I'll try to be constructive not to stop the discussion then.BiteNibbleChomp wrote:Also, it's not hijacking the thread, just filling it up with awesome stuff to the point that everyone has no idea what was going on beforehand. But oh well, if that's how it goes, then so be it.

Well, yes and no. To sum it up, Kiev Ruthenia (called simply Rus' by its' inhabitants) was the predecessor of all east Slavic states. A loose federation of states rather than a modern unitary state, it rose relatively quickly thanks to the Vikings (or Varangians if you prefer), it reached the apex in the 10th century and then started to disintegrate long before Gengis Khan. Yaroslav the Wise might have been a great ruler, but he died and soon the once vast state disintegrated, with most principalities going their own way. Mongols were able to capture the area so easily (and hold on to it for so long) mostly because there was a power vacuum there already.BiteNibbleChomp wrote:a) I thought that Kiev was the duchy that became the Russian Empire that you get to destroy in my WWI mod!![]()
Actually they did, and that's the whole beauty of them. On one side they are the icon of barbaric plague. On the other, they learnt pretty quick and by the time they reached Europe even the Romans could learn from them a thing or two about power, politics and grand strategy.b) When did the Mongols really care about the names of individual cities/kingdoms? I think that they thought more along the lines of "Hey, there's a rich and powerless city, let's go and plunder it". (I'm not trying to imply that they acted like this all the time, but in wartime they probably don't care what they attack).
Take a closer look at their first invasion of Poland (1241), the one that ended with the battle of Legnica. Actually their target was Hungary. Yet Baydar dispatched a large army to Poland, as far as Silesia, with the task of disrupting Polish and German mobilisation, and prevent this force from joining with the Bohemians - or the Bohemians coming to Hungary's help. In the end their army defeated the Poles at Legnica, and then successfully made the Bohemian king believe it was still in Silesia whereas it was moving fast through his own land (Moravia) to Hungary. It was a true masterpiece of strategy, and it was achievable only because the Mongols carefully studied the neighbouring cities and kingdoms.
Plus their rule over what much later became Russia is a great example of divide and conquer.
Cool, as long as we're careful about it and not merge too much in the wrong directionc) I'm limited to about 40 nations, as any more and the game files go stupid for me, and so I've just united all the Russian kingdoms anyway. Makes life a lot easier when adding all the new units (why clone a 'Russian' unit 8 times for all the different kingdoms?), and also allows me to add cool things to destroy like Holy Rome and the Crusader states.

That's too bad. I was thinking of giving most of the groups (more on that later) a full complement of troop types. BUT many of them would not have to be assigned to the state they originated from. For instance you could have English and French knights, plus the Joannites and the Teutonic Knights fighting in Hungary, Poland and so on. It would be a tad similar to the way WWII Romania could field German and French tanks simultaneously. Or for instance you could fight against the Song (Chinese) forces forces in one scenario, and then see them as your auxiliaries in Europe (the Mongols did employ Chinese forces in Galicia and Hungary for instance).d) As many units will be shared among nations (Jin/Song, England/France, Poland/Hungary/Bulgaria, the 4 Mongol tribes for the tutorials), I'm not going to be naming the units 'Jin Cannons' or 'French Kinghts'. Rather, it is far simpler to just name them 'Knights' or 'Spearmen'. I'm not going to even think about briefings at this stage, as I'm still making the maps and then units for the mod.
But we'll see how it goes.
The Poland-Moravia-Hungary campaign of 1241? Pretty, pretty pleaseAny maps (or even scenarios!) you would like to see next?

After you wrote that I should stop replying to your comments, get offended and start threatening you and your familyAmazing units as usual! I'm combining the units that get uploaded into about 7 types, so that I don't have to find units for each individual nation (and what is the difference between a Kerait horseman and a Merkit horseman?)
- Arabs
- China + Vietnam
- Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Hungary)
- Byzantine Empire
- Japan + Korea (though Korea doesn't get the Samurai)
- Mongols
- Persia + India
- Western Europe (and Crusader States in the Holy Land)
- BNC


Now seriously, don't. Poland+Bohemia+Hungary in one group is perfectly fine. Just as Poland, France, Germany and Hungary in one group. Same tactics, same knights, same religion, even the same arms and armour used in all those states. Ruthenia on the other hand (not Russia!) was a completely different matter. Different religion, different military traditions, different armament, armour and style. Plus this would look really awkward, as the Ruthenian forces fought alongside the Mongols against both Poland and Hungary (after having been conquered by them a little earlier).
Other than that, I was thinking alongside similar lines. Also, there seems to be a need for several "native" units to be used in various scenario. Armed peasants in Europe, partisans in southern China and what is now Vietnam, default steppe horseman (for any scenario between China and Europe for instance) and so on.
Finally, here's a sweetie for you. A camel rider. Usable for the Berber forces, for the Arabs and even the Central Asian steppes. Cheers