- Location
- New York
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- He/Him
[X] Unite The Elector Counts (As Much As Possible)
The Old World: Dark Age of the Empire
- Thread starter Warkeymon
- Start date
- Fantasy
At least part of it is that Greatswords are, among other things, bodyguards and actual historical swords were indeed a common weapon of a bodyguard. Also, I am honestly not sure if two handed axes would be better when dealing with armor. Not cutting through plate either way and swords can at least thrust in the gaps.
Tell that to the White Lions of Charace, the axe-wielding body-guads of the Phoenix King.
@Warkeymon
What is the criteria to field super-heavy cavalry (Demygryph) or flying ranged units (Pegasus sharpshooters or something)?
What is the criteria to field super-heavy cavalry (Demygryph) or flying ranged units (Pegasus sharpshooters or something)?
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- Pronouns
- Warkeymon
Demigryphs are currently the mount only of the most elite knights of each Knightly Order, usually the personal retinue of the Grandmaster of the Order and based at the seat of the Order, even then not all Knightly Orders have an Inner Circle that can afford to maintain the beasts.
So one way of getting a hold of a Demigryph Company is to persuade a Knightly Order not only to found a Chapter in the Province but to actually relocate its seat to Wissenland. It isn't unheard of for an Order to move, but usually requires some monumental event. In the OTL the Vampire Wars pushes the High & Chivalric Order of Deserved Rest more commonly known as the Raven Knights to relocate to Siegfriedhof on the border with Sylvania.
Pegasi nest in the high mountains usually, the Grey Mountains have several herds with the single largest gathering of pegasi in the Old World being in the Dukedom of Parravon. In theory then most Pegasi herds are in Dwarfen territory or Bretonnian territory so just to get your hands on the beasts will require an agreement with one of those polities. Or with Ulthuan but the Seafarer keeps moving around the continent and hasn't been to Wissenland yet and humans cannot access Ulthuan.
But also the expertise to mount a flying cavalry force really only exists in Ulthuan or Bretonnia at the moment and neither of them are flying pegasi while firing blackpowder weapons and you might stuggle to find people willing to be the first to test how pegasi respond in flight to their rider firing off a gun.
Dare I say,Pegasus Sharpshooters are a terrific idea
Oh right... I forget that people usually are traditionally minded primadonnas when it comes to testing anything new... Kinda annoying.
Would you be willing to do potentially destructive tests or just straight up give away the production method to a Steam Tank, if you look at it from that perspective, it's understandable why Demigryph & Pegasi orders don't move around much. They're just too expensive to field and if you lose one you need god knows how many years to grow another one and get a rider worthy enough to tame them.
- Location
- Over the next hill.
Okay so putting Sylvania aside, any ideas on how we're handling Todorno?
Miragliano just put a new princess in charge. We need to take the city if we have any hopes about getting sea access. Of course, the problem might just solve itself once another Waagh shows up.
Miragliano just put a new princess in charge. We need to take the city if we have any hopes about getting sea access. Of course, the problem might just solve itself once another Waagh shows up.
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- He/Him
[X] Unite The Elector Counts (As Much As Possible)
I don't think we're doing anything and just let Miragliano do what they want. Though to ask, what exactly do we need sea access for? The riverine system in the Empire is large enough to allow us to sail all the way out of Marienburg, but we don't have any kind of incentive to do big ship convoys out. Well, we did have that Cathay expedition when we got the Bank of Nuln crit but we picked Leonardo's school funding instead.
Also additional questions on some of our actions @Warkeymon:
1. Considering our sizeable food surplus despite Wissenland's poor lands (where we also haven't used the Gypsum Fertilizer yet), what project can use them inside the province, preferably for more Marks income? Or is this healthy food surplus used in any other way in the background?
2. Relatedly, considering that any expansion of our forges and foundries will consume more and more Materials, do Bismarck and the Council think more mining income is needed considering we haven't done any of that since game start?
3. Are Prospecting results entirely dependent on dice rolls or do the different mountain areas gives different modifiers or is there a level of QM Fiat involved?
4. Relatedly, do they only give Material income?
- Location
- Over the next hill.
It's a money making opportunity if we can establish an entrepot for external trade. All our foreign trade is done through the Reik or the river of echoes into Todorno. The river Reik trade in particular is easily disrupted, we did make Reikland an enemy after all.
It's not a short term goal or anything but it's a nice to have. I'm also just asking because there was some interest awhile ago in doing an expedition into Todorno.
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That is fair. And equally I think, we can push for a normalisation of relationship with Reikland. If we want to stay "neutral"
But we do still have a lot of method of trade. River of Echoes is one but Nuln's location also chokepoints Averland's branch of Upper Reik. Solidifying Averland's alliance would lead to a better flourishing of trade even before counting the avenues of joining Averland convoys against Altdorf. Failing that, we can always trade with the Dwarf and Bretonnnia more.
- Pronouns
- Warkeymon
1. If you have suggestions for ways you'd spend the food surplus then you can suggest some. I'll be adjusting some of the economic stats behind the scene since Wissenland shouldn't be an agricultural powerhouse as it stands, probably I'll add a degradation to stockpiles for it.
2. Currently your material intake is sufficient to fuel your industry, the Industrielplatz hasn't been expanded since your ascension. But if you are going to expand it you'll need a lot of materials. Richthofen is your main voice regarding this but he prefers the idea of regaining meaningful access to Tierhugel rather than opening lots of new small mines.
3. Prospecting is mostly based on rolls. Different sites are more valuable than others however.
4. Mines give materials but they will boost Marks production in related hubs of industry.
Gonna address the points in order of action importance:
King's Elector's Road connection on land seems useful at least from a military standpoint, much less the economic one.
Great.
I kind of want to see how he feels about us now that we've more or less let him be for the past 9+ years since we visited. And he's now 55+ years old, judging by the comment on him being twice Bismarck's age. I think it's time we prepare for a transition of power because we need those metal and income. On our disposal we have Auld Sollanders on our Court in form of the Toppenheimers for diplo and the Ranaldians for intrigue. Mine accidents and work place safety is probably an interest point to them, so we might be able to come to an intrigue arrangement to pry open Tierhugel from the upjumped Baron-King. Thoughts on the matter?
None on food yet but are there ways to improve on logistics further? Baronness Toppenheimer's remarks on Sudenland's road networks being better than the rest of Wissenland gives me an idea. Better
What are the hubs of industry currently on Wissenland and their exports? From offhand counting there's the Industrielplatz and Sudenland wool industry. There's also Tierhugel but speaking of that headache–
Eugh.
For those who needed a refresher why my reaction is such:
Baron Vincentus is a problem, no two words about it. An almost entirely rebellious vassal in charge of a fortress town and biggest mining complex in Wissenland. Additionally judging from the obelisk and the reticence of wanting Witchhunters into the Barony... he might have a genuine point of wanting to protect minor Cults, because they're likely not just that, but also Hedge Mages. And we are still in the phase of history where the Empire is still burning every last one of them.
Great.
I kind of want to see how he feels about us now that we've more or less let him be for the past 9+ years since we visited. And he's now 55+ years old, judging by the comment on him being twice Bismarck's age. I think it's time we prepare for a transition of power because we need those metal and income. On our disposal we have Auld Sollanders on our Court in form of the Toppenheimers for diplo and the Ranaldians for intrigue. Mine accidents and work place safety is probably an interest point to them, so we might be able to come to an intrigue arrangement to pry open Tierhugel from the upjumped Baron-King. Thoughts on the matter?
Could he have found an secured a Leyline Waypoint? That would explain some things. Other than that, my one fear is that he could throw his lot with Vlad when things start to blow over. Maybe not directly joining the vampire side but by being a thorn on our side that will gladly help Sylvania should they attempt to restart Intrigue-Espionage into our lands.
My suggestion? Sic either the Witch Hunter or the Ranaldians into them. The former would unearth truths in a harsh manner and resolve it outright while the latter will be more subtle, allowing us to wash our hands of depending on how we treat the Cult.
Other options include merely espionage for observation (we've got to know what he intends and what he's hiding truly) and go for there, or simply ignore him. After all, Vlad is the greater issue at the moment. Should shit hit the fan we can simply smash the barony with a sledgehammer and deny Sylvania a weakspot.
We can't afford to sledge Scharmbeck down. Like the description said, it's a mountain fortress-town. We need it and Tierhugel relatively untouched to mine further. And like Richtofen said, we need the income if we want to develop our Arsenal of the Empire further. Those two are some of the richest mines of the Empire and Wissenland proper isn't benefiting on it.
So yeah, let's send the Ranaldians in next turn. They have some stake on Ranald's facet as The Protector to also unfuck the mine safety at least. @Warkeymon do we need a Write-In action to investigate Scharmbeck proper and avenues to find a more amendable ruler or wait for you to make the option next turn cycle?
- Pronouns
- Warkeymon
I've added the below action to Stewardship options.
The Wissenland Road Network
In the Sudenland there is a road network that runs throughout the Province as a significant rival to the riverine network. The Wissenland however has no such network, most Baronies and Counties are connected to their neighbours only by river. It is time to weave the Wissenland together by road, which means major infrastructure projects.
Cost: 1,500 Marks and 400 Materials per Die
Wissenburg-Wurmgrube Road - 0/400
(Includes the Wissen Bridge across the River Dottern)
Dotternbach-Wurmgrube Road - 0/400
(Includes the Dottern Bridge across the River Dottern)
Wurmgrube-Meissen Road - 0/300
(Includes the Harrach Bridge across the River Harrach)
Meissen-Salmfahre Road - 0/500
(Includes the Salm Bridge across the River Salm)
Trulben-Wusterburg Road - 0/200
Nehren-Weilerberg Road - 0/300
Wusterburg-Weilerberg Road - 0/400
(Includes the Wissen Bridge across the River Dottern)
Dotternbach-Wurmgrube Road - 0/400
(Includes the Dottern Bridge across the River Dottern)
Wurmgrube-Meissen Road - 0/300
(Includes the Harrach Bridge across the River Harrach)
Meissen-Salmfahre Road - 0/500
(Includes the Salm Bridge across the River Salm)
Trulben-Wusterburg Road - 0/200
Nehren-Weilerberg Road - 0/300
Wusterburg-Weilerberg Road - 0/400
Other than Nuln which handles essentially every possible industry and Pfeildorf which handles the cloth trade, there's Grissenwald has shipyards, Meissen has silverworks and Kreutzhofen has ironworks but that uses more material than it makes at the moment since most of the produce is used to support Kreutzhofen's trade hub.
To spy on Scharmbeck you need agents in the Barony of Scharmbeck.
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The Beds & Boards do not count for this purpose?
- Pronouns
- Warkeymon
No. The Beds & Boards are more passive like the Silent Tome, the innkeeps aren't expected to go out and find secrets or act against the local nobility.
Oh right every single one of our Intelligence Assets are Counter Agents. Technically we have "Free Agents" in form of the Iron Tower Witch Hunters/Templars and the Verenan Inquisitors but they're more Chaos focused.
Also have to say big MVP on the Council has to be our Confidante, the High Priestess of Morr. Absolutely just reliable with big ups... and I do think it must be very concerning to Empire Gods Priestly Leaders that within the span of 12 years, Wissenland somehow becomes a hotbed for Classical Gods worshippers, apparently through sheer Quester coincidence. The Elector and his immediate family is Verenan, the Spymistress is Morrite, the Pontiff is also Verenan, and the Ambassador is...
Article: Most cultists of Ranald follow their own unique collection of beliefs, and as such, there are no main sects or orders that give him homage. If two or more cultists band together, it's usually for a very specific reason, parting ways when the task is complete. More so than the other Gods, cultists of Ranald find camaraderie in those who follow the primary aspects of Ranald.[1d]
The first, and easily the largest, is composed of merchants, hagglers, and those that make their living dealing with money. Known simply as "The Brotherhood," this sect forms something akin to a guild of businessmen, who meet together to sort out their differences, seek mutual opportunities, and plot to increase their wealth. Most are honest merchants who call upon Ranald for bounty and improved commerce, although there is a seedier lesser order that exists (see later in this section). The Brotherhood teaches the tenets of cooperation and competition—help your brother when he needs it—but through competition, the best elements rise to the top.[1d]
...a potential Ranaldian too, though unconfirmed. But point is, our theological position is completely heterodox and in odds with the ruling Cults of the Empire. Thankfully, it should take a back seat for the Vampire Wars since that's kind of more prevalent.
On that topic, we actually do have an in for an 'easier' Iron Company than most put forth in the thread and that's by asking the creation of Black Guards of Morr Chapterhouse in Wissenland. We would still need to secure that heavy cavalry contract with Averland first as with the case of all knight-related Iron Companies of course, but the Black Guards are meant to be all rounders and also excel in ranged combat. While IIRC they traditionally only used bows and crossbows, we can absolutely give them a good Wissenland upgrade and diversify them like such.
@Warkeymon is the above a valid Iron Company diplo-creation attempt?
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- Warkeymon
Yes you can ask the Cult of Morr to found a Chapter of the Knights of Morr in Wissenland. Almost all proper Gardens of Nuln have at least one member of the Black Guard to stand watch for grave robbers and the like. The High Priestess of Morr in the Wissenland has a small number of Black Guard as a personal bodyguard. And generally the Knights of Morr are a defensive group, they guard Gardens and Temples of Morr. But they've been known to ride out on occasion, when King Morr commands.
The black guard ambushing Von Carstine & his personal guard in Castle Drakenhof after the rest of his army is defeated:
View: https://youtu.be/Hf2AdlkGTOc