The Unwashed Crusade: A Bannor Story

How much of a military were you left with when the Crusade ended? And what was Cardith Lorda up to that entire time?

I had something on the order of 90 units left (which is little more than 1 per city for obligatory guard duty), including 4 ridiculously promoted paladins, 2 decently promoted priori (the other 2 were blown up by Pyre Zombies... those things are brutal), and a dozen or so confessors all promoted with Inquisition.

In the early game Carditha Lorda was a mover and a shaker like everyone else, getting into and out of wars with The Clan, Doviello and Hippus. Once the crusade really got going, he seemed to realize that he didn't need to be involved when there was THAT much crazy running around. So, he became my quiet little trading buddy (with my meager one-trade-route per city) as well as forcing me to leave a few mages casting HOPE in a handful of border cities so the pinkish-purple culture of metrosexualism didn't overwhelm the testosterone laden light-blue of zealotry.

When Os-Gabella first entered the scene (with a DBZ moment where we all quaked that her power level was over 3 thousaaaaaaaaand!), Carditha voluntarily capitulated to her. That was a tense time; I decided to level the Doviello and the Hippus instead of looking her directly in the eye, for fear that should would take offense and charge me. Fortunately he came to his senses (or hit puberty and didn't want mom telling him what to do... either way) and became an independent nation before the Bannor and the Sheaim locked horns. If he had thrown in with her I would have lost, what with him bordering me on two sides and her on one...
 
Just... superb... Truly amazing.
 
I'm thinking of disregarding those "Bannor need a boost" threads. They lack shiny-fun-toys, but hoo-wee... that is really impressive.

I was thinking the same thing. I was never really sure if the Bannor did need a boost, as I rarely play them (and almost never build enough troops to have a huge army). But this thread is a very effective counter-argument to that idea. Imma go home and try them out.
 
Dude. . . this thread is so full of win it is actually anti-fail. It would make bad threads near it better.
 
I'll n'th the awesome story bit. I have only one complaint though: why no city states? :)
(if you think Aristocracy saves you a lot of money on city upkeep...). Though, I'm sure the extra cash from farms didn't hurt at all.
Oh right, +25% war weariness, that might have been painful, not sure if that would have broke you though(going from 15% to 40%, ok now that I realize this, its not so clear what to do).

If you really wanted to switch out of crusade without the ww crushing you, you could have possibly done a quick nationhood/despotism swap in a golden age, but that might have killed you upkeep wise?

Is ww either capped, or multiplicative between civics(aka despotism and crusade don't give war happiness do they? :))
 
Barbarians should take heart from our example

As should we all. Congrats on the amazing storytelling and, of course, the win.
 
I'm getting a very Warhammer 40k feel from the relentless waves of cannon fodder-based triumph of the forces of heavily-armed Good over ridiculously powerful and infinitely resourceful (apparently not so much in the terms of a good strategy, but still) Evil. A great and most inspirational story, which showcases quite nicely the sheer gritty dark fantasy epicness of this mod.

I assume that you never did get around to taking any screenshots even for the second part?
 
I tried it ... 10 civs on standard all-land map, emperor, quick, raging barbs...

Lanun/Basium won domination victory in turn 250.
I had two 6-size cities, cornered by Perpentach, no towns/villages (pillaged), Bambur, Lugh, 10 elite axeman, 6 paramanders, 6 stonewardens and war with almost all not initiated by me ... (and still holding)

:D:D:D
 
LOL, great story!!

Also, shouldn't Demagogues and Crusaders be switched the other way around? Order getting Demagogues and Crusade getting Crusaders?
 
I'll n'th the awesome story bit. I have only one complaint though: why no city states? :)
(if you think Aristocracy saves you a lot of money on city upkeep...). Though, I'm sure the extra cash from farms didn't hurt at all.
Oh right, +25% war weariness, that might have been painful, not sure if that would have broke you though(going from 15% to 40%, ok now that I realize this, its not so clear what to do).

If you really wanted to switch out of crusade without the ww crushing you, you could have possibly done a quick nationhood/despotism swap in a golden age, but that might have killed you upkeep wise?

Is ww either capped, or multiplicative between civics(aka despotism and crusade don't give war happiness do they? :))

City States would, in theory, have been an angel from the Heaven of Fiscal Solvency with fifty dollar bills for feathers and a halo that acted as a ticker tape machine. In practice, City States requires Cartography and the practice of representing geographic locations on cold, lifeless vellum was considered abhorrent to the proud (and frequently lost) people of Bannor. In contrast, Code of Law (and by extension, Aristocracy) is practically the bread and butter of the Bannor; little children collect action figures made of their favorite by-laws and Confessors have been known to psych themselves up before battle by reciting section 35, sub-clause B of "The Right for the Judicious Use of Unnecessary Violence Against Heretics".

The Bannor were well acquainted with despotism but having absolute rule for "as far as one can reach" doesn't work so well when your running a continent-wide inquisition/bar brawl. The increase in city maintenance would have caused the Bannorian economy to die even more explosively than it was about to, prior to Sabby pulling an all-nighter.

WW benefits definitely stack though the game doesn't reward you in any way for reducing a penalty by more than 100%. Otherwise my capital would have had a negative city maintenance (-40% from courthouse, -40% from basilica, -25% from five law mana). That'd entail a bureaucracy so smooth it finishes meetings before they start and actually PRODUCES office supplies during business hours.



I'm getting a very Warhammer 40k feel from the relentless waves of cannon fodder-based triumph of the forces of heavily-armed Good over ridiculously powerful and infinitely resourceful (apparently not so much in the terms of a good strategy, but still) Evil. A great and most inspirational story, which showcases quite nicely the sheer gritty dark fantasy epicness of this mod.

I assume that you never did get around to taking any screenshots even for the second part?

Oh, it was VERY Imperium of Man. And really, on a good day the Sheaim are only a khorde berserker away from being Chaos (Tzeentch-flavored, more specifically). Heck, give the Grigori a gundam-fixation and you're just a slogan shy of the Tau ("For the Greater Good... And Empowerment of Mortals through the Decline of Divine Interference!").

Screen shots? Nope. Sorry. Maybe next time.

Also, shouldn't Demagogues and Crusaders be switched the other way around? Order getting Demagogues and Crusade getting Crusaders?

You make a very astute observation. The actual definition of demagogy works well for describing the unit's use in the game (as an ablative armor of zeal and flesh to bludgeon your enemies with). Maybe Crusaders could become Templars or Hospitallers (or any other obtuse, historic reference that basically means "one who stabs people; predominantly during a religiously motivated conflict"). But I figure Kael and Co. have other things at the top of their to-do list right now. I doubt I am alone in my eager anticipation of those scenarios so tantalizingly displayed in the former-espionage menu. [wipes drool]


By the end of it all I had researched the following:

- Crafting on up to Iron Working (not touching the Masonry/Soap branch)
- Agriculture, Calendar, Animal Husbandry (though that was originally outlawed until it was explained to the confessors that it didn't actually mean what it sounded like...) and horseback riding
- exploration and fishing
- ancient chants, mysticism, KotE, Divination (for the sweet, sweet law mana), Sorcery
- education, warfare, Code of Law, Writing (but only under protest)
- and all the religious "techs" from philosophy on except the evil ones and that nature one (I ended the game while researching Rage)
 
Divination (for the sweet, sweet law mana)

BUT NO FREE TECH TOWER!?!? *noob slap*
 
BUT NO FREE TECH TOWER!?!? *noob slap*

I considered it but spawning the necessary sun mana didn't seem worth the opportunity cost of yet another -26gp/turn... I mean, Law mana. An additional -5% means a lot when you are outrunning the asymptote of economic dissolution.
 
Shatner,

Great Post! Lot's of fun, thanks!

The Bannor is my favorite and I think Crusade is awesome -- I liked it before the changes in .34. However, I usually ran a 'big push'. I always felt the key to the Bannor was getting the economy strong enough to go for the crusade and cast the world spell which just allows you to go berserk. Fortunatley you can build money changes and tax offices, so get the other buildings done before crusade.

However, I am impressed here. I really doubt I could win with my strategy facing the Clan, the Doviello, and then a powerful Sheam! This is GREAT STUFF and one of the best reads I had on these boards!

Best wishes,

Breunor
 
I considered it but spawning the necessary sun mana didn't seem worth the opportunity cost of yet another -26gp/turn... I mean, Law mana. An additional -5% means a lot when you are outrunning the asymptote of economic dissolution.

Was this before or after the switch to Aristocracy and Agrarianism?
 
I must say that I like to RP games such as this or Oblivion, to the point at which other people shake their heads and say, "It's just a game. You can do whatever you want." But I think the pinnacle of glorious artificial limitations is what we have right here.

My hat is off to you. I will never play the Bannor again without remembering the extent to which one can take thematic strategies.

A brief off-topic comment. I wonder if you might enjoy a game called Dwarf Fortress. It's still in alpha and is being developed by essentially a single individual. However, once you get past a small mountain of a learning curve (it's surmountable, I promise), you will be able to craft extraordinary narratives from the framework of this complex game. You might enjoy it - I know I have.
 
Was this before or after the switch to Aristocracy and Agrarianism?

Before. Actually, the big Turn-Around from the crusade was the result of several factors:

1) In each conquered city (that wasn't too close to the Sheaim for comfort) a basilica was being built. These would typically take 20+ turns to complete (wars of attrition don't end happily for civilian populations) and it seemed a large chunk of those all completed within about 10 turns of one another. That right there was about a 20% reduction in my soul-sucking upkeep.

2) The Forbidden City and the Winter Palace were completed. Again, a long time coming and it culminated about the same time as my mass basilica unveiling. Those took about another 30% off the rent on my empire.

3) Improved Management. Sabby had been pestering me for decades to change civics to reduce overhead but I was way too happy with the +4 happy from religion (crusade + theocracy) as well as the +4xp to all newly built troops (theocracy + conquest) to listen. Since Sabathiel is charismatic, that meant every champion was 3rd level right out of boot camp; not something to be overlooked. Regardless, I eventually listened to reason and changed civics. I was particularly pleased by how well Agrarianism balanced out Aristocracy and Fend for Themselves (netting me a -40% maintenance with +2 gold per farm and not penalizing me at all save the opportunity cost of not running other civics. Nice synergy there).

When those powers combined I became Captain Profit! Suddenly I was able to set my research slider to 20% (going from 9 beakers/turn to over 200) while still saving enough to actually promote those adepts I'd been promising a proper wand and pointy hat to for ages (being 6th level and still an adept causes people to gossip around the water cooler).

So yeah, before all of that a -5% meant a big deal. Afterwards, I was too busy diving into a big pile of money like Scrooge McDuck to notice or care.
 
Eh, understandable.
 
Damn good writing :) Looking forward to next writeups.
 
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