The Chronicles of Khan

Actually, T-Money, corruption isn't too bad yet - an effect of the huge map size. Courthouses are still having an effect etc.

As to MGLs, I think you will find that it is 9 - 7 armies pre-military tradition, 1 leader on defence lost to continued onslaught, and I leader rushed the Heroic Epic to speed the MGLs on the way
 
In my game its 700 A.D. and not a single leader! The mighty siphai however need not be in an army. Really enjoyed ur update, keep it coming, good luck
 
Could we see a world map, please? I want to see one from when the Rome war started vs. one from now.
 
rbis4rbb, I'll put a world map from around 700AD in the next chapter. It may not be too accurate on the Roman conflict, though as we still do not have map trading, and I have not had any units in the vicinty of that conflict. Obviously it will give you a good picture of Mongolian expansion, however.
 
i don't know if u havebuilt it yet but i have a question thats been palguing me. What is the SPHQ and what does it do? it can't find the information anywhere on the site. i only have vanilla civ.
 
I am pretty sure that SPHQ is available only to communism. Only exists in conquests, not vanilla civ.

And no, I haven't built it yet, because I am not in communism. In fact communism has not been discovered yet!
 
The unique ability of the Keshik has so far only been useful twice - on the way to Karachi, and on the way to Yekaterinburg. In the former, it enabled us to get there twice as quickly, in the latter, it enabled us to hug the mountains for greater defensive bonus. The map parameteres were not designed to maximise the potential of the UU unique ability, though in the German confrontation it will prove very useful, because there is the Great Dividing Range seperating the bulk of Germany from Mongolia.

The weakness of the UU is its 2 def, but as we have managed a mainly offensive defense, this hasn't been a big factor. Certainly, the discount of 10 shields versus normal knights has helped us build our large army of them more quickly, as well as upgrade horses more cheaply.

So overall, I quite like them!
 
Yeah, but the main problem with the Keshik is the fact that it's defense is so low. It can't capture and hold cities like Knights can, and it's over-mountain ability kind of sucks when you can't hustle your defensive units over as fast, while the Keshiks die by the truckload trying to hold cities. Of course, I've only played with them once so I may have a crooked view.
 
The secret is to try and stay on the offensive, even when defending a position, and then the weakness of the 2 def never comes into it. This will be harder against the Germans who have a decent supply of knights.
 
Are you gonna go for the mass upgrade? In my current game the mass upgrade from horsemen-siphai worked wonders. I build leo's and for about 3000 gp, i turned 30 sucky horsemen into 30 might siphai. Instead of spending 100 shields, I spend 30!
 
lol sandman isn't even close to daft. For the quality of each of these chapters, take your time sandman :)
 
Chapter Ten: Dawn of a new Threat

The events leading up to the new global threat started innocently enough, although to careful observers perhaps there was some veiled threat in the actions of the super-powers. The first hint that there was something else amiss in the world occurred when the super-power Germany pulled out of the alliance against the Romans early. The fact that the new alliance partner, the Inca, immediately turned round and brought in the Netherlands against the Romans meant that the alliance continued to be strong, and so the German pull out was not given the attention by the Mongol high command that it perhaps deserved.

With the Russian core holdings rapidly falling, and the remaining Russian cities lying on the east coast of America, Tver, and on the Babylonian/German border, Novosibirsk, the Americans realised that total elimination of this mutual foe would not occur soon without the aid of the Babylonians, and so they recruited the Babylonians into the Russian campaign. Meanwhile, in spite of the superior Russian technology, the Americans assaulted Tver with ever increasing veracity. The Russians, lacking any ability to reinforce the town, could not long hold out against the numbers of troops the Americans had at their disposal. The inevitable result was the town siege ended in the Americans being victorious, and further shrinking the Russian empire.

The Babylonians meanwhile, were now engaged in war on two fronts, although little resistance could be expected from the Russian city on their eastern border. In spite of this the deeply religious and culturally proud nation continued to devote substantial investment into the development of wonders, this time culminating in the completion of the magnificent JS Bach’s Cathedral. Perhaps even more than the physical battles around them, the Babylonians were actually threatened by the massive culture of the super-power Germany. The powerhouse of Germany had generated such a massive amount of culture, that even the Babylonians had but half of Germans cultural influence. And, so in many ways these large nations of the west were fighting a battle of a different sort, with the richness of their heritage impinging on the border towns of their neighbours, and though not a shot had been fired at this point, surely this was but another way of waging war!

Meanwhile, the domestic affairs of the Mongol state could not be left unattended, and indeed they were not, as this was a busy time for the magician, Yeh-lu , as well. A near coastal source of whales had been discovered almost directly to the east of Karakorum itself, and so a new settlement, Bayanhongor, was established on the uninhabited peninsular there. In time a prosperous town, based on the whaling trade, was expected to develop.

Yeh-lu’s sages had been true to their promise as well, and delivered the printing press, a mechanism for the mass production of the Khan’s chronicles.
pp.jpg

Yeh-lu then hit the world circuit seeking to extract value from the trade of the new Mongol knowledge. This time in an effort to foster better relations in the far west, Yeh-lu sought out the Court of Pachacuti to trade his wares to the Inca. Pachacuti was slow in comprehending the purpose of this printing press machine, and so needed a practical demonstration of its utility in order to be convinced of its merit. The demonstration was given a practical goal, and achieved the function of generating communications between the Incans and the Japanese for the first time. Finally convinced that this machine had some merit, Pachacuti was prepared to trade, but he still needed a sweetener to part with the knowledge of Astronomy.
Incan_pp.jpg

Next on Yeh-lu’s whirl wind tour was Theodora of the Byzantines. Once again a useful swap existed here, and the newly acquired Astronomy was more than enough coin to persuade Theodora to part with Banking and a small amount of gold.
Byz_pp.jpg

There was one other knowledge that was widely known amongst the scientific elite at the time, that of Chemistry. Yeh-lu would have dearly loved to have secured this valuable knowledge as well. However, by this time the potential buyers for the printing press were aware that there were other sellers now in the market. This meant that they were a lot less willing to part with the apparently more important knowledge of Chemistry for the lesser valuable knowledge of the printing press. Perhaps their leaders did not have chronicles worthy of widespread distribution!

Instead, Yeh-lu was forced to settle for a straight out cash payment for the knowledge. This was clearly better than nothing, and having another civilisation secure the trade and whatever remaining value there was to be had, so Yeh-lu took what cash he could. First there was Germany. In hindsight, having a significant payment plan involved in this deal may have been yet another enticement for the treacherous German’s, but the deal seemed fine at the time, and was given the Khan’s blessing
german_pp.jpg

King William was also prepared to agree to a payment plan for the new technology.
Dutch_pp.jpg

The final opportunity for trade existed with the Babylonians. However they had little money at the time, so instead another technology trade was on offer. Yeh-lu’s diary of the time noted that he did not believe that this technology was particularly valuable to the Mongols, and that the trade was more to continue the fostering of improved relations with the Babylonians. However, it is believed that the atmosphere at the Khan’s court was subsequently a little more pleasant with sounds of background music starting to become more common.
Bab_pp.jpg

Upon his return to Karakorum, Yeh-lu found his trusted sages lacking in direction, but full of ideas for their next great discoveries. At least three opportunities presented themselves for the sages. First they could look into a new governing form, tentatively referred to as Democracy. This would be radically different to the existing organisation in Mongolia as it would involve significant representation of the people. Yeh-lu doubted that the Khan would see much merit in this. The existing government form, monarchy, allowed the Khan the freedom to pursue his relentless quest for military action against his enemies, and providing the Mongol people with the living room they so desperately craved. It was known that some of the other nations of the known world were using a less radical form of this people’s representation, and that they ran into difficulties during any prolonged military campaign. Perhaps the Mongolian nation would withstand this war weariness better than others due to the Mongols almost insatiable delight in taking up arms. In any event, needless to say the sages were dissuaded from pursuing this course.

A second option for the sages was an expansion on the concept of Astronomy. Taken further, this concept had the potential to lead to safe passage for ships even through the deep ocean itself! Of course, given the Mongols strong connection with the land, and with a power based very much on solid ground, this concept was never given any serious thought.

A third option was to pursue the knowledge of Chemistry independently from the civilisations that had already attained this knowledge. In frustration, Yeh-lu was almost ready to go for this not particularly appealing option. That was before the quite attractive alternative of Economics was presented to Yeh-lu. This concept would once more have a tradeable value, but better still, a particularly promising sage called Adam Smith believed that this extension to the marketplace concept could lead to revolutionary improvements in the efficiency of the Mongol economy. Of course this was not without some risks and costs associated with it. And so after some considerable consultation with this Adam Smith, Yeh-lu authorised the sages to commence work on understanding this knowledge, albeit at a much reduced, though still generous, rate of funding. Meanwhile a great project was commenced in the city of Tabriz, though under a huge cloud of secrecy because the exact purpose and intention of the building work there was not yet clearly understood.
 
Chapter Ten continued

Meanwhile, Subedei was regularly meeting the Khan and Chebe in the forbidden palace at Ta-tu. As the reports of the Russian collapse became more and more favourable, Subedei was authorised to begin shifting the mighty forces at his disposal to Yekaterinburg as a staging point for a future Chinese conflict. Thus Subedei was authorised to start planning this as a joint campaign with the Byzantines that was to see the Mongols and the Byzantines divide up the territory in the Sino-American peninsular. Obviously, this plan was a matter of the greatest secrecy, particularly since the relations with both the Chinese and the Americans had never previously had animosity amongst the parties. Clearly also this move would be a clear act of Mongolian aggression, and so the reaction of the rest of the world would need to be carefully monitored before any approval for the action could be given.

There was another reason for considering action against the Chinese. Yeh-lu’s informants had become aware of a Chinese plan for aggressive Chinese expansion that involved, as a preliminary, the development of another variant on the Keshik. Yet it had been rumoured that this variant would not only prove fleeter of foot, but also a better defender than the Keshik as well. The concept was certainly one to be feared, and so better a pre-emptive strike from the Mongols, then be the victim of the Chinese expansion moves to the south. Yeh-lu’s informants certainly had enough evidence of these developments underway, so as to justify the intended action.

Thus many troops were pulled back, and rebased to Yekaterinberg, just as would have been required in order to strike north. Most particularly, these troops were pulled back from the long new front with the Americans, and more pertinently, with the Germans. It is now well known that the Germans saw this repositioning of force in a very opportunistic way, and thus were encouraged to increase their militancy towards the Mongols.

A more in-depth analysis of the German psyche at the time revealed a deeply envious nation. In every other respect than land area and population, the mighty super-power Germany ruled over all she surveyed, but in these matters, the German republic fell short. However, and this was a very key however, the German territories had largely been acquired through organic means, and so represented strongly loyal well-developed cities with little waste to corruption. The Mongols, on the other hand, had a sprawling empire with a high level of lawlessness in the newly conquered territories of India, Greece and Russia. In fact the influence of the Mongols did not fully extend through these conquered territories, as the following period map demonstrates through the patchy coverage zones in these lands.
World710AD.jpg

Chancellor Bismark had also steered the German people into an arms build up of their own, and with plentiful natural sources of the all important resources, there was not going to be an opportunity for Subedei to cut out the heart of the German resolve in the opening phases of the conflict. Perhaps the final straw for the German people was the loss of the fine Mongolian wines that had been so plentiful during the German participation in the Roman War, but now were nowhere to be found. This proved to be the catalyst for the simmering tensions to manifest themselves in a more violent way. Violent protest broke out in the streets of Berlin, with the people demanding more Mongolian wines.
riots.jpg

Chancellor Bismark finally acted to appease his people. Pumped up with the German heritage that so massively overshadowed the Mongols’ own, and backed with the strength of arms of his growing military with both musket and knight divisions to spare, Bismark instructed his Mongolian ambassador to go and demand a continuance of the German supply of Mongolian wine.

If the German high command expected mere acquiescence from the Mongols, they had not done their research on the Khan very well. So angered was the Khan by this ridiculous and outrageous demand that he personally rose from his throne to seize the startled ambassador and manhandled him out of the palace. The German ambassador was left in no uncertain impression that any further sleights to the honour of the Mongols would result in the immediate execution of the messenger, and war upon the fools who authorised the outrage! On this occasion, the Khan was spared the need to declare himself.
GermanDoW.jpg

The Germans immediately backed their words with actions as a half division of knights appeared on the Great Dividing Range overlooking the town of Uliastay, as though they had been but waiting the command to go! With the bulk of his forces in Yekaterinburg, there was little Subedei could do to respond to the threat. The very real danger that the might of Germany represented to the Mongols was immediately realised by Chebe as well. And so, a new division of power was immediately decided upon. General Ereen was called back onto duty to control the forces in the south. He was to be charged with the defense of the border towns there, in particular Uliastay, and the clearing of the German towns lining the other side of the Great Dividing Range.

General Subedei would retain control of taskforce China, but instead of China, it would take the northern road through Khabarovsk to attack Nuremberg. Subedei also had several armies in the vicinity of Kazan, and he presented a strong case for opening a third front against the Germans based from this town.

General Chebe argued strongly for involving the neighbours of Germany in a mighty alliance to aid in the fall of this upstart nation. Given the Mongols’ ill preparedness to fight this war, the Khan did not raise objections. Chebe sought and received the assistance of the Babylonians, the Incans, the long term partner the Byzantines, and given their place on the Mongol hit list, perhaps surprisingly, the Americans into this conflict.
American_gmy.jpg


Babs_gmy.jpg


Inca_gmy.jpg


Byz_gmy.jpg

The Khan had reservations about the Babylonian deal and the price of the extended alliance with the Byzantines. In the case of the Babylonians, they had proven unreliable as a military ally in the past with a greater emphasis placed on the further construction of culture at the expense of building the necessary weapons of war. Furthermore, a lump sum payment by way of a technology left little ongoing incentive to keep the civilisation honest and involved in the conflict.

With the Byzantines, the Khan was starting to question their motives a little bit, especially given their stated like of conquest, however, given the Sun Tzu inspired quality of the forces that the Byzantines put into battle, it was a clearly worthwhile inclusion in the alliance.

Looking at the price of this new grand alliance, a casual observer could be excused for wondering what was the point of all this, after all the total cost of the alliance to the Mongols far exceeded the original German demand for wines. However, this would be a very shallow interpretation of the situation. Given the strength and growing power of the Germans, it had become inevitable for conflict between these two great nations. So this huge expense brought useful aid in weakening the might of Germany. Conceding to the German demand would have strengthened this enemy further still and granted the Mongols nothing!

As the Great War broke out, Subedei sent three battalions of Keshik over to the Nuremberg hill as an advanced guard. Further south, Subedei executed his plan by advancing Chagatai’s army and the second Keshik army across the Great Dividing Range, and into the territory of the German town of Dortmund. It was here that the special fortifications of the Germans became apparent. The construction of the Great Wall in their capital, Berlin, meant that even towns had defences like cities, and given that Berlin was several tiers of cities behind the frontlines, any offensive against the Germans was going to have to slog through truly well entrenched musket after musket. If the Germans had their way this war was going to be very bloody for the Mongols and their allies!

Ereen was in an even worse situation. With most of the troops that had been deployed around Uliastay, either on the way or already at Yekaterinberg, he had very little to hold off the impending attack. Two elite battalions of spears were able to garrison Uliastay, but with the impending doom of the German half division of knights to withstand, the likelihood of survival did not look great.
Uliastay_threat.jpg

But just as things looked the grimmest, the most surprising alliance partner stepped forward to inflict damage upon the enemy. The Americans were technologically deficient, possessing weapons belonging to the Ancient Age, and yet by their numbers alone, and position within the German empire already en route to the final Russian city, they were positioned to strike. And although obsolete, the power of a sword battalion was still very effective when deployed against an unsuspecting modern unit. Such was the impact upon the Germans brought about by the presence of these American troops that the Germans used the remainder of their available resources buying in an alliance with Scandinavia not against the mighty Mongols, but against the backward Americans.

Just as one alliance partner was proving its worth, another was demonstrating that its priorities lay elsewhere. The Incans announced to the world the completion of the huge project they termed Copernicus’ Observatory. It was believed that this construction was to become a beacon for aspiring scientists, accelerating the pace of learning from within the Incan nation. For all of that it provided little comfort to the Khan in these trying early stages of the German War!

It was also during this time that the rapidly dwindling Russians sought to reassert their sovereignty. The Russians were desperate to found a further town after being reduced to a solitary city. In this far too late grab for space they deliberately sent settler caravans through the sovereign territory of the Incans. Of course there was no space to be had, but even more troubling for the Russians was that the Incans were not impressed with the Russian incursion, and so gave them an ultimatum – leave or declare war. The Russians, in a move that was clearly suicidal chose war!

It was then that the Germans unleashed their ruthless assault on the town of Uliastay. Ereen was quickly to learn that the power of the western knight was fully as convincing as the might of the Keshik, and what is more, even elite spear battalions could not deny them from their prise. It took the Germans just two battalions of these knights to destroy rhe defending battalions and seize control of the Mongol town.

Ereen was not going to take this German offense lying down. However, he still did not have the required units to crush the enemy, and after losing his first Keshik battalion to the defending German knight battalion he was forced to call off the attack, and wait for reinforcements.

The Germans had taken first blood, but they were yet to face the might of Subedei’s armies. Would the German resolve outlast the Mongolian alliance? Would the massive attrition of Keshiks expected against the huge numbers of German muskets break the Mongolian counterthrust? Would the German knights prove superior to the Mongolian Keshik? Only time would tell, but there could be no doubt about one thing – this was to be the greatest and bloodiest conflict to date, and by its end the world would be profoundly changed.
 
rbis4rbb said:
Geez, haven't you learned to defend Ulistiay yet??
I have a small problem with defensive units. Owing to the rate of expansion, I have barely one defender per two cities. Uliastay is not the only weak point. That is another reason why I have been keen on these alliances. If they are at war with your common enemy, they won't attack you. Well that's my theory anyway!
 
Back
Top Bottom