandi.