Show me your orders/battle plans!

I won't bother adding maps or bolding things. Also some of the orders are not on this PC.

Spoiler Sitivasas 730-735 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Jagannagth
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influences; some Turkic/unassimilated Huna populations to the northwest; Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Yahweist and Buddhist communities; quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant.
Technology: Age of Exploration.
Army: 50 regiments
Army Description: Well-organised well-trained modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 58 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with professional crews; somewhat neglected of late.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Static (4/2/2)
Area (Points Required): 7
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 8
Military Cap: 50
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects:
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighbouring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.

Foreign Policy:

1.) Threaten the enemies of Prasanna into peace by saying we will ally with Prasanna.
2.) Sign Pact of Trade and Non Aggression with Tibetan Empire.

Economic Policy: [8 EP + 8 Banked EP = 16 EP]

1.) Start New Project (16>15) 1 EP: Shakthi (+1 Base, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) for details see Domestic policy.
2.) Colonial Expenses (15>11) 4 EP: To found 4 new colonies as shown on the map.
3.) Increase Military Cap (11>7) 4 EP (Cap 50>70)
4.) General Military Logistics (7>5) 2 EP
5.) Build 50 Ships (5>0) 5 EP (58>108 Ships)



Espionage Policy:

1.) We must work on stopping all rebellion activity in the border and interior regions. Mainly those with intent to over throw the government. Those like Zubhrabhanu and so forth. They are a threat to security in the region and a threat to our mighty High Kingdom.
2.) Efforts of outside espionage and corruption in out lands, from either Akkad or Indian states. Must be looked into. I will supply funding for this next turn.

Domestic Policy:

1.) The Project: With the economy is a static state we must work to stimulate it. Fast. With our spread of trade via colonialism I think this combined with reform of the current bureaucracy, mainly those handling the interior production and taxation. Will give us a nice, quick, boost in economic power. Which hopefully we can add to with the resources and exotic goods coming from the colonies.
2.) Begin a wide spread search for merchants and settlers to go on the colonizing trail. I want some merchants who can help setup the local export from the colonies and settlers to work the fields and mines for these resources. Slowly and secretly recruit members of minorities that are causing troubles. Families or regions showing troubled pasts and rebellious activities. Or support there of.
3.) With our trade and peace pact with Tibet signed and sealed. We can start pushing merchants to go to the newly conquered Tibetan ports. As well as over land through the lower mountain passes.
4.) With new expansion across the seas I hope to begin seeing more up-to-date designs for larger and stronger ships. This would come naturally to the ship builders wanting to sell ships that can go far enough to turn a profit.


Military Policy:

1.) Military Doctrine:

Land: We have a superiorly organized and trained fighting force. The largest standing army in the known world. We can use this to our advantage and with our modern combat styles and siege warfare we surely have no land match in India. Focus on strong cavalry attacks with a slow but steady and well defended (shields and correct formations to protect from arrows) marches against well fortified positions. Use any siege technology we have if an area is to strongly guarded for a direct assault, or just out of precaution.


2.) Colonies: I have paid for the setup of four colonies across the Indian Ocean. One in Arabia, Two in Indonesia and One in Africa. Send a couple warships with each to insure they arrive safely and setup the colonies as such. These will be manned by local militia for now. I will send some regiments later to help expand if needed. The colonies are ordered to setup a port area, begin searching for local resources. Mainly exotic woods and spices. And even precious metals if present. Setting up trade links with local tribes and nations. And of course returning these goods for profit back in our own country. Hopefully boosting our trade.
3.) On one of the maps I have a series of blue squares. These will be the locations of various organized regiments. For the greater defense of the country. These numbers are to be evened out. Unless one area presents itself a problem and needs more troops. The navy is to patrol the coastal regions and trade lanes. Along with the colonial areas.


Spoiler Sitivasas 735-740 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Jagannagth
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influences; some Turkic/unassimilated Huna populations to the northwest; Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Yahweist and Buddhist communities; quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant.
Technology: Age of Exploration.
Army: 50 regiments
Army Description: Well-organised well-trained modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 58 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with professional crews; somewhat neglected of late.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Static (4/2/2)
Area (Points Required): 7
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 8
Military Cap: 50
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects:
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighbouring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.

Foreign Policy:

1.) Threaten the enemies of Prasanna into peace by saying we will ally with Prasanna.
2.) Sign Pact of Trade and Non Aggression with Tibetan Empire.

Economic Policy: [8 EP + 8 Banked EP = 16 EP]

1.) Start New Project (16>15) 1 EP: Shakthi (+1 Base, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) for details see Domestic policy.
2.) Increase Military Cap (15>11) 4 EP (Cap 50>70)
3.) Raise 20 Regiments (11>7) 4 EP: (50>70 Regiments)
4.) General Military Logistics (7>5) 2 EP
5.) Build 50 Ships (5>0) 5 EP (58>108 Ships)



Espionage Policy:

1.) We must work on stopping all rebellion activity in the border and interior regions. Mainly those with intent to over throw the government. Those like Zubhrabhanu and so forth. They are a threat to security in the region and a threat to our mighty High Kingdom.
2.) Efforts of outside espionage and corruption in our lands, from either Akkad or Indian states. Must be looked into. I will supply funding for this next turn.

Domestic Policy:

1.) The Project: With the economy is a static state we must work to stimulate it. Fast. With our spread of trade via colonialism I think this combined with reform of the current bureaucracy, mainly those handling the interior production and taxation. Will give us a nice, quick, boost in economic power. Which hopefully we can add to with the resources and exotic goods coming from the colonies.
2.) With our trade and peace pact with Tibet signed and sealed. We can start pushing merchants to go to the newly conquered Tibetan ports. As well as over land through the lower mountain passes.
3.) Get a general dislike of the Confederacy and their rebellious ideas. Get the people against them, blame them for the slump in the economy.



Military Policy:

1.) Military Doctrine:

Land: We have a superiorly organized and trained fighting force. The largest standing army in the known world. We can use this to our advantage and with our modern combat styles and siege warfare we surely have no land match in India. Focus on strong cavalry attacks with a slow but steady and well defended (shields and correct formations to protect from arrows) marches against well fortified positions. Use any siege technology we have if an area is to strongly guarded for a direct assault, or just out of precaution. Weak center tactics should be looked into, updated with modern weaponry of course.

Navy: With the recent increase in size of the navy, along with the power ocean worthy ships and experienced crews. We rule the seas. Now I don’t know much about naval strategy besides the simple, find, engage, maneuver plans. So I will let my admirals handle this and I am sure they can do a fine job.

2.) War with Zubhrabhanu Confederacy: First off the reason for war is simple. They ignored my diplomatic demands to cease conflict and their ideology is spreading into my lands. Two things they will regret. First we have a meeting of the Kings with the High King at the lead telling of proof of the rebel activity trying to dismantle the High Kingdom. If this isn’t enough to persuade them (the thought of losing their lands) then go over the diplomatic shunning we received. This should be enough of a motive for war. Plus all that valuable land and rich ports.

We will then begin to raise some levies. Not many, maybe 20-40 regiments of them. To ensure the defeat of the enemy. Lands in this conquered territory will be cheap and the soldiers get first dibs. This should give them reason to join if they otherwise would refuse.

Naval operations will begin earlier. We need to take the strain off of Prasanna we will send 50 Ships to the coast to begin attacks against the Confederacy’s navy. Combined we can defeat them easily. Use our best admirals plans, with back ups from others just in case.

On land I have setup a risky but possibly successful operation with three zones of attack. On the map below you can see the general lay out.

Map:

Forces for this Land Operation [40 Regiments, +Levies]

Overall splitting of these forces depends on the scenario. Levies will be kept shortly behind the lines to be called in the direction needed to reinforce. The three armies should be equal in size if possible on the situation. I think Second and Third armies will get priority on troop reinforcements. The attack is simple and in stages. The first army will attack first, a few days or even a week later the second army will begin its push. Then again for the third. This is planned so they begin moving troops to combat us while the other armies are behind them if possible.

Once the first push has been made into the border the generals have the freedom of command but overall goal of getting to the capital. Do not cross that river (not sure of the name) because we don’t need that much of a logistical strain on our men. In our borders their will be a guard force waiting for signs of rebel activity to quickly put it down.

If this operation succeeds and we make it to the section where the armies can meet up in a long section around the capital region. Continue with a siege till they break. No pointless assaults. Just siege them while cleaning up activity behind our armies. I give the generals relative freedom in this besides my guidelines. Leaders don’t command battles, soldiers do.

Defense Forces [30 Regiments, 58 Ships]

These defense forces are spread across our most populous and richest cities but with outposts on the borders for possible invasions. Call off the invasion of the Confederacy if we are invaded. Other then that routine policing if needed but not necessary.


Spoiler 740-745 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Jagannagth/Luckymoose
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influences; some Turkic/unassimilated Huna populations to the northwest (with growing Akkadian/Agade Dag influences); Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Agade Dag, Yahweist and Buddhist communities; quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant.
Technology: Age of Exploration.
Army: 57 regiments
Army Description: Well-organised well-trained modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 105 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with uneven crews; somewhat neglected of late.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Static (4/2/2)
Area (Points Required): 7
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 8
Military Cap: 70
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects: Shakthi (+1 Base Economy, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) (1/7)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighboring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.


Economic Policy [4 + 2 + 2 = 8 EP]

1.) Military Logistics (8>7) 1 EP
2.) Raise 10 Regiments (7>5) 2 EP (57>67 Regiments)
3.) Build 30 Ships (5>2) 3 EP (105>135 Ships)
4.) Speed up Project by 2 turns (2>0) 2 EP (1/7>3/7)


Espionage Policy:

1.) Keep a close eye on the north western regions of the Kingdom. As well as general anti resistance movement stuff in the newly occupied lands.


Domestic Policy:

1.) With control over the northern ports of the former Confederacy in our hands. Start selling lands to merchants and getting some serious benefit from the ports and lands surrounding them. Much like the rest of the Empire/Kingdom get lesser princes and such to govern small regions within these lands. Immediately setup government bodies like the rest of our provinces or regions. Put the task of keeping these conquered people in control into the hands of these princes/lesser kings.
2.) Begin spreading our influence into the ports of Girnari. Massive movements of our goods and influx of merchants. Overwhelm their market if at all possible.
3.) Encourage merchants to travel farther. To Tibetan ports and on to Jomon. Offer grants to them so that we can get some of the exotic goods to boost our market.


Military:

1.) Use our doctrine and military generals skills to finish off the Confederacy north of the River. Do not cross it. Use 40 regiments and have back up regiments consolidating the areas we already control.
2.) Navy is to send a large fleet to assist in the hunting and capture/destruction of the remaining Confederacy fleets along the coast. I’m guessing 50 Ships should do.

Map:


RUSHED: Because you decided to call the deadline on me before I got the chance to finish them.


Spoiler 745-750 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Jagannagth/Luckymoose
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influences; some Turkic/unassimilated Huna populations to the northwest (with growing Akkadian/Agade Dag influences); Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Agade Dag, Yahweist and Buddhist communities; quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant.
Technology: Age of Exploration.
Army: 51 regiments
Army Description: Well-organised well-trained modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 139 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with uneven crews; somewhat neglected of late.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Static (4/2/2)
Area (Points Required): 7
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 8
Military Cap: 70
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects: Shakthi (+1 Base Economy, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) (4/7)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighbouring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.



Economic Policy [4 + 2 + 2 = 8]

1.) Army Logistics (8>7) 1 EP
2.) Build 25 Regiments (7>2) 4 EP (51>76)
3.) Build Hundreds of Castles and Fortresses in the Homeland (2>1) 1 EP
4.) Navy Logistics (1>0) 1 EP


Foreign Policy:

1.) On the map of my military plans is also the suggested treaty borders with Prasanna. They should accept as NPC or PC as it is a fair deal. This also made us Defensive Allies.



Espionage Policy:

1.) Agade Dag rebels pose a huge threat to security in our Kingdom. It has been known for a while now that the problem areas in the north west are indeed from this population. ‘Discover’ proof of Akkad money behind the rebel activity and spread the knowledge to the Kings. Assuming a large portion of our kingdom hates the Agade Dag religion and its followers much like Buddhism. This should go as planned. Give us a casus belli.


Domestic Policy:

1.) In the recently conquered lands of the Confederacy we have a good deal of troops maintaining the peace. We also have a good deal of merchants and other land owners flooding in to claim the lands. Now I know this will cause problems so we need to limit it and get the former Confederacy population on our side. Use some of our engineer corps to rebuild the region. Still flood the area with our goods and coins to help them understand the situation.
2.) Once consolidated we should get a slight population or economic boost. Not expecting much but one of them should come into play. They did have a decent population.
3.) The old High King dies and is replaced (whatever the succession laws are here) by his successor (you pick the name) who is younger. Though he is younger he fought in the war against the Confederacy and was trained by many tutors in many fields during his youth. Being wealthy and all that. So he should be just as or even more competent than his predecessor.


Military Doctrine: Similar as before. We have the advantage in nearly all fields to our enemies. Use commander knowledge from the previous war and just dominate the field.

Military Policy:

Armed Forces: 76 Regiments, 139 ships.

Operations will be named after the colors on the map. Red, Green, Yellow and Orange.


Operation Green: [100 Ships]

This is the initial naval advance of the war. 100 of our finest ships will set sail for the coast of Akkad and Magan and begin to hunt and sink Magan and Akkad merchant ships and military ships. Spread through the area in multiple task forces of dozens of ships each. This will give us a fine comb effect on the open sea before we move farther west. Once we secure the seas around the Magan coasts this operation will split up. 70 ships go into the Persian Gulf and 30 stay to maintain the seas near Magan.

Operation Yellow: [70 ships]

This is a series of naval task forces doing coastal and merchant raids. Sinking any Akkad ships we come into contact with. Try to gang up on the ships and crush them with superior numbers and force. The yellow overlay on the land is where we will try coastal raids to set fire to cities and docks. Send in men with smaller boats and torch places.

Operation Red: [28 Regiments]

This operation is tricky. For one the terrain is horrible. But other than that we have the advantage of knowing they have limited troops in the area and population. This operation is just a series of pushes into the Akkad lands to capture remote cities and hold our position and setup supply lines. Nothing more nothing less. I don’t expect the initial military conflicts to be anymore than local regiments combating us on a small scale.

Operation Orange: [20 Regiments]

This operation is key to being able to launch more attacks against the Akkad core ports and fleets. We must capture Magan. Seeing as by the time this operation begins we should have crushed the fleet of Magan and be holding off any further Akkad naval attacks in the Persian Gulf we should have open landing. 30 ships are our backup. Land with the needed equipment to break the defenses. Whatever we have. Catapults, rams. All that stuff. Break the defenses in one location and once through spread out behind the fortifications and hit all the defending troops from within their own lands and defenses. This should drop them like flies. Capture the Malik if possible and kill him. Hold the country firmly and use the ports (heavily defended by our men to prevent sabotage) to continue our attacks in the Persian Gulf.


Homeland Defense: [28 Regiments, 39 Ships]

I think 28 regiments with our new castle system should be enough. But if not we have levies we can still call up. Our new castles should be near major cities and in the newly conquered areas. On the coast and on borders. Spread out but still close enough to keep the enemy in spots long enough to counterattack. As for the navy defending us. Keep it on the east coast mainly to defend us from pirates and other stuff. The other fleet on the west should be close enough to respond to threats if we send for them.

 
Spoiler 760-765 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Konavrttaijt II/Luckymoose
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influences; some Turkic/unassimilated Huna populations to the northwest (with growing Akkadian/Agade Dag influences); Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Agade Dag, Yahweist and Buddhist communities (the former two being more widespread in the Arabian colony); quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant. Embittered, unintegrated, divided ex-Zubhrabhanu Orissan population to the southeast; largely Zubhrabhanu Paramatmanistic or Buddhist.
Technology: Age of Exploration with innovations in manufacturing and naval technology
Army: 88 regiments
Army Description: Well-organised, but very unevenly-trained and equipped modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 150 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with uneven crews; somewhat neglected of late.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Reviving (6/3/5) (1 banked)
Area (Points Required): 7
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 10
Military Cap: 100
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects: Shakthi (+1 Base Economy, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) (Done!), Of the Huna (+Stability, +Military Training/Leadership Quality, +Naval Tech Progress) (1/6)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighboring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.

Note: I fixed my stats to go with what you never did. I was supposed to have 88 regiments not 78.


Economic Policy: [15 Total]

1.) Speed up Project (15>13) 2 EP: Project (4/6)
2.) Build 50 Ships with new innovations (13>8) 5 EP : (150>200)
3.) Training and Upkeep of Military (8>6) 2 EP
4.) Process of Forming Makapura as a vassal (6>5) 1 EP
5.) Various experiments with Metallurgy and Mechanics (5>1) 4 EP
6.) Bank 1 EP (1>0)


Domestic Policy:

1.) The northwest territories have been pretty unorganized and hectic at periods and could become violent in a few decades if something changed against their liking. This is why the Principality of Makapura will be released as a vassal, as shown on the map, with direct influences from the High King but larger numbers of Agade Dag officials and culture. They will have a limited military, possibly not even organized yet, of no more than 5 regiments except in a time of war. An enclave in the north around the trade center will remain firmly under Sitivasan control for both security and trade reasons. Within the territory I will freely allow the immigration of Agade Dag followers and they will in turn have free passage back into Akkad for migration, pilgrimages or whatever. It would be best to seat the Prince of Makapura as a loyal Agade Dag noble instead of a Paramantamistic one. That way the region feels better about its leadership. All economy will be tied together with the High Kingdom with coins in circulation and trade between the borders staying free to our merchants as they use to be. Our military will also have use of the region for security reasons.
2.) With more and more information spreading between Jomon and India and the innovations continuing to pour in it seems only fitting that we begin to hire and begin funding into the fields of mechanics and metallurgy to see what more we can gain from them. Try to advance our understanding of how metals work together and how to use metal in a way that will lesser the work for say farmers or sailors.
3.) Gather and send a large caravan, with guards, through Akkad and beyond to make various stops at locations we have heard about. (Try to get to the Balkans.) Share our goods and knowledge with the people in hope for a fair trading relationship.
4.) Try importing more variety of crops and fruit bearing trees into India. From all traders. Set a high importance on live plants and seeds. And begin experimenting with growing them in the royal gardens first and then in major farming zones. The goal with this is to gain more variety of foods for the people and possibly find a good crop that grows well and can be turned into a cash cow for the farmers and a good food for the masses.
5.) Begin dissecting more animals, like above get more animals and fish from far off ports and if possible keep them fresh or alive. Bring them back to be studied. We need to learn how organs function and how it may tie in with humans organs and in turn could help in fixing the sick or injured.
6.) Once again tying in with 4 and 5. Begin or continue as I think I mentioned it before. Cataloging known minerals, animals, plants, languages, weapons and engineering things so we can in turn spread this knowledge to Jomon and help better the world like hippies.

Military Policy:

1.) I hope you still have our previous doctrine because we still use it.
2.) As we are training our troops, some of which are coming back from China I want those commanders who saw battles to help with the training as most of the previous war generals are dieing or getting to old to be of use. Practice techniques learned fighting the Chinese and maybe adopt or attempt to adopt Chinese tactics that defeated us a couple times.
3.) With the new ships being built with whatever innovations we have learned and with designs fitting to our neighbors and those we have fought against. I hope to gain some type of boost in my crew performance.
4.) Keep our 88 regiments spread out in major areas with a regiment or so ever few castles or forts and a clusters around important cities and borders. The navy is to stay on the coasts evenly split 100 and 100.


Espionage Policy:

1.) I have all of India thinking I might attack someone so use that against them and spread lies through the markets and cities and so on saying they are lead by incompetent rulers who only wish to drag them to war with the Sitivasans. If anything comes of it, it might be interesting. Mainly in Prasanna as they are at war already and if the people think another front might open they might freak out.



Spoiler 765-770 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Konavrttaijt II/Luckymoose
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influence; Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Agade Dag, Yahweist and Buddhist communities (the former two being more widespread in the Arabian colony); quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant. Embittered, unintegrated, divided ex-Zubhrabhanu Orissan population to the southeast; largely Zubhrabhanu Paramatmanistic or Buddhist.
Technology: Age of Exploration with innovations in metallurgy, manufacturing and naval technology
Army: 80 regiments
Army Description: Well-organised, but very unevenly-trained and equippde modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 200 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with uneven crews; somewhat neglected of late, but there are new Jomonese-style ships as well.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (6/3/5) (2 banked)
Area (Points Required): 6
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 10
Military Cap: 100
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects: Shakthi (+1 Base Economy, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) (Done!), Of the Huna (+Stability, +Military Training/Leadership Quality, +Naval Tech Progress) (4/6)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighbouring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.

Foreign Policy:

1.) Back up the declaration of war against Bahulatva. Reasons; Diplomatic threats, staging alliances against our Kingdom, Warmongering in Nubia for Bahulatva, killing our expedition force earlier..
2.) Continue heavy overland trading with Akkad, according to our early agreements involving Bahulatva.


Economic Policy: 14 + 2 = 16 EP TOTAL

1.) Finish Project (16>15) 1 EP
2.) Hiring Arab Mercenaries (15>13) 2 EP
3.) Building 90 Ships (13>4) 9 EP: (200>290): Mostly smaller, faster ships.
4.) Raising 10 Regiments (4>2) 2 EP: (80>90)
5.) Logistics (2>0) 2 EP



Domestic Policy:

1.) Continue our research into metallurgy and possibly expand into agriculture like the Jomonese. If we are still getting any knowledge from them it will help us out in those fields.
2.) As promised the Akkadian Empire will begin receiving advisors on a large scale, helping with various technologies. Payments should continue but if not send some anyway as a good will gesture.
3.) One of the effects of the project was increased stability. I hope this keeps that competent leader of Makapura in line as well as ease the pressure off the Zubhrabhanu region.


Military Doctrine: For use against Bahulatva and Girnar.


We have overwhelming naval dominance, hunt and destroy them, keep them in port while we ravage their island holdings. Still allow merchant vessels through but have guards at ports to keep them in line. No Trojan horses here. They do have advanced ships and experienced sailors, but our training should be enough to counter balance it. Our ships on the other hand are either outdated or of mixed quality. Try to use Jomonese style ships and tactics where possible, as these are also adopted by Bahulatva. Girnari is another threat on the waters but we still have complete numbers advantage and will use them.

On land, in Arabia firstly, we will use the Arab mercenaries with some of our leaders and soldiers, with engineers to do the handy work. Try to encircle cities or fortifications and break our way in after they are cut off for a while. Even possibly let them starve it out if we can completely cut the cities off. Let the Arabs take whatever they want, rape, pillage, whatever. Back in India our tactics will be similar as always, use some knowledge we gained in China, if any, against some of the fortified areas.

Anything else will be left to the best generals we have.

Military Policy:

Armed Forces:

-90 Regiments
- Arab Mercenaries
- 290 Ships

1.) Stages I-IV: War in Girnari

Reasons: It is common knowledge the Girnari is and always has been a threat and is threatened by the High Kingdom. Bahulatva will try to either use Girnari to launch a massive strike in a centralized area, or use them as a diversion. Neither can be allowed so we will be invading to both occupy the resources and economically rich cities and to strategically have the upper hand.

Allocated Forces:
50 Regiments
150 Ships

Stage I: The 150 ship strong fleet, carrying 15 Regiments, will set sail from our large port and head out to open waters. We will head east and then curve inland to strike the hopefully spread out Ginari navy. Once we have cleared the landing zone of immediate naval threats attempt to make a landing in the least fortified location. Our research shows it to be easier to penetrate than via land. This landing force will bring with it engineers to do some dirty work and make the Ginari army believe we are invading solely by sea.

Stage II: The Ginari invasion fleet will go farther east after the drop off and search for opposing fleets in the area and engage them. Mostly to keep them away from supply ships and secondly to eliminate them. The fleet will then split up into a few task forces and patrol the area Most likely 50 ships each.

Stage III: After the invasion by sea is firmly underway, we will give the Ginari army time to move to defend the capital. Then we strike with a 35 regiment army led by our very best. Equipped with top of the line weapons and siege equipment. The army will be split into a 10 Regiment force hitting the EC to the south east and a 25 regiment army pushing down the river, to the coast and towards the coastal city. Again use our normal tactics and all that, but our best of the best is with these groups. The EC to the south east will be taken and then left to be defended by around half the invasion force while the others go back north to help finish off Girnari.

Stage IV: Back to the coastal landing force. They will then attempt to capture the capital. If this is impossible just go around and take the countryside and link up with the other armies and try again. The goal is to completely defeat the Ginari armies and occupy the land in preparation for heavy fighting.

Stages V-VII: War in Arabia

Allocated Forces:

5 Regiments
Arab Mercenaries


Stage V: I will send 2 regiments, with equipment and decent commanders to meet the Arabs, the payments will be split, half to go and half after the battles. To ensure they don’t double cross us. The second payment will not be carried with us also. These Arabs and my men will meet up in the desert with plenty of supplies and then head into place to strike the different cities by land.

Stage VI: This is the crucial movement into the Bahulatva lands. Send raiding parties in first to disrupt their guards or to draw them out. Followed by heavy attacks and when we reach fortifications, sieges. Try to surround the cities if possible so we can turn them into death traps. As long as we have supplies and they don’t, victory is assured.

Stage VII: 3 regiments from Magan territory will head into the first city state and assist in the occupation of it and to help relieve some of our other troops. Bringing fresh supplies and all that good stuff. If possible move on to the next city and so forth until the whole region is secure.


Stages VIII-IX: Invasion of Socotra

Allocated Forces:

10 Regiments
80 Ships

Stage VIII: The invasion fleet carrying the invasion force will set sail and avoid enemy ships along the way. The goal of this mission is to capture Socotra, which is a very important link between the Indian and Africa city states. If we can cut them off the possibility of trade failing for them and us a bit is higher. But seeing as we have trade with other places it is fine to have a slight drop. Blockade the island and destroy or capture any ships in port there. Land our army.

Stage IX: The army should land and secure the island as fast as possible. Capturing equipment and prisoners. Execute any guerillas we find, publicly. Leave the locals alone and attempt to gain favor with the leader of the island. Offer him some deals about joining our empire. Like increased trade and extra cash in his pocket.

Home Defense:

25 Regiments
60 Ships

Use these forces to defend us. The ships will be stationed mostly in the eastern coastal areas and the troops will have coastal and inland posts. Around the southern borders mainly.


Spoiler 771-775 :
Sitivasas High Kingdom
Capital: Sehmendari
Ruler: High King Konavrttaijt II/Luckymoose
Government: High Kingdom (autonomous Irinate in Nyayana) with some bureaucratic elements
Culture: Avyaktaragan Indic (Indianised Huna and Nyarnan rulers) with some Turkic and Banghan influence; Paramatmanistic (predominantly Essentialist); minor Agade Dag, Yahweist and Buddhist communities (the former two being more widespread in the Arabian colony); quite regionalistic; advanced and recently flourishing, but now increasingly stagnant. Embittered, unintegrated, divided ex-Zubhrabhanu Orissan population to the southeast; largely Zubhrabhanu Paramatmanistic or Buddhist.
Technology: Age of Exploration with innovations in metallurgy, manufacturing and especially naval technology
Army: 65 regiments, 23 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-organised, well-trained, well-led and equipped modern standing army (chiefly heavy infantry and cavalry); also, an elite engineering corps.
Navy: 247 ships
Navy Description: Ocean-worthy large warships with uneven crews; somewhat neglected of late, but there are new Jomonese-style ships as well; also, a large flotilla of smaller, more maneuverable warships.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Strained (5/2/3) (2 banked)
Area (Points Required): 6 (5 controlled)
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 10 (8 controlled)
Military Cap: 90
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Shakthi (+1 Base Economy, +1 Manufacturing, +1 Bureaucracy) (Done!), Of the Huna (+Stability, +Military Training/Leadership Quality, +Naval Tech Progress) (Done!)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Founded by the great king Konavrttaijt in the early 6th century AD, after a series of grand military campaigns that ended in the conquest of all of northern India, the Sitivasas High Kingdom remains one of the key Indic great powers. Though for much of the 7th century AD it had suffered greatly from constant rebellions and border wars, gradually having to retreat from some of its peripheral territories, it had more recently managed to stop the retreat and fight off attacks from several neighbouring empires and may now look to reverse the previous trends.


Foreign Policy:

1.) Makapura should be sending 5 Regiments and 10 Levee Regiments.
2.) Akkad will be, for the price of 5 EP, sending 25 Regiments and 60 Ships.

Economic Policy: 12 Total EP

1.) Pay Akkad for Help (12>7) 5 EP: + 25 Regiments, +60 Ships
2.) Pay Arabs (7>6) 1 EP
3.) Train and Raise 40 Levies (6>5) 1 EP (23>63)
4.) Raise 20 Regiments of mostly heavy cavalry (5>1) 4 EP: (65>85)
5.) Logistics (1>0) 1 EP


Military Doctrine:

As you know I have no ability to make a super long detailed doctrine so once again I will try my best.

The war is seriously stacked, possibly against us, but for sure not an easy game for either side. The armies are to use my fortification system to the fullest. Have our siege equipment on the inside of walls so we can catapult stones at the invading armies and siege equipment of theirs. With aid from Akkad and Makapura, plus my own large Cavalry force, we have a strong advantage in the field of mobility. Use this in a Mongolian terror style. Instead of attacking armies directly just go around and crush smaller groups and supply trains if possible. We can make night time raids into enemy camps in attempts to kill a few thousand in their sleep.

The large levee army will be under the command of some of our best leaders as they fight. Make sure to keep the troops morale high with word of victory elsewhere.

On the sea, we have very little advantage. However, we can use our large numbers, to protect our sea trade with Akkad and keep invasions from cutting behind our lines. Use our smaller ships to run fast attacks during battles, flanking and so forth.

Our forces have the advantage of years of wars to use experience from different campaigns, in Akkad or China for instance. We had to learn some strategy in these location. Pull out all the stops and just have the generals do what they can.


Military Policy:


Armed Forces: 85 Regiments, 63 Levees, 247 Ships (Allies: 25 Regiments, 60 Ships Akkad *commanded by Niklas*, 5 Regiments, 10 Levees Makapura)


Operation Legend: 65 Regiments, 63 Levees, + Allies

This operation is the defense of the homeland. Setting up proper defenses at our fortification sites and having our armies in prime strategic location to react to troops moving. The goal is to keep out armies ready for anything while having room to maneuver. There isn’t much of a command to this besides defense. If we lose a section just fall back and regain defensive superiority at another location. Keep our cavalry at the ready for attacks on infantry columns and the like. (Akkad will be commanding their armies, I assume Makapura will be doing the same.)


Operation Wooden Tiger: 247 Ships, + Akkad Ships

This is the defense of the coast and the maintaining of sea trade between Akkad and Sitivasas. This operation will also be pulling the troops out of the port city in Girnar. Those troops are to burn everything they can as they escape, they will be reassigned to the front lines in the south with the others. We are also to keep a steady stream of supplies going into Magan and the ability to fund the Arabs.


Operation Stonewall: 5 Regiments, Arabs

While the defenses should hold and supplies should be steadily coming in. I hope to get the Arabs to launch an attack on the siege armies. This should disrupt them and maybe allow us to capture victory.


Operation Metal: 20 Cavalry Regiments

This is the key attack, blue on the map. It is not to attack any major cities or armies. Instead we are to attempt a cut around and penetrate into Banghan lands and pursue a terror campaign on the locals. Burning villages and stealing supplies. Doing everything we can to force their armies to return home to defend them. I expect Prasannan armies to be in the defense of them as they may suspect this, but our cavalry can run circles around them. Burn everything for as long as we can and then flee north along the Ganges back into our lands to setup defense and possibly cut across the Ganges and, if the armies of Bangha turn to fight, help from the 38 regiments to the northwest in fighting a decisive battle. The goal is to mess up the Banghan homeland so much it may ruin their economy or cause them to move their troops into a favorable position. This will be the only offensive moves of the war up to this point. But if we can gain victory over Bangha we can force them out of the war.

Other Operations: If we can knock Bangha out (unlikely) we can change our focus and punch a strong offensive against Prasanna in the south/east. And just use our own armies and allies to push back to prewar borders and demand peace. This is an if but if the opportunity arises go for it.

To Das: These orders, admittedly, are horsehockey. I have an excuse. There are terrible tornadoes going through my states and others in the south which have killed 50 people and knocked out power in a lot of locations. My power have been going on and off and I need to send these before you know the power goes out for a day or two. Don’t be bias over order length if you would.

 
Since everyone else is doing it...
Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 731-735 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Elf I
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; still, largely independent culturally; developing; mostly united, but increasingly conflicted; minor Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 19 regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry
Navy: 60 ships
Navy Description: Sturdy, well-crewed longships.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Somewhat Strained (1/1/2) (1 banked)
Area (Points Required): 2
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Improving
Population (Points Required): 2
Military Cap: 20
Education: Literate
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Tolerating
Projects:
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):

ECONOMY:
4 Economy + 1 Banked + 1 from Latgallia = 6 EP

1 EP (6 > 5 EP) to project, Danavirki (wall across the base of Jutland); See DOMESTIC ORDERS ITEM 1
2 EP (5 > 3 EP) to Bureaucracy (Improving > Competent)
1 EP (3 > 2 EP) to goodwill campaign in Vikland and the Vendel Kingdom: See FOREIGN AFFAIRS ITEMS 1, 2
2 EP (2 > 0 EP) to Infrastructure (Good > Efficient)

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
1) Begin construction of the Danavirki across the base of Jutland. Initial phase is to be a ditch and earthen rampart, with the ditch obviously to the south, preferably forming a total height of approximately 6-7m. Second phase to consist of a timber palisade on top of the rampart. In addition to the obvious direct methods of corvee and such, the nobles of Jutland are to be offered the option of providing a reasonable amount of labour from their lands in lieu of their other obligations for that year.
2) Encourage dissidents to go to Finland and carve out holdings. The normal societal background noise of violence, vendetta, and exile is a significant source of instability. We'd rather channel this energy into something productive, and certainly we'd rather that exiles are kept busy fighting Finns instead of sitting in Gothland brooding and plotting revenge. Guarantee that lands conquered from the Finns can be held as a personal fief, and will be exempt from taxation and obligations to the crown for a generation.
3) Expand the forts on Øsel and Dagø, base a squadron there, and begin extracting tolls on shipping leaving and entering the Gulf of Riga. It's only fair that the merchants who benefit from our exhaustive anti-piracy patrols should help fund them, after all.
4) Prioritize bringing the key forts in the Sund and Belts under direct royal control. Nothing overt, but over the next few years and decades try to buy them, inherit them, or borrow them.

DIPLOMATIC ORDERS:
1) Sign the Treaty of Memele with Latgallia. They receive our mainland possessions in Estonia, we get 1 EP and toll free, extraterritorial trading colonies at Reval, Memele and Elbing. We feel it's rather a good deal; the loss of the trading posts on the mainland should be more than compensated by our now hopefully insurmountable advantage in Latgallian ports, by which we hope to tighten our stranglehold on Baltic trade. In case the nobles feel that we're accepting defeat, point out that we have plundered everything worth plundering in Latgallia, that they're paying us tribute to leave them alone, and that conquering the place is not worth the trouble when there are plenty of other places that need a good pillaging.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
1) Begin a campaign to increase our stature in Vikland-Nord-Frisia, and gently encourage dissent against the Frisian king. Try to form alliances with prominent Norse nobility, and stoke tensions between the Norse and the Frisians. Encourage marriages between our high-rankers and theirs, and if possible form a marriage between our Royal family and whatever is the most powerful and influential of their noble Norse families. Offer to foster noble Norse sons in the royal family; any such wards are to be lavishly gifted with weapons, armour and treasure, and offered places in the royal guard. Gift giving is of extreme importance in assuring the loyalty of early Germanic nobility, as is success in battle; it is hoped that our example will reflect extremely unfavourably on Egil. If any nobles are forced into exile, particularly powerful ones, offer them sanctuary at our court; ideally, try to induce some of them to get themselves exiled by inflammatory remarks in the Thing.
2) Increase our profile in the Vendel kingdom. More or less the same as above, though less overt, more general, and substituting Geats for Norse as appropriate.
3) Attempt to increase cultural influence in northern Gothland. Support pagan reaction to Neo-Tigranist influence. Support tribal resistance to royal centralization efforts, if any. Encourage Danish farmers to permeate across the border.

MILITARY ORDERS:
Dispositions:
10 Ships are assigned to Øsel, where they will base themselves and enforce tolls on the Gulf of Riga.
10 Ships are assigned to patrol the Kattegat and Skaggerak, to keep an eye out for potential Tigranist raiders or Nord-Frisian aggression
The remaining 40 Ships are going raiding. NOTE: I'm assuming that these ships have significant land military potential on their own; forces of similar size caused a great deal of devastation in OTL.

4 Regiments manning the southern border of Jutland, and assisting with construction of the Danavirki as possible.
4 Regiments in the colonies
4 Regiments in Jutland
4 Regiments in Skane.
5 Regiments go viking.

Operations:
Despatch a small force to establish a fort at the head of the Gulf of Finland. While this is technically Latgallian territory, the Latgallian king currently exercises no control over the area, and it seems doubtful that he will ever regain control. At any rate, there's no particularly strict conception of national borders at the best of times, let alone in a thoroughly barbarian tribal confederacy, so we're going ahead.

40 Ships are to go a-viking in the Baltic. The King's sons are to take an active role in these operations, and particularly major raids should be led by the King in person; the prestige thus gained will be invaluable to all other endeavours. The targets of the raids are the area around the head of the Gulf of Finland, and the Oder basin; Latgallia, Gothland, the Vendel Kingdom and the North Sea are to be avoided, although any rebel-held areas in Latgallia are fair game. The raids are not to be solely destructive in intent; the fine line between raiding, trading and mercenary work is to be observed. Try to extract tribute from tribes in our path, trade loot, gain purchase in remote entrepot, by force if necessary, and offer the services of our men in native wars. Basically, anything and everything that could profit the Danelaw or expand our influence is to be pursued, not just simple minded smash and grab. There is, however, one exception. The trade center on the upper Oder (OOC: Ostrava, is it?), is to be targeted by a large, royal-led force. Demand that it pay a massive tribute, and if it doesn't, sack it. Incidentally, we hope that our activities along the Oder may have a beneficial secondary effect: by disrupting some of the direct routes from the Baltics to the Mediterranean, some of that trade may be redirected onto the Baltic sea routes that we dominate.

Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 736-440 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Elf I/Perfectionist
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; still, largely independent culturally; advanced, very influential; mostly united, but increasingly conflicted; minor Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 18 regiments, 6 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry
Navy: 57 ships
Navy Description: Sturdy, well-crewed longships.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (1/1/2) (1 banked)
Area (Points Required): 2
Infrastructure: Efficient
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 2
Military Cap: 20
Education: Literate
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Danavirki (fortified wall in southern Jutland) (1/2)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):

ECONOMY:
4 Economy + 1 Banked = 5 EP

2 EP (5 > 3 EP) to Infrastructure ( Efficient > Very Efficient)
1 EP (3 > 2 EP) to ships (57 > 67 Ships)
1 EP (2 > 1 EP) to continuation of goodwill efforts in Vikland
1 EP (1 > 0 EP) to improvement of the hird. See MILITARY POLICY ITEM 1

DOMESTIC POLICY:
1) Acquire the critical forts in the Belts and the Sund. Provide appropriate compensation to the current owners: royal estates in Jutland, estates in the colonies, trading contracts, whatever is necessary, but bring them under direct control.
2) Commission the Leidangr Hidage. This is a survey to establish the size and population of administrative divisions, and thereby properly establish how many men and ships each area should contribute to any levy.
3) Make whatever improvements are possible to the fortress at Stralsund.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
1) Despatch itinerant priests into northern Gothland, there to agitate against neo-Tigranist influence. They are to do what they can to stoke the religious revival, encourage tribalism, and stir up feeling against Tigranist nobles at court.
2) Distribute some of the plunder from Ostrava among our friends in Vikland. This is intended as a not very subtle reminder of the differences between Egil and Elf: Egil sits at home, loses battles, and gives away land, while Elf personally leads immensely profitable raids. It is obvious which is more admirable to good stout Norsemen.
3) Continue our efforts to expand our influence in Vikland. Continue ingratiating ourselves with the Viklending nobility. In addition to continuing previous activities, try to convince Norsemen to join our army as mercenaries; our recent successes should make service in our army attractive, and if our successes continue, and we make sure to keep being generous and evenhanded, the returning soldiers will have a great deal of good feeling towards us, which they will hopefully help to spread among the Viklending populace. Also, towards the end of the period, begin very, very carefully and quietly sounding out the possibility of a rebellion against Frisian rule, either in support of Elf or to reestablish the Kingdom of Vikland, and in either case intimate that the Danish Crown might be supportive. In particular, approach one of Egil's right hand Norsemen, and whisper in his ear of the rewards to be gained from overthrowing the Frisian interloper. In essence, try to find an Eadric Streona.
4) Continue our efforts of expand our influence in the Vendel Kingdom. As before. In addition, now that our prince has married into the Vendel royal family, use patronage to try to gather prominent Vendel skalds, nobles, and warriors around him and his wife, as a sort of Vendel court in Denmark.
5) Despatch parties of royal-sponsored merchants adventurers from our holdings on the Gulf of Finland into Russia. They are to have a look around, get a handle on the situation, make friends with the locals, see if there's any decent trading to do, and keep an eye out for any opportunities for future rapine and slaughter. In particular, they are to try to establish a Danish presence in the Volga and Dnieper trade routes and connect them with the Baltic, which would provide a relatively direct route for trade between Northern Europe and great powers of the Middle East.

MILITARY POLICY:
1) Step up discipline among the hird. Begin separating them from society at large, and imposing a strict code of conduct. Training for formation fighting is to be emphasized, and a sense of religious obligation is to be instilled; through their service to the King they are serving the Gods. Accordingly, recruitment standards are to be tightened, and if possible, we want men with no families or other obligations. In order to avoid offending the thegns that serve in the army, it may prove necessary to split the army into the prestige segment, consisting of said nobility, which will act as the King's personal companions and bodyguards, and everyone else, consisting of the newly disciplined retainers.

MILITARY OPERATIONS:
Dispositions:
6 Levy Regiments around Staraya Ladoga.
4 Regiments manning the southern border of Jutland
2 Regiments in Skane
2 Regiments in the colonies
20 Ships on Zeeland, attacking pirates in the Sund and the Belts.
10 Regiments, 57 Ships campaigning in the former Latgallian Empire.

Operations:
Latgallia:
The collapse of the Latgallian Empire presents an interesting opportunity to extend our authority over the far coast of the Baltic. Obviously, the area is of such importance that we cannot ignore it; equally obviously, any attempt to directly control large areas would fail catastrophically. We will therefore adopt a more subtle approach. First, we will seize a couple more coastal bases to complement our existing fortresses. Elbing should be secured, ostensibly to protect our merchants there. Our old bases on the Gulf of Riga should be taken from whatever petty warlord currently holds them, and, for good measure while we're in the area, try to secure Riga. It is hoped that resistance at Elbing and Riga will be minimal, and that they may perhaps even join us willingly, as Danish protection from the marauding warlords may be desirable for the relatively civilized urbanites.
From the coastal bases, we will begin to intervene in the interior. As stated previously, direct conquest is not considered feasible at the present time; therefore, we shall create a network of loosely affiliated client tribes and kingdoms. Owing to the apparently extreme degree of fragmentation and impoverishment in the former Latgallian Empire, we hope that our forces in the area will be vastly better equipped and disciplined than any native opposition, and that therefore relatively small numbers of our troops, particularly when working in concert with native allies, can exert decisive force on events. We shall use a combination of aid and intimidation to compel local leaders to submit to us, whereupon they will be left to rule their lands as a vassal of the King of Denmark. Ideally, we will locate a promising warlord – and note that promising refers to their value to us, and not their inherent virtues; we want 'em weak-willed and not too bright, and anyone clever enough to pose a threat to us should be eliminated - and assist him in establishing military control over the surrounding area in exchange for his loyalty, but it may at times be necessary to straightforwardly bludgeon an existing entity into submission. In particular, we expect that there will be some remnant of the Latgallian state centered around Jelgab; as this is close to our presence in Riga, it may prove expedient to prop it up. It is important, however, that we allow none of our clients to grow large enough to constitute a threat to our interests; support is to be withdrawn well before that happens. At any rate, in exchange for Danish support, protection, and friendship, clients should be required to pay an annual tribute, send hostages to our court, and perhaps provide military aid should we request it. We hope that this effort will allow us to stabilize the area, tangentially boosting the trade through our coastal holdings, secure that flank, and exert some degree of influence and control without a great deal of expenditure in either blood or treasure.

Garðaríki:
The system of incentives in Finland is to be curtailed; we have secured a cushion for our coastal holdings, and further expansion into the interior would present an unfavourable return on investment, as well as unnecessarily straining our military and administrative capabilities, which are needed elsewhere. Instead, a similar system of incentives shall be instituted for the area around our holding at the head of the Gulf of Finland, and our levy regiments will be transferred to that area. As in Finland, we are to encourage restless nobility to carve out fiefdoms. In particular, we desire to construct forts on the Volkhov, to exercise at least partial control over that river.
 
Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 746-750 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Elf I/Perfectionist
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy with minor bureaucratic elements
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; still, largely independent culturally; advanced, very influential; mostly united, but increasingly conflicted; minor Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 16 regiments, 7 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry
Navy: 67 ships
Navy Description: Sturdy, well-crewed longships.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (1/1/3) (5 banked)
Area (Points Required): 2
Infrastructure: Very Efficient
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 2
Military Cap: 20
Education: Literate
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Danavirki (fortified wall in southern Jutland) (Done!)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):

ECONOMY:
5 Economy + 5 banked = 10 EP

1 EP (10 > 9 EP) to project Elfsdrapa (+cultural vitality, unity, influence, +1 Education). See DOMESTIC ORDERS ITEM 1.
5 EP (9 > 4 EP) to ships (67 > 117 ships)
2 EP (4 > 2 EP) to UU Þórrsviking (0 > 10 Regiments). See MILITARY POLICY ITEM 1
1 EP (2 > 1 EP) to attempts to undermine the Vendel monarchy. See FOREIGN AFFAIRS
1 EP (1 > 0 EP) to logistics for the Vendel campaign.

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
1) Begin project Elfsdrapa. This is, at its heart, a massive increase in the exercise of royal patronage designed to reinvigorate our artistic and cultural traditions. We will set about gathering a glittering court culture of artists, scholars and skalds, and encourage the continuing development and spread of those professions. We must also try to revitalize the oral tradition, and get started on properly recording our oral histories, mythologies and poems. The first step is commission by the new king of the eponymous poem, commemorating the deeds of the late Elf.
2) Change the King to Gorm the Young. This will, I fear, be somewhat complicated. First, Guthrum, the heir apparent, he of the Vendel marriage, dies, leaving the succession up in the air. After intense intrafamilial wrangling, a declining Elf decides to back Gorm, Guthrum's son by that Vendel marriage, now in his early teens, over either of Elf's other sons, who are unsuitable for the position. Elf uses his considerable stature to convince or bludgeon the great thanes into pledging to support Gorm, and then despatches them to Gothland to keep them too busy to plot (For the details of which, see below, Military Operations). Elf then dies sometime in the autumn of 746, before the troops return from Gothland. In the interim, Angantyr the Grim, the bastard son of Elf who possesses a not inconsiderable reputation from past deeds in Latgallia and Gardariki, acting as the executor of the old man's political will, secures Gorm's immediate succession. The boy's uncles are installed as co-regents. As they have little interest in actually governing, Angantyr is the effective ruler as a grey eminence, and sets about placating the jarls. In order to give our feudals something to do, and to hopefully gain some much needed prestige for the new regime, we shall then embark on a major foreign escapade. Angantyr shall continue to run the country as Gorm grows up, and take personal command of the armies in Vendelia. As Gorm matures, he will take an increasingly visible role in government, and particularly in military affairs; he's to be on site in Vendelia as much as prudent, both to bolster morale and to set about gathering the military reputation so vital for effective Dark Age kingship. Once he reaches his majority, which should be in the last year or so of the update, he will assume full control of the government, but will retain Angantyr as his major advisor and general, and intermediary with the thanes.
3) Take steps to bring the sub-kings of former Latgallia more securely into our orbit. Attempt to Danify the rulers as far as possible. Encourage marriages between them and Danish nobility. The wards/hostages in Denmark proper should be treated as well as possible to ensure that, when they return to their lands, they remain well-disposed towards us. Encourage Danish settlement in the coastal regions, and establish fortified settlements of ex-soldiers at strategic points in the interior, officially to help provide protection against marauders.
4) Send priests to Latgallia and start proselytizing. Slowly, and taking care not to offend the locals, but let's see if we can't eventually fold Baltic paganism into the Scandic mainstream. In the short run, a spot of syncretism and cross-cultural exchange shouldn't hurt, at any rate. Target the elites first, naturally.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
1) Begin an intense effort to undermine the Vendel monarchy. We had hoped to slowly spread our influence through Vendelia over the course of several decades; unfortunately, events have intervened and we must now go with the crash course. Try to bribe prominent nobles and generals away from the service of the Vendel crown, to assassinate prominent Vendel nationalists including the king, and induce mercenaries to switch sides at critical moments. Incidentally, this effort is obviously to commence contemporaneously with the outbreak of war in 747.
2) Sign an alliance and conclude a royal marriage with Vikland. Marry Gorm to whoever Harald wants to provide so long as she's suitable, though we'd obviously prefer a sister or something similarly close.
3) Continue our efforts to expand our influence in Vikland.
4) Dispatch ambassadors to the Slavic chiefdoms and principalities east of Latgallia, to normalize relations, minimize the threat to our eastern border, and negotiate for the unmolested passage of our trade.

MILTARY POLICY:
1) Create a new UU, the Þórrsviking. Equipment-wise, they're to be super-heavy infantry. Their preferred weapons should be stabbing swords and heavy spears for formation fighting, but should also be provided, where appropriate, with massive battle axes for use in more open environments where they can be effectively used; these last might be particularly effective as terror weapons, as huge, ferocious Norsemen lopping off heads with a single swing tend to have a pronounced demoralizing effect on the opposition. They are to be held to the highest standards of personal discipline, separated both from society at large and the normal army, and to be rigourously trained, particularly in techniques of formation fighting. In addition, as might be expected from the name, they will have a religious significance. They're to be sworn specifically to serve the thunder god, and engage in all sorts of pagan rituals and practices to keep up morale. We hope, in this unit, to blend the trademark Norse ferocity and individual combat prowess with significant formation fighting capabilities.
2) Call up the feudal armies of Jutland, the islands and Skane for the Vendel campaign.
3) Call up the armies of the sub-kings of Latgallia for the Vendel campaign. Thus far, the balance of obligation has been distinctly one-sided. Time for them to fill their end of the bargain.

MILITARY OPERATIONS:

The Gothland Job
Assigned Forces: 10 Regiments, 60 Ships
Year: 746

IMPORTANT NOTE: If Thuringia and Langobardia make peace with Gothland, this operation is not to be carried out.

The ongoing collapse of the Gothic kingdom presents an opportunity. With their few remaining forces occupied in the west, the wealth of the east and north is unprotected, and we are going to try to take as much of it as we can in a single year. Land forces are to set out from Stralsund and the Danavirki, and naval forces are to head up the Elbe, Weser and other rivers. They are then to cover as much of northern Gothland as possible in a single campaign season. As they go, they are to avoid major confrontations, take everything worth taking, and burn everything else. Time is a factor; we only have a single season to accomplish our goals before all available forces will be needed elsewhere. Also, if we have time, explore the possibility of convincing some of the far northern Gothic nobles, who are presumably fairly heavily influenced by us, to abandon the sinking ship of Gothland and swear fealty to the Danish crown. As soon as the campaigning season of 746 ends, the forces in Gothland are to be shifted out, and we are to begin preparing for operations in Vendelia in 747.


The Vendel Campaign
Assigned Forces: 10 Þórrsviking Regiments, 14 Regiments, Latgallian levies, assorted feudal levies, 110 Ships
Year: 747-750

NOTE: Precise force allocations are left purposefully vague, due to uncertainty as to the applicable operational situation; our commanders will have to place our forces as called for by Vendel positioning.

We currently possess a degree of strategic security unparalleled in recent history. Gothland is falling, Caerix is stagnating, and Vikland is both busy and friendly. It is unlikely that such a favourable situation will recur, and we must make good use of it while it lasts. We will therefore use this window to destroy the one undiminished threat to our security, and secure our hegemony in Scandinavia; we will conquer the Vendel Kingdom.

Incidentally, we are not breaking our word by attacking; as Elf passes, so do his guarantees of friendship with the Vendel Kingdom, and Gorm has given no such assurances..

The first aim, and the opening move of the war, is the destruction of the Vendel royal navy. Precisely how this is to be accomplished is dependent on the disposition of that navy. If all, or at least the majority, of their navy is berthed in a single port, which would likely be either Trosa or some place in the Stockholm archipelago, and if that port is not prohibitively well defended – and this far north at this early date it likely won't be – then it is to be achieved by a sudden combined arms descent with overwhelming numbers upon that port. The fleet will deposit troops ashore, and then bar the exit to the harbour while the army storms the town. The Vendel will probably try a desperate breakout, but since our ships will have both a massive numerical advantage and plenty of time to lash themselves together, this should fail; we can extend our line to twice their length and still maintain twice the density, and once we envelop them and get on the flanks, the battle is over. If we move quickly enough, we might even be able to overrun the ships from the land, before they can put to sea. In either case, once we have either taken or destroyed the fleet, the troops are to reembark and we will proceed to the next phase. However, if the Vendel fleet is either scattered, or in a port too heavily defended to assault, we will have to draw them out. Our commanders on the ground can presumably devise a means by which this may be achieved, though we suggest that raids towards high-value targets might be efficacious. Obviously, we prefer the former of these scenarios, not least because it presents the best chance for capturing rather than destroying most of the fleet. Incidentally, the decision to go after the Vendel fleet is not based on normal Mahanian strategy, as Mahanian strategy isn't really applicable to galley and longship warfare. While the Vendel fleet doesn't constitute a threat to our supply lines or our trade as a unit, if we don't get the Vendel fleet in one go it'll almost certainly split up into several dozen pirating bands, which could be a great nuisance and would certainly cost us a great deal of time and money to hunt down. Perhaps more importantly, by destroying the fleet we cripple the mobility of Vendel land forces, giving us a hopefully decisive advantage.

The guiding principle of the land campaign is essentially to continually back the Vendels into an impossible strategic situation, from which they will, in an attempt to break out and regain control of the situation, take increasingly desperate and ill-considered action, leading to severe mistakes. We then need only make fewer and less important blunders than the enemy.

We can now move onto Vendelia proper. We are of the opinion that attempting to land a decisive blow early in the campaign is pointless; there are no critical centers to target, and we cannot destroy their armed forces in a single blow. Before we can aim to destroy the Vendel monarchy, we must weaken it to a sufficient degree for this to be possible. Therefore, the initial moves on land will be a massive series of raids covering most of the country. The goal here is to undermine the economic, governmental and social foundations of Vendel strength, and sap the will of the Vendel jarls to resist. Utilize our superior mobility to be ever where the enemy isn't. Devastate the countryside, sack undefended towns, steal their silver, then slip away before Vendel forces arrive. Make them keep their army in the field and on the move continuously in a futile attempt to catch or contain us. In addition, seize a couple of islands in the Stockholm archipelago and Lake Malaren for forward bases and places to winter. All the while, keep up efforts to impress upon the Vendel vassals the futility of resistance and the inability of the Vendel king to protect them, and maintain a vigourous diplomacy to try to wean the Vendel jarls away from their king. We plan this phase to last for a couple of years, through 747 and 748. In 749 and 750, we shift into high gear.

For the final phase of the war, the Danish feudals and Latgallian sub-kings are to be called up to provide the numbers necessary for outright conquest, and massed in Skane, Gotland, the Aland archipelago, and our bases in the Stockholm archipelago. By this time, we hope that the Vendel capacity for resistance will be rapidly degrading. Ideally, the crown will be out of money, the royal army will be tired from ceaseless marching and low on morale, the Vendel ability to maintain an army on campaign will be reduced, and the Vendel jarls will be losing faith in the ability of the crown to effectively prosecute the war. At the outset of the 749 campaigning season, we land at Trosa while another force presses north from Skane to Trosa to link up. The Aland and Stockholm forces are simultaneously to press towards Vendel itself. Obviously, the fall of Vendel and Trosa will not of themselves cause the Vendel government or army to collapse, but we do hope that taking the two most valuable towns of the kingdom will conclusively demonstrate that the Vendel crown is no longer capable of even defending its own, let alone of conducting effective external military action, and thereby accelerate the loss of faith among its subjects. Once the two towns have fallen, or are at least invested, we will secure the coast and push the remaining Vendel forces into the interior. We will then commence large scale raids from our secure coastal bases designed to isolate and destroy Vendel forces and - by taking fortified places, coercing local nobles into switching sides, and attacking infrastructure - render sections of the country untenable for them, gradually reducing their area of operations until we have them confined to sufficiently small area for us to destroy them.

Throughout the campaign, every effort must be made to ensure that we do not alienate the local nobility. The war is to be portrayed as one of unification rather than conquest, and cooperative Swedes and Geats are to be treated officially as brothers. Gorm is the son of a Vendel mother and was raised amongst the Vendel expats we gathered, so hopefully he'll be marginally more acceptable to the locals than might have been the case otherwise. Take care to keep lines of communication open with prominent Vendel nobility, and try to convince them to switch sides, or at least withhold support for the Vendel crown. Make sure they know that, if they do so, they and their lands will be spared our depredations. The existing laws and rights of the populace must be maintained in all conquered areas, and any nobility that switch sides will retain their positions, land and privileges.


Gardariki
Assigned Forces: 7 Levy Regiments

Establish a second major base at the inflow of the Olhava, near OTL Novgorod, to solidify our control of the river. Cross Lake Ilmen and begin repeating our efforts from the Olhava on the Lovat, establishing a chain of fortified trading posts. The ultimate goal is to establish a chain of settlements and trading posts leading, via a portage, to the Dnieper.

Miscellaneous:

2 Regiments manning the Danavirki
7 Ships in anti-piracy patrols in the Belts and the Sund.

Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 751-755 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Gorm the Young/Perfectionist
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy with minor bureaucratic elements
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; still, largely independent culturally; advanced, very influential; mostly united, but increasingly conflicted; considerable Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 7 regiments, 6 Torrsviking regiments, 33 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry; excellent leadership.
Navy: 121 ships
Navy Description: Sturdy longships with sometimes uneven crews.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (1/2/3)
Area (Points Required): 2
Infrastructure: Very Efficient
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 2
Military Cap: 20
Education: Literate
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Danavirki (fortified wall in southern Jutland) (Done!), Elfsdrapa (+cultural vitality, unity, influence, +1 Education) (1/3)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):

ECONOMY:
1 EP (6 > 5 EP) to project, completing it.
2 EP (5 > 3 EP) to Infrastructure (Very Efficient > Great)
2 EP (3 > 1 EP) to Bureaucracy (Efficient > Great)
1 EP (1 > 0 EP) to dispensing gifts in Vendelia.

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
1) Integrate Sweden. It is imperative that our rule be portrayed as a unification rather than a conquest. Be sure to freely dispense both money and esteem to gain the loyalty of the jarls.
2) Issue a revised and unified law code. Along with making war, Germanic kings are supposed to make law; there is a reason that one of the first things Canute did in England was issue a law code. Issuing a good law code could go a long way towards legitimizing our rule in Vendelia, as well as obviously helping to tie our realms together. Therefore, issue a new joint law code for both Denmark and Sweden, combining the existing codes. It is hoped that this won't be very disruptive, as most of the crucial laws should be very similar across the borders, with the differences being such things as the precise amounts of weregelds. Regional exceptions can be made if there are any particularly sensitive issues. Full equality of Danes, Geats and Swedes in the eyes of the law should be instituted. A great deal of time and effort should be expended on making sure that the code is comprehensive, fair and, perhaps most importantly, acceptable; it should probably be in the making for most of the update.
3) Begin a land clearance program in Smaland. The forests of Smaland are so nearly impenetrable as to render Skane a virtual island. While this has been beneficial in the past, as it allowed us to hold Skane, now it is obviously problematic as it renders intercourse between the new and old parts of our realm difficult. Therefore, we'll begin clearing those forests. Provide incentives for the establishment of new villages, and get some corvee labour together to begin clearing out highways and opening areas to cultivation.
4) Have Gorm crowned King of the Geats and the Swedes. Proper titles are important, not least because a King of the Danes is far more clearly an outsider. We will presumably have to convince the Geatish and Swedish things to accept him. We hope that the Geats will be fairly easy to win over, as a king in Aarhus is not so different from a king in Vendel. The Swedes, being more deeply invested in the Vendel kingship, may be harder to convince. If they prove recalcitrant use a combination of bribery and veiled threats to try to convince them; in particular, it might be a good idea to buy the loyalty of particularly influential leaders with high positions in the government. If they still won't do as we wish, make it clear that we're perfectly willing to ignore them, and that if they acquiesce at least they'll have some say. If that doesn't work, disperse the thing, get a new one together filled with lapdogs and get them to make the proclamation.
5) Solidify our control of the lower Oder. With the Lombards on the border, it has become desirable to strength our hold on this area. Put up some forts, establish fortified Danish settlements along the coast and river, and impose direct governance of the local Wends.
6) Begin to propagandize the concept of Norse unity, both at home and in Vikland. Try to popularize the idea of the Norse as a whole as a distinct and unified people. It might help to emphasize our shared opposition to an outsider, in which case the Tigranists would probably make a good bogeyman. Old Norse has not yet split into western and eastern varieties, let alone Swedish, Danish, etc.,which should make the concept significantly easier to spread.
7) Increase patronage of religion, and try to gather priests and such to Lejre and construct a complex of temples and altars, with the aim of turning Lejre into a new center of the religious revival. Since the destruction of Bjorgvin, our religion has been relatively leaderless. That must change, and since Lejre is an abnormally important center to begin with, it is an obvious candidate for the position. We also hope that this might provided a renewed impetus for the revival, as well as boosting our prestige throughout the Scandic religious world.
8) Continue previous policies.

FOREIGN POLICY:
1) Dispatch a diplomatic mission down the Dneiper to Odrysa and the Hellenes. They are to generally survey the situation and undertake negotiations to increase our our trade with the Mediterranean.
2) Step up exploration and exploitation of the Volga trade route. Same pattern as on the Dnieper: despatch royally backed merchant adventurers and encourage independent actors to take action. While the Yaik war is probably currently rendering trade along the lower reaches somewhat harder than normal, once it is resolved the Volga provides a quick, direct route to the richest empire west of the Indus.
3) Expand our influence and presence in Gnezdovo. It's obviously exceedingly important, and as our political influence follows on the heels of our traders, we must take an interest in the settlement. Negotiate for the establishment of a permanent Norse settlement in the town, and install a royal factor to look out for the interests of our subjects. Try to gain the ear of the local knyaz as far as possible.
4) Establish an alliance with whatever is the most powerful of the Wendish kingdoms and start providing assistance. With the expansionist Lombards on the border, it is presumably desirable to the Wends to seek outside assistance, and it is certainly desirable for us to erect a roadblock to Lombard expansion.

MILITARY POLICY:
1) Release 20 Levy Regiments (33 > 13 Levy Regiments).
2) Take steps to improve the quality of the new naval crews. There is no substitute for practical experience and the knowledge of the older generation; therefore, the best way to do this is by forming crews of mixed veterans and fresh recruits and sending them on long training cruises through the difficult parts of the Baltic. Anti-piracy duty will help them to get a good handle on seaborne warfare.

MILITARY OPERATIONS:

Dispositions
110 Ships on anti-piracy duties and training runs in the Baltic, switching to interdiction in the North Sea at the first sign of Tigranist attack
3 Regiments, 6 Torrsviking Regiments, 8 Levy Regiments pacifying northwest Vendelia
1 Regiment, 10 Ships helping establish firm control over the lower Oder
3 Regiments in Jutland
5 Levy Regiments in Gardariki, continuing the push to the Dneiper.

Vendelia
The remaining resistors must be pacified. We would very much prefer if they could be convinced to join us peacefully, and we hope that an example of fair governance in the occupied territories will induce much of the remainder to lay down their arms.
Standard divide-and-conquer and carrot-and-stick tactics should be used. All effort must be made to keep the jarls from uniting under a single command. Prominent opposition leaders should be immediately targeted and destroyed before they can gather support. Local rivalries and feuds should be exploited as much as possible. Keep open lines of communication with the enemy and make periodic overtures to any who are wavering. Try to avoid any conspicuous acts of brutality that would strengthen their resolve, or drive fence-sitters into their arms. As we promised, any who swear loyalty to the king are to be treated perfectly fairly; of course, any who choose to resist to the end shall have a very bitter end indeed.
 
Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 756-760 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Gorm the Young/Perfectionist
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy with minor bureaucratic elements
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; distinct, but similar and increasingly assimilated ex-Vendelian population in the north; Germanic populations in the far southwest; the Danes themselves are for the most part culturally independent, with foreign influences being purely secondary; advanced, very influential; unified and flourishing; considerable Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences; quite influential in its region.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 6 regiments, 5 Torrsviking regiments, 13 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry; excellent leadership.
Navy: 121 ships
Navy Description: Sturdy longships with good, experienced crews.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (2/2/4)
Area (Points Required): 4
Infrastructure: Great
Bureaucracy: Great
Population (Points Required): 3
Military Cap: 20
Education: Educated
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Danavirki (fortified wall in southern Jutland) (Done!), Elfsdrapa (+cultural vitality, unity, influence, +1 Education) (Done!)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):

ECONOMY:
8 Economy + 3 EP from Thuringia = 11 EP

1 EP (11 > 10 EP) to project Austriki (+integration of Latgallia and Finland, +assimilation in Latgallia and Finland); See DOMESTIC ORDERS ITEM 1
3 EP (10 > 7 EP) to Ships (121 > 151 Ships)
2 EP (7 > 5 EP) to Military Cap (20 > 30)
2 EP (5 > 3 EP) to Regiments (6 > 16 Regiments)
2 EP (3 > 1 EP) to Torrsviking (5 > 15 Regiments)
1 EP (1 > 0 EP) to logistics for the North Sea campaign

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
1) Begin project Austriki. This is an effort to introduce direct control over our holdings in Latgallia and Finland. Basically, it will involve the gradual introduction of Norse political structures, adapted for the environment of course, to provide a skeleton for proper regional government, followed by increased royal oversight, the removal of the special powers of the local tributaries, coopting the locals into regularized government, and concluded with the introduction of the national law and the full regularization of the government. The first step should be the division of the land into hundreds, which should follow existing boundaries as far as possible. These will provide the basic foundation upon which we shall build proper government, though for the moment their function will of necessity be rather limited, as we don't yet want to offend the locals, and they will primarily be a means of assessment and taxation. The next step, and perhaps the most important, is the establishment of suprathings on the Scandinavian model: Livthing, Estthing, Finnthing, and so on. Each should cover a fairly large area and be open to all free men, though we mean 'free' in the Norse sense, which is practically 'landowning.' The things will elect a lawspeaker, whose job it will be to answer directly to the king, should the occasion call for it, and to be the final appeal before the king in legal matters. It is hoped that this move, calling back as it does to old tribal traditions, will help us gain the loyalty of the farmer class, and that the local chiefs will be unable to oppose it without alienating that class. Properly used, the things will be a very powerful tool for the expansion of royal authority in the area. From there, it's relatively simple. Gradually increase the powers of the things against the local powers and strengthen ties between thing and king. The current tributaries won't be eliminated, of course: their position will remain analogous to the jarls in the homeland. Note that this effort does not extend to the Norse vassals in Gardariki. We have something else planned for them as soon as the messy business in the west is finished.
2) Organize major annual expeditions down the Dneiper to the southerners. While individual traders will undoubtedly make the journey, major expeditions seem to offer the best chance for profit, and the most protection from any potential marauders, and the King is one of the best capable of organizing such an affair. There are many opportunities for profit in the south and our men are probably after silver more than anything else, but try to procure a few weapons, as those of southern manufacture are doubtless far superior to anything that may be found in the north. The point of departure and return should be Novgorod, from which the silver can be used to buy goods for transport back south next year, and middlemen can distribute the goods to Riga and Ladoga, and thence to the wider world.
3) Establish an annual trade fair in Hedeby for southern and eastern goods. The wares of Russia and the southerners go first to Ladoga and Riga, but those are deep in the Baltic and not very accessible to foreigners. Therefore, organize a fair where our middlemen can bring the goods from the far shore to Hedeby, which is readily accessed by most of northern Europe and well protected. It should be timed to coincide with the arrival of the caravans from the south. The usual trade fair regulations should apply: particularly heavy guard presence to ensure security, and guarantee credit and money changing, and so on, though the Crown must still get its dues.
4) Begin systematic identification of the monarchy with Odinn. Preside over major sacrifices to to him at Lejre. Start applying the iconography of the Raven God to the crown.
5) Simultaneously with the outbreak of the war, crackdown on Tigranist nationals. The Caerixians doubtless have a few intelligence agents in the major ports. We can't be bothered to hunt them down, and probably don't have the capability anyway, so just pick up everybody remotely suspicious and sell them into slavery in the south.
6) Encourage malcontent Vendels to emigrate to Gardariki. Benevolent though our rule is, there will doubtless be some thanes and jarls, in the extreme northwest if nowhere else, who chafe under the king. Rather than killing these men or having them rebel, encourage them, as we have so often before, to take their retinues and go carve out a new fief in the east, far from the prying eyes and greedy hands of royal reeves. Similar deal as before: provided they swear to obey us, we won't actually ask them to, and we'll help them get where they want to go and provide support should they do anything really stupid.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
1) Strengthen ties with our ally in Wendland. Marry Burislav (He needs a name, and Burislav is about as generic as it gets) to a cousin; we have lots of them. Second forces from Pomerania to assist in his wars, and encourage him to use our support to conquer the lesser tribes. Our ultimate goal in the region is to create a vassal state covering much of the area between Rzeka and Langobardia to act as a bulwark against possible Lombard or Rzekan expansion and extend our influence. That may not be possible, but at least we can start building up goodwill.
2) Sign trade agreements with Odrysa and the Hellenes. Nothing over the top; just making sure that our boys will be allowed to trade once they get there, and spelling out the terms of their presence.
3) Receive travellers from Akkad and the Agade Dagists. The Akkadians have said they'll be sending some and the Hellenes and Odrysans will probably follow suit; regardless, we can certainly expect an adventurous soul or two to come back with the caravans to Novgorod and continue west. Receive them in style, give them extended audiences with the King and guarantee them protection and escort throughout our realms, if they want to take a tour. The Akkadians will probably try a spot of proselytizing, in which case we should listen with polite but uncomprehending interest.
4) Provoke revolts in Atithrek, to provide our cassus belli. Ought to be fairly simple: Vestland and particularly the Trondelag never liked Norwegian rule, let alone oppressive foreign rule, the Celts aren't a majority, and have a fairly negligible presence outside cities, and the long border makes it easy to support the revolt. They'll immediately send a request for aid, and we will just as immediately grant it. It'll be absolutely transparent that we were planning this well beforehand, not least because the fleet will be conveniently gathered and supplied, but we really don't care. It doesn't alter the justice of our action in the eyes of our people, nor its injustice in the eyes of the Tigranists, and it might prove useful later.
5) Send an agent from Novgorod to Odrysa to look after our men. He's to act as the representative for our traders to their government. We mostly want him to make sure that our men follow the law and don't make too much of a nuisance of themselves, though he should also make sure that they aren't exploited or cheated, if only because a cheated Norseman tends to extract recompense with extreme prejudice.
6) Dispatch emissaries to the kings and chiefs along the Dneiper to secure the trade route. We are willing to accept a reasonable degree of brigandage and tolls; however, make it clear that we will be very displeased if our titular subjects are unduly molested, and that they should keep things reasonable unless they want a Danish army on their doorstep.

MILITARY POLICY:
1) Call the leidangr at the outset of the war. The royal fleet isn't large enough for a general campaign in the North Sea; we need the local levies to bolster our numbers.
2) Call up merchant cogs for service, and confiscate every Tigranist merchant vessel in our harbours and press them into service. Advanced cogs inaugurate the infamous northern European lack of differentiation between merchantmen and warships. Anything that a royally built and maintained Caerixian war cog can do can be done by an impressed merchantman with soldiers aboard. Moreover, the introduction of cogs as warships is necessarily subsequent to their largescale adoption as a trade vessel, so there will be plenty around to commandeer.
3) Integrate Vendel cavalry into our army. In the early medieval period, Swedish cavalry was famed throughout northern Europe. Such a formidable weapon must be deployed.

MILITARY OPERATIONS:

Miscellaneous

3 Levy Regiments placed at the disposal of Burislav in Wendland

OOC, I do not particularly want to attack Caerix. I would much rather keep sending tentacles into Russia. However, every faction within the government is in agreement that it must be done. The pragmatists, led by the still enormously influential Angantyr, are concerned by the massive expansion in the Caerixian fleet, which can only be aimed at us and our allies, and recognize that Caerixian ambitions on the continent have been restored, which will inevitably lead Caerix into conflict with either ourselves or, more probably, Thuringia. It is better to strike now, while Caerix is distracted, than be on the receiving end. The religious ideologues see the chance to give those bloody Tigranists a damn good thrashing. The merchant princes are worried by the transparent, though hopelessly anachronistic, Caerixian attempts to turn us into an economic satellite, hate Tigranist attempts to lock us out of the British trade via their free trade zone, and see the chance to turn the North Sea, as we have the Baltic, into a Danish near-monopoly. The hirdmen just want to pillage someone, and with their army away Caerix is by far the best option. The Ashaists, though negligible, still are in favour for obvious reasons. Finally, the cultural idealists that we have been promoting, led by the king, who thinks he's destined to unite the Norse, see this as a chance to reclaim Vestland for its rightful owners. Just for good measure, the Thuringians have been pressuring us to take out Caerix for them, and we have to keep them friendly to ensure our future security. So, ahead we go.

North Sea and Caerixian Arecomicia
Assigned Forces: 151 Ships, leidangskips, impressed merchantmen, Vikland's navy; 15 Regiments, 15 Torrsviking Regiments, 10 Levy Regiments, however much of Vikland's army can be spared from their Atithrek campaign
Year: 756-760

Gather the Royal Fleet in the home islands during the winter. It is to set sail directly upon receipt of the rebel call for assistance in the early spring and meet the Vikland fleet in the Vik. The combined fleets then proceed immediately into the North Sea. The levies won't be ready to sail by then, but we can't wait; the leidangskips will catch up. Reports from Thuringia indicate that the Celtic naval presence in the North Sea is minimal, and we must take advantage of our vast numerical advantage to overwhelm what fleet they have in the sea and push through to Arecomicia. It's not strictly speaking necessary to take out their naval presence to get through to Britain, but the opportunity to destroy a proportion of their fleet on its own is too good to miss. Once we're through, the navy's duties increase: it must both function as transport for the men in Arecomicia, and attack Caerixian trade. The one thing it must not do is seek a general fleet engagement with its Caerixian counterpart. The war's over in an instant if we lose, but them having a fleet in being does absolutely nothing to stop us from doing whatever we want wherever we want and may even make it easier, as it means their naval presence will be concentrated in a single area which we can easily avoid, and if we destroyed their fleet we still couldn't maintain a blockade. That is not to say that we shouldn't try to diminish Caerixian naval strength, but it must be done carefully. Pick off isolated units when the opportunity arises. They will eventually have to split their fleet up into detachments to chase our raiders, though these detachments will still be very large as our raiding groups are very large; try to lure them into traps and ambush them with most of our fleet at once.

The land campaign involves a series of massive raids covering all of Caerix's British holdings. We are not interested in conquest in Arecomicia. We do not not want to gradually siege Caerixian strongpoints and wrest control of the countryside. What we want is to ensure that Caerix cannot threaten us or our allies in the foreseeable future, and cannot effectively respond to our strike. As much economic and social capital as possible must be destroyed. Every major church, every library, every manufactory, every mill, every piece of infrastructure, every undefended city, every store of knowledge, every barracks, everything that contributes to Caerixian economic and military strength is a target, and every piece of treasure that can be moved is to be stolen. We're also quite interested in destroying Caerixian shipyards: with their apparent focus on faceless central bureaucracy, we wouldn't be surprised if they have consolidated their ship construction into a couple of royal shipyards, in which case the destruction of said shipyards should be a top priority. No part of Caerix is far from the sea, and navigable waterways are everywhere, so almost every part of the country is within easy reach of our raiders. In general, our people have an enormous amount of latitude in their actions: as long as they hurt Caerix, it doesn't really matter how or where. However, there is at least one restriction: don't move against the Tigranist holy cities. The Caerixians would certainly defend them at all costs, it would inflame the Tigranist world, and the last thing we want is for this to turn into Paris. Now, this is not to say that land should not under any circs be occupied. We suspect that Caerixian forces in Britain will be minimal initially, and if we can get there fast enough we'll have a window before major forces can be withdrawn from Iberia . Therefore, the opportunity may arise to easily take over cities or fortresses, and that should not be ignored. Due to the near impossibility of continuously garrisoning large numbers of large forts, the opportunity may arise anyway. However, it's not why we're here, and we mustn't waste time sieging fortresses unless absolutely necessary.

NOTE: It is possible, barely, that we've severely overestimated the strength of Caerixian resistance. If that is the case, don't bother mucking about and just go straight for the throat.

Battles should be avoided in all except the most favourable circumstances. Our lack of specific geographic goals grants us the strategic flexibility to avoid combat, and our mobility lets us get somewhere else before the Caerixians, as well as allowing us to avoid being cornered and forced to fight. If the Caerixians are in the north, we shall be in the south, and when they are in the west we shall be in the east. Make them march all over Britain trying, futilely, to catch us. Hopefully, the Caerixians will at times have no choice but to attack us while they are a significant disadvantage: they will have troops in the area, and will know that if they don't attack we'll leave and go pillage an undefended area. A Maldon or two would certainly be very nice. Of course, if we can ambush them or catch them at a disadvantage – as, say, detachments moving to muster – we should engage and destroy them.

Tactical Guidelines
Tactics should be fairly simple. We hope that most of our engagements will involve such a favourable disparity of numbers and position as to render complex tactics counterproductive, and our tactics aren't very complex anyway. However, should we be forced into a major engagement at relatively even numbers, some broad guidance seems appropriate. First, and most important, on no account must we attack against prepared and defended SirlenKengent; we do not want an Agincourt. We are informed, once again by the Thuringians, that the Caerixians rely almost wholly on frontal cavalry charges to win battles. Therefore, the Torrsvikings should form the critical center of the line. Horses will not charge into an intact shield-wall, and the Torrsvikings have been taught to maintain the wall no matter what. If Norman knights couldn't break the Saxon wall, Caerixian cavalry won't be able to break us, so long as we hold the line. We should let their cavalry wear themselves out in continual charges. The flanks, somewhat more vulnerable, should be guarded by our Vendel cav, which should break up any attempted infantry flanking maneuvers. Eventually, their cav will begin to break and retreat. It is imperative that we do not begin pursuit until all of their cav is disorganized: we must not risk being lured by a feigned retreat and taken by a counter-charge, a la Hastings. Once pursuit begins, it should be a steady advance, keeping the wall more or less intact, while our cav ranges ahead to break up the stragglers. Infantry engagements should be of purely secondary importance once their cav is gone, but there we should seek a headon confrontation, as their men probably won't be able to meet the Torrsviking. For various reasons, it is more important that we be victorious than that we kill large numbers of the enemy in a rout, so don't take unnecessary risks, and don't run into SirlenKengent covering the retreat. Continual defeat will wear down enemy morale, as long as we are left in possession of the field we can continue on to whatever goal we were pursuing, and a broken army will take long enough to reorder that we will have moved on by the time it could once again constitute a threat.

Naval Tactical Guidelines:
We must exploit our far superior maneuverability and seamanship. The Celts may have good crews, but our entire society and way of life is based around the sea, while longships are vastly quicker and more agile than cogs at the worst of times, and Caerixian cogs are still less maneuverable than the norm. Our impressed merchantmen should form the center of the line; merchant cogs can engage the Celts on even terms. Particularly large and powerful longships should also be in the center, lashed together preferably. The center should keep the Celts busy and drive gaps in their line. In the meantime, wolfpacks of longships operating from the flanks are to dart in and out of the fray, harassing the enemy formation while avoiding unfavourable fights, while the rest of the longships gradually extend the line and turn the flanks. The goal is to break the enemy organization and have the fight turn into a melee. The wolfpacks will then descend on isolated cogs and overwhelm them one at a time; no matter how tenacious the Caerixians may be, no single ship can survive when engaged by four or five enemy vessels at once. Meanwhile, extended flanks, which we can do due to our numerical advantage, will collapse on the enemy fleet, preventing escape. That's for engaging Caerixian cogs. From the Picts we don't anticipate trouble. They cannot possibly match us at our own game, and a lot of their sailors and captains must be recruited from the old Germanic colonies on the islands and coast, and might even be induced to defect. Should the Hibernians intervene, things will necessarily be more difficult, if only because the numbers will be more even, but we do not expect an undue amount of difficulty. The whole point, and sole advantage, of a cog is that it's bigger and higher than a longship; the small Hibernian regular cogs give up the advantage of size, and thus of height – any ship smaller than a normal cog but tall enough to be problematic wouldn't be seaworthy, let alone combat-worthy - but still can't be as quick and maneuverable as the longships. The Seoltoireacht, meanwhile, seem to be optimized for ramming, which hasn't been effective as a tactic since antiquity. If they want to fight like Greeks, we shan't stop them committing suicide. Our ships can perfectly easily avoid any attempts to ram, while once again ganging up on the enemy and raking their decks with projectiles as they try to get themselves sorted after an unsuccessful ramming attempt. They'll be destroying their formation for us.

NOTE ON ATITHREK: We've not assigned any forces to the area, as we assume the Viklanders will be capable of taking care of the province without aid. Fairly obvious, but thought I ought to make it completely clear.
 
Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 761-765 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Gorm the Young/Perfectionist
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy with minor bureaucratic elements; highly decentralised fiefdoms in Latgallian and Finnish interiors.
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; distinct, but similar and increasingly assimilated ex-Vendelian population in the north; Germanic populations in the far southwest; the Danes themselves are for the most part culturally independent, with foreign influences being purely secondary; advanced, very influential; unified and flourishing; considerable Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences; quite influential in its region.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 12 regiments, 12 Torrsviking regiments, 7 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry (also, an elite heavy cavalry arm); excellent leadership.
Navy: 168 ships, 30 levy ships
Navy Description: Sturdy longships with good, experienced crews; also, some war cogs.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (2/2/5) (2 banked)
Area (Points Required): 5
Infrastructure: Very Efficient
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 4
Military Cap: 30
Education: Well Educated
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Danavirki (fortified wall in southern Jutland) (Done!), Elfsdrapa (+cultural vitality, unity, influence, +1 Education) (Done!), Austriki (+integration of Latgallia and Finland, +assimilation in Latgallia and Finland) (1/4)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):

ECONOMY:
9 Economy + 2 Banked + 1 from Thuringia = 12 EP

9 EP (12 > 3 EP) to Ships (168 > 258 Ships)
1 EP (3 > 2 EP) to Odrysa in exchange for the services of 10 mercenary Regiments.
1 EP (2 > 1 EP) to Torrsviking Regiments (12 > 17 Regiments)
1 EP (1 > 0 EP) to logistics

Recommend that Vikland puts most of its economy into ships.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
1) Set up a new Telamondesos, sign a peace with him, transfer our land in Arecomicia to his government and start gathering support for him. It's simple enough. Find a royal relative who wants to be king, preferably from that Cymru branch. Pick the most charismatic and skilled of them, and convince, preferably not coerce, the nobles of the east and the people of the city of Caerix to acclaim him as king, and let him have a proper coronation in the city. Once that happens, recognize Rhodri (because I have to call him something; who knows, maybe he'll even turn out Mawr) as the rightful Telamondesos and sign a peace with him, in which he recognizes Vikland's rule in Atithrek, and we remove ourselves from Arecomicia, with no tribute paid. Turn our occupied lands over to his government, and pull out our occupying forces from the city of Caerix. Then sign a separate agreement in which we provide an army to press Rhodri's rightful claim against Sueussus in return for payment to be determined after victory. Set about gathering support for Rhodri. It is hoped that this will be easy, as he will have secured a good and honourable peace with us, which Suessus refused to do, and nobles hate spending money on royal wars. Make it clear that we will consider ourselves at peace with any noble who supports Rhodri. We further hope that holding Caerix itself will be a powerful legitimizing factor for Rhodri. We cannot overemphasize, and it must be made absolutely clear to everyone in Caerix, that this man is not a Danish creature. We do not want a puppet ruler. There must be no direct Danish oversight of his government. We desire it to be perceived that he is a completely sovereign and independent ruler, and we are simply providing him with an army until he can maintain his own. If it works, this stroke will cause Suessus' support to collapse almost instantly. When presented with a choice between fighting for an aim – our expulsion - with doubtful prospects, and achieving that aim by simply accepting a different, but still related and legitimate, king, we hope that the nobility will fall over themselves to get away from Suessus. If it doesn't work, we lose nothing of consequence and still fan factionalism in Caerix, which can only be to our advantage, and get a government for our insular holdings. At the very least, it might cut the bottom out of Caerixian attempts to raise Tigranist ire against us; they can scarcely claim that we intend to conquer the land and wipe out the religion if we relinquish our gains and begin fighting for Tigranists. We cease to be demonic invaders, and become simply mercenaries, if unusually well organized, fighting for a side in a civil war, which is a very common occurrence. In a very similar situation, Alfred's attempts to unite the country against the Vikings using essentially the same rhetoric fell largely on deaf ears until the tide had definitively turned, and in the succession war following his death the illegitimate candidate sought out Viking aid and would have won had he not inconveniently died.

MILITARY ORDERS:

Land Campaign
Assigned Forces: 12 Regiments, 17 Torrsviking Regiments, 10 Odrysan Mercenary Regiments, 7 Levy Regiments, Vikland's Army

First things first, confiscate every horse we can find and mount as much of our army as possible. That was always the first step of viking armies. Our men will not, of course, ride into battle: only between battles. We'll need to be as mobile as possible for our plans to work properly. For 760, our goal must be to wear down the Caerixian counterattack. They will doubtless call up as many peasant crusaders as they can and try to bury us with numbers before committing their standing army, which must be recalled from Iberia anyway. They may not be intended to attack; however, for the moment we would prefer to stay on the defensive, rather taking unnecessary risks before the arrival of the Viklanders and Odrysans, and we expect that, once they see that we are not pressing for Bristol, the crusader levies will insist on counter-attacking. The attack will almost certainly be aimed at Caerix itself, as the crusaders will scarcely stand for pursuing any goal other than the liberation of the holy city, and will probably come down the Thames, that being the easiest and fastest route to the city. We believe that the best course of action is to, in the winter before the campaigning season, confiscate every bit of food in the Thames valley while improving the local forts as far as possible, then scorch the valley. When they come in the spring, get them bogged down in difficult sieges amid blackened terrain and let them starve. In the meantime, try to use our superior mobility – fanatical levies not being known for rapid movement – to make attacks of opportunity and isolate and destroy segments. Our cavalry arm might be particularly useful against the undisciplined levies. Do not enter a battle where we can be overwhelmed by superior numbers; however, also do not allow them to retake Caerix itself. If they manage to reach the city, garrison it strongly and try to trap them between the walls and our relieving army.

The north will probably be overrun by Picts. We don't care. Anyone who holds the south of England can take the north at his leisure, and occupation by a bunch of wild Picts could make the people look rather more favourably on Rhodri than Suessus.

The Odrysans, assuming they trickle up throughout 761, should be on site in force by early in 762, and Vikland's forces should have finished their transfer to Arecomicia as well. With the arrival of the Viklander reinforcements and the fresh, battle hardened and presumably extremely disciplined, by northern standards, Odrysans we will go over to the offensive. We intend this to be the decisive year. Encircle the Caerixian forces in the Thames valley, and then advance up the Severn. We are, once again, not interested in occupation. Attempting to garrison territory would destroy our field army far more surely than anything the Caerixians do. Pillage our way through the countryside and assault Bristol. Presumably the Caerixian army will make a stand at the city, and if we can shatter them here they will no longer be able to effectively oppose us. Our immediate goal here is to take Bristol and break the Caerixian army, obviously enough, but the ultimate aim of the campaign is to kill, capture, or humiliate Suessus. Without his leadership, we hope that the Caerixian nobility will be far more willing either to accept Rhodri or back a more conciliatory candidate. Hopefully, Suessus will die on the walls of the city, but if he runs we must chase him. This is almost preferable in fact, as a martyr's death defending the holy city could provide a rallying point for further resistance, while fleeing like a coward will only highlight his unfitness for rule. If he goes into Wales, see if we can't convince that Cymru branch to betray him. After the death or marginalization of Suessus, our course of action depends on the response of the remaining Caerixian resistors. Ideally, they will now either accept Rhodri as Telamondesos or buy us off, in which case part of the army should go beat up Picts in the north, and the rest should remain in the south to continue providing Rhodri's muscle. If, however, they decide to keep fighting, hunt them down one by one and eliminate them. Target prominent resistors first, before a faction can coalesce around them. Kill them, and install more reasonable men.

Tactical guidelines remain generally as previously. The Odrysans should give us a decisive advantage in cavalry, which we should use to neuter the Caerixian cavalry and execute more flanking and encirclement attacks. Mass frontal cavalry charges against disciplined infantry remain prohibited, though they may be efficacious against levies.

Naval Campaign

Assigned Forces: 258 Ships, 30 Levy Ships, Vikland's Navy.

We must keep the command of the sea at all costs. So long as the Tigranist fleets are inferior to our own, they can't sustain any invasion of our lands, and the worst we can do is a draw. They must know this, and so we expect them to go all out to break our naval strength. The first thing we expect the Tigranists to do is gather their fleets. However, it will take time for them to gather and provision their cogs, and since at least the Caerixian fleet, and probably the Hibernian as well, must transport an army, there will be an additional delay as they get their soldiers aboard and ready to transport. It could be an entire spring and summer before they're ready to even set sail, while our fleet is already at sea and so can act immediately. We must use this period, when we still have overwhelming numerical superiority, to the utmost. The Pictish fleet is irrelevant, and the Caerixian one out of reach, so we're going to knock out the Hibernians with a single bold strike on their home ports.

Our fleet, which presumably is currently engaged on Caerix's eastern coast, is to move along the southern coast of Caerix towards Hibernia. Along the way, it is to descend on every major port, burn it and destroy its facilities; we are particularly interested in destroying Plymouth. Cogs need fairly extensive port facilities, but longships don't, so if we can severely damage Caerix's southern ports, we will greatly impair the ability of their fleet to operate in any significant capacity at no cost to ourselves. With the Caerixian army heavily engaged against our men in the east, resistance will hopefully be minimal. Once we round Land's End, we stop hugging the coast and cut straight across to Hibernia. Our goal here is to cripple the Hibernian fleet: whatever action is necessary to achieve this goal is authorized. In our ideal scenario, the Hibernians aren't warned of our arrival, or at least not in sufficient numbers to be a major threat, and haven't finished preparing their fleet for transport. We descend on the mustering ports, fight off the outnumbered and surprised defenders and burn their fleet at anchor. If they are expecting us or have already put to sea, things are otherwise. If they want to come out and fight, this one time the prohibition on general fleet engagements is lifted and we should engage and destroy them. However, this strikes us as rather unlikely: they'll be badly outnumbered and hopefully caught wrongfooted. It's more likely that they'll hide in port and wait for Caerix's fleet to arrive. We'll have to dig them out or go in after them, and in either case must do it quickly. A strategy that might be useful is to commandeer local merchant ships and use them as fireships to force the Hibernians to push off in order to avoid them, then go in and use our mobility to cut up the disorganized and lumbering cogs. At any rate, something should be worked out. Following the destruction of the Hibernian combat fleet, we should then take care to burn any transports that could have carried the Hibernian army to Caerix. The fleet will probably have to winter in Hibernia. There are plenty of good places for it: half the cities of modern Ireland started as viking wintering bases. It seems unlikely that Hibernia could gather a sufficient force to expel the fleet before the arrival of spring. When spring does come, the fleet should immediately put to sea and sail back to the Isles of Scilly, there to meet up with the new ships from Scandinavia. From there, the combined, and now truly enormous, fleet is to sail north, ravaging the western coast of Caerix as far as Milford Haven. If possible, we'd very much like to sack Bristol and kill Suessus on this excursion. We should probe the sea defenses of Bristol to see if this is possible. As this cruise should occur simultaneously with the major thrust on land, the defenses of the city will hopefully be depleted. After our cruise up the west coast is finished, the fleet is to split. One part should sail south, to Noirmoutier in Ligania, take the island, and winter there. The other part should go back to the east coast of Caerix and winter there. Over the winter, the southern fleet should send out feelers from Noirmoutier to the restless nobles in the Loire valley, to try to induce them to revolt. When spring comes, immediately start raiding along the coast and far up the Loire, systematically targeting loyalist centers and royal garrisons. Ideally, link up with rebel forces and take and loot Nont. After that, ravage western Brittany. Also, send a couple of ships south, to see if we can raise Ashaist Burgundy against the Tigranists. The commanders of that expedition should be members of our Ashaist community, if at all possible. The northern fleet should make the Channel too hot for any Caerixian presence. Burn every town and village on both sides that we can reach, destroy every merchant and fishing vessel we can find, and generally raise hell in northern Brittany. By preventing the transfer of men or tax revenues from Ligania to Arecomicia or vice versa, this should greatly reduce the efficiency of the Caerixian response in both theatres. The Frisian parts of Caerix should not be targeted, but we should target the centers of Caerixian rule in that area and make a major demonstration up the Seine to try and encourage Sund-Frisian revolt.

Without Hibernian support, we don't expect that the Caerixian fleet will be able to do much, being massively outnumbered, even by our divided fleet, and with the damage we've inflicted on port facilities in the area won't be as able to sustain major operations. We suspect that their target will be our fleet, rather than anything else, and so we hope that they will be forced to remain a purely reactive force, forced to try to hunt down our raiders. In this case, we should, as before, try to deplete their strength by ambushes and so on. There's really nothing in the North Sea for them to target, but if they try to break into the Baltic and attack our trade there, we must respond. Harass and delay them on their transit up the Channel, reunite the fleet, and see if we can't bring them to a general engagement in the constricted waters of the Sund or the Kattegat, where our longships can tear them to shreds.

There is a possibility that the Hellenes will dispatch a significant fleet to assist the Caerixians. If that happens, and if the galleys somehow survive in the Atlantic, just give 'em the run around for a month or two until they starve. A decent sized galley fleet equipped for war would have tens of thousands of men on board. That's probably more than the sum total of the armies fighting in this war, and there is simply no port outside the Mediterranean, and few enough inside, that can resupply that many men.

Spoiler AFSNES - Danelaw - 766-770 :
Danelaw
Capital: Aarhus
Ruler: King Gorm the Young/Perfectionist
Government: Centralised Feudal Monarchy with minor bureaucratic elements; highly decentralised fiefdoms in Latgallian and Finnish interiors.
Culture: Scandic with noteworthy East Germanic admixtures and Frisian influences; distinct, but similar and increasingly assimilated ex-Vendelian population in the north; Germanic populations in the far southwest; the Danes themselves are for the most part culturally independent, with foreign influences being purely secondary; advanced, very influential; unified and flourishing; considerable Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations in the colonies; mostly negligible Ashaist presences; quite influential in its region.
Technology: Dark Age with growing Steel Age elements.
Army: 7 regiments, 14 Torrsviking regiments, 8 levy regiments
Army Description: Well-trained, well-equipped, loyal and mostly disciplined army of heavy infantry (also, an elite heavy cavalry arm); excellent leadership.
Navy: 226 ships, 23 levy ships
Navy Description: Sturdy longships with good, experienced crews; also, some war cogs.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (2/2/5) (4 banked)
Area (Points Required): 5
Infrastructure: Very Efficient
Bureaucracy: Efficient
Population (Points Required): 4
Military Cap: 30
Education: Well Educated
Living Standards: Normal
Confidence: Respecting
Projects: Danavirki (fortified wall in southern Jutland) (Done!), Elfsdrapa (+cultural vitality, unity, influence, +1 Education) (Done!), Austriki (+integration of Latgallia and Finland, +assimilation in Latgallia and Finland) (2/4)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Nord-Frisia’s main competitor for Scandic hegemony, Danelaw has arisen in the late 6th century AD to become a mighty military power with surprising amounts of political unity. At some point the Danes were hegemonic in the North Sea, and controlled Vikland. Since then, defeats at Caerixian and Nord-Frisian hands led to Danelaw’s decline, but in more recent times it managed to carve out a new empire of trade outposts and colonies in the Baltic Sea, leading to new tensions with Latgallia and Vendelia. Danelaw remains, above all, a nation of great warriors.

ECONOMY:
9 Economy + 4 Banked + 1 from Hellenic Ascendancy + 1 from Hibernia for peace + 1 from Pictavia for peace + 5 from Rhodri in payment for mercenary services = 21 EP

2 EP (21 > 19 EP) to Military Cap (30 > 40)
1 EP (19 > 18 EP) to project (2/4 > 4/4, DONE)
5 EP (18 > 13 EP) to Infrastructure (Very Efficient > Great), concentrating on the provinces of the far side of the Baltic, to bring them up to par
1 EP (13 > 12 EP) to development of economy in the Baltic provinces; See DOMESTIC ORDERS ITEM 2
1 EP (12 > 11 EP) to goodwill gifts to Viklander nobles
1 EP (11 > 10 EP) to establishing the government of the semi-autonomous Principality of Gardariki; See DOMESTIC ORDERS ITEM 1
1 EP (10 > 9 EP) to bribing various northern Rzekan chiefs to rebel; See ESPIONAGE ITEM 1
3 EP (9 > 6 EP) to Regiments (7 > 22 Regiments)
1 EP (6 > 5 EP) to Torrsviking (14 > 19 Regiments)
5 EP (5 > 0 EP) to Bureaucracy (Efficient > Great)

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
1) Establish the Principality of Gardariki, covering our remaining unintegrated eastern possessions. The increased trade in the east has increased the importance of Gardariki. We can no longer allow the region to be a patchwork of feuding nobles. However, we also cannot exercise direct control: it is too distant, and would require far too much of our time and resources. Therefore, we shall take a page out of the Carolingian book: instead of trying to directly control many nobles, set up a regional power broker who can keep them in line, and directly control him. It's regrettable that Gorm doesn't yet have a son, or he would be perfect, but we'll make do. Select a particularly ruthless, skilled and powerful noble from Gardariki, elevate him to Princedom, and require our vassals there to swear fealty to him. His position is basically to be that of the Carolingian marchio's, or the great ealdormen of the late Anglo-Saxon kingdom. The position is appointed, not hereditary, which must be made clear from the start. While the Prince has a good deal of leeway in his local dealings - since we don't really care how he deals with the nobles as long as he keeps them in line - he's still responsible to the King and there will be royal officials to keep an eye on him.
2) Develop the economy in the Latgallian and Finnish provinces. Having politically integrated the territory, we must now economically integrate it. Presumably, these territories are significantly less developed than the western ones: remedy that. Construct mills and workshops, step up amber extraction and transportation in Latgallia and tar production in Finland. Introduce our more advanced farming techniques, including the metal plough, which apparently wasn't used by Slavs or Balts at this time, and the three field system.
3) Propagandize the hell out of the successful conclusion of the war. We retook Vestland, pillaged a good section of western Europe, got paid for doing the pillaging, forced two countries to pay us tribute, and played kingmaker in what was the greatest power in Europe. If that's not worth a confidence boost, little is.
4) Make the Oath of Abona, providing for the future union of Danelaw and Vikland. We name Harald Gorm's heir, Harald names Gorm his heir. We hope that there won't be much resistance to the plan: we're counting on the two kings having so much prestige at the moment that no one will dare oppose them. They're returning as conquering heroes, weighed down with treasure, having made and unmade a Telamondesos and broken the Tigranist threat; there will never be a better time. Push the concept of Norse unity as hard as we can, as well.
5) CONTINGENCY: If Harald dies. It seems fairly likely. He became king in 720, so he's in his fifties at least by now, and Canute only made it to forty. Anyway, if he does, Gorm must go to Vikland immediately and be crowned. Be very generous with both gifts and esteem to gain the loyalty of the nobility - in particular, make sure that Viklanders fill the high positions – and dramatically promise to uphold the rights and privileges of the Viklanders. It is imperative that the union is not seen as a Danish takeover by either the Viklanders or the Danes, and all of our rhetoric and propaganda must reflect that fact; equality and unity are the order of the day. Once Vikland is secure, summon the nobles of all our realms to the temple of Odin at Lejre. There, with all of them watching, hold a grand ceremony crowning Gorm as the Raven King of the Norse. (The title might require a little explanation. Simple 'King' seems wholly insufficient for such a large realm, and at any rate makes things a bit difficult if we need to use sub-kings later on, Norse not having any equivalent of 'regulus'; 'Emperor' seems to only exist in Norse by absorption from Rome, and so isn't applicable here; 'King of Kings', while always usable, is unwieldy and I dislike it. 'Raven King' asserts a special personal connection of the king with the gods, connects the king with all the nice symbolism of the raven, and by analogy with 'Raven God' implicitly asserts a similar degree of superiority over kings that Odinn has over gods. Besides, I like the sound of it)
6) Accept a delegation of Agade Dag missionaries. Be polite, but we doubt they'll make much headway. Before the kings got involved, a century and a half of Christian missionary activity had succeeded only in convincing a few Norsemen to make sacrifices to Jesus next to those for Thor and Odinn.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
1) Sign peace treaties with Hibernia and Pictavia. They pay 1 EP each to Danelaw, and Pictavia delivers the Shetlands and Faroes to Vikland.
2) Sign a treaty of friendship and a trade agreement with Rhodri before departing Caerix.

ESPIONAGE:
1) Begin attempts to break up the Rzekan confederacy. Formed in the face of a threat that is now gone thirty years, the Rzekan confederacy lacks a compelling reason for existence. Ply the chiefs of the north with silver and promises and try to get them to throw off the authority of the Rzekan Knyaz.

MILITARY POLICY:
1) Release all levies (8 > 0 Levy Regiments; 23 > 0 Levy Ships)
2) Organize the return of the Odrysan mercenaries to Odrysa.

MILITARY OPERATIONS:

Seizure of Polotsk
Assigned Forces: 4 Regiments, 4 Torrsviking Regiments, 20 Ships

The Dvina is too important an artery to be left in unreliable native control. Sail up the river, storm Polotsk, and kick out the local chief. From the Polotsk citadel, conduct raids on the surrounding territory to compel the local tribes into tributary servitude. Ought to be fairly easy, especially considering that a Norse pirate was able to do it in OTL. Polotsk is not to be under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Gardariki; instead it should be built up as a directly royally garrisoned strongpoint, both to control the upper reaches of the Dvina, and as a reminder of the presence and power of the king, even on the far edge of our civilization. Once the area around Polotsk is subdued, these forces should join with our forces in Gardariki.

Gardariki

Assigned Forces: 12 Regiments, 12 Torrsviking Regiments, Gardariki levies

The men are first to go east with the royal proclamation elevating the Prince of Gardariki to his position. They're initially to provide muscle, to make sure things go smoothly and nobody gets any funny ideas, and should also compel any prodigal sons to submit to the Prince. Once the principality is secured, we start expanding it. Specifically, we intend to secure Gnezdovo and the portage to the Dneiper, and the route to the headwaters of the Volga and the important trading centers around Murom and Timerevo. The Dneiper should be fairly easy, since we've had a presence in Gnezdovo for a couple of decades now and our traders are hugely important to the prosperity of the local elites. Kick out the local ruler and install a Scandinavia jarl, then, as at Polotsk, reduce the immediately surrounding tribes to subservience. Once the other end of the portage is secure, secure the portage itself. Set up a chain of forts stretching between the Lovat and Dvina and Gnezdovo, and drive out any particularly violent tribes. On the Volga, seize the disconnected urban centers on the rivers that we've mentioned, fortify them, and expand a zone of tributary peoples around them. Our goal in doing these things is to secure the trade routes; we're not interested in securing vast swathes of sparsely populated territory in the hinterlands.

Miscellaneous
Assigned Forces: 6 Regiments, 3 Torrsviking Regiments, 206 Ships

The land forces are to be spread throughout our domains, keeping the peace as always. The navy is to conduct anti-piracy patrols in the Baltic and North Sea, to cut short any increase in piracy related to the end of the war.
 
Sadly enough, I've discovered that most of my orders for Tiahuanaco were deleted, and that I'm left with only the final set. Annoying as it is to admit it, I actually did plan out my wars for Tiahuanaco, and losing those sets is a bit of a disappointment. My orders for Prasanna were nowhere near the height the others reached.

Orders for Antimaqta-741-746
Spoiler :

Antimaqta
Capital: Sisa Llaqta
Ruler: Sun-Emperor Intiamru/~Darkening~
Government: Bureaucratic Monarchy with feudal and theocratic elements
Culture: Neo-Tiahuanacan (Moche/Mochefied Pirincar with very major native Tiahuanacan admixtures and influences) with growing modern Moche influences; in renaissance, but fairly united, fanatical and influential; emperor-cult mixed with sun-worship is the state and largely the predominant religion, despite various local cults in the peripheral and northern regions; increasingly-assimilated, but still resistant assorted Moche populations in the northwestern half.
Technology: New World Bronze Age – less advanced in naval technology, but ahead in metallurgy and engineering.
Army: 15 regiments, 5 Allillantaqmi regiments
Army Description: Dedicated, highly-experienced and very well-organised standing army (chiefly medium infantry).
Navy: 24 ships
Navy Description: Medium-sized ships, similar to Pacatnamu designs; good, well-educated crews.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Consolidating (2/4/2)
Area (Points Required): 5
Infrastructure: Good
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 5
Military Cap: 40
Education: Perfect
Living Standards: Good
Confidence: Nation Personified
Projects: City of the Sun (+1 Education, +1 Manufacturing) (Done!), Sisa Llaqta (+Sisa Llaqta capital, +1 Manufacturing, +1/2 Living Standards) (Done!)
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background: Tiahuanaco has been one of the earliest cradles of civilisation in the New World, and was the capital of two great Andean empires. Though the third one, formed by the Moche northerners, had successfully conquered Tiahuanaco itself (then known as Cahuachi), after its fall the city reemerged as a significant Andean centre; under new Pirincar rulers, it entered into a renaissance, taking upon a new cultural identity and becoming an important empire. Being a major military power, Tiahuanaco is probably Pacatnamu’s main competitor for Andean hegemony.

Spending:

4 points to Education
2 points to carry out the numerous reforms (supporting the army to ensure stability).
1 point for 5 Allillantaqmi divisions.
1 point for 5 regiments.

Domestic:

1.) With the passing of Intiamru (741), the throne will be passed to the older son Huayna. A pomp ceramony, the passing of the throne to Huayna will mark the beginning of the era opf Antimaqta. The main noteworthy issue about the succession is that during the passing of the throne, Chaqauta manages to bestow upon himself actual powers as the Sinchikura (the Divined Priest).
2.) The Sinchikura, the actual pyshical head of the priests-being Chaqauta, is primarily a new position, as usually the Sun-Emperor (Piwitayta) acts as the head of the priests. However, as Chaqauta was placed in this role with the aging of his father, he manages to retain the powers (and expand them) during his father's sucession. Verbally speaking, the main powers of the Sinchikura are drawn from the reverence of the Sun-god, as the Sinchikura is believed not only to be descended from Inti, but in addition to be able to speak for him (something no one else can claim). While his main powers concern the religious aspects of the daily life of the empire, Chaqauta and his followers hold considerable power due to the fact that most of the Sun Emperors actions need their blessing.
3.) After having a relatively peaceful last five years, Chaquata is to take being the Sinchikura in stride. His first act will be to organize the many temples and priests to Inti into one system, the Atumisayuq. Basically, its a simple tiered system in which different levels have different powers. For example, on the bottom level a single temple will be placed under the control of a head priest. From there, a number of temples are placed under the guidance of a higher ranked priest, and a number of them are placed under one of four men. These four men, responsible for retaining control of the temples in the four regions of the empire, report directly to the Sinchikura and bypass the Sun-Emperor directly.
4.) With the support of the Piwitayta (Sun-Emperor), as he has little other choice, the Atumisayuq is to be expanded with a set of rigid morale codes. First, it was implanted that every available citizen of the empire should attend services at the temple once a month at least. Secondly, every cult other than the one to Inti is to be declared corrupt and banned, and anyone caught worshipping anything other than Inti will be subject to sacrifice at the nearest available temple.
5.) Competing somewhat with his brother, Huayna will instate his own codes. First off, it was declared that any man seeking entrance into the army had to be descended from Pirincar-bloodlines, or a bloodline under Tiahuanacian/Hurapan control before the unification. As a trade off, most of the men seeking entrance into the navy were required to be of Moche descent, or not part of the Tiahuanican/Huarpan peoples before the unification. Thirdly, Huayna will create the Mita, the "work-tax". Basically, every man in the empire (barring sickness, disability, or another quality reason) will be required to give a certain number of days to the state to work (typically seventy days a year). The type of work done depends on the social class of the person, with peasents doing the most of the construction and the nobility working to administratre the empire.
6.) Huayna will set up the first Ilustiyachana, or
'Pauper School'. While not intended for the poor, the system will serve the empire by having the most competent males of the empire trained to carry out government fuctions. (4 points to Education)

Military:

1.) Keep the 20 regiments ensuring stability in the Empire.
2.) Use the Allillantaqmi divisions to expand the Empire inwards, drive to conquer the Chorrea tribes.
3.) Explore northward with the navy and attempt to establish permanent contact with the northern states.


Prasanna- Years 766-771
Spoiler :

Prasannan Empire
Capital: Poghidi
Ruler: Emperor Yaappa I/~Darkening~
Government: Parliamentary Monarchy with limited feudal and bureaucratic elements
Culture: Indo-Sinhalese with very heavy Avyaktaragan influences and admixtures; Paramatmanistic with competing movements; small, but thriving Yahweist Jewish community; slightly regionalistic; flourishing, but increasingly conflicted with various radical movements.
Technology: Age of Exploration
Army: 42 regiments
Army Description: Professional, well-equipped, well-organised army (chiefly heavy and medium infantry, with a medium cavalry arm and an engineer corps); good siege equipment.
Navy: 241 ships, 10 privateer ships
Navy Description: Advanced, powerful tall warships with uneven crews; also, some advanced catamarans.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (3/1/2)
Area (Points Required): 3
Infrastructure: Great
Bureaucracy: Great
Population (Points Required): 4
Military Cap: 50
Education: Academic
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects:
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Old Malaya (directly-governed coastal colonies plus some protected inland principalities and tribes/1/1/4 regiments/Loyal)
Sumatra (directly-governed coastal colonies plus some protected inland principalities and tribes/1/1/3 regiments/Loyal)
Nation Background: The near-collapse of the Sinhalese Empire in the early 3rd century AD had a major and largely unexpected effect, when the imperial family fled to the allied Podhigai (now Poghidi) Ascendancy on Lanka and, retaining a great amount of its naval power and colonies, managed to negotiate an union which created the world’s first true parliamentary monarchy. The new Prasannan Empire managed to reconquer southern Deccan and went on to prevail in the various power-games played in Southeast Asia, establishing a grand colonial empire and now looking to expand it further. This kind of success breeds arrogance in the empire itself, and envy amongst its neighbors; in coming days that is sure to be a source of much conflict.

Spending

4 points on military regiments to bring out total to 60.
2 points to raise our military cap to 60.

Foreign Diplomacy

1.) A member of the Prasannan court will be sent to Bangha with an urgent note written personally by the Emperor Yaappa in 766 this hand-written note, Yaappa is to deliver to the king Palaraja II a request for assistance against the Sitivasasian High kingdom. Most noting how its king Konavrttaijt II has already annexed several states, made out in the open threats to those states left in the Indies, and how he has for several years now keep a large army despite the prevailing of peace in the times. Highlighting the instability of Konavrttaijt, the member of the court is to also show several dispatched notes from the Sitivasasans which range from declaring war upon Prasanna to asking for an alliance to finally asking for a peace. Finally, the member of the court if to urge Palaraja II to intervene against Sitivasas while he can- not only would he be able to claim several regions that should belong to Bangha but he would reduce the greatest threat to his power at the moment. The main goal of this visit is to get Bangha to declare war against Sitivasas.
2.) A minor member of the Prasannan court will be sent to the kingdom of Sharmathai in 766.The main issue will be to convince King Sharmachaphra I that the war with Sunda was not Prasanna’s doing. Out of desire to expand their borders, the Sunda betrayed the times of peace and attacked with the vile Ayutamradvipans. We will admit to the planning of war against the Ayutmradvipans- they attacked Prasanna in times past- but the war with Sunda was completely out of our hands. Hopefully convincing Sharmachaphra of this, the court member will attempt to sway the king into remaining neutral with the promise of a sale. In exchange of a price of (equivalent to 1 ep), Prasanna will offer to sell Sharmathai the northern strip of land in Malaya that currently touches his borders towards the other sea- as a sign of his friendship for the Sharmathai. If possible, urge Dharmachaphra to send troops to assist Prasanna against Sitivasas (not Sunda) in exchange for granting their special privileges in Malay.
3.) Another court member will be sent to Girnari Irinate in 766 to convince the Irin Asimaha to assist in the assault against Sitivasas. Issue the following proclamation to Irin Asimaha: should the Gimari assist in the moment of urgency, Prasanna would declare herself the protector of Gimari independence and any assault upon Gimari would be taken as an attack upon Prasanna herself.
4.) Individual pirates operating within the Indonesian seas are to be given clemency in Prasannan ports, and for any outstanding individual who takes it upon their selves to attack our enemies will be granted full and effective pardons for their crimes against Prasanna. Not only that, but we will grant them rights to hold their loot in our lands and will issue lands to those pirates who assault Sunda or Ayutamradvipa.

War of the Four Tigers:

1.) The War of the Four Tigers (as it’ll be known in Prasanna) is named such after the four chief generals within the Prasanna military: Sudatta, Amoghavardha, Nandivaraman, Dantidurga. These four commanders will be placed at the head of the military, and will have all authority to make split-second decisions that could affect the outcome of the war. They have the emperor’s permission to press advantages, pull back from disadvantages, and strike at any opportunity available. Note: While I may describe some of the strategies they may use, I do expect that I would have some acceptable generals who can think on their own. Sorry about making you do most of the work, but I’m simply not a tactician.
-Sudatta, a calm and collected elderly general, will be made the commander of the eastern flank. He will be tasked with fight off any Sunda advance and will be responsible for ensure the dominion of the eastern colonies. While he won’t be granted any semblance of a large number of infantry, he will be granted the vast majority of the Prasannan naval forces. His official count will be ten regiments and 210 naval ships. Sudatta, also known as the Orangutan general, will focus primarily upon ambushes instead of committing to actual battles- he should never openly seek to fight the Sundanese on Sumatra (his station). If needed, he should withdraw from the forces into the jungles, and from the reemerge to continually harass the Sundanese. Assuming that the Sundanese will attempt to occupy the last major city under Prasannan control on Sumtra; Sudatta is to pull from it when the Sundanese make their assault, into the jungles. Sometime after the city falls (and the occupiers grow tired and lazy), Sudatta is to reemerge and harass them into surrendering (hopefully). Along with Amoghavardha, he will attempt to hold the enemy navies from the ocean by ambush and picking them off one by one.
-Amoghavardha, a more impulsive general, will be given control of five regiments and thirty-two ships to protect Malaya. Should Sharmathai choice to ignore our plea and offer, then he will not seek them out but rather continue to fight a guerrilla war against the larger Sharmathai force. Otherwise he should focus on maintain the defense line (drawn between Malaya and Sumatra) and repealing any odd Ayutamradvipan assault.
-Nandivaraman- along with Dantidurga- will be given command of our forces arranged against Sitivasas. Nandivaraman will be stationed in the south, with the primary focus of avoiding being annihilated by the Sitivasasan numbers. Hopefully having the Bahulatvans as the main focus of the Sitivasans, the pressure on Prasanna may be lower so Nadivaraman’s position may change at will. However, his main position will be along the coast and he should move to secure the Sitivasas economic city on the south-eastern coast. As he moves along the coast, he should urge the natives to rise up and join his army. Despite the fact that the former nation of the people attacked Prasanna, proclaim the promise of restoring a state to the people should they enlist in the Prasannan army. He will have twenty normal regiments under his command, plus a fair share of levees and any of the natives who join him.
- Dantidurga will be given the hardest task of the war- aiding the Bahulatvans and facing the brunt of the Sitavasasan army. He will move up through central India, trying to fortify the northern most of the two rivers while holding off any assault upon his position. He shouldn’t (but can if the situation presents itself) cross the river and attack Sitivasas until at least 768, with proper fortifications in place. After this time, he may feel free to cross the river (provided he won’t be annihilated), and if needed to attack the Sitivasans if they’re probing too far into Bahulatvan territory.
-Should Bangha come to our aid, we will ask them to focus primarily in taking control of the Sitivasan coast. If the two forces- Nadivaraman and the Banghan general- meet along the coast, then they are to turn from their current spot and move further inwards. Should they be confronted by a larger Sitivasan army- and they’re in reasonable distance of each other- then they should at least attempt to help each other out and defeat the Sitivasans.
-Should Gimari come to attack Sitivasas, then we should ask them to assist the Bahulatvans against Sitivasas.


Orders for Prasanna- Years 771-776
Spoiler :

Prasannan Empire
Capital: Poghidi
Ruler: Emperor Yaappa I/~Darkening~
Government: Parliamentary Monarchy with limited feudal and bureaucratic elements
Culture: Indo-Sinhalese with very heavy Avyaktaragan influences and admixtures; Paramatmanistic with competing movements; small, but thriving Yahweist Jewish community; slightly regionalistic; flourishing, but increasingly conflicted with various radical movements.
Technology: Age of Exploration
Army: 46 regiments, 7 levy regiments
Army Description: Professional, well-equipped, well-organised army (chiefly heavy and medium infantry, with a medium cavalry arm and an engineer corps); good siege equipment.
Navy: 234 ships, 18 privateer ships
Navy Description: Advanced, powerful tall warships with uneven crews; also, some advanced catamarans.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (3/1/2) (2 banked)
Area (Points Required): 3
Infrastructure: Great
Bureaucracy: Great
Population (Points Required): 4
Military Cap: 50
Education: Academic
Living Standards: Very High
Confidence: Admiring
Projects:
Colonies (Government/Income/Population/Militia/Loyalty):
Old Malaya (directly-governed coastal colonies plus some protected inland principalities and tribes/1/1/4 regiments/Loyal)
Sumatra (directly-governed coastal colonies plus some protected inland principalities and tribes/1/1/3 regiments/Loyal)
Nation Background: The near-collapse of the Sinhalese Empire in the early 3rd century AD had a major and largely unexpected effect, when the imperial family fled to the allied Podhigai (now Poghidi) Ascendancy on Lanka and, retaining a great amount of its naval power and colonies, managed to negotiate an union which created the world’s first true parliamentary monarchy. The new Prasannan Empire managed to reconquer southern Deccan and went on to prevail in the various power-games played in Southeast Asia, establishing a grand colonial empire and now looking to expand it further. This kind of success breeds arrogance in the empire itself, and envy amongst its neighbours; in coming days that is sure to be a source of much conflict.

Spending:
2 points to raise our cap from 50 to 60 regiments.
3 points to flesh out our armies from 46 regiments to 60 regiments (ignore the spillover.)
2 points to support the two seperate conflicts (the Sunda conflict and the Sitivas conflict).
1 point used to encourage propaganda and to encourage disserters from the Sitivasan army.

Domestic
1.) With our trade suffering due to the war with Sitivasas, we are to attempt to reroute the merchants through Akkad and Mahapura. In addition, we are to discourage the merchants from trading with Sitivasas- more in an attempt to bleed them dry, instead of actually defeating them.
2.) This war is to be played up to the general populace as a war of defence against the glutton king of Sitivasas. Mostly used to get men to flock to the cause, the propaganda will consist mostly of men giving speeches on the street corners.
3.) In addition to Sitivasas, we are to discourage all possible merchants- including those of Sharmathai and Bangha- from trading with either the Sunda or Ayutamradvipa.
4.) The rule of Prasanna will pass swiftly from Emperor Yaappa to his son, Sundaramurthi in 771 through very peaceful means. Yaappa will continue to advise his son in the handling of the war, consisting of an hands-off advisor until his death (sometime around 764).

War
1.) An immediate dispatch is to be sent to the Banghan king warning of the possible attempt by Sitivasas to focus against him primarly. While we can not gurantee the reliability of the information, it would be better for him to assume its truth and secure his definsive positions in the first two years of the war.
2.) General Amoghavardha will be pulled from Malaya in 771, to be transfer back to the (new) war in India. The defence of Malaya will be left under one of his top commanders, through the commander will be placed under distanced command of general Sudatta. Basically, the commander can do as needed, through he should also assist Sudatta in withdraw if needed. He will not be appointed any forces, through will rely on the 4 militia divisions.
3.) General Sudatta will be reinforced this turn to the point of having fifteen regiments, and will be given somewhat more lax orders. The Prasannan court should understand by this point that Sumatra is lost for the moment, and only after we finish one war can we hope to reclaim the lands lost. In that spirit, Sudatta is to fight until he can no longer hold the island, and at that point withdraw to Malaya. When he returns to Malaya he should continue the naval war, and defend Malaya with the help of the previous commander.
4.) Like always, we are to continue to advocate piracy against our enemies.
5.) General Amoghavardha will be shifted to the eastern campaign, arriving in Bangha in 772. Having arranged a force of fifteen regiments and 3 levees, he is to advance along with the Banghan troops until they are either met by a Sitivasas defence/offense army, or until the point the Banghans choose to set up a defensive line.
6.) General Nandivaraman, having establish himself in the Godavari valley, will move northwest independetly of the Banghans. His force will consist of ten divisions and 5 levy divisions. His goal, along with Dantidurga, will be grinding away at the Sitivasasn forces until we come towards the second river. Should a Sitivasan army seek battle with Nandivaraman when he is alone, he is to pull back and avoid it at any cost. Only after he meets up with Dantidurga- and the numbers are evened out somewhat- should he seek battle. In addition, he could continue to seek out those unhappy with Sitivasas to serve in his campaign.
7.) We are to assume that a large force will soon be approaching the southern Prasanna lines, mostly due to the Sitivasan desire to inflict a major defeat. Knowning such, we are to transfer our far western territory to the Bahtuvalans and have Dantidurga pull back to the river that formed our previous borders, and continue to fortify it in 771. His forces, 20 divisions strong, will remain behind the line until 773, in which they are to cross and (assuming that they are not pinned down by Sitivasan troops) meet up with Nandivaraman.
8.) The combined forces of Nandivaraman and Dantidurga should concentrate on taking the middle region of India during the years 773-775.
9.) Should we be defeated anywhere, fall back and focus on defense.
 
And, to throw in some spice, modified orders for Ilosilletar/Turn 3
Orders for Ilosilletar/Turn 3
Spoiler :

Ilosilletar/~Darkening~ - Manonash
Ruler/Heir: Taviniur/
Leadership/Stability/Culture: 5/4/ 2
Available Spending: Economy/Treasury: 1/4
Population/Area/Diversity: 1/0/1
Domestic Economy/Trade/National Upkeep: 4/2/0 Growing
Confidence/Corruption: 60%/28%
EC/TC/RC: 1/0/0
Maps & Charts: ,,,MOI,,,,,,,,,,
Religion/Fanaticism Level: Pagan: 0 / 0
Significant natural resources: 1 Tin
Policies Permitted: 2
Indexed Army/Navy Value: 1.3/1.5
UU: 0/0
Army: 325-I, 0-M, no -aUU (1400-max)
Navy: 24-W, 5-T, 0-nUU
Projects: Yes
Army Costs: 1 EP buys: 1000-I, 200-M, 200-aUU
Navy Costs: 1 EP buys: 10-W, 5-T, 10-nUU
Technology: Minimally trained, lightly armored spearmen and archers; bronze weapons; Horse drawn chariots; basic war canoes. Small sailing ships do not sail out of sight of land.

Policies:

1.) Ilieonic Acceptance.
2.) Mandatory military training for all males under 25.

Spending:

1 point to recruit 1000 men.
1 point on army and naval tech.
1 point on recruiting 10 warships.
1 point used on improving Riháre.
1 point kept in the treasury.

While not admitted in the stats, the current Guide of Ilosilletar is Nelliniur. Having ruled for twenty years (since 180), Nelliniur is approaching the end of his rule. His reign was centered mostly on stabilizing the country and improving foreign trade. While not celebrated as one of the greater Guides of the nation, Nelliniur will be recognized as the last of the First Line of Guides, and remembered simply for enforcing the attendance of the Cirynmisran (Marine School) for the 4th Caste. In 206, after twenty-six years of direct rule, Nelliniur will pass away and leave control of Ilosilletar to his nephew, Nalcen (taking the ruling name Nalciniur).
2.) Nalciniur’s first move will be reforming the army in 207. Noting how the Ilieon armies were caught off guard by the previous Rynt invasion, and disgusted by the fact that peace was signed with them, he’ll work tirelessly to correct the lagging army and navy. He’ll form the Cainenulca- the basic unit of the Ilieon army. Composed of one hundred men, the regiment features seven rows of spearmen in the front, and three rows of bowmen in the rear. Each Cainenulca is built to emphasize speed and flexibility, with ten men in each row. Every Cainenulca is placed under the commander of a captain, and then five cainenulcas are placed under the command of a general. By 209, the Ilieon army should be equipped with bronze weaponry (if they weren’t already. In addition, since we have the main source of tin (and bronze is much cheaper for Ilosilletar than foreign nations), we will equip our army with bronze plating (chest plates only), and leather skirts to help protect during combat. Each uniform (specifically the bronze plate) will belong to the state, so after a soldier dies his uniform will be passed down to another soldier. Finally, he is to greatly expand the size of the army. (1 Point)
3.) With the help of the minds of the Cirynmisran, Nalciniur will begin construction on a larger warship in 210. Called the Ciyamohta (Warship); the craft is around the size of a small galley with a covered deck. The main method of power will remain with oars, and its main strength will be in the covered deck ( to allow soldiers some relief form besieging forces) and speed (a large size would allow for more rowers). This isn’t meant to be a UU, but rather an improvement in our existing naval technology. Our naval fleet is to be switched over to Ciyamohtas, hopefully finished by 214. (1 Point)
4.) In 212, Nalciniur will use the expanded armies to purge the lands of any unwarranted influences. Outside Riháre, the capital on the main island, and Ranélen on the tin island (Rautollo), any foreigners caught are to be executed for their trespassing. In short, the easy test used to determine whether someone is a foreigner or not is based upon their speech- if they can speak Quet-Ilieon well enough, they’re deemed citizens of Ilosilletar; since most foreigners have trouble pronouncing the language without making mistakes. Sure, a few natives may die- but that wouldn’t be a problem for Nalciniur. From this point on, Nalciniur’s rule is characterized by a deep hatred for most foreigners (he merely dislikes the Vissarai and allows their presence in Ranélen). For a brief time, ten years, Rihare will be changed from an open city (allowing foreign trade) to a closed city under Nalciniur.
5.) 216- Eager to show off the progress of his ‘modern’ forces, Nalciniur shall order a great expansion into the northern island group. Should these islands be inhabited by local tribes, then we will follow a very simple policy: the first group we come about that refuse to surrender to the army will have its village(s) and farmlands burned. The second group that refuses to surrender will have its men slaughtered. The third will have its men and children slaughtered. Should a forth group refuse to surrender to the army, then they will all be put to death. The army is to only take the small group to our north, not expanding into the region occupied by Tekashen (the island nation to my north).
6.)219- 226(ish)- EDITED
7.) Nalciniur’s son- Mahtiniur- will take over from his father in 229, beginning to reverse his father’s trade policies as soon as he takes over. He’ll reopen the city of Riháre to foreign traders, and will be more generous towards those traders who abuse our rules. In addition he will open a second city on the main island (in the south) for trade, allowing the southern nations to trade there instead of having to navigate the island in order to reach Riháre.
8.)230-260: While his father would be known for his harsh decisions and iron-will, Mahtiniur will earn the nickname ‘Songbird’ for his support of Ilieon arts. With a rich history of musical instruments, Ilosilletar should be among the primary nations with the experience needed to build a primitive flute (the yaime). In addition, Mahtiniur will focus upon installing a ‘golden age’ of Riháre. Not so much used in the traditional sense, the age of Rihare is simply the focused efforts of Mahtiniur to make the city as beautiful as possible. Temples to Vinyille (the native goddess of the rose) will be constructed among the lower city, in additions to hundreds of gardens, crowded buildings, and everything composed of stone.
9.) 268: Mahtiniur, as one of his final acts, will strip the priests of their last remaining powers in Ilosilletar. The Ilieon view of religion is one of decadence; and that the priests served an unnecessary purpose and as such they’ll generally begin to fall out of favor around this time.
10.) 271: Mahtiniur passes away, rule passes to his son Liriniur. Liriniur falls into a position almost comparable to Nelliniur. He’s rarely known outside of creating the first ‘official’ script for Quet-Ilieon, an alphabetic-script in which numbers of lines would stand for a sound. (Ex. The sound ‘b’, the third in their alphabet, would be marked with three slashes. The sound’ t’ would be the thirteenth letter, and it would be marked by thirteen slashes.) In addition, he’s well known for a very simple rhyme in Ilieon:
’Earendilner lílrve nissem lira
Taráro acale
Ae éinta nissem annam jheieon olia.’

‘Earendil sings her golden song
High above the mountain’s peak
She gives her gifts of the people’s dreams.’

Earendil is the name of one of the moons, named after an ancient goddess of love.


I left out the military section since it would expose to much.
 
My orders for Jomon were never very long. This is about as complicated as they got. This was the turn that I engineered an attack against the Ayutamradvipa navy.

Jomon 761-765
Spoiler Stats :
]Capital: Fukushima
Ruler: Priestess-Queen Akira Miamoto/Birdjaguar
Technology: Age of Exploration with various innovations in manufacturing, agriculture and navigation
Army: 30 regiments
Army Description: Well-trained and fanatical warriors (medium infantry); very well-coordinated, excellent leadership.
Navy: 83 ships
Navy Description: Small, highly-maneuverable long-range well-designed ships with excellent crews; some quite battered.
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade): Growing (3/2/3) (1 banked)
Area (Points Required): 3
Infrastructure: Improving (1/3)
Bureaucracy: Competent
Population (Points Required): 4
Military Cap: 30
Education: Enlightenment
Living Standards: Higher
Confidence: Nation Personified
Projects: Queen’s Court of Naval Science and Navigation (+naval bonuses, +superior navigation, +1 Trade) (Done!)


Spending: 9
1 EP sabotage of Ayutamradvipa shipyards
1 EP to finance the pirate attacks on the Ayutamradvipa navy
1 (of 2 remaining) EP to improve infrastructure from Improving to Good
2 EP build 20 warships
1 EP for our expedition to the Far East EP for exploration (see below)
1 EP to expand Izu Oshima and its capabilities to support expeditions to the Far East
1 EP to continue the integration of Korea into Jomon
1 EP for additional training and weapon upgrades for our navy who will be on patrol to stop any suspicious behavior by any of our neighbors.

Akira Miamoto plans her succession and Turi Takajima is placed in line to step into the Queen Priestess role whenever Akira retires.

We will continue to improve life and the economy in Korea to “win the hearts and minds” of the people.

Our Far East plans have two thrusts: Expand Izu Oshima onto more islands with new settlers and improve the infrastructure and manufacturing base to enable it to better support our efforts in the Far Eastern Nippon, the “source of the Sun”. In Nippon itself, we will use our small holding to continue our mapping and exploration north along the coast until we find an even better location that will have an easier time sustaining itself. In addition we will look for the great cities of the north that we have heard about. If we find more populated areas, we will look to establish a trading post there and build good relations with the natives. Should disease continue to be a problem, we will offer any help we can to the natives.

We want our ships and crews to get really good at successfully making the voyages from Jomon to Izu Oshima and from Izu Oshima to Nippon. Regularity and practice are the keys to making such crossing routine. And while making those voyages routine, we will look for ways to improve the ships and food stores for such long voyages. Small convoys of 3-7 ships will sail together for each crossing so that they can support one another in case of trouble. Sailors who make these crossings will be rewarded with bonus pay and badges to mark their new status among Jomonese sailors.

With our previously successful infiltration of the Ayutamradvipa navy, we will put that to use now in conjunction with our close ties to nations on the Indian subcontinent. Using at least two “middle men” to protect (hide) our involvement, we will use pawns in a two part attack on the Ayutamradvipa navy. The attacks will be against the major installations used by their navy with the goal of damaging much of their navy, if it is in port, and to wholly destroy the shipyards. Pirates, thinking that they are being hired by Malays or Indians will be paid to attack and loot the harbors where the naval installations are. As those attacks are underway, our other hirelings will destroy the shipyards. Our skilled Southeast Asian natives will infiltrate the major shipyards of the Ayutamradvipa navy and, to be blunt, destroy them. Fire would probably work best, but these skilled operatives will know the best source of destruction for each situation. Supplies, repair facilities, spare parts, raw materials, manufacturing or crafting shops are all targets. We want to cripple the Ayutamradvipa navy for many years and force a huge expenditure of their budget to replace it all. We are less concerned about the success of the pirate raids, but the destruction or damage of many Ayutamradvipa warships would be nice. The entire raid should appear to be the product of the war with Tibet and their conflicts over Malaysia.
 
@Darkening: I kept a large army to prevent war, which worked very well until you and your buddies broke the last bit of peace there was.
 
Spoiler BirdNES 2: Orders for Iska\Manipur (Part 1) :
The number of characters is apparently too overwhelming for the PM system to handle in one go.

Stats
Iskan/Flying Chicken - Manipur
Ruler/Heir: Elder Byorodsk/Hyenreit the Younger
Overall Score: 345
Leadership/Stability/Culture: 1/2/3
Available Spending: Economy/Treasury: 2/6
Population/Area/Diversity: 2/1/1
Domestic Economy/Trade/National Upkeep: 5/1/0 Growing
Confidence/Corruption: 49%/36%
EC/TC/RC: 1/0/0
Maps & Charts: ,MCT,,,,,,,,,,,,
Religion/Fanaticism Level: Pagan: 1 / 0
Significant natural resources: 0 (none)
Policies Permitted: 1
Indexed Army/Navy Value: 6/1.8
UU: 0/0
Army: 1500-I, 0-M, no -aUU (2000-max)
Navy: 0-W, 0-T, 0-nUU
Projects: No
Army Costs: 1 EP buys: 1000-I, 200-M, 200-aUU
Navy Costs: 1 EP buys: 10-W, 5-T, 10-nUU
Technology: Trained and armored spearmen, swordsmen and archers; bronze weapons; horsemen and chariots for mounted. Improved ship building, but ships do not sail out of sight of land. Dirt roads; religious altars and shrines.

Policies
- All aristocrats are given the following simple mandates: to be responsible for the growth, expansion, and management of their estates, to swear absolute loyalty by the gods to the royal family, to give tribute to the royal family proportional to their rank and title, to provide warriors from their estates in times of need of the Iskan people, and to have their own cavaliers swear allegiance not only to themselves but to the king

Goals
- To centralize leadership using the aforementioned policy, using the old daughter-selling, spying, and coercion technique to solidify loyalties
- To integrate horsemanship into the military doctrine as a role for the cavalier class
- To continue improving naval technology, though improvements to ship technology is mainly left out to raiding parties and the northern lords
- To solidify the government's rule by destroying native warbands, bandit camps, and the like in a campaign from one end of the kingdom to the other

Spending Overview
0.5 EP on dowries and religious marriage ceremonies
2.5 EP on 500 horsemen (made up of the cavalier and nobility caste)
0.5 EP on civilian leadership
0.5 EP on building up a spy network (in-borders for now)

Important Events

Year 301, Months 1-6
- Council Elder Byorodsk, a loyal follower of the royal family, manages affairs directly while waiting for King Hyenreit, who died
- The giant-like Prince Hyenreit, eighteen years of age and the eldest of the late king's children, begins courting Shiana, a daughter of one of the more powerful noble families
- Boshorov, the father of Shiana, disapproves as he is a member of a lot to quietly usurp the power of the royal family

Year 301, Months 7-12
- Boshorov sends his son, Keritsk, to slay Hyenreit once and for all in a secret duel, where Keritsk is killed
- King Hyenreit the Younger begins killing son after son of Boshorov, having scored two dead and five shamed to death
- Boshorov, disheartened by the death of so many of his beloved sons, yields and allows his daughter Shiana to marry the strong Prince Hyenreit

Year 302, Months 1-6
- Prince Hyenreit kills assassin after assassin, thug after thug, and is named Prince Hyenreit the Fighter for his prowess in combat and sheer resilience to the numerous cuts and bruises he had accumulated
- The Council Elder Byorodsk fears for the prince's life while at the same time fears that the King might not return, dispatching scouts to the north

Year 302, Months 7-12
- Shiana betrays her husband by attempting to poison his food, but Prince Hyenreit narrowly avoids death because he was earlier advised by Byorodsk to always have slaves test his food
- Shiana is beaten and kept at home, away from her family at the will of the prince
- Boshorov and his political allies mobilize assassins to attack Hyenreit, but he had himself well-guarded and protected himself from the would-be killers

Year 303, Months 1-6
- Hyenreit is named king and, now tired of aristocrats trying to get at him all the time, visits the aristocratic estates one by one in force to consolidate his rule, forcing them to swear loyalty to him--or else
- King Hyenreit the Fighter begins alliances with his several sisters, promising power and fortune to the women, and marriages between the royal family and almost all the noble families that matter are rife
- The families who married with the princesses of the royal family became favored families, while those who did not were distrusted by both the royalty and the rest of the nobility

Year 303, Months 7-12
- Shiana escapes captivity and rejoins her family, whose head has decided that assassins are no match for the considerable personal guard of cavaliers Hyenreit had raised himself
- Boshorov begins a rebellion which almost engulfed the state into a full-scale civil war, prevented only by the considerable amount of watching-over Hyenreit had put over various powerful noble families

Year 304, Months 1-6
- Boshorov's rebellion is ultimately crushed by his former allies in the so-called Battle of Horses, for it was the battle which was decided by so many horses and horsemen
- King Hyenreit the Fighter is assured the loyalty of his wife and her father, creating a public spectacle of the vow-swearing of them both

Year 304, Months 7-12
- Boshorov commits suicide; his daughter, enjoying the life of a pampered queen, is less in shame and enjoys her luxurious imprisonment away from court intrigue
- King Hyenreit gives out new edicts, with the aid of Elder Byorodsk and the rest of the Council of Elders, which limited the power of the nobility, including limits to land area and cavaliers, in addition to the double-swearing of all cavaliers of Iska

Year 305, Months 1-6
- King Hyenreit the Fighter, a giant of a man at twenty-three, handles intrigues pretty well, though his usual and preferred tactics are ones which are forceful
- New laws are brought up and written on bones (for those concerning the lower classes) and stone and metal (for the upper classes). Most of these are concerned with increasing the authority of the king and the power of the royal family.

Year 305, Months 7-12
- Elder Byorodsk extends his formidable spy network, extending access to his eyes-and-ears to the king while carefully adding spies and listeners to it

Year 306, Months 1-6
- A secret plot is uncovered by the king and his closest friends and allies at the council
- Using connections with the other noble families, the king directed his attention to catching the plotters by surprise and at a weakness by secretly preventing the extension of the alliance against the king and learning slowly of what they were up to

Year 306, Months 7-12
- King Hyenreit the Fighter learns that a lot of the tribute from the conspirator nobles that was meant for the royal government was being siphoned into the pockets of mercenaries and to the secret buying of arms and supplies meant for a war--or a rebellion
- A small army of saboteurs and spies are mobilized against the conspirators, with the aid of allied nobles and the king's own

Year 307, Months 1-6
- The plots are uncovered and communications between the plotters' subordinates dismantled from within
- The conspirators are caught in a secret meeting, leading to their arrest, trail, and eventual execution; the cavaliers who were in on the plotting committed suicide in shame
- Land-grabbing at the fresh, unruled land among the nobility is limited by the king and council, who start everything off by claiming half the land for the royal family and the rest up for auction.

Year 307, Months 7-12
- By this time the nobility is careful around King Hyenreit the Fighter, limiting their dislike for him in whispers
- King and Council would often invite the most powerful nobles of the land to the Royal Court in banquets (and sometimes, for dancing), into the Palace, where they can be watched, guarded against, and held against their will and away from their estates (physically or communicatively, as per situation) when needed

Year 308, Months 1-6
- The invitations die down as progress because the estates suffered, but during that time the King, his family, and the Council had built up quite a lot of friends and allies among the nobility and their servants

Year 308, Months 7-12
- Generally peaceful time, the most violent affairs being the driving away of natives in the south by the local nobility there and rebellions of non-integrated peoples in the east

Year 309, Months 1-6
- Elder Byorodsk passes away, and a great funeral attended by the biggest names in Iska is held
- King Hyenreit the Fighter is once again attacked by thugs, but this time by genuine bandits and without his guard in one of his rounds around the kingdom to see the state of affairs among the people; he is caught and taken for a minor noble, thrown at a roadside and left for dead with all his traveling gold taken away from him
- The king is saved by his incognito guard, who arrived late, bringing him to the palace for safety; the aristocracy began buzzing with his sudden disappearance from his usual daily activities, though thoughts of another rebellion were now slow to form

Year 309, Months 7-12
- The king rallies the nobility before they could cause any trouble, this time against the nefarious Lyschk, a legend among bandits, pirates, and criminal raiders (illegal is raiding fellow Iskans)
- The army, bearing several aristocrats and cavaliers, begins scouring the countryside of bandit strongholds and native warbands

Spoiler BirdNES 2: Orders for Iska\Manipur (Part 2) :
And here's the rest of the orders.

Year 310, Months 1-6
- The campaign is continued, with the affairs of the state run by the king from his tent and the elders at the capital

Year 310, Months 7-12
- The campaign is concluded, and King Hyenreit the Fighter, now at twenty-eight, is distinguished as a warrior-king, leading the armies at the helm, losing an ear and an eye to arrows
- Things settle back to the intriguing and managing; Prince Kretzheit, seven years old, is not yet old enough to be named heir in the new laws, so one of the elders is named the secret heir secretly by the king and the council of elders

Contingency
- If invaded at any point, just beat the invaders by bringing in the power of levies. If it is after Hyenreit's reforms, swell and fine it will be quite an organized defense. If it's before, well, have the nobility ally among themselves and the king actively rallying for support against the invaders.

Everything Else
The not-so-well-defined and still-shaping up social classes (and their usual jobs) of Iska are as follows: slave (laborers), freed slave (odd jobs, craftsmen, artists, merchants), freeman ("temping" laborers, artisans, craftsmen, artists, levy warriors, merchants; often assigned to foreign travelers), servants of the nobility (laborers, artisans, craftsmen, artists, warriors), servants of royalty (laborers, artisans, craftsmen, artists, warriors), cavaliers (warriors), nobility/aristocracy (warriors, artists, managers), elder councilmen (judges, lawmakers, artists, managers), and royalty (warriors, artists, managers).

Marriage ceremonies are often done mainly in the names of various gods and the numerous spirits (which are, in the Iskan belief system, both immaterial and shapeless beings and spirit as in "the spirit of something"). Gods are often for physical things (the land, the sky, the ocean, etc), while spirits are of immaterial things (war, love, death, etc).

Inheritance of royal power is simple in Iska: whoever the king names becomes the next king. In the case of not getting an heir named, the other noble families often squabble among themselves as to who becomes the next king. The elder council decides, in the end, but these heirless and kingless periods are often chaotic and violent. Therefore, it has become customary for the elder council to remind the king that an heir had to be named as soon as possible. Usually, a secret heir is picked (as is the case when the king has no children yet) before the official one, named between the king and the council, as to prevent hurt feelings in the future.

This turn was meant to begin the centralization of the government, therefore there are not too many foreign affairs to worry about.[
 
Sub scribing:
My orders are duds compared to yours but I will try to post some to the critique of other non-mod nessers.

Here is one

Great Zulu Empire, JNES 1400 B.C to 1300 B.C.
Spoiler :
Orders for Zulus
Zulu Empire
Shaka Zulu (founder)/Charles Li
Warrior Cheifdom
Capital: Izwezulu
Religion: Paganism
Population: 3
Economy: Stable
Age: early bronze age
Army: 700 footmen, 250 archers
Navy: None
Stability: Stable
Infrastructure: None
Projects: Royal Barrack (0/4, 1/4)


Diplomancy
To Tribes of the Great Rift Valley and the Nile
Surrender!

To the scattered Zulus
Come to our great empire and settle on our frontiers!

Spending
1 EP on the Royal Barracks
'Aye! It will be a beauty! And would probably take another 200 years to finish too!' a Master Manson

1 EP to develop a Gold mine found south in the hills of the rift valley.
" Yes! 'Tis gold! The Great Shaka will be proud!" - the quarrier who discovered the mine.

Military
Troops: 400 Footmen, 100 Archers
Objective: Conquer the Lake Victoria and the other Great Rift Valley Lakes.
Tactics: Use archers after envoys to shoot flaming arrows, then charge with footmen at the positions.

"We shall fight for glory, honor, families and for all of the Zulus!!! " - Battle cry, to capture a village, Shaka Lozan.

Troops: 200 Footmen, 40 Archers
Objective: To capture where the Blue and Black Niles merge.
Tactics: Ditto above

Troops: 100 Footmen, 110 Archers.
Objective: Protect The Great Zulu Empire
Tactics: Have groups of 50 Troops mixed to patrol borders. Always have 50 Archers and 50 foot men in capital and 10 of each in each city at least.
[/URLSAME]
 
Subscribing, my orders suck! If you want, I'll post my Abnes war orders, only good ones I have.
 
Every Order I Ever Wrote (Almost) Continued:

For my previous disclosures see post #618-626
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=5906882&highlight=The+Strategos#post5906882

NIP: Fascist Spain
Spoiler Turn 1 :

Name: The United People's Party of Spain
Leader: Colonel Severiano Martinez Anido
Background: A party created in 1908 with the goal of ruling Spain under a fascist ideology.

Groups UPP will focus on:

-Military: Stress will be laid on the government’s mismanagement and corruption. If something similar to the OTL Rif War debacle happened, put blame on the corrupt government, saying that the individual soldier has been betrayed by them. Promise to reverse humiliation Spain has suffered, and reestablish the military might and pride of Spain.

-Catholics: Point to the UPP as the only viable option for pious Catholics between the hated socialist, who the pope speaks out against, and the current corrupt government.

-Nationalists: Make promises to reduce corruption and make Spain strong once again.

-Conservatives: Point to UPP as the best defense against socialism and anarchism.

-Royalists: Point to UPP as best defense against the overthrow of the monarchy by socialists, anarchists, extreme republicans.


Orders

-Have Colonel Anido and other leaders tour Spain, holding rallies and using personal charisma and appeals to emotion in order to stir crowds and gain publicity and popularity for the UPP. A major refrain in these speeches and propaganda will be
1) Strength through Unity
2) Return to Glory Years
3) Play up fears of socialist/anarchist/separatist revolt and claim UPP is only viable counter-balance to this revolt based on government’s corruption and unwillingness to act.

-Along with the speeches, set up a UPP newspaper, The Beacon, in order to further reach the Spanish people.

-Form the “Black Legion” out of retired army officers and soldiers at the core with anti-communists, youths, and others filling out the ranks. The Black Legion is to be a paramilitary organization who will oversee the protection of UPP rallies.

-When the Black Legion is large enough, start having them terrorize socialist rallies, strikes, demonstrations, and known sympathizers. In propaganda declare that these actions are defending the state against the godless, anarchists, dangerous revolutionaries, and other fear-inducing titles. Black Legion should also be present at our own rallies to prevent retaliatory raids.

-Use intimidation, bribery, and personal charisma and influence to politicians.

-If socialists start a revolution, proclaim ourselves on the side of the rightful government of Spain. If we have enough support by this time, march with our Black Legion and supporters in the military on Madrid, which we will occupy in order to prevent it from falling into socialist hands. Purge the city of socialists and discreetly pressure the king to appoint Anido Prime Minister as the only man who can bring an end to the revolution and restore order.

-If we receive any financial aid from oversees, put it towards training and outfitting the Black Legion with any money left over going for bribes. Utilize any other potential aid in the most logical and/or effective manner.


Spoiler Story :
Rough draft of speech to be given by United People’s Party leader Colonel Severiano Martinez Anido

In the Bible we find the text, “That which is neither hot nor cold I will spew out of my mouth.” This utterance of the great Nazarene has kept its profound validity until the present day. He who would pursue the golden mean must surrender the hope of achieving the great and greatest aims. Until the present day, the half-hearted and the lukewarm have remained the curse of Spain.

Every time a politician acts, there is an action of half-heartedness. Every time a politician raises his hand to vote, there is lukewarmness. For our politicians do not seek to achieve the greatest aims for Spain, but seeks only to achieve the lining of his pockets with his corruptness. These men do not burn, as we do. They do not bun with pride of their country. They do not burn from the shame of their evil deeds. They do not burn with the passion of seeing Spain great, for they are lukewarm! They cannot achieve anything great for they do not try for anything great.

And why do they not try to achieve greatness? It is because they fail to recognize the danger. They fail to recognize the danger of the anarchist, who seeks only to destroy, not create. They fail to recognize the danger of the socialist, who seeks to tear down with his own hands every distinctive that makes us Spain and turn us into base animals, who have neither love of Church nor love of Country. In consequence, the whole action of today’s politician is so petty, so limited, so hesitating and pusillanimous.

And herein is their fundamental error: they ignore these threats to our country because they do not realize the importance of the country. To them there is no understanding of “National,” no concept of “unity.” To them the self-evident truth is hid: that there can only be strength through unity, that the State can only be strong where everyone works for the State.

It is because they miss this truth that they force Spain to remain weak. For each one goes whoring after their own individual lusts. Each one craves power like a drunkard craves the taste of wine. And each one would gladly sell the State like a cheap prostitute if he could only have it.

It is because of this that the military is weak, it is because of this that corruption rages. For how can their be strength without unity? How can their be justice when each does what is right in their own eyes? How can Spain be great when no man wishes for Spain to be great? How can Spain be great without pride and willpower, without a burning passion to see Spain once again great, and the perseverance to make their dream a reality?

This vision of a strong Spain is what I present to you, with every passion I posses. And because of that passion, I am called many names, “rabble-rouser,” “agitator,” “manipulator,” and others even worse. But I embrace all such names. For if it is a crime to stir the love of ones country in others, then I am the worst of criminals and deserve the swiftest death sentence. But if it is a noble thing to sacrifice everything so that Spain may once again be strong, then join with me in saying, “Strength through Unity!” “Strength through Unity!” “Strength through Unity!”



Spoiler Turn 2 :

Spoiler Stats :
~~Spanish Nationalists TheStrategos
Economy: 6 PPs
Treasury:-0 PPs
Infrastructure: Level 2 (1 /15 )
Military: 8 Divisions
Navy: 0 Squadrons
Air Force: 0 Squadrons
Technology:
Land: L2 ( 0/40 )
Air: L0 (0 /20 )
Sea: L2 (0 /40 )


Spending Orders
-6 PP to raise Military from 8 divisions ->11 divisions
-10 PP (from Britain) to raise military from 11 divisions -> 16 divisions
-Anything from Italy (curse them not getting the exact figures to me in time) into raising military

Military Actions

-2 divisions taking up fortified positions along the Pyrenees, concentrating on being able to block the most important of the mountain passes.

-Use sympathizers in Republican controlled areas and military to feed us intelligence. Act on that intelligence as appropriate.

-8 divisions (+ any hypothetical divisions raised with Italy’s cash) are to attack in a westward direction from north of Madrid. Meanwhile, 2 divisions are to strike east from the pocket north with the goal of meeting the westward attack. The goals for this goal are 1) cut off the extreme north of Spain from Madrid, 2) If, and only if, the situation is favorable (i.e. the government is collapsing), attack Madrid from the north.

-4 divisions to man defensive lines/act as reserves.

Other Orders

-Attempt through propaganda (see below) to cause a split between the radical republican elements and the more centrist-conservative elements. Leak the diplomatic exchanges in order to show that it is UPP that has been continually talking about new elections, it is UPP that has been offering compromise solutions while the “republicans” have refused to compromise and have instead worked on protecting their power, not holding free elections.

-Have Anido go on a speaking tour throughout Nationalist controlled areas holding rallies, whipping up support, etc.

-Make copies of his speeches and smuggle them throughout “Republican” controlled Spain. Use our support among the priests as the main “conduit” for propaganda. If, for some reason, that conduit is closed to us, diversify as needed.

-Have The Beacon (our newspaper we established last turn) run a series of articles “exposing” corruption of the Madrid government. Run text and commentary on the King’s message (editorial: King wants to support us but he is held captive by corrupt government of Madrid). Run text and commentary on “republican” exchange with UPP (editorial: “Republicans” disdain Spanish people). Smuggle in newspapers into Republican controlled Spain same as above.

-Encourage, through above propaganda as well as our usual (per first turn propaganda) the desertion of republican forces (preferably to our side, but otherwise desertion period)

Spoiler story :

Rough draft of speech to be given by United People’s Party leader Colonel Severiano Martinez Anido

215811046_11b60199a3.jpg

Colonel Anido (in white) flanked by members of the Black Legion

People of Spain! Long have we suffered under the corrupt leadership of Madrid. Long have we suffered in silence, ignoring the injustices that were committed against us. But no more! United, we petitioned Madrid, seeking only to have a choice in elections besides one between two corrupt politicians. United, we begged them to allow the people to be given a chance to elect honest men who would promote unity and strength. And yet we were scorned! So long have the corrupt politicians been in power that they have forgotten the truth that their power comes, not from themselves, but from the people of Spain.

People of Spain, listen! We have exhausted every means, we have begged, been rejected, and begged again. We are willing to do anything to see Madrid see our plight, to agree to allow the people of Spain to vote in people who will work to make Spain strong. We think nothing of our own honor, our own pride. We do not mind debasing ourselves like dogs before them if it means that Spain will prosper. Yet in groveling before them like dogs, they have treated us like dogs, chasing us away with blows and curses. Listen to me! They, who have treated the people of Spain like dogs will find out that these dogs will no longer cower in fear before them, but bear their fangs at them. Our groveling having been rejected, we will grovel no longer! Our pleas having fallen on deaf ears, we will plea no longer!

In their arrogance they have let the mask that hides their depravity slip, if only a little. In their pride they sneer that the people know nothing, that only they are fit to rule. If they are fit to rule, then what are the qualifications to rule? To take bribes? To see Spain weakened? To oversee the spread of socialism and propagation of their anti-Church beliefs? I tell you, if they are qualified to rule, then I loudly proclaim I, of all Spaniards, am the least qualified to rule! If being a politicians means exalting my own petty pride above the needs of Spain, God save me from ever being a politician!

But you see, this is where the corrupt politician makes his mistake. For he underestimates the strength of the united people who call themselves neither factory owner, nor worker, neither land owner, nor farmer, neither rich nor poor, but a united people who goes only by the name of Spain! And now, before our very eyes, we are seeing that the people of Spain are coming to the realization that to see Spain strong they must be unified, to see Spain strong, they must exert the power that their unity brings, that to see Spain strong they must sacrifice their selfishness on the altar of the State.

It is this power, the power of Spain, that will not be held back by the champions of disunity in Madrid. Fearfully they banned the party of the people, hoping that the people would once again fracture, losing the strength that their unity won. But I tell you today, we will not fracture! We have a vision, a vision of a strong, united Spain, and we will not rest until that vision becomes reality. In a desperate bid to hold Spain back, the socialists and corrupt politicians have worked to sabotage or efforts. They have corrupted the law and then hold the law up as a shield, hoping to use it to hide from the people. But we will no longer be satisfied with corrupt people making corrupt laws for their own benefits. In order to get rid of the corrupt politicians, we must ignore the corrupt laws they made.

That is why, we do not fear being called lawbreakers by them, for breaking a corrupt law is a noble thing. That is why, after all other options have been exhausted, we find ourselves forced to fight. Not because we are bloodthirsty, or because we enjoy death, but because our love of Spain is so great, that we cannot stand it being abused any longer. And so, people of Spain, you stand at a crossroads. On one side is the path inhabited by greedy politicians who work only for their own gain. Spain has been down that path before, and knows that it only leads to the exploitation of Spain for the benefit of the few. On the other side is the path of unity, the path of working for a strong Spain, the path of nationalism. This path is blockaded by the socialist, by the anarchist, by the corrupt politicians in Madrid. And yet though I know that walking this path means that I will have to fight those who seek to block my way, I will walk down it. For in the distance I can see the promised land, a land of a unified and strong Spain. Brothers, I will walk that path even if it leads to my death, for I will gladly die to make Spain strong. Brothers, I will walk that path, will you come with me?



Spoiler Turn 3 :

Spoiler Stats :
~~Spanish Nationalists TheStrategos
Economy: 10 PPs
Treasury:-1 PPs +2
Infrastructure: Level 2 (1 /15 )
Military: 16 Divisions
Navy: 0 Squadrons
Air Force: 0 Squadrons
Technology:
Land: L2 ( 0/40 )
Air: L0 (0 /20 )
Sea: L2 (0 /40 )


Spoiler Peace Treaty :
1) The King immediately dissolve Parliament and call for new elections.
2) The King name Severiano Martinez Anido as acting Prime Minister until new elections can be held.
3) The Members of Parliament and their followers disarm.
4) The King issue a full pardon for all members of People’s Party for their actions and guarantee their safety if they demobilize.
5) The King reestablishes the United People’s Party as a recognized political party of Spain and allows it to participate fully in the election.
6) The King set up an independent court in order to oversee the charges of corruption against the accused among the former members of Parliament.
7) New elections are to be held within a month of the dissolving of the current Parliament.


Spoiler Conditional Orders for if peace treaty is broken by enemy :

-Spend 8 PP into growing army from 16->20 divisions
-Bank 3 PP
-Continue propaganda from previous turn
-Continue monitoring their army movements through spies and react accordingly
-Station 5 divisions in defensive fortifications along Pyrenees
-Station 5 divisions as reserve/defensive lines
-Send 10 divisions to bottle up Republicans in their city strongholds, while “liberating” surrounding countryside. With the Republicans isolated, concentrate forces on their weakest cities, taking them before moving on to the stronger cities.



Spending
-10 PP into raising economy 2 points
-1 banked

Actions for nation when Severiano Anido is acting (temporary) Prime Minister

-Merge the “Black Legion” with the “Civil Guard,” turning them into a state sanctioned gendarmerie force. The newly enhanced Civil Guard are, in addition to their regular tasks, are to be given the job of protecting candidates for the upcoming election and are to be placed in charge of the security for the election. They are also to monitor the elections to ensure no corruption, and since many of them are former Black Legion members, I am sure that they will be especially diligent in making sure no anti-UPP group compromises the election in any way.

-Set up, per treaty, an independent court under the authority of the king (and protected by the Civil Guard) to try those accused of corruption in court. I really don’t have much to say about this, the King should be able to see the direction the political winds are blowing and work to distance himself from the previous corrupt politicians, lest he be labeled as one of them. Otherwise, stay out of it in order to at least make it appear to be an independent court while at the same time making sure that they are doing their job in a thorough manner.

-In conjunction with the above, create a special “independent” commission that will travel around Spain, gathering evidence of corruption on the local scale and determining which (if any) of these local cases should be referred to the King’s Commission for trial. Make sure this commission is full of nationalists, so that they themselves will pursue their task with due diligence and will not themselves fall under the scandal of taking bribes.

-Merge the republican and our armies with the goal of creating a national army of between 15-19 divisions. Use this opportunity to reorganize the army to be more “efficient” (i.e. in order to scatter the republican loyalists throughout the army to weaken their power).


Actions for the United People’s Party for Elections

-Our situation to start with should be pretty good. The court cases against corruption should cripple the traditional parties who will have many of their leaders indicted by the court, leaving them leaderless and under suspicion by much of the public.

-Emphasize the role of the UPP in championing the rights of Spaniards. Paint the UPP as the only party willing to take on corruption, willing to unify Spain, willing to work for the people.

-Use the media to start highlighting “war heroes,” members of the UPP who have gone above and beyond their duty to Spain in order to ensure the strength of Spain. Through this, emphasize that Spain is the party of heroes, of men who love Spain, and men of action, who get things done, no matter the cost to themselves.

-Subtly begin creating a personality cult with Severiano Martinez Anido. Emphasize him as the champion of the people, a later day “El Cid Campeador.” Promote him as the idealized Spaniard, a man who is greater than most, yet works, not for himself, but only for the people of Spain. At the same time, have this only come from others, not from Severiano himself. Have Severiano personally come across as but a humble servant of the State, allow others to paint him as more than that.

-If necessary, we are willing to form a coalition government. However, we are hoping, based on the amount of popular support that we had during the war and our anti-corruption successes, to gain a resounding victory.


Spoiler Turn 4 :
~~Fascist Spain The Strategos
Economy: 24 PPs
Treasury:-4 PPs +1
Infrastructure: Level 2 (1 /15 )
Military: 25 Divisions
Navy: 9 Squadrons
Air Force: 0 Squadrons
Technology:
Land: L2 ( 0/40 )
Air: L0 (5 /20 )
Sea: L2 (0 /40 )

Spending
- 24+1 (treasury)-4 upkeep=21 spending points
- 2 to British Empire in exchange for technology advisors in the “air” category
- 10 into finishing “Air” (25% discount for foreign advisors=15 PP needed-5 already spent=10. If, for some strange reason, it will cost more, take it out of spending below to finish it)
- 5 PP into raising economy from 24->25 PPs
-2 PP to (secretly) fund a Portuguese fascist party
- Send 2 PP to fund pro-Spanish policies in Morocco

Army Placement
-10 divisions taking up defensive positions along Pyrenees, concentrating on being able to block the mountain passes at a moment’s notice.
-5 divisions along Portuguese border
-5 divisions in West Sahara concentrating on the major cities
-5 divisions scattered in military bases in Spain


Domestic

-Allow the anti-corruption trials to continue as long as needed. Likewise, have the commission that was established to investigate localized corruption continue as long as needed.

-Establish a commission that combines business leaders with workers to advise the government on economic issues and provide a mediation between the classes. These commissions should primarily be local with one national umbrella commission. Then, declare that this commission has made all unions superfluous, and so ban all trade unions. These actions are to gain the trust of our traditional conservative base by banning trade unions, while at the same time undercutting the traditional communist stronghold of the workers by presenting these commissions as giving the workers progress without the need for communist ideals.

-Trumpet the ongoing successes of Spain under the new leadership in order to help build and strengthen popular support for the government. The successes to be emphasized for this turn are 1) The upswing in Spanish economy, 2) The technological advances that have or will soon occur, and 3) The reduction of corruption within the government and the success of the anti-corruption trials under the King.

-In conjunction with the above, continue our efforts at creating and maintaining a personality cult around Severiano Martinez Anido, following previously established guidelines.


International

-Send military attachés, per public agreements, to the Hungarian and German militaries to observe their war (and anyone else who agrees between the sending of these orders and the deadline).

-Send 2 PP to fund a Portuguese fascist party. As they are suffering under the same corruption that Spain was when our fascist party first arose, there should be at least a fledgling fascist party in Portugal. Have them (the Portuguese fascist party) point to the successes of Spain as a proof of what the fascist party can do when in power. Have the Portuguese fascist party try to emulate our rise to success, namely, 1) Form a paramilitary to intimidate socialist and anarchist forces, 2) Use this to portray themselves as defenders of the Church and State, and 3) Use that, combined with an anti-corruption platform, to gain national attention. Send “volunteers” to help with the organization and training of their party. Have them first try to gain governmental influence through “legal” means, so that if/when the government tries to curb their power, they can paint themselves as defenders of the people against the corrupt government in Lisbon. Our long term goal in these actions is to see the establishment of a Portuguese Fascist state that is pro-Spanish because of our support and seeing us as a “big brother” type.

-Send 2 PP to fund pro-Spanish policies in Morocco. Specifically we would like our Spanish industries to make inroads in Morocco to help tie Morocco economically closer to us as well as through the judicial use of political funding/bribes to help install pro-Spanish politicians in Morocco. Our long term goal in this is to see the establishment of a pro-Spanish government in Morocco and to see Morocco become economically dependent upon Spain, and thus be forced to follow Spain’s desires in certain areas or face an economic collapse. On the other hand, if Morocco resists in a violent enough manner, it will provide the pretext needed to engage in a military action against Morocco.
 
DaNES: Communist China Rebels
Spoiler Turn 1 :

National Alliance Party (Marxist Chinese)
Ruler: Chen Duxiu
Nation Background: The National Alliance Party was established in 1925 by Chen Duxiu out of the diverse Marxist and pseudo-Marxists groups operating in China.


The National Alliance Party (NAP) will focus on the following groups:

-Factory Workers: This group represents the traditional draw for Marxist groups. Exploited and alienated, this group will be wooed with promises of better working conditions and taking control of businesses away from the exploitive upper class and redistributing it among the workers.

-Intellectuals: This group represents the traditional draw from which the Marxist groups gain their leaders and visionaries. This group will be wooed primarily through appeals to their altruism, that they should help cure the ills of China. Also, the illusory promises of intellectual freedom and western style advances might sway some.

-Farmers: This group represents a vast untapped bloc that the new NAP is very interested in tapping into. The main appeal to this group is NAP’s promise for land redistribution, breaking the power of feudal lords, and strengthening the power of the local farmer.

-Soldiers: NAP is also eager to expand into this group as well. The primary appeal to this group is the NAP’s strong emphasis on strengthening China. The common soldier, it will be emphasized, was betrayed by the Treaty of Amoy. It is the corrupt government, not the soldier, who is to blame for that debacle. It is the government that is holding down China’s brave soldiers, preventing them from taking their place as the world’s greatest soldier. Make appeal to the vision of a strong China, free from foreign dependence unafraid of China’s enemies, and emphasize the failure of the current government in making that dream a reality.

-Members of Other Anti-Government Groups: Even in OTL, Dr. Sun Yet-sen and the Marxists made an alliance of convenience, and here I’m aiming for something similar. Hopefully, with Sun Yet-sen in America, the most vocal opponent with the best plan of action against the government will be the NAP, thus encouraging other anti-government groups to fall under their sway. This alliance of convenience will be established along the lines of the Sun Yet-sen’s Three Principles of the People (Point 1, Nationalism, and Point 3, Socialism, especially). Note: This is coalition building, not forcing them to join NAP or anything


Orders

-Support the spread of “Vernacular Chinese” (a simplified Chinese writing style). This is to make reading and writing accessible to the masses, which not only makes NAP seem like it cares about the common man, but also makes it more convenient to get copies of A New China and other propaganda and pseudo-propaganda into their hands.

-Support the formation of “People’s Brigades,” especially in border regions. These semi-rabble, semi-militia groups will be open to everyone (but try to keep leaders from NAP) and be for the purpose of “Defending China from Foreigners.” Whip up fear of Russia/Germany/Japan to make joining these brigades seem attractive. The primary purpose of these brigades is to show NAP isn’t just employing “Strengthen China” rhetoric, their taking active steps as well. And if they happen to eventually form a core for a “People’s Army” I won’t complain. As for weapons, if we can get sympathizers to let us in the arsenals storing the weapons in case of mobilization, great, if we can get weapons from Sun Yet-sen and co., super. Otherwise, scrounge around for whatever. I don’t expect them to be a military force (yet) and expect if the Emperor cracks down them to be martyred in great numbers. Speaking of which, if the Emperor goes bloody, give permission to retaliate in kind. Or, as is more likely, attempt to retaliate in kind and get slaughtered.

-Similar to above, attempt to establish pro-NAP cells in both the standard military and especially the “reserves” for a similar purpose. In addition, try to sneak in/convert some sympathizers in order to create a rudimentary spy system within the Qing Army so that we can be warned of any potential crackdown of our party using the military and react accordingly.

-If we can get enough members to pull it off, order general factory worker strikes for better pay and working conditions. By able to pull it off I mean having enough members that it would actually be effective. Be prepared with a propaganda follow-up, especially if the strike is broken up in a bloody fashion (think “Boston Massacre” type propaganda)

-Ratchet up various propaganda outlets (books, pamphlets, posters, etc) with various catchy slogans (China Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose Except Your Weakness!). On the local scale, ratchet up the rhetoric against local corrupt government officials.

-I wouldn’t be opposed to random violence against government officials (especially tax collectors) but won’t go out of my way to encourage it per se either.

-If NAP comes under a the threat of a purge from Qing, go guerilla, avoiding pitched battle, and working, through propaganda and whatever concrete steps we are able to accomplish, to win the support of “the people” as well as work on encouraging desertion (preferably deserting to our side, but if unable, deserting period) in the enemies’ forces.

Spoiler Turn 2 :
National Alliance Party (Marxist Chinese)
Ruler: Chen Duxiu
Nation Background: The National Alliance Party was established in 1925 by Chen Duxiu out of the diverse Marxist and pseudo-Marxists groups operating in China.

Military Orders (if needed) are the usual guerilla warfare combined with efforts to secure the allegiance of the masses as well as the soldiers fighting us.

Goals for the Year 1927
1) Continue to increase membership in the NAP along previously discussed lines.
2) Attempt to establish NAP cells in Russian controlled Manchuria and other ethnically Chinese occupied areas as well as attempt to establish similar cells in German-occupied ethnically Chinese areas in the south
3) Attempt to centralize and streamline the NAP
4) Continue to infiltrate the Chinese army and reserves as well as the government.


Details for Goal 1: Continue to increase membership in the NAP along previously discussed lines.

-As previously discussed, focus on factory workers, intellectuals, farmers, soldiers, and members of other anti-government groups.

-Create two new newspapers to help spread Marxist ideals, 1) The People’s Paper: which will focus on rural concerns and 2) The New Day: which will focus on more urban and intellectual concerns, such as foreign and governmental policy.

-Continue the spread of “Vernacular Chinese” (a simplified Chinese writing style) in order to help boost the appeal of the new newspapers and to help with other forms of written propaganda (such as the previously mentioned book A New China)

-In cities use propaganda posters which should be put up as frequently as possible. The subject of these posters should always focus on how the rich/government/foreigners are holding down the common man. For example, one poster show a Chinese soldier having chains put around him by someone representing the Emperor, the Prime Minister, and various foreigners. Other posters will show the Emperor and the Prime Minister discussing how nice life is while the bottom will show miserable looking factory workers.

-Take credit through propaganda for supplying the ideas for any reforms the Qing may embark on while simultaneously clamoring for more reform. Also, organize periodic strikes/demonstrations both to keep our presence at the forefront of everyone’s mind, to show we are a viable force, and to put pressure on the government to enact our demands.


Details for Goal 2: Attempt to establish NAP cells in Russian controlled Manchuria and other ethnically Chinese occupied areas as well as attempt to establish similar cells in German-occupied ethnically Chinese areas in the south

-Slowly send infiltrators across the borders into ethnically Chinese lands. Using nationalism as well as any dissatisfaction against the Qing who betrayed them into foreign hands as well as dissatisfaction against their current foreign rulers to establish NAP cells. Try to walk a fine line here, enough propaganda that they would be inclined to support us while not enough to enflame them, making them do something rash and receive the unwanted attention of foreign armies.

-Ideally, see if we can construct supply lines from these newly created cells to China across the border where we smuggle propaganda material, weapons, money, etc. Also, if worse comes to worse, have leaders flee here for refuge.

-Also, if we can manage to swing it without the foreign governments becoming too mad, establish camps for military and political indoctrination where we can funnel Chinese living in China in for training and then export them back to China after training is complete so they can function as leaders and trained specialists.


Details for Goal 3: Attempt to centralize and streamline the NAP

-First, our news organs, led by our flagship publications The People’s Paper and The New Day should offer articles on our core beliefs, goals, and otherwise provide a vision for which the party to rally around.

-Have individual areas create cells, which will be pseudo-democratically run. These cells will be lumped together geographically with other cells. We, the national party, will provide the permanent leadership for these larger geographic cells, while providing for the occasional meeting of all local cell leaders in a geographic area together to form a council, where general geographic needs and strategies can be discussed.

-Similar to above, have roving Party agents go around to train, observe, and offer technical advice to various local cells, raising their quality as well as providing a link between the local and national party.


Details for Goal 4: Continue to infiltrate the Chinese army and reserves as well as the government.

-Continue efforts at infiltrating the military and government, first to use as spies to keep us aware of any government action against the group, but also to act as the eventual core around which we form our own army if/when armed conflict breaks out.

-Continue to try and get the formation and training of “People’s Brigades” mentioned in last turns orders.


Spoiler Turn 3 :
National Alliance Party (Marxist Chinese)
Ruler: Chen Duxiu
Nation Background: The National Alliance Party was established in 1925 by Chen Duxiu out of the diverse Marxist and pseudo-Marxists groups operating in China.

-Do our usual propaganda related stuff. Focus on: 1) Streamlining and organizing the various party cells across the country, 2) Try to increase support among foreign oppressed Chinese, 3) Increase membership of People’s Brigades.

-If/when the Prime Minister continues to worsen, step up demonstrations against the government, attempting to exploit the confusion from within the government due to the Prime Minister losing effective control.

Conditional: On the Prime Minister’s death

-Declare that the Emperor has lost the Mandate of Heaven.

-Immediately attempt to raise a rebellion in Chinese Manchuria. Activate the People’s Brigade in the area (according to you, about 5 divisions). Immediately go for the armories and barracks. Welcome all army and reservists who defect to our side. For everyone else, temporarily imprison the officers, let the non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file go after disarming.

-With the military in Manchuria hopefully neutralized for the near future, move to the government structures, overthrow and imprison them, and replace with our own local leadership from our local cells. Declare Chen Duxiu president.

-Welcome volunteers from Russia Manchuria into the People’s Brigades.

-We wouldn’t be surprised if a military coup occurs in the capital at the death of the Prime Minister. If that happens, try to cause divisions among the coup by promising command of the Communist military and other high leadership positions to those that feel they should have gotten higher positions than they did after the coup. Use bribery to help our cause here. Use any of our agents in the capital to try and warn those who are targeted for the expected purge, and help them to escape in return for joining forces with us.

-Continue the revolt elsewhere according to our strength. If forced out of cities, try and sabotage the factories and anything else of significance first. If facing overwhelming force, go guerilla.

-Do not attempt to attack areas that we do not have a strong base in, rather try as much as possible to encourage the fracturing of non-Communist China in order to weaken the enemy and slow down his response against us.

-Use our agents in the military to warn us of their movements and act appropriately to counter.

Spoiler Turn 4 :
National Alliance Party (Marxist Chinese)
Ruler: Chen Duxiu
Nation Background: The National Alliance Party was established in 1925 by Chen Duxiu out of the diverse Marxist and pseudo-Marxists groups operating in China.

-Do our usual propaganda related stuff.

-Refocus our efforts away from the industrial regions, where we were spanked, to the more outlying farmlands, where we can operate with greater freedom.

-Have some of our units dress up in Imperial army uniforms and attack Russian positions in Russian-held Manchuria in order to spark a war between Russia and China over Manchuria.


Serf2NES: White Russia
Spoiler Turn 1 :

White Movement Russia
Capital : Ekaterinburg
Leader (Player) : Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (TheStrategos)
Government : Disorganized Military Autocracy
Economy (Base/Trade) : (4/0) = 4 Total
Army : 7 Div
Navy : 5 Conv, 1 Sub
Airforce :
Military Quality : 4
Population : 4
General Welfare : 2
Confidence : Resentful
Color : Light Blue
Background : ...


Spending Overview
-2 EP into Central Security Office (see Espionage)
-2 EP into 2 divisions
-Any outside money coming in into divisions, which should be equally divided between the Northern and Southern Army Groups


Domestic:

-Recognize the authority and territorial claims of all nations made during the Treaty of Versailles out of former Russian lands.

-Have Wrangel tour around the area, checking up on local officials. Dismiss and punish the more corrupt ones.

-Institute strict controls on military units. Prevent future acts of looting and lawlessness by troops. Severely punish both the commanders and units who practice these things.

-Start (keep?) pumping out propaganda against the Bolsheviks. Point out (make up) various atrocities and unmask them as the devils they are.

-Try to build bridges with the Russian Orthodox Community. Try to present ourselves as the bastion of Faith holding back the floodwaters of atheism (Bolsheviks). They’re support, especially in Bolshevik-controlled areas is pretty important to us, and good relations with them should be prioritized.

Espionage:

Central Security Office: CSO is to be established under the following structure:
-Central Division: To be the controlling “brain” of the other sections, as well as handling personnel and financial matters
-Section 1: Intelligence Division, responsible for gathering intelligence on the Bolsheviks
-Section 2: Sabotage Division, responsible for any activities that will harm the Bolsheviks in their own territories (sabotage, contacting dissident groups, etc)
-Section 3: Counter-Intelligence Division, responsible for counter-intelligence operations, planting false information, penetration of Bolsheviks’ intelligence services (including hunting down their spies, handling double agents, and foiling any attempted sabotage)

-1 EP is to be used for the startup of the CSO, hiring, training, etc. In addition, a nice, remote base is to be set up for the training of saboteurs and spies.

-1 EP is to be used for saboteur operations against the Bolsheviks. These should be the standard “give ‘em hell” type operations, assassination of low-mid level officials, sabotage of mutation factories, attacking supply convoys, blowing up bridges, etc.


Military:

-Military Deployment:
-All navy in Far East ports
-1 Army divisions in Army Group Caucasus
-4 Army divisions in Army Group North who should be mostly concentrated around the three cities north of the [wikipedia]Ural River[/wikipedia]
-4 Army divisions in Army Group South which should be concentrated to the west of the Ural River

Army Group Caucasus
-The 1 division is to dig in the Caucasus Mountain chain. Use the mountainous terrain to make up for our lack of troops by blocking passes and fortifying choke-points where the enemy will not be able to utilize hypothetical superior numbers

Army Group North
-Initially, Army Group North is to take up positions north of the Ural River bordering the Bolsheviks. 1 division is to be held in reserve, with their main job being to construct fortifications behind our lines for Army Group North to fall back on. If attacked, Army Group North is to fall back on these fortifications, making the Bolshevik advance as bloody as possible. Take advantage of the Ural Mountain chain in setting up defensive positions, so as to minimize any numeric advantage the enemy may have.
-If the Bolsheviks do not attack, make reconnaissance with our cavalry to determine the strength of the enemy. If we are significantly stronger than the forces we are facing, make probing attacks designed to outflank the enemies’ position and force them to withdraw.

Army Group South
-Initially, Army Group South is to be west of the Ural River. 1 division is to be held in reserve, whose job it is to construct fortifications on the east side of the Ural River. If forced by attacks, retreat to these fortifications on the east side of the river, destroying all bridges and boats behind us in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river.
-If the Bolsheviks do not attack, make reconnaissance with our cavalry to determine the strength of the enemy. If we are significantly stronger than the forces we are facing, make probing attacks designed to outflank the enemies’ position and force them to withdraw.


Spoiler Turn 2 :
White Movement Russia
Capital : Ekaterinburg
Leader (Player) : Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (The Strategos)
Government : Disorganized Military Autocracy
Economy (Base/Trade) : (4/0) = 4 Total
Army : 5 Div
Navy : 5 Conv
Airforce :
Military Quality : 4
Population : 4
General Welfare : 2
Confidence : Resentful
Color : Light Blue
Background : ...

Spending Overview
-3 EP into raising divisions
-1 EP into CSO (espionage) activities

Domestic:

-Recognize the authority and territorial claims of all nations made during the Treaty of Versailles out of former Russian lands.

-Have Wrangel tour around the area, checking up on local officials. Dismiss and punish the more corrupt ones.

-Institute strict controls on military units. Prevent future acts of looting and lawlessness by troops. Severely punish both the commanders and units who practice these things.

-Keep pumping out propaganda against the Bolsheviks. Point out (make up) various atrocities and unmask them as the devils they are.

-Try to build bridges with the Russian Orthodox Community. Try to present ourselves as the bastion of Faith holding back the floodwaters of atheism (Bolsheviks). They’re support, especially in Bolshevik-controlled areas is pretty important to us, and good relations with them should be prioritized.

Espionage:

-Continue CSO (Central Security Office, created last turn) related activities. I am assuming, since I put 2 EP into this last turn, that we have a few spies about. Have said spies coordinate with any allied forces in reporting Bolshevik forces and deployment.

-Have counter-agents feeding false information to the Bolsheviks in order to attempt to lure all their armies to the east, so that they will be ensured to be caught off guard by a western offensive by our allies.

-Send saboteurs to blow up bridges along the Ural River so as to deny enemy forces on the east bank of said river supplies.

Military:

-Military Deployment:
-All navy in Far East ports
-1 Army divisions in Army Group Caucasus
-4 Army divisions in Army Group North who should be mostly concentrated around the three cities north of the [wikipedia]Ural River[/wikipedia]
-4 Army divisions in Army Group South which should be concentrated to the west of the Ural River

Army Group Caucasus
-The 1 division is to dig in the Caucasus Mountain chain. Use the mountainous terrain to make up for our lack of troops by blocking passes and fortifying choke-points where the enemy will not be able to utilize hypothetical superior numbers

Army Group North
-Initially, Army Group North is to take up positions north of the Ural River so that they are between our capital and the Bolsheviks. 1 division is to be held in reserve, with their main job being to construct fortifications behind our lines for Army Group North to fall back on. If attacked, Army Group North is to fall back on these fortifications, making the Bolshevik advance as bloody as possible.
-If the Bolsheviks do not attack, make reconnaissance with our cavalry to determine the strength of the enemy. If we are significantly stronger than the forces we are facing, make probing attacks designed to outflank the enemies’ position and force them to withdraw.

Army Group South
-Initially, Army Group South is take positions in the south, near the Ural River. 1 division is to be held in reserve, whose job it is to construct fortifications behind our lines for them to fall back on if attacked.
-Ensure that Army Group South does not become outflanked and cut off by retreating if Bolsheviks are advancing from the far south.
-If the Bolsheviks do not attack, make reconnaissance with our cavalry to determine the strength of the enemy. If we are significantly stronger than the forces we are facing, attack so that our positions occupy again the east bank of the Ural River.
 
BirdNES2: The Oracle of Wendar
Spoiler Turn 1 :

Spoiler stats :
Oracle/The Strategos
Ruler/Heir: /
Leadership/Stability/Culture: 0/0/ 1
Available Spending: Economy/Treasury: 1/7
Population/Area/Diversity: 1/1/1
Domestic Economy/Trade/National Upkeep: 2/0/0 Growing
Confidence/Corruption: 29%/40%
EC/TC/RC: 0/0/0
Maps & Charts: None
Religion/Fanaticism Level: Pagan: 0 / 0
Significant natural resources: 0 (none)
Policies Permitted: 0
Indexed Army/Navy Value: 1/0
UU: 0/0
Army: 1000-I, 0-M, no -aUU (1400-max)
Navy: 0-W, 0-T, 0-nUU
Projects:
Army Costs: 1 EP buys: 1000-I, 200-M, 200-aUU
Navy Costs: 1 EP buys: 10-W, 5-T, 10-nUU
Technology: Minimally trained, lightly armored spearmen and archers; Copper Age weapons;


Goals:
-Expand Temple complex, attract more pilgrims, beautify temple complex


Spending Overview:
-4 EP into beautifying the temple
-3 EP remain in treasury, and if necessary, to be used as gifts to cause a would-be conqueror to leave us alone.


Important Events:

-Reign of High Priests

Pre-Game (Mythological Priests): Twenty Priests whose reign are said to have lasted in the thousands of years, with the newer ones gradually getting closer to more “normal” length of reigns.

This Turn:
-21st High Priest: Years 1-23, First codified rituals
-22nd High Priest: Years 23-30, List of reigning Priests first made
-23rd High Priest: Years 31-32
-24th High Priest: Years 33-39, Nearby city of Wenarium founded for all non-consecrated persons associated with the oracle to live and work (artisans, merchants, support personal, etc.) 1 EP spent
-25th High Priest: Years 40-54
-26th High Priest: Years 55-57, First great Temple expansion/beautification begins 1 EP spent
-27th High Priest: Years 58-71, First great Temple expansion/beautification is finished 1 EP spent
-28th High Priest: Years 72-81
-29th High Priest: Years 82-93
-30th High Priest: Years 94-97
-31st High Priest: Years 98-Present, Begins collection of Wendar myths as well as the first large scale sponsoring of bards, poets, and the like 1 EP spent


Other:
-I think you missed this in the other thread where I posted it per your request, so I am reproducing it here:

Spoiler :
Nation name: Oracle of Wendar/The Strategos
Rulers Name: High Priest (of Wendar)
Heirs Name: None
Religon: Adaptive Polytheism with emphasis on god Wendar

Notes:
-The ruler's name will always be High Priest, upon assumption of that office, the person who assumes it must give up their name, showing that it is the office, not the person, who is important.
-The heir is chosen by the god at the death of the High Priest through the casting of lots. All priests in the temple are eligable for the honor.
-By "Adaptive Polytheism" I mean that the temple is content to fit Wendar into various nations' religion and is happy to acknowledge whatever gods the surrounding peoples worship.


And a copy of the PM I sent you at your request, in case it contains anything you still need:

Spoiler :

The god's name is "Wendar," the complex is "Oracle of Wendar" or "Wendaripona," which is interpreted "The prision of Wendar."

The main temple complex is built over the mouth of a cave. Two giant doors separate the cave from the rest of the temple. The doors remain perpetually locked except during the midst of the main ceremony and are guarded by four guards. At the mouth of the temple’s entrance, just to the left is a lake used for the purification of the priests before the main ritual. The then form a procession to the back of the cave, starting with two priests with incense, to purify the area as they walk, then maybe some priests to fill out the procession, maybe musicians or dancers, then those carrying the questions for the oracles (locked in a large box, with poles thrust through loops so that the box can be carried by four or more people), followed by the gifts to the god, and lastly the High Priest with an entourage.

The oracle is simple, people wishing to consult it write their question on a shard/tablet/whatever. Those who cannot write can hire a priest to write the question for them. These questions are then placed in a locked box, and at the time of the ritual, taken to the cave where there is a giant hole, and they are lowered down the hole. The doors are then shut and locked and the key to the doors hung from a statue of the god. Anyone who wishes can spend the night at the temple to prove that the doors aren’t opened. Priests sneak into the cave using a secret entrance, open the box, and write answers to the questions on the reverse side of whatever was used, then put back in place. The next day after suitable pomp and ceremony, the boxes are retrieved, and the questions are handed out again. The questioner then goes to another part of the complex where priests will interpret/read the answer, for another small fee. Elsewhere, artisans offer to make charms/shrines around the piece that the god wrote on while others sell holy merchandise.

Physically the main temple is rather large, though most of it is open space where supplicants can sleep overnight, if they so choose. Two rows of columns go down the middle, creating a kind of road between them for the procession. The walls and columns are covered in carvings depicting various events associated with the god/oracle, and the praises of those who received an oracle/miracle associated with the god (made up if need be).

Additions, and decorations are added as the temple becomes more famous/richer.

Around the temple are various minor complexes, artisans, living quarters, storehouses, merchants, that kind of thing. By its various nature (claiming to be the prison of a god), the cult is extremely localized, so there is no need for missionary efforts, or anything of that nature. This is doubly true since it is a temple in a polytheistic culture, so there is no reason that one cannot worship other gods and still ask for help from the oracle.



Spoiler Turn 2 :

Spoiler Stats :
Oracle of Wendar/The Strategos - Manonash
Ruler/Heir: /
Leadership/Stability/Culture: 2/0/ 3
Available Spending: Economy/Treasury: 1/8
Population/Area/Diversity: 1/1/1
Domestic Economy/Trade/National Upkeep: 2/0/0 Growing
Confidence/Corruption: 29%/40%
EC/TC/RC: 0/0/0
Maps & Charts: MOS,
Religion/Fanaticism Level: Oracle of Wendar : 2 / 0
Significant natural resources: 0 (none)
Policies Permitted: 0
Indexed Army/Navy Value: 1/0
UU: 0/0
Army: 1000-I, 0-M, no -aUU (1400-max)
Navy: 0-W, 0-T, 0-nUU
Projects:
Army Costs: 1 EP buys: 1000-I, 200-M, 200-aUU
Navy Costs: 1 EP buys: 10-W, 5-T, 10-nUU
Technology: Minimally trained, lightly armored spearmen and archers; Horse drawn chariots. Copper tipped weapons; Ships do not sail out of sight of land.



Goals:
-Expand Temple as place of learning and magnificence, increasing its fame and prestige.


Spending Overview:
-1 creation of amphitheatre and continued patronage of bards, poets, etc.
-1 for creation of “school” to uniformly teach scribes/priests, with especial emphasis on reading, writing, and rituals
-1 to start temple owned sheep herds
-1 “wasted”
-5 EP remain in treasury, and if necessary, to be used as gifts to cause a would-be conqueror to leave us alone.

Important Events:

-Reign of High Priests

This Turn:
-31st High Priest: Years 98 (Last Turn)-107, Continues large scale sponsoring of bards, poets, and the like, creates a large scale amphitheatre carved from the mountain side for performances 1 EP spent
-32nd High Priest: Years 108-111
-33rd High Priest: Years 112-119
-34th High Priest: Years 120-131, Creation of “school” to train students to fulfill role of priests and scribes 1 EP spent
-35th High Priest: Years 132-148, Demands for parchment outstrips supply, causing High Priest to invest in large scale herds (especially sheep) for the sole purpose of using their skin to create parchment. This has led shepherding to almost completely dominate the economy of non-skilled labor of the surrounding area, while parchment making has established itself in the city outside of the Temple grounds alongside the more traditional artisan and trade related economic endeavors. 1 EP spent
-36th High Priest: Years 149-161
-37th High Priest: Years 162-170
-38th High Priest: Year 171-171, “Year of Silence” when Oracle did not speak, the High Priest used his wealth to throw lavish parties/orgies and ordered ornate gifts for his own personal use. The High Priest’s reign ended with his death at one of his banquets, which was interpreted as judgment for his sacrilegiousness. 1 EP “wasted”
-39th High Priest: Years 172-176, Known as the “Great Reformer” who overturned the personal excesses of his predecessor, ending the parties and dedicating all of the ornate gifts to the Temple. The Oracle once again began issuing oracles
-40th High Priest: Years 177-189
-41st High Priest: Years 190-Present

Spoiler Turn 3 :

Spoiler :
Oracle of Wendar/The Strategos - Manonash
Ruler/Heir: /
Leadership/Stability/Culture: 3/1/ 8
Available Spending: Economy/Treasury: 1/6
Population/Area/Diversity: 1/0/1
Domestic Economy/Trade/National Upkeep: 3/1/0 Growing
Confidence/Corruption: 49%/40%
EC/TC/RC: 0/0/1
Maps & Charts: ,,,,,MOS,,,,,,,,
Religion/Fanaticism Level: Oracle of Wendar : 2 / 1
Significant natural resources: 0 (none)
Policies Permitted: 1
Indexed Army/Navy Value: 1/0
UU: 0/0
Army: 1000-I, 0-M, no -aUU (1400-max)
Navy: 0-W, 0-T, 0-nUU
Projects: No
Army Costs: 1 EP buys: 1000-I, 200-M, 200-aUU
Navy Costs: 1 EP buys: 10-W, 5-T, 10-nUU
Technology: Minimally trained, lightly armored spearmen and archers; Horse drawn chariots. bronze weapons;


Goals:
-Expand Temple as place of learning and magnificence, increasing its fame and prestige.


Spending Overview:
-1 EP on doctors/healing complex (temple)
-6 EP remain in treasury, and if necessary, to be used as gifts to cause a would-be conqueror to leave us alone.


Important Events:

-Reign of High Priests

This Turn:

-41st High Priest: Years 190 (last turn)-201 Died of Plague
-42nd High Priest: Years 202-202: Died of Plague
-43rd High Priest: Years 202-202: Died of Plague
-44th High Priest: Years 202-216: In order to combat plague, attempts to hire the best doctors to settle around the Oracle, builds a healing temple nearby the oracle. The plague dies out during the winter of 202, another minor outbreak occurs in 203, with the final outbreak occurring in the spring of 204. It is unclear whether the plague’s end is because of the efforts of the doctors or because of its natural course, though many pious people chalk it up to the intervention of Wendar so that his worshipers don’t entirely die out 1 EP Spent.
-45th High Priest: Years 217-229
-46th High Priest: Years 230-234
-47th High Priest: Years 235-242
-48th High Priest: Years 243-249
-49th High Priest: Years 250-257
-50th High Priest: Years 258-262
-51st High Priest: Years 263-277
-52nd High Priest: Years 278-286
-53rd High Priest: Years 287-291
-54th High Priest: Years 292-298
-55th High Priest: Years 299-Present

Spoiler Turn 4 :

Oracle of Wendar/The Strategos - Manonash
Ruler/Heir: /
Overall Score: 341
Leadership/Stability/Culture: 3/1/ 11
Available Spending: Economy/Treasury: 2/5
Population/Area/Diversity: 1/0/1
Domestic Economy/Trade/National Upkeep: 3/1/0 Growing
Confidence/Corruption: 54%/38%
EC/TC/RC: 0/0/1
Maps & Charts: ,,,,,MOS,,,,,,,,
Religion/Fanaticism Level: Oracle of Wendar : 2 / 1
Significant natural resources: 0 (none)
Policies Permitted: 1
Indexed Army/Navy Value: 1/0
UU: 0/0
Army: 1000-I, 0-M, no -aUU (1400-max)
Navy: 0-W, 0-T, 0-nUU
Projects: No
Army Costs: 1 EP buys: 1000-I, 200-M, 200-aUU
Navy Costs: 1 EP buys: 10-W, 5-T, 10-nUU
Technology: Minimally trained, lightly armored spearmen and archers; Horse drawn chariots. bronzeweapons; Dirt roads; religious altars, shrines & temples.

Existing Policies:
-A percentage of pilgrim’s donations shall be set aside for distribution to the orphaned, widowed, invalid, and other poor. (to be first enacted in the year 306 and continued until we get a real bastard as High Priest)


Goals:
-Expand Temple as place of learning and magnificence, increasing its fame and prestige.


Spending Overview:
-1 EP on Way of the Sun, a major road running east-west through Oracle lands
-0.5 EP on building and filling storehouses for grain
-0.5 EP on building way stations along the Way of the Sun
-5 EP remain in treasury, and if necessary, to be used as gifts to cause a would-be conqueror to leave us alone.


Important Events:

-Reign of High Priests this turn:

-55th High Priest: Years 299 (last turn)-308:
-300: The Way of the Sun is begun. The goal of this is to build a major road that goes east-west for the 110 miles of Oracle territory. This road is intended to be able to handle more pilgrims traveling at once as well as to help said pilgrims reach their destination faster. If it could be stone cobbled (like the major ancient Roman roads) that would be nice, but if that is asking too much, I understand. At the very least, I would like the last mile or so to the Oracle to look nice. I also understand if you decide that I can’t build 110 miles of road (over hilly terrain) in 10 years. Just start at the Oracle and work our way outward, getting as much done as possible before time/funds run out. 1 EP spent
-306: A famine hits the land. While relatively minor, it hits the poor hard, resulting in much suffering. In response, the High Priest sets the policy that a percentage of pilgrim’s donations shall be set aside for distribution to the orphaned, widowed, invalid, and other poor.
Also during the famine, the High Priest decides to help his policy along by building giant storehouses and filling them with imported grain for both immediate relief, and to provide the basis for long-term relief. 0.5 EP spent

-56th High Priest: Years 309-Present
-309: The High Priest decides that the Way of the Sun needs way stations along its path for pilgrims to rest in safety and comfort. Thus, he authorizes the construction of buildings for this purpose along the road. 0.5 EP spent
 
Nothing special to see here:

FëuroNES

Spoiler Orders 1 :
Nation: Constanbul (Abaddon)
Government: Absolute Monarchy (Constan dynasty)
Capitol: Istanbul
Religion: Christian
Income: 1 Gold
Army: 2000 Footmen
Navy: None
Loyalty: Balanced
Projects: None Yet
Color: Royal Purple

-----------------------------
Spending 1
-----------------------------

Build some ships! Get them out scouting the coast line looking for good locations to settle aswell as potential friends and enemys.

-------------

1000 men will expand the empire North West as much as possible, and the same in the other direction.
We will use scouts to identify leaders or nearby tribes and capture them with force. They can either join with our nation, swearing fealty to King Constan or have their hands cut off and their village turned to slaves. Those who side with us, and can provide arms will be rewarded.

To help swell our nation, the King shall encourge parenthood by siring as many offspring as possible, with having many children seen as a status symbol of his power. Only children born to his queen will have any power hineritance rites etc


-----------------------------------
I want to raise my nations income.

To do this I propose to build a great trade port.
It will specialise in dealing in slaves as well as basic goods (luxury will arrise as civilizations develope again in the future)

It will be big enough to dock many ships, etc etc.

I'll modify this under your guidance, but I want to see the growth asap! So tell me how to make it so


Spoiler Orders 2 :
Nation: Constanbul (Abaddon)
Government: Absolute Monarchy (Constan dynasty)
Capitol: Istanbul
Religion: Christian
Income: 2 Gold (4 Gold Banked)
Army: 1700 Footmen 500 Auxiliaries
Navy: 5 Galleys
Loyalty: Balanced
Projects: The Great Port and Slave Market of Constanbul (0/1|0/3)
Color: Royal Purple
Description: Spanning an important river passing, the Contanbul nation has grown fat on the passing trade. Advanced in naval matter, but admittedly lacking in offensive army capabilities.
------------------------------------------------

I dont know if my great port grows naturally or not, so i'll just leave it. If it requires some money, switch 1 gold from training up troops.

-----
Mint green on the map is the primary expansion plan

BLUE is using the same plan as before, but to ensure that noone gets any ideas, we will advance in random directions etc.

I am also settling a colony on the far side (pink) this will ensure i have access into more of "europe"

Spend 4 Gold raising 4000 troops to RaYn3 down on my foe and expand at an even greater rate than before. Again plundering wealth and growing local national economy. All the slaves will really help flood my market with quality stock

Spend 2 Gold on Galleys to protect our new coastal concerns :D

Spoiler :
constabulgs8.png


Cueta -Jason The King NES

Spoiler Orders IIII :
Cueta
Player/Ruler: Abaddon / Abram Sieed
Government: Monarchy
Capital: Luggon
Religion: Paganism
Population: 3
Economy: Stable
Age: early bronze age
Education: Illiterate
Army: 300 footmen, 250 archers
Navy: 20 galleys
Stability: Stable
Infrastructure: Sparse
Projects:

-----------------------------------------
manyhandsmakelightworkoz7.png


Thats what I want, spend the 2 points to achieve it ;)
-----------------------------------------

1 point on colonists and covering the initial work needed to establish a settlement
1 point raising troops which will be stationed in these colonies.

Or Navy will be patrolling between the different colonys, facilitating trade. We want to be the Hub of med trade, and making a nice tax profit as we transport the goods from here to there.
 
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