Lords of the Earth 

CAMPAIGN TWENTY-FOUR

Turn 60 – The Fall of Aragon

1296 ~ 1300 Anno Domini
658 ~ 662 in the year of the Hegira

New for T59

Paths to victory: There are several options open to a player when an NPN has been defeated

 

  1. Take the victory conditions (see NPN rules) available for NPNs and allow the NPN to go its own way. This is a useful option if you do not want to increase your imperial size or bother with the NPNs internal affairs.
  2. Keep it as either Pacified or Pacified Tributary. You will not get victory conditions but will get income from the NPNs Homeland/Friendly regions and cities. Also, as the years from conquest marker goes up it may turn Friendly or Tributary. Using this option treats the NPN as a super-region.
  3. Old school, you will have to take the regions you want and conquer each in turn. If the capital is taken then some of the NPNs ratings will be added to yours if higher. The NPN will cease to exist.

 

Dealing with hordes: Hordes can be dealt with a number of ways rather than just an outright battle. These are

 

  1. Threaten them. Hordes respond to a show of strength and may leave you alone if confronted with enough force.
  2. Bribe them. They are looking for gold and lands to settle or pillage so if you offer them it on a plate they may well go away. They may also just take it and attack anyway.
  3. Use diplomacy. It does work and I suggest chucking in a royal princess or two.

 

You can also use a combination of the above. If the horde becomes a FA or A, you can direct its attacks or its path of migration.

New for T57

Non-player rules update: I’ve updated the NPN rules to fit better with the Lord’s system. Please check them out.

New for T56

New movement and action rules: I know that they didn’t meet with overall approval last time around but I will be implementing the proposed movement/action rules for T57 (see here). Any current player that takes them up will be given a 2 turn bonus to their credits but they can continue to use the current method for the time being. All new players will have to use them. I’d rather stick to the standard rules but there is no way Lords is sustainable as a long-term game (and I want 24 to be long-term) unless there is some simplification for the GM.

The areas that cause me the most processing grief are movement, AP calculation and garrison changes.

New for T53

Restrictions on Royal Marriages: Due to the complications arising from these rules only K, H or P leaders can benefit from a Royal Marriage. Members of the Royal Family that have not come into play are not considered eligible. Also, Primate, Order and Secret Empire positions are not eligible for marriage bonuses. These are meant to be diplomatic arrangements between sovereign states.

New for T52

East – West Split: I’m going to try to split the East and the West parts of the game so that I can process the orders quicker – don’t know if or how it will work yet but lets see if it’ll happen

New for T51

No Orders: If I don’t get any orders in for a position and the player doesn’t answer my emails then I’ll put the position back to a NPN and put aside the players cash (if any) until they pick it or another nation up again.

New for T50

Request Royal Marriage: Used to ask a NPN nation for a bride for one of your Princes or a suitor for one of your little Princesses. Cost is 6AP, Charisma based. The leader doesn’t have to be in the NPNs capital but if he isn’t then he needs to be in your homeland/capital.

New for T49

Naval Reaction and Blockade: Naval Reactions can only occur when there is action in a Sea Zone that the fleet is based at. The fleet has to be based from a port and not the Sea Zone. Also, the Reaction can only occur when your own lands or those of an ally benefiting from a Defensive Pact marriage bonus are attacked. It also applies to any merchant fleets you operate through the Sea Zone in the case of piracy.  Naval Blockade’s only work if your fleet is based in the same Sea Zone as the target port and you spend all (every single one) of your APs in the blockade. The fleet must be based from a port and not a Sea Zone.

New for T48

The use of fleets for Reaction and mitigating the effects of Pirates: My understanding has now changed since we GMs have had some discussion on the list. The use of Reaction has been explained on the Wiki and Patrol is no longer used in the Base Rules.

Reaction

 

Trade Route Escorts

 

  • This is specific to Lords 24. Units can be assigned to a trade route to act as static convoy escort using the G type leader. Note this is not as good as patrol as the warships assigned will only reduce the effects of piracy, not capture or destroy the pirates themselves.

 

Updated NPN and Primacy rules: Yep, been tinkering again but I feel a almost serene sense of satisfaction with my latest offering. See what you think.

 

Added the ability to hire mercenary captain when there is no mercenary company available: See the mercenary tables

New for T47

Improved cultivation at TL5: If a nation has reached the dizzy heights of TL5 than it can benefit from improved cultivation. You can Improve a cultivated homeland region from 2GPv to 3GPv, or any other controlled cultivated region from 1GPv to 2GPv. This is a level one megalithic construction.

New for T46

NPNS: I’ve tweaked the NPN and Primacy/Order rules a little to make them fit better with the 24 game. I’ve also reduced their overall RRV to make diplomacy easier.

Second Positions in the East: As I’ve not got a lot of players in the East, I would be willing to allow a second position from existing players. Let me know if you’re interested.

New for T45

New Rivers: I’ve added in some new possible rivers onto the map. These are rivers that were once passable by light traffic (remember Cogs cannot travel on rivers) and have now become silted up. You can dredge a stretch of the river (along one region border edge) as a 0.5 level project.

Gripes:

Agro as conversion – this has restrictions (see 2.11.5.3) which I will be enforcing from now on.

Rivers can only support light ships – as far as I know Cogs cannot travel on rivers. This also includes Cogs built for trade.

New Primates: We have two new Primate positions this turn. Jumal Skyfather, which is an Estonian god and the Coptic Church based out of Axum.

New for T44

Minor islands and City States: I’ll be allowing minor islands (Corfu, Jerba, Wight etc) and city states to be used as locations from T44. Just let me know the rationale behind why you want it separate and if reasonable I’ll add it in. Once they are created as locations, they obey all the rules of islands etc. However, their Gpv cannot go above 0.

Flooding: The last few turns have seen a massive increase in the amount of flooding that has occurred. It appears that the years are getting warmer and wetter. As a result of this some of the minor rivers on the map are once again becoming passable to river traffic.

Denmark: Following on from the Minor Islands stuff, you can see that Denmark is now separated out to Jutland and Syaland (Zeeland).

Announcements and items of note

General Stuff: Please use my Paypal account (stephenbrunt@yahoo.co.uk) for all Lords’ 24 payments. If you cannot use this facility then please let me know and I will see what I can do about filtering US funds to my account. I may also stop using the throneworld email address due to the mass of spam I’m getting!

 

Order Form: Please use the standard excel order form from now on. I’ll update the site with a link to it next week when I get some time. This is important as it helps me process the turn more quickly. THIS IS NOW MANDATORY.

 

Non-Payment: some of you still owe me some cash. Although it may come as surprise that this is not my main source of income, I see it only polite that you pay for the occasionally night out. So, if you’re under zero next turn I’ll not process you orders.

 

Version 6: Lords 24 uses version 6 of the basic rules

 

The Map: The map now includes India as well as Europe, Central Asia and Africa. I’ve greyed out repeated areas on the maps to make my life easier. However, this means some player nations are split across more than one map. I may increase the size of the main map but I’ll have to think on this.

 

Tithes and Tribute: I think these are automatically updated by the stats program, so no need to declare them in your orders.

Control of the Papacy and Religious Orders: In Lords 24 we will not always have a player Pope (or Caliph etc for that matter) and the following rules are used to determine which player faction controls the Pope’s actions, Papacy Rules. I’ve also added some stuff about gaining support from their armies

How to make your GM happy (PLEASE READ! REALLY!):

Please send any and all Lords24 correspondence to lords24gm@ymail.com or stephenbrunt@yahoo.co.uk .

LORDS 24 WEB RESOURCES 

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All of the on-line resources, including order forms, mailing lists and web-sites for Lords of the Earth are summarized on this page: 
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You can subscribe to the Lords 24 mailing list by pointing your web-browser at: 
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…and following the instructions on that page.

VARIOUS FEES AND LEVIES 

At the moment the turns cost $5 – please pay up of you owe

We are using the latest v6.3.5 of the basic rule book that can be found here

http://lords.throneworld.com/players/loterule/rules.html

 

The West

Without further ado, the news for these years in Lords 24 history...

Eastern Europe

The Varangian Rus of Kiev

(Orthodox Civilized Open Empire)
Peter, King of the Rus

Peter III was designated as the heir to the Rus Kingdom and more grain was shipped to the islands of Orkney in exchange for gold. King Peter himself was content to rule the kingdom while Prince Josef and the remaining generals saw to its defence.

 

 

The Grand Duchy of Poland

(Roman Catholic Civilised Open Empire)
Ziemowit Poznan III, Grand Duke of Poland

The old postal road down from Poland to Lithuania was upgraded to allow more traffic from the east. Ziemowit Poznan transferred command of two thousand men to the Count of Warsaw before ruling his lands from Poland. Prince Mieszko continued the diplomacy of Lithuania, successfully bringing the valuable province into the Polish control. Prince Plast was successful in training and upgrading some troops in Silesia before getting an alliance from the Pomeranians.

The Kingdom of Hungary

(Eastern Orthodox Civilised Open Empire)
Vajk Hunyadi, King of Hungary

King Vajk ruled from Budapest while Prince Janos was dispatched to find the Uighur army in Serbia. The Prince was quickly successful and the remnants of the once mighty Uighur army destroyed. Further misery was inflicted on the Uighurs as Macedon was once again raided.

 

Scandia and the Out Isles

Jarldom of Orkeneyjar

(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Jotun Nicolson, Jarl of Orkney

Fifty light warships were built in the shipyards of Kirkval along with nearly double that number of merchantmen. The walls of Oslo, Caithness and Perth were expanded and improved. Support was sent to the Rus and England to improve Orkney’s allies siege capabilities Houses were built for Le Marteau de Dieu in Norway and Hordaland as the Order spread northwards through the good grace of Kirkval. Jotun Nicholson set sail for Norway were the old Norwegian army was pulled into his command. He then set sail south to the French port of La Rochelle with Prince Bragi, Garm, Feric, Brother Francois and the cream of the northerner’s army. Jotun’s wife Frigga and the Princess Inga had spent the first few months of 1296 hiring cavalry support for the army from the sellswords in Kirkval. They then spent the remaining years in discussions with the Hammer brothers requesting some gold in recompense for the years of support Kirkval had given the order. Hildegard and Tordal travelled to Agder to smooth relations with the local Jarl where they were assisted by Lothar of Norway. The able Feric was given overall command of the Orkney army of 15000 foot, some two thousand sellsword cavalry and a large number of engineers. Crossing the border into Gascony, the northerners met only slight resistance from a few scattered Aragonese outposts. The region fell quickly and Feric moved his men onto Astuiras and Old Castille. These two Aragonese regions fell with hardly a blow and the cities of Santander and Burgos simply opened their gates to the invaders.

Saxon Kingdom of England

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Harry I, King of England

Sussex was protected with a series of small forts along the Channel coast. The entente with England’s northern neighbours continued as assistance from Orkneyjar siege engineers was given. The old roman road down from Wessex to Land’s End was repaved and much improved. King Harry ruled from London, dispatching missionaries to the convert the stubborn Welsh without much success. Lord Alex saw Berwick re-ally itself with the kingdom.

 

Western Europe

Heiliges Romisches Reich

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Leopold, Holy Roman Emperor.

Over one hundred large cogs were commissioned in Cannes and the cities walls were also improved. Gold and grain was sent to Malta and Hungary to support Germany’s allies. The Emperor Leopold rules from Saxony while Prince Raimond and Duke Gunnard aus Holland as well as Dukr Albert aus Holstein adied the martial Bishop Adriano Viccenzo in the attack on Valencia. Duke Albert has previously transferred command of his five thousand horse to the Duke Arnaulf aus Bavaria to aid in the defence of the realm. The German invasion army was augmented by over six thousand heavy horse from Bavaria. Leaving Cannes with his army, Bishop Viccenzo attempted to beach at the small inlet of Orpesa on the Valencian coast in 1297. The Spanish were not expecting any attack but put up some resistance before one of the Spanish leaders was killed and they fled before the German landing to Castellon. Leaving Holstein with the fleet, the Bishop marched quickly to Castellon which was easily overrun, Ramon fleeing before the German advance. Most of the Aragonese royal family along with Queen Ravendra were captured except for Pedro’s children who were nowhere to be found. King Pedro was also captured whilst praying for deliverance from the fierce German advance. News has already reached him of further losses to the north and his despair saw him unable to act.

Norman Kingdom of France

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Jean, King of France

Over three thousand heavy horse were raised in Paris along with eight thousand mounted men at arms. A considerable number of siege engineers were raised to support the cavalry. While King Jean spent these years ruling his kingdom and trying to instruct Prince Charles on the art of statecraft, he sent his generals south to Spain. Oliver had command of the French army of 20000 cavalry and about half that of infantry from his base in Aquitaine. His forces attacked over the Pyrenees and into Navarre where the lack of Aragonese defence saw the province quickly taken. Saragossa put up some resistance but the sheer weight of French numbers saw the city taken s the Frenchmen stormed the walls.  Aragon was also without defence and Oliver took the region for King Jean ad garrisoned it with some of his men. The Bishop Alberic and Laurent gained tribute from Hainault.

The Papal States

(Roman Catholic Civilised Religious Order)
Pope Alexander II, God’s Voice on Earth

As a sign of the new reconciliation between Rome and Paris, the Pope ordered that clerics from the Vatican be sent to support the Great Order of St Denis. A Bishop was also dispatched to far Kirkval in the Orkneys. Many churches and other edifices were raised during these years, In Ponthieu, Languedoc, Meissen and Sicily churches were built while Cardinal Vittori built an Abbey in Navarre and the Cardinal Pole an Abbey in Alsace before travelling onto Meissen. Monasteries were to be built in Stuttgart and Paris but failed to be completed.

The Akramid Caliphate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Tiroman, Caliph of the Akramids

Leon benefited from great investment while Salamanca and Estremadura were greatly improved with new irrigation canals. A port was constructed in the small town of Algeciras in Andalusia to cater for the heavier Dhows that could not traverse the river. Some success was made in converting the people of Sicily but this was offset by Christian missionaries also working on the island. Tiroman was prepared for any incursion into his lands but was killed while hunting in 1300 Prince Sameer was to take control of the Sultanate after his efforts to sway the Adjou fully to the Akramid cause with the promise of gold and the marriage to three girls of royal Adjou blood; he was supported by the Imam Astroman, Tallahd and Arriman.

The Order of St Denis

(Roman Catholic Civilised Religious Order)
Aric the Bold, Grandmaster of the Order of St Denis, Scourge of Islam

Some two thousand light scouts as well as nearly that number in peasant reserves were raised in the Ile De France. Aric the Bold took command of the newly raised rabble and took it down to Catalonia, Most of the troops were transferred to the command of Brother Balthazar. Lyonic took command of the Order’s fleet of over two hundred ships and after patrolling the shores of Santa Maria, moved to blockade the Aragonese port of Castellon. Lyonic pulled back his forces when the German commander of the city let him know that it had already fallen to his forces. Balthazar led his men south into Valencia in 1298 only to find that the German’s had already taken the province in previous years. Old Ramone continued his quest throughout Thrace, attempting to atone for his cowardice during the First Crusade.

The Kingdom of Aragon

(Roman Catholic Civilised Open Empire)
Pedro III , King of Aragon and Castile

Before his demise at the hands of his Christian neighbours, Pedro had started to upgrade the road from Aragon to Old Castille. With his nation split apart and Pedro himself captured y the Germans, there seems no future for the Iberian kingdom.

 

The Knights of Malta

(Roman Catholic Civilised Religious Order)

 

Malta builds an Oratory in Naples before scourging the Uighur coast. Attica, Thessaly, Macedon, Thrace and Epirus were raided by the Knights.

 

The Middle East and Africa

The Buwayid Sultanate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Zarife II, Sultan of the Buwayids

Quiet times in the Middle East

 

The Empire of Egypt

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Mahmud, Sultan of Egypt

Quiet times in Egypt

 

The Al’Bahri

(Sunni Islam Civilized Religious Order)
Umar, First Sea Lord of Carsk

The Sea Lords remained at their estates in Carsk.

Ar Rassid Imamat as Sa'Na    

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Sheik Umar

The much needed cultivation of Hadramuht was completed while Sheik Umar celebrated the conquest of Socotra and Berbera. His celebrations were short-lived as he fell foul of a fever and died in 1297. Prince Khalid was also to die in the same year of the same disease. Luckily, Prince Saddam was returning to Aden and quickly took control of the Sheikdom. Abdel Malik was tasked with augmenting the garrison of Berbera before returning to Sa’Na. The Imam Zahir travelled to Kilwa Kivenge in Kilwa where he was seen preaching to the poor of the city.

 

Usama-Yoruba Onium of Ibo

(African Pagan Civilised Open Empire)
Mahabharata, King of the Ibo

Much gold was spent in improving the cities of the rich African nation. Iyha died of a fever in YR1 and failed to gain any more support from Goroul. Ilbayi himself was to travel to Songhai.

 

The Mwene-Mutapa Empire

(African Unkulkulun Civilised Open Empire)
Nyambo II, Emperor of Mapungubwe

Quiet times in south Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The East

Without further ado, the news for these years in Lords 24 history...

 

India

Pratihara Kingdom of Kaunaj

(Hindu Civilised Open Empire)
Mohandas, Raja of Kaunaj

Uttar Pradesh was colonised further and the great cities of Kaunaj, Kalanjara, Setikama and Calcutta expanded in size. The Tripurian region of Kakatiya was left unguarded and the Dharan army allowed to occupy it. Jhijhoti was then ceded to Kaunaj as payment for this act. The Raja Rajiv died of a fever in 1296 but his heir Mohandas quickly took control of the Kingdom, preventing any chance of revolt or dissention. Prince Ram continued to smooth over relations with the Tripurians, assisted by Gurdip and Rajiv. The deaths of the Rajas of Jaunpur and Nadavaria saw Jaunpur reduce its allegiance to supplying troops alone.

The Western Dhara

(Hindu Civilised Open Empire)
Pajama III, King of the Dhara

The Dharan army in Satava was augmented with over five thousand warriors. In a deal that benefited both the Dhara and their eastern neighbours in Rajput, the lands of Jihjhoti were ceded to Kaunaj in turn for a free hand in Kakatiya. Wapali led the Dharan army into Kakatiya to take the last remaining possession of the defeated Tripuri. He was later joined by Edguesso who had collected the newly raised troops from Satava. Cultivation was completed in Belur and Sangas whilst Pandya reverted to Ceylonese control.

The Palas of Bengal

(Hindu Civilised NPN Empire, Friendly to Kaunaj)
Sanjiv, Palas of Bengal

Sikkim was colonised with good honest Hindus and the great city of Bihar expanded. The northern territories of Gtsang, Sikkim and Bhutan saw great efforts to clear the high pastures and improve the terraced rice paddies. Missionaries in Gtsang continued to secure the Hindu presence in the region. While Pala Sanjay ruled from Gaur, the Prince Gyan sought to improve relations with Maghada. Bindu was tasked with spreading Dagger sites throughout these contested northern territories but died early in 1298 from a fever before he could accomplish much. Geeta moved the Bengal army from Gtsang to take control of Tz’Uk’An. He survived several attempts by Tibetan assassins to easily take the region and declare it a tributary of the Bengal. His sudden death in 1297 meant that his mission in the far northeast came to nothing. Angered by yet more incursions into their dominions, the Wheel priests again called for a holy war against the Hindus.

South East Asia and the Islands

Kambujadesa

(Hindu Civilised Open Empire)
Vireakboth II, Emperor of the Khmer

The Snake dies of old age and his son takes control of the empire. These years also saw the death of Rithisak Jau and Heng Huynh.

The Kingdom of Thaton

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Achara, King of the Thaton

Several cities were built throughout the realm and the old sewerage drains in Mandalay replaced to rid the city of the perpetual stink in summer. Roads were started to link the few remaining isolated cities. Burut Prem continued his efforts to sway the Nanchao to the Thatonese cause but had little effect on the kingdom. King Achara ruled from Thaton and after taking a new wife was blessed with a young son. The remaining nobility of the realm looked toward sits defence in case of any Hindu aggression; although peace had seemed to be secured with Bengal and Kaunaj after many years of fighting.

 

The Dai Kingdom of Annam

(Buddhist Seafaring Open Empire)
Bhadravarman, King of Annam

Kwangtung benefited from newly dug irrigation ditches and channels. The old sea route to Kambujadesa was converted to use the safer and more reliable royal road between the two nations. Bhadravarman ruled from Annam after dabbling in the affairs of Tonkin. Despite his best efforts before his death in 1297, Chen Hu was not able to gain closer ties with Nan Chao. Mnomo of Nam Pung and Li Feng were also involved in negotiations with the Nan Chao.

The God Empire of Sri Vijaya

(Buddhist Seafaring Open Empire)
The God Emperor

The cities of Palau Buring and Sirivjaya grew in size and fresh colonists were shipped to the island of Belitung by Jayanasa and the Sirivjaya fleet. There was some success by the Emperor’s priests in converting the laity of Flores. Rakai Pikatan was active in Kediri, trying to gain the support of the populace there.

Manchu’ko and Nihon

The Minamoto Shogunate

(Shinto Civilised Open Empire)
Daiei Yasumori, Shogun of the East

The city of Shimonoseki grew in size as did Edo, Harima and Kanazawa. Despite the best efforts of the Shinto priests, the Shogunate was unable to persuade the populations of Aomori, Shikoku and Shimane to give up the Buddhist faith. Reiji was tasked with taking Saga by crossing the Tsushima strait but was haled back by Taira supporters guarding the ferry crossing.

The Goryeo Kingdom

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Wang Insu, King of Goryeo

Nearly two thousand elite guard were raised in Kai Ching for the king. The rod from Anshan to Parhae was greatly improved to make access to the interior easier. Naiman was converted by Goryeon priests to Buddhism. Assassins from the kingdom were successful in wounding the Mongol leader as the horde readied itself for war. Elsewhere progress was made in gaining the support of the conquered regions of Hsuing Nu, Sikhote and Jilin.

 

The Land under Heaven

The Kingdom of Koueichou

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Dai Ling, Queen of Koueichou

Dai Ling continued to rebuild her army after the disastrous attack on the Chian’Ling; two thousand cavalry were raised in Szechwan along with a large contingent of engineers. One thousand cavalry were also raised for the Ro Peng of Kwa-Dei but the death of this lord in 1297 meant that the new lord of the city reneged on the old alliance. Dai Shang spent many months with Tibetan priests but failed to gain any more influence in the Buddhist primacy; one consolation was a young son born to him in 1296..

The Empire of the Western Song

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Zhi Zhen, Emperor of the Western Song

Ordos was fortified and eight thousand cavalry raised in Chang’An. The walls of T’ao-Chou and Huang Ho were greatly improved. Song assassins managed to grievously wound the Mongol Khan and it was this action that most probably prevented any incursions by the nomads into Song lands. The efforts of Yu Zhang in Ta’Tung saw the city pledge tribute to the empire. It was a great relief to the emperor that the Mongols remained quiet as his main general, Cao Yan, was thrown from his horse and killed in 1298.

The Kingdom of Chiangning

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Song Tao, King of Chiangning

The death of Song Tao saw the kingdom fall into disarray.

 

Other news from the East

The Kingdom of Yenching gain the support of Kaifeng as an alliance is forged between the two nations. The Buryats gain the support of the Tzin-Kiang Zao while the Tzin force allegiance from the Memars.  The Mongols were quiet despite their threats from previous years.