The Rood and the Dragon - the Anglo-Saxon scenario

[The Last Conformist]

I've entered the 2nd era, and am currently in the process of unifying Northumbria by beating up Aeler. It's taking longer than it should, partly because I messed up my initial offensive, and partly because of the utter uselessness of my Strathclyder "allies".

Some comments:

The Warrior Hall comes very late in the Pagan period - the only reason I get any use of it at all is that I'm not about to throw a revolution in the middle of a war! This does not exactly make it easier to stave off the Irish.

Wouldn't the curragh graphics be more appropriate than the galley ones for the Scyp?

Somehow, a short stretch of rail has appeared at the Spearwort NE of Penrith. It's not in the editor - it appears to've arosen from a Rhegedian colony.

The Picts seem alot more docile than they did in the old version. I think that's a good thing.

I like the Roman Ruins!

The Training Huts going obsolete is annoying. Having to track them down and sell them to avoid paying maintenance of obsolete buildings is doubly so.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Mid-eighth century. I've conquered Deira proper, but Aeler holds out on one of those damnable Scotish islands. Currently fighting Lindsey, who for some reason hates my guts. Well, their loss, considering the relative sizes of our armies.

The Norse have turned up in the form of a couple of Longships off my coast. This far, they appear friendly ...

Currently transitioning to Christian Monarchy - I held it off for as long as Deira was a power to recon with.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I've now managed to download it and have started a game as the Kentish. I must say that this is even better presented than the previous version. The music download is well worthwhile, it really adds to the atmosphere. I like the science advisor screen with the tech imprinted on the back...very nice. It has some other graphics I want to steal.....

First overall impressions are very favourable.

 

[Plotinus]

One of the reasons that I added Training Huts (which go obsolete) and later Barracks is to make the transition from paganism to Christianity more of a choice. I felt before that it was a bit of a no-brainer to switch to Christianity as soon as possible. Now, though, if you're planning on doing anything warlike around that period, you may well be better off staying pagan, keeping the Training Huts, the Warrior Hall, and the Spirit House for a bit longer.

I didn't think the Curragh graphics really looked very Anglo-Saxon at all. Perhaps that's just me!

I can't think how rail got in there - I haven't seen it appear - although I do note that Rheged often builds a colony at that Spearwort.

Docile Picts? Ha - there was I, as Northumbria, amassing an army with which to strike my nemesis Deira, when Rheged suddenly invaded without warning. Then, the next turn, the Picts did the same thing from the other direction... Of course I'd set AI aggression to "Penda", which may have helped...

 

[The Last Conformist]

One of the reasons that I added Training Huts (which go obsolete) and later Barracks is to make the transition from paganism to Christianity more of a choice. I felt before that it was a bit of a no-brainer to switch to Christianity as soon as possible. Now, though, if you're planning on doing anything warlike around that period, you may well be better off staying pagan, keeping the Training Huts, the Warrior Hall, and the Spirit House for a bit longer.

That makes sense, except I got my Training Huts obsoleted by the free tech I got as a Sci civ. It would be better if they were tied to Pagan Monarch instead of automatically disappearing when you hit the tech. This, IIUC, would also fix the issue that they still cost upkeep after going obsolete (the AI isn't bright enough to sell its).

I didn't think the Curragh graphics really looked very Anglo-Saxon at all. Perhaps that's just me!

It's not like the Galley looks A-S either!

Docile Picts? Ha - there was I, as Northumbria, amassing an army with which to strike my nemesis Deira, when Rheged suddenly invaded without warning. Then, the next turn, the Picts did the same thing from the other direction... Of course I'd set AI aggression to "Penda", which may have helped...

Well, I'm playing as Northumbria right now, and Brude has not even seen fit to attack the city the Irish plopped immediately north of Iverness! Normal AI aggression, but with the Picts at top aggression already, that shouldn't make a difference.

Speaking of Rheged, they've become a great power, but I hesitate to attack them, since they've got a MPP with the damnable Irish. My next victim will be Strathclyde - should teach them for not honouring their alliances!


Edit: AD 798. With the fall of Winterington to the Northumbrian forces, the Lindiswaras as the first faction bite the dust.

Edit2: I find it amusing that the Christian Thegn appears to be lefthanded ...

Edit3: The Strathclyders are collapsing nicely. The Deirans, in a fit of deathwish, have declare war on me - I'll kill 'em off as soon as I've got a fleet in the Irish Sea. But I clearly should've gone with the "Penda" option - no significant war has been fought that I've not been involved in. The Norse, Danes, Welshmen, and Picts are as aggressive as sleeping puppies, and let's not talk about the souther Anglo-Saxons ...

 

[7ronin]

I just finished my first game of the revised edition as Kent and suffered a humiliating cultural defeat at the hands of the Irish. The Irish! This was despite having destroyed Sussex and gnawed signficantly on Wessex and East Anglia.

Things seem to move along faster in the new version perhaps because stronger offensive units are available earlier. Rheged really puts a brake on Northumberland and Diera. However, sniff , as a loyal son of Islay I am still disappointed that there is still no Dalriada (your reasons are understood). The Norse and their friends never put in an appearance and Gwynned and Powys still tried to populate Ireland. Great improvements in the "chrome" - hats off to your band of scribbling monks. Still no bugs.

I'm interested in hearing how you changed the map.

 

[The Last Conformist]

"We have discovered a new source of Roman Ruins!" doesn't sound quite right, especially when the ruins in question are north of Hadrian's Wall.

The Rhegedians have an inexplicable tendency to use their Wealas Spearmen offensively. No idea why, since they're not flagged as offensive units.

 

[Plotinus]

That's a funny one - never happened to me! Well, clearly they were doing some excavations up there and discovered something surprising. There *were* Roman settlements north of the wall, I believe.

I have seen Waelas Spearmen attacking, although typically only against wounded units with poor defence, which might seem reasonable. Still, Rheged usually has enough nasty attacking units to compensate for this.

Map changes: the main ones are the reduction in size of Ireland and the fringes of Scotland. Now Gwynedd still sometimes settle southeast Ireland, but by no means always. Also, Cornwall has been shortened, thereby discouraging Sussex from settling Land's End, and also I've given Scilly directly to Dumnonia because it was silly to see a Kentish city there. With these changes, and also the presence of Rheged to fill the map up a bit more, most of the mainland AI civs are more aggressive and at an earlier stage. Despite what TLC has found in his game...

The band of scribbling monks are having an extra turn around the cloister as a reward for their hard work. If only I were as lucky myself!

 

[Stormrage]

The band of scribbling monks are having an extra turn around the cloister as a reward for their hard work. If only I were as lucky myself!

I`m gonna DL it now! Yeehaw!

 

[The Last Conformist]

I just finished the game with a VP victory - see screenie below.

The AIs' pacificism in this game was just freakish - from the replay, it's clear some wars took place in the south, but no single city was ever conquered by an AI, except for a Rhegedian city that flipped on me.

Speaking of Rheged, as you can tell from the minimap, I had basically destroyed Rheged and Strathclyde apart from the obligatory enclaves in the northwest. I also took Dunadd from the Irish, and had seized Dunollie if the game had lasted a couple more turns. I was even building Cnears on the Irish Sea in order to finally get at those **** islanders.

While it can't explain the utter lack of militancy on the part of the Vikings, Picts, and Wealas (Powys, in particular, was a powerhouse, with a huge army), some of the peacefulness must've been due to the fact that some early transgression left me unable to sign MAs and MPPs for essentially the whole game, which prevented the domino wars I so enjoy setting off.

Oh, and the South Saxena left Land's End well alone, but that didn't prevent Wessex from settling it!

Powys and particularly Gwynedd plopped down cities in Ireland. Guess whether the Irish tried to do anything about it. I'd be tempted to deny the Welsh kingdoms access to ships until fairly deep into the techtree to prevent this.

The unit balance is overall good. The Irish are screwed going up against Christian Thegns with those Celtic Swordsmen, but I suppose that's intentional.

You probably need to up the VP limit if you ever want to see any Knights in action.

You can prevent the Roman Ruins from hopping around by setting the Disappearance Probability to zero.

Wild idea: Cut the sea lanes between Norway and Denmark, and instead have the Norse descend from the, well, north.

 

[Plotinus]

[Stormrage] There should be enough wild axe-wielding action in there even for you, I hope...

[TLC] Domino wars are always fun. A nice tactic in this one is to set the Vikings on your enemies, but you didn't hear it from me. The reason I made the sea lanes as they are was to encourage the Vikings to go through as much Anglo-Saxon-controlled sea as possible, in the hope of sparking confrontation. They always want to go around Scotland, so forcing them to start at Thanet (like all invaders) forces them to make their presence felt.

The Irish are indeed less militarily powerful than before, partly to discourage the Vikings from concentrating their firepower against them (when they concentrate it anywhere). You may also notice that the Romano-British are slightly more powerful at the early stages (with those British Swordsmen available immediately) but by the middle of the second era the Anglo-Saxons should be more powerful. But I think you demonstrated that nicely in your game.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Well, I'll be starting a new game and see if the AI develops some backbone ...

 

[The Last Conformist]

Just started a new game, as Wessex, with the OCN thru the roof. Let's see what happens ...

Edit: Late 6th century, the landgrab phase is pretty much over. The Vikings are far off yet, but soon one should see if the AI intends to be any more warlike this time round ...

Edit: Another century has passed by, most of which has been spent fighting the Kentishmen and the Hwicceans, the former because they had the temerity to plop down a couple cities in rightfully Saxon land, the later because, well, they're Hwicce. I'll soon make the switch to Christianity.

The AI is not notably belligerent, but better than last time; the East Saxons, after some prodding from me, chased the Kentishmen out of the lower Thames valley, and the Rhegedians just declared war on the Irish, which could get interesting, considering the Irish are rich and should be able to bribe someone to do their fighting for them. The Northumbrians have, apparently peacefully, seized control over bits of the Scottish west coast and the islands.

The AI insists on using the Wizard as an offense unit, which is kinda stupid.

 

[Plotinus]

Thanks for trying out the OCN idea, TLC. I'll do so myself too when I get a chance.

 

[Scytale]

What is the OCN? And Plotinus how did you make the vikings mount an attack overseas...in my experience the AI can't organize a convincing attack from sea. Anyway I'm ashamed to say that I never tried this scenario but I'll do it now because I have some free time.

 

[Plotinus]

The OCN is the Optimal City Number. Corruption is determined partly by how far a city is from the capital and partly by how many cities you have compared to the OCN. The higher this number, the less corruption you suffer. It seems that a higher OCN encourages the AI to conquer more territory - I didn't realise this before, so it wasn't one of the methods I used to try to encourage the Vikings to attack!

I tried several techniques to encourage them to attack - there are hidden resources on the British mainland that the Vikings need, and also the Vikings are just very powerful. When they attack it is effective simply because they have strong amphibious units and lots of them. I find that the AI is actually not too bad at overseas attacks with amphibious units, if it has enough - or perhaps, to put it another way, I'm bad at defending against them!

 

[Scytale]

Thanks Plotinus. I want to try this with my WH map and with a scenario I'm doing using the WH mod - the problem was that the civs that started across the ocean never succeded in invading the other side - no threat so no thrill . Hopefully it will work.

 

[Stormrage]

I smell Druchii.... Or are we talking about Lustria?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Continuing Wessex report ...

The 8th century turned out to be much more eventful than the preceding ones. Well, much bloodier, at any rate.

In the south, Wessex continued to expand; I have now eliminated Hwicce, Sussex, and Kent. Against the later two, I had the help of Dumnonia, who took care of Sussex's possessions in Cornwall and on Ireland, and, more annoyingly, took a Kentish city in Essex. All in all, Dumnonia has got a bit too big for its boots, and I'll have to deal with them eventually. However, first I need to beat up the North Wealas, who Laogaire paid to attack me - a rather disproportionate reaction , I'd say, since all I ever did against him was nicking Dyfed.

Further north, Mercia and Deira have carved up Lindsey between them, whereas Essex opted for a more peaceful course, and has built a bunch of wonders, and also taken the lead in the tech race.

Rheged, to my moderate surprise, has managed to fend off the Irish's stooges, and instead, with some help from me, built an alliance with Northumbria, Strathclyde, and Pictavia, which then proceeded to finally boot the Irish out of Scotland in AD 780. Dunadd was razed by the Strathclyders, and the Northumbrians took Dunollie.

Yet further north, the Norse apparently grew tired of cruising about in their longships, and attacked and seized Iverness in 777. They're currently (783) rampaging thru Pictavia without encountering any effective resistance.

I've not seen anything of the Danes yet.

Offa's doesn't name show up on the F4 screen, for some mysterious reason.

As I've already pointed out, the Wealas Swordsman is pretty weak. Seeing wave after wave on them dying at Dunadd's walls was painful! Lesson being, I suppose, if you want someone dead, bring a Germanic.

I'm set to overtake Ireland in culture fairly soon. Unlike me, they're not good at waging war and building culture at the same time.

 

[Plotinus]

That's great. It sounds like the OCN trick does have some effect. What setting did you put it to? I assume that the Norse attacked the Picts on their own initiative rather than being bribed to do so!

Yes, Mercia's name doesn't appear on the adviser screen, or rather it does, but in a fragmented sort of form. It's always done this. I think it's an inbuilt problem with the colour they are using - certainly I can't imagine what else might be causing it. Not the worst bug in the world, though, I hope.