Let's Play: Empire Total War! - Knights of St. John run

[Acacia Sgt]

Now that you mention it, for a while I've been curious of that white spot surrounded by Order territory just north of Italy. What gives, is Switzerland going neutral on another war again?

[IGdood]

Now that you mention it, for a while I've been curious of that white spot surrounded by Order territory just north of Italy. What gives, is Switzerland going neutral on another war again?

Switzerland doesn't exist in Empire Total War. In fact, the whole piece of ground where it is supposed to be has been removed from the map, hence the white spot. Or...could it be Courland? Courland is south of Denmark....I believe. Or Finland.

[Acacia Sgt]

Switzerland doesn't exist in Empire Total War. In fact, the whole piece of ground where it is supposed to be has been removed from the map, hence the white spot. Or...could it be Courland? Courland is south of Denmark....I believe. Or Finland.

Wait, it can't be Finland, that's where... the massacre happened...

Huh, so Switzerland was so neutral it actually removed itself from the game world to avoid war!

lol

[Rewjeo]

Can I nominate page 20 of this LP for most genuinely epic page on SF? Seriously, those two parts were amazing.

[Parrhesia]

You know, I gotta say, for a 'minor nation' the Hospitallers have so much...heart, and soul. I'd recognise those white coats anywhere, now. Are the Order Militia/heavy Cavalry, or the Militia/Marines standard?

...Jesus, without the Militia, earlygame would have been . . . difficult.

[IGdood]

Wait, it can't be Finland, that's where... the massacre happened...

Huh, so Switzerland was so neutral it actually removed itself from the game world to avoid war!

lol

Yeah, but their troops (Swiss Line Infantry, Swiss Pikemen, Swiss Guards, Swiss grenadiers) have insane stats, although they're pretty expensive. Example: Sir Vimes' First of Foot in the prussian playthrough kicked major asses.

Can I nominate page 20 of this LP for most genuinely epic page on SF? Seriously, those two parts were amazing.

Thank you, thank you. Yeah, let's nominate it or something, someone make a banner, put it in a sig, and I'll be happy to display it in my sig.

You know, I gotta say, for a 'minor nation' the Hospitallers have so much...heart, and soul. I'd recognise those white coats anywhere, now. Are the Order Militia/heavy Cavalry, or the Militia/Marines standard?

...Jesus, without the Militia, earlygame would have been . . . difficult.

Actually, the Order Militia, Order Militia Cavalry, Order Cavalry, Order Marines, Order Grenadiers/Guards, Cacciatori, etc. are all downloaded from a mod made by an actual Maltese Empire Total War player. In the original game, the Knights of St. John were just lumped in as a minor nation of the Italian group, and had no special units. This guy reskinned all the standard units (line infantry, heavy cavalry, light infantry etc.) to a historically accurate uniform and added in the actual historical units.

I actually thought that the Order militia were overpowered, I mean their morale is shit and so is their shooting, but their melee stats are on par with guard and grenadier units. So I asked him if there was some historical basis. He just told me that back in the 1500s-1700s, the Maltese were pretty much a really militant group. They fought off Barbary pirates and Ottoman invasions (Siege of Malta where they kicked major ass) And the island of Malta didn't have that many resources, so the citizens either hunted animals or they just went off and fought pirates.

Hell, they would've stopped Napoleon on his merry conquest too if it weren't for a law in the Order that forbade taking up arms against fellow Christians (which I ignored in this playthrough).

The Order still exists to this day: http://en.wikipedia...._Order_of_Malta

They were headquartered in Rome for quite awhile, but recently they're returning to Malta.

It's also a little amusing to see how the Knights Hospitaller and units of their order are some of my favorite ones to use in Medieval II Total War.

Edited July 5, 2011 by skitarii

[Parrhesia]

So what units ARE actually standard? 'Cause I can only think of, like...Line Infantry, Regiments of Horse, Pikemen, European Mercenaries...

...

...Uh...

So what IS the default Malta Line Infantry uniform? The white coat is quite fetching, but...

Edited July 5, 2011 by Furetchen

[IGdood]

So what units ARE actually standard? 'Cause I can only think of, like...Line Infantry, Regiments of Horse, Pikemen, European Mercenaries...

...

...Uh...

So what IS the default Malta Line Infantry uniform? The white coat is quite fetching, but...

Standard would be: Line Infantry, Regiments of Horse....Light Infantry, Colonial Militia, Riflemen, Provincial Cavalry, Dragoons, Light Dragoons, your typical cannons. Oh, and the Native units, the African units, and the Company units and Sepoys......etc.

Default unmodded, the Malta troops wore the red/maroon color of their flag, which was historically inaccurate.

[IGdood]

Battles rage back and forth, many of them on the field. A few, however were particularly noteworthy, and soldiers of great valor and skill have distinguished themselves. The grandmaster is looking for able units to form the new Royal Army of Malta.

In this particularly snowy day, a field battle was fought close to Lithuania by a river. The cold weather caused fatigue to troops simply by walking, and fights sapped all strength in seconds. It was here that a particular unit of sharpshooters proved themselves to be cold snipers, picking off targets while a blizzard blew around. The aftermath of this battle could be witnessed below.

Estonia & Livonia fly our flag.

Belarus & Volnyia's garrison surrenders. We let them leave and have the province for ourselves.

In this particular battle, one of the many Order forces was ambushed. A unit of Garrison Guards and a unit of Line Infantry Guards fought straight to the end, only routing when it was clear the battle could not be won. They, along with some a handful of almost equally brave line infantry were the few survivors. They have been noted by the Grandmaster.

Meanwhile, a single army made its way to the very heart of Poland-Lithuania: Warsaw.

Needless to say, the Polish were not happy to see our faces.

Well my infantry weren't happy to see their cavalry either. FORM SQUARE!

Horse archers? DIE!

I do wonder why the enemy general would want to charge my square head on. Does he really want to die?

Canister shot all around. This already-veteran artillery battery shows great promise.

Unfortunately, I must redeploy the artillery. This wall in front is blocking their shots to the left.

Foolish Polish, do you know the meaning of your doom?

Time to reform my lines, we can't spread out and get too disorganized.

Ugh, curse those guys and their greater range. But then that's why I have sharpshooters hanging around.

These guys ran out of bullets, and so they charged forward.

We managed to win, it seems.

This deal was too good to pass up. Thanks, Mughals!

Half a year passes, and a crucial battle occurs in Serbia...the victor will keep Serbia. it is not a siege, but a field battle.

I realized that some units were so small they can't possibly be useful anymore in the battle. I order them to withdraw.

And Sharpshooter reinforcements replaced them. They have the ability to walk whilst hidden, and so the Polish did not realized someone will be sneaking up on them from behind....

One of the things I really hate in Empire Total War is when your units are reloading and a cavalry unit just charges in.

Soooo many cavalry...

The front line crumbles, and the militia open fire!

Followed by a charge!

That's a pretty nice uniform....I suppose.

The sharpshooters finally get in range. Then serious damage occurs.

What the...Armed Citizenry?

SNIPE.

Hold the line dammit!

SNIPE.

And the militia deal with the armed citizenry.

[IGdood]

Remember Georgia? Well, they smashed their poorly-equipped armies at my gates, and now they're trying to rescue their last province from our clutch.

Their reinforcements arrived.....right behind my army. I quickly encircle them and shoot them to death. Their general came first.

While the other section of my force holds off attackers from the front.

They don't have Fire-by-rank, so they charge me. They don't have bayonets either, so they'll get their asses kicked hard.

I can't tell who's who! It was an easy win.

The Polish-Lithuanian lands fall to us through prolonged sieging, starvation, etc.

The Georgians no longer exist as a sovereign nation. Georgia and Dagestan now belong to us, their peoples learning the ways of the Order.

And offering us another path to one-up Russia with.

Mughals declare war on Sweden. I'm reliant on both for trade income. If I side with Sweden, I'll be at war with Mughal and lose a trade partner. if I decline my alliance with Sweden, I still have both trade partners. I'm still at a -6000 per turn. Periodically I jack up my taxes to the highest levels for an income of 50000, but then I have to lower them so my provinces don't revolt (and they can recover their lost wealth)

Poland's little pet, Courland, declares war on me.

Before I deal with Courland, I have some business to wrap up.

Not even Goa is safe. Greetings from Ceylon, you assholes.

Ah right, back to the siege assault against Courland. Here I've got a small force that's distracting the entire Courlese (?) garrison. Meanwhile everyone else is entering the fort from different directions.

The Cancer Regiment are here to hold off a bunch of Courlese trying to race to the town square.

And the Anon Knights randomly charge random enemies for the lulz.

Yes, everyone is fighting for the flag.

Casualties were actually quite a lot, mostly from the distracting force. But anyways, it was fun to squish these roaches.

Courland belongs to us now. Also, this middle-of-nowhere Russian province does too.

The garrison of Poland is starved out, and Warsaw belongs to us now. Gentlmen, knights, fellow members of the Order, this is one historical moment to celebrate. I shall do so in my comfy wheeled office chair with a glass of water. You?

But, all is not over yet. The Polish still have one last stronghold: Silesia.

We start off in a defensive position, but unfortunately one of our reinforcements happened to appear right behind the Polish army. I order a withdrawal. Really, the loss of that howitzer battery would've been pointless.

My other line infantry come from a far enough distance from the Polish.

But since Rocket teams can't move, they can't go with the Polish army. So, goodbye.

We've got trenches. You wanna piece of us?

"Come get some!" - Hussar

Meanwhile, in the distance, my reinforcements are either duking it out with theirs as they make their way to the main defensive line, or.....why did I even take this screenshot anyways? I forgot why.

Eyes and ears, engineers, shoot them!

Are these marines angry? No. Hrm. They are pretty accurate........oh I miss the ANGRY MARINES.

Some cuirassiers charge puckle guns (machine guns). It didn't work out. (Understatement)

I never got a clear shot of the line infantry,t he bread & butter soldiers of my army huh? Well here's one. They die a lot, they kill a lot,.....

So the Polish ran out of steam pretty early, their units were in really small sizes. We won, basically.

And since Poland-Lithuania is based in Europe, its holdings in India automatically go to "rebel" status. Yes. Poland-Lithuania is gone.

Meanwhile, since Persia has no allies, I declare war on them. I think I took their last province, but that screenshot didn't capture.

Finally, I have time to disband excess units and finally put together another legendary army. For Malta, ever onwards.

Edited July 6, 2011 by skitarii

[Acacia Sgt]

The garrison of Poland is starved out, and Warsaw belongs to us now. Gentlmen, knights, fellow members of the Order, this is one historical moment to celebrate. I shall do so in my comfy wheeled office chair with a glass of water. You?

Haha, the time for mourning is long gone. Time to celebrate good news once more! Continental Europe is mostly ours! (Though I'm not sure if by 'Continental' is until the Urals and if it covers Scandinavia as well, but oh well, 'mostly' is accurate anyway.)

Party at my place! lol no...

[IGdood]

Haha, the time for mourning is long gone. Time to celebrate good news once more! Continental Europe is mostly ours! (Though I'm not sure if by 'Continental' is until the Urals and if it covers Scandinavia as well, but oh well, 'mostly' is accurate anyway.)

Party at my place! lol no...

Russia, perhaps scared shitless after Poland's fate, accepts a ceasefire from me. I go ahead and repair a ton of damaged farms, factories, etc.

I somehow managed to save enough money (after excessive taxation) to buy Kashmir, a tiny province, from the Mughals.

I remember back in the beginning of this LP Furet asked me if we could have swordsmen. We ended up naming the Royal Cairo Guards the Ironcraw's Marksboyz instead of actual swordsmen. Well, here you go, Furetchen. These guys are numerous, their melee attack his high, but then their defense is kind of low. It'll get better once they hit a few levels.....

What the....well fuck you Sweden. I like Basshunter.

And my trade income is....

Whoa, I'm still making 29000? Looks like either Sweden's trading benefits are worthless or I've conquered enough provinces to offset the trade money.

Sharpshooters, an alternative to the Cacciatori troops. Not as nicely dressed, but they're just as lethal, and are better at hiding since they can walk whilst hidden.

Whoa, what the mother of fuck. I'm now letting a second Finland massacre happen. Time to gather up my armies once more.

These Order Grenadier Guards have distinguished themselves during the war with the Ottomans and the Polish. Let them be known as the 29th Facebreaker Battalion. Inspired by the Ironcraw's Marksboyz' ideals of a balance between melee ability and marksmanship, they will serve as an all-purpose elite unit, inspiring the line infantry and filling out whatever role is needed on the battlefield. of course, don't forget the grenades. They believe in the usage of the Platoon Firing drill, guaranteeing an almost constant rate of deadly fire. Their rivals are the 15th Maltese 'Splosion Lads, who believe in a large morale shock via the Fire-By-Rank drill.

These Line Infantry Guards came from the few survivors of a particularly fatal and snowy ambush with the Polish. Their abilities are still rather low compared to the other "guard" status units, but they serve as an inspiration to the generic infantry, who could always use a morale boost when faced with morale shocks.

Garrison guards, the white-wearing guard infantry. They are unique in that they offer a garrison policing bonus to provinces filled with unrest, keeping the civilians in order. This particularly group is led by an officer who is a relative of the late Ollanius Pius. Inspired by his cousin's sacrifice, he hopes he can fight in battles half as glorious as those with Poland.

One of the weaknesses analyzed from the green dragoon's fighting abilities was that while their shooting capabilities were amazing, their melee stats left them vulnerable if caught by infantry or even light cavalry. Bruno's Brutalizers are a unit of Horse Grenadier Guards who have honed their skills in both melee and shooting.

One of the weaknesses analyzed from enemy riflemen is that they rarely managed to get away from pursuers. Most of the time they will run, and then give up and try to fight off their pursuers, usually angry line infantry with far better melee capabilities than them. Luca's Lacerators are light cavalry sharpshooters, basically mounted riflemen who can effectively pick off enemy troops and ride to wherever they are needed. However, their melee abilities are also slightly better than your typical dragoon's.

This 24-pounder horse guard artillery battery distinguished itself in a field battle with the Polish. Their shrapnel shot hit enemy cavalry from afar, and their canister shot drove off wave after wave of infantry. They are said to call their cannons their "Little Friends" They also ask other people to say hello to them.

Also, note that the Blackguard and Kingley's Queens are in the army. Also, I'll explain the other units in a new post, I'm taking screenies, and updating as I go. Stay tuned..

Edited July 6, 2011 by skitarii

[IGdood]

Say hello to the Arni Militia. At the beginning of this LP, there were two militia cavalry units that served as the garrison of Tunis after establishing a front there. One became known as the Termina Division. The other garrison unit is now commissioned as the Arni Militia as replacements of the fallen Termina Division. They're a bit rusty from 200 years or so of garrison duty, but they should prove themselves to be quite useful. Their attack rating is very high, but their defence and morale are lacking in an army of professional soldiers.

The Fearsome Vani will lead a second reinforcement army to the Royal Maltese Army, which is led by the officer of the Anon/b/ Knights.

Alright Russia, let's end this war. Once and for all.

The problem with conquering Russia is that it's so big. It takes almost forever to get through one province, so I can't just steamroll through it as quickly as I could more dense areas like Poland.

The Brown Eagles are basically fresh native recruits imported from the colonies. Compared to the other ranged cavalry, they're pretty....well...inferior. So what's their advantage? Well, for starters, they have insane stamina. They're resistant to the heat too. Oh, and they can hide, one of the few cavalry units able to do that. Also, for some reason the game gave them the ability to be put in guard mode, usually an infantry-only ability. Going into guard mode means that the unit will maintain formation while in melee instead of turning into a blob and will not readily enter melee mode if it can help it.

The Moscow garrison quakes in their boots, but they sally out in a pitiful attempt to save themselves.

So, let's just stand here and wait. I also garrisoned one of the buildings with my Albanian Warband.

Household cavalry crashed into my lines as they were getting into position.

Oh look, more cavalry. But this time I'm prepared.

And on the other side fending off infantry like a boss.

About to get serious now....

Alright, let's take a few steps back. That way the garrisoned building can cover us, sorta.

And as usual, the Russians charge my lines, because Russian line infantry have poor shooting abilities and a higher charge bonus than the line infantry of other nations.

Some dragoons smash into my Albanian Warband, but that's alright, dragoons suck in combat anyways.

Turn around and offer fire support to the line!

Some of our infantry fled, but that's what the reserve line is for. To the trenches! Oh wait, did we win already?

Well no, still a group of riflemen to deal with. Albanian Warband, go! Yes, I do know riflemen have better accuracy, reloading skill, and range. But get this: Rifles are actually really slow to reload, so technically while riflemen have a better reloading skill than the Albanians, it takes them longer to reload since they're using rifles, not muskets. Hence, rate of fire wins here, and possibly accuracy, but I closed the distance somewhat, and I'm using light infantry doctrine.

So Moscow is ours. I think I might make their Winter Palace my winter resort. Heheh.

We're ready to shut Sweden the fuck up.

Let's see you get rid of us, fuckers!

Troop Lineup for Royal Army of Malta

Anon/b/ Knights - Answers directly to the Grandmaster. Officer serves as the commander of the Royal Army of Malta.

Arni Militia - Offers a quick, powerful charge against unsuspecting opponents. Otherwise will back up the firing line with their pistols.

Brown Eagles - Fast ranged attack, can be used to ambush unsuspecting opponents. Reliable in hot weather, and can also back up the firing line.

Lancer Guards - Offers a devastating charge, is also one of the fastest cavalry types (lancer class) on the battlefield.

Little Friend - Canister and Shrapnel shot. 'Nough said. Can also counter enemy artillery to some degree if its not destroyed itself, although that's not its main use.

29th Facebreaker Battalion - All-round elite infantry group. Can throw grenades when necessary.

60th Scabrous Brigandine - Partially elite meatshields, serves mainly to inspire the other non-elite infantry.

Engineers - Infantry who are pretty good at melee but don't use firing drills in ranged combat. They just have the whole unit shoot at once.

15th Maltese 'Splosion Lads - See 29th Facebreaker Battalion.

Cancer Regiment - More focused on ranged combat than grenadier guards.

82nd Dessedor Longshotmen - Riflemen, here to offer long-ranged support. WIll be useful in picking off enemy elite infantry and countering other enemy riflemen.

Indian Infantry mercenaries - Meatshields.

Luca's Lacerators - Mobile, long-ranged, fast riflemen.

Howitzer - Percussion and quicklime.

Maltese Blackguard - Partially meatshields, maybe use them in light infantry mode to make them even better at being meatshields.

Kingley's Queens - Meatshields.

1st Bahara Dudefellows - Serves to put order in newly-conquered provinces and also as an all-purpose combat unit. In case the Cancer Regiment or whatever is defeated, they can step in.

Company Infantry - Totally inexperienced and unqualified to be in the Royal Maltese Army, but for some reason they're there. Maybe they can prove themselves.

Gurkhas - Sword & shield infantry, will be very useful in leading charges.

Bruno's Brutalizers - Ranged cavalry who are well able to handle themselves in melee combat.

[IGdood]

St. Petersburg belongs to us now.

Captain of the Hussars - Men of Malta! Today, we are going to assault the last and only province of the Swedes. They think themselves significant to make a mark in their world; they made the wrong choice by challenging us to a show of arms. They will learn their lesson by the end of this day!

The assaulting army was divided into 3 groups. 2 of the groups will have a cannon team to blow holes on the wall. The troops will then rush through the holes and climb the walls, hopefully to hit the Swedes with enough force such that they can't handle all the attackers at once. The third group will consist of a tiny infantry group who will make a mad dash for the flag after climbing the walls.

The walls crumble. Get ready.

GO. GO. FOR MALTA! FOR THE ORDER! FOR GLORY!

Sir! We're no match for these ma---ARRGGGHHHurgh..

Well, Assault Team 1 is...failing horribly.

Assault Team 2 is fighting to a standstill.

Assault Team 3 is butchering some guerillas on the way.

This is Assault Force 2 reporting. HEAVY FUCKING RESISTANCE. - Line Infantry officer.

Keep fighting, we can't let glory escape us! - Hussar commander

With Assault Team 1 annihilated, the defenders went after Assault Team 3, who had to quickly set up firing positions.

Those guys are not gonna be fighting for Malta any time soon. They got grenade'd.

Silence that artillery and we can get the flag!

Oh FOR THE LOVE OF ST. JOHN FORM SQUARE

The enemy are trying to get the guys outside. Open fire!

Carabineers, you're out of ammo. Charge inside!

WHAT?

Sir, we're heading for the flag! Oh is that quick---AAAUUUUUGH IT BURNSSSSSS *gurgle*

RUN FOR THE HILLS

Are we the only guys left? Oh shit.

And the lancers arrive with a great cry of FUCK YEAH

Dessedor Longshotsmen, here to fix the fucking mess.

Facebreakers show off their melee abilities.

Anon/b/ Officer - Hm, should've blown more holes into the fort before charging, dumbfag. Now yer ass is lying cold on the Swedish floor. -sigh- It's almost time..... Howitzers, I want you to bomb key targets in the fort. Everyone else, stand guard and shoot anyone who tries to charge out.

Let's...stay on the walls and shoot the people down there. Sounds smarter than the previous group, yes?

This is for our fallen brothers! Sorta.

A defeat. Looks like Stockholm won't fall so easily.

These numbers be shameful.

Our forces scattered a bit in their retreat, but they're so cohesive enough that they can reinforce each other in battle.

[IGdood]

This Swedish force stands in our way. Remove it.

Formation, FORWARD!

Halt...annnnd FIRE!

Riflemen? No problem, suck it up and return fire!

This is a bit too easy compared to that failure at Stockholm.

Okay maybe not.

POINT BLANK MUTHAFUCKA

Chipping away at the Swedish, one army at a time.

Alright, this is the first part of the Swedish last stand. I was planning to get into a battle that will involve all their forces but unfortunately their armies were all spread out.

One thing about Swedish cavalry units is that some of them are more numerous than those of other nations (80 instead of 60). It's kind of annoying, but not too bad.

Light dragoons are pretty great in intercepting enemy units.

Damn, that percussion shell almost got them too.

Instead friendly fire wiped out a huge block of my soldiers. Idiots!

Nothing really to report on this battle actually, it was just a grinder.

Now this one is a bit different. I let the force led by Fearsome Vani to lead the assault. In case they fail, then the Royal Army of Malta will arrive to do the killing.

Did I ever mention that for some reason Artillery crews never seem to go down to gunfire? It takes like 40 shots before suddenly all the people manning one cannon collapse and die.

Fuck you, hussars

I thought the Polish were cavalry heavy. Looks like the Swedes are too....or maybe it's just their unit size.

Left flank is folded in because enemy reinforcements are beginning to stream in from that direction.

There were rumors that these folks may be the descendants of the Guttersnipers born during the years of peace after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

These line infantry are given the order to fire at will because they're standing on an elevated surface, allowing them to fire over the heads of their allies in front.

Light infantry? Not on my watch. Order Cavalry, GO!

You ugly sons of bitches. Eat my sword.

What's this? SUPERIOR Line Infantry? That's a unit type I downloaded? Bullshit, you be wiping out my guys.

Out of ammo, fall back. Reserves, move up!

Platoon fire makes the whole regiment go off like a machine gun. Phtoom. Phtoom. Phtoom.

Horse Grenadier Guards? Both units of Order Cavalry, CHARGE!

These infantry are pulling back after wiping out some howitzers in a melee after using up all their ammo. It was fun.

Welcome to war, Arni Militia.

Fighting rifles with pistols? Tactical shift!

After slicing through the cavalry, I withdrew the order cavalry...who then proceeded to run through a scattered unit of some guard infantry.......it was like a movie. One has to wonder if they took lessons from the Aesir and Spiky Gitz....

Brown Eagles on the field.

Guerilla Mercenaries and Breech Loading riflemen. What do? Send in line infantry to draw their fire, then charge in the lancers.

Oh, I just noticed they had cute helmet straps.

Run, you spineless dogs!

Add in some axes for good measure.

So, Stockholm and a lot of other Russian provinces belong to us now. The Russians are currently confined at.....Finland.

[IGdood]

Russia's provinces are mostly undefenhttp://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=reply_post&f=24&t=22321ded, and they belong to the Order now.

And with Norway belong to us the Swedish no longer exist as a nation.

15 years ago, the Grandmaster's Finest made their final stand on this very spot. Shall we go down in a glorious defeat, or will we be victorious?

Coming soon.

[Acacia Sgt]

Oh wow, Sweden had barely managed to still live by retaking Norway. Talk about being desperate for survival... and now they're gone. But yay! Scandinavia is ours! The Aesir Riders can now finally rest in piece! lol

Heh, 200 years of Garrison Duty? At least they are also from around the beginning of the campaign. Better not suffer the same fate like the Termina Division then. Oh, by the way, it's Vanir, not Vani. Good to see that the 'new' guys are seeing action.

I find it amusing how throughout the ordeal Europe as it has suffer to much border changing... and there is the Red of Great Britain still the same as ever. lol (Granted, their focus has been on America all this time, but still, it's somewhat funny the contrast it makes in Europe now.) And now they're practically the only others left in Europe, since now the Russian are on their last stand and as for Persia... well, that's no longer Europe anyway, though taking the map instead... yeah...

Quite, those Russians will now finally pay for all those who have fallen! Time to give our lost comrades the eternal rest they deserve! *Waves flag*

Edited July 7, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[IGdood]

Oh wow, Sweden had barely managed to still live by retaking Norway. Talk about being desperate for survival... and now they're gone. But yay! Scandinavia is ours! The Aesir Riders can now finally rest in piece! lol

Heh, 200 years of Garrison Duty? At least they are also from around the beginning of the campaign. Better not suffer the same fate like the Termina Division then. Oh, by the way, it's Vanir, not Vani. Good to see that the 'new' guys are seeing action.

I find it amusing how throughout the ordeal Europe as it has suffer to much border changing... and there is the Red of Great Britain still the same as ever. lol (Granted, their focus has been on America all this time, but still, it's somewhat funny the contrast it makes in Europe now.) And now they're practically the only others left in Europe, since now the Russian are on their last stand and as for Persia... well, that's no longer Europe anyway, though taking the map instead... yeah...

Quite, those Russians will now finally pay for all those who have fallen! Time to give our lost comrades the eternal rest they deserve! *Waves flag*

Yeah, funny was that the Mughals owned Norway, then they retook it from them. Well at least its one province less for the Mughals, and one more for the Order. *_*

Yup, these guys are old.....sorta. Hahaha. I'll try not to get them killed, these militia. And sorry about the typo, it's Vanir...renamed it just now.

And yes, it's really crazy now that you look back to the beginning of this LP. Going from just a tiny island that barely provided any money.....to now.

If those Russians don't attack us, we'll go for them. And then take Finland. And then Great Britain, perhaps, as Integrity wished. Then take their colonies. Then the Mughals. If our income still works out by then. Or I can just send all my armies into Mughal territory (they offered me indefinite military access, those fools!)

Persia doesn't exist anymore, they had two provinces but I took one and the other one rebelled and became Afghanistan, which the Mughals then gobbled up.

Also, Furet, you don't like the Gurkhas? i thought you wanted swordsmen, like actual ones, hahaha! But then that was months ago.

[IGdood]

Time for the Russians to face death.............there is no escape. The fallen shall be avenged.

These are Ghoorkas/Gurkhas. They're great meatshields and aren't too bad at combat.

Exactly why are those Russian reinforcements coming directly from the side? Mother of fucks!

First thing first, I deploy the howitzer (which I had incidentally placed on the side, shit), order the company infantry to form a square, and charge in the Gurkhas for melee support. I also charge in the lancer guards, who seem pretty awesome at killing off cavalry.

That's gonna hurt.

Fuck casualties, pull back and charge again!

Any cavalry who try to break through are then shot by Kingley's Queens.

Even then, some of them make it through and charge the 'Splosion Lads, who while not having square formation, are manly enough in their melee stats to kill off the cavalry. Other Russian reinforcements come in at our front, but Little Friend makes short work of them. Mostly.

Heavy casualties? You bet, Russia's best cavalry are bearing down on us in their own last stand of sorts.

I can't really shift the infantry in my line since they're slow, and the awkward hilly terrain makes it hard to get a shot off (hill blocks bullets, you might know what I'm talking about in some of my zoomed screenshots.) I move in all the ranged cavalry, and even then it's a bit of micromanagement hell.

Hell as in, aw shit the Ghoorkas are routing and Luca's Lacerators shooting some of the Anon Knights by accident and Bruno's Brutalizers shooting a LOT of the Brown Eagles by accident, fucking guys can't aim for shit, it would seem. C'mon, grab your shit together, you're the Royal Army of Malta!

I have the Lancer Guards withdraw. They're spent.

Shit, now I have infantry to deal with....ugh

Meanwhile, the Arni Militia kill off some artillery before galloping back to the line.

Go go Brutalizers

Brown Eagles gotta withdraw, along with some of the other spent infantry units who got into some big gunfights.

Meanwhile, Vanir's reinforcements arrive and are ready to kick ass.

Vanir opens it off by leading a charge against howitzers.

Russians are caught between two places. Vanir's forces are fighting off their infantry in the city, and the Royal Malta Army is fighting whatever's left of them on the grasslands.

The Longshotsmen duel with a group of riflemen. They win, of course.

This is the town fight I was referring to.

Those riflemen sure regrouped quickly.

Well not anymore, thank the Knights.

Sandwiched, and ready to die.

I'm sure the kill ratios would've been a lot better if it weren't for the reinforcements catching me off guard from the flank.

With Finland ours, the Russians are practically no more.

Now let's take a look at Great Britain.....

[Rewjeo]

Maybe the kill ratios could've been better, but mind you that that's FINLAND. I'm sure your soldiers were terrified of it, given its history.

Also, how long is this going to go on for? Until you've conquered every province?

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, NOW I can safely say that Continental Europe belong to us now!

And good thing the Russians are now down for the count, revenge has been served. Our fallen's souls have been calmed from their torment...

Edited July 7, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[IGdood]

Maybe the kill ratios could've been better, but mind you that that's FINLAND. I'm sure your soldiers were terrified of it, given its history.

Also, how long is this going to go on for? Until you've conquered every province?

Yeah, we shall not rest until the whole world belongs to the Order.

Okay, NOW I can safely say that Continental Europe belong to us now!

And good thing the Russians are now down for the count, revenge has been served. Our fallen's souls have been calmed from their torment...

Indeed they have....

[Parrhesia]

One would think Europe is out of adult males by now.

[IGdood]

One would think Europe is out of adult males by now.

When in doubt, make MOAR.

Previously on Empire Total War, we were eying the British Isles in a bit of a hungry manner.

Anyways, INVASION TIME. The Mughals remained my allies, but decided to cancel infinite military access with me, LOL.

Dublin's pitiful garrison fell.

Scotland is under siege.

There was no dock so I couldn't just run in and clear London out. Looks like the generics will have to wait this one out.

The British forces rush to the defense of their capital and their Parliament and their king and queen and god save whatnot.

I've no idea where my reinforcements will be coming from, but I think it'll be from a corner.

The wrong corner. Anyways, while we reform our lines, let's take a look and admire British uniform fashion.

And the Brits also get the single BEST horse unit in the game....and they're just called "Horse Guards." Their stats are in the 20s, including defense, which is insane for a cavalry unit. Fuck, these guys can probably fight it out with an infantry unit and WIN. Hell, I tried it once in a custom battle and they can even beat squares. Well, one square. Still, that's legendary for a cavalry unit. They put the Household Cavalry to shame. Thankfully, they still die to bullets, cannonballs, and stakes just as easily as everyone else.

Triple line, bitches, let's see you Brits break through this!

I don't expect the front line to last too long. Is it just me or do I feel like the bad guy?

Swiss Pikemen? Just try to stay away from their pikes!

Form a square. You're meant to be surrounded!

Well the British are fleeing and my front line is still standing. Somewhat.

Not even the AYE-REESH can stawp me

Horse guards are actually routing, after they chopped 4 line infantry regiments to pieces.

British reinforcements are coming in, but let's keep going.

Through the woods we go, trees provide some cover, but they provide the enemy some cover too!

Ah, Nock's volley Gun. The brits HAVE to get their own version of the blunderbuss shotgun.

And dealing with the Black Watch, badass Scottish mofos who have insanely high melee stats. Yes they shot at me for some time, but then they decided to have a good ol' KAPLAAAAA and wiped out 3 line infantry regiments before finally routing themselves.

Here my cuirassiers charged into a melee, but then they were quickly sniped to death by Swiss jaegers (who carried silent guns, so I couldn't pinpoint their location on the battlefield)

Oh, here they are.

Chaaaaarge!

When in doubt, throw more soldiers at it. You'll get results

Surprisingly, they lost more than I lost soldiers.

Edited July 7, 2011 by skitarii

[IGdood]

With Ireland ours and the London garrison taken, only Edinburgh, Scotland remains. Its garrison sallies forth, but I found an excellent defensible position. The soldiers are not at full strength, having replenished only partially from the second battle at Finland.

I'm in my corner, waiting for you. We all are. Funny thing is suddenly the officer of the Arni Militia is doing the leading. maybe he's training for leadership under the Anon/b/ Knight officer? hahahaa

Blackguard, I want a very very LONG row of stakes.

That is a magical cluster of flying shrapnel, which I managed to press the pause button on right after the shot exploded. It does things like....the second screenshot.

Oi it's just a flesh wound....

Stakes? Stakes!? STAAAAAKKKKKKESSSS!

Sniping from safety.

Little Friend packs quite a big package.

Every cavalryman in this screenshot is actually dead. They didn't fall yet.

Arni Militia, open fire! They're like cowboys. Sorta.

Sharpshooters provide covering fire on the side.

The crew of Little Friend are in a bit of a sticky situation and are forced to withdraw.

The Brown Eagles move out of the line and see if they can get some shots off into the British side.

And it turns into a mass melee. The Brutalizers I'm not worrying about.

Some heavy cavalry force the Brown Eagles back through the lines. But they managed to get a few shots off.

Coldstream Guards. Where the Black Watch excel in melee the Coldstream Guards excel in shooting. SO. I clicked all my guards, set to melee mode, and.....CHHHHHHAARRRRRGE

The Blackguard are really taking a beating.

They're starting to break.

They break. Surprisingly the Company Infantry pursued the fastest despite being tired.

The armies of Britain are defeated (well not their colonial ones, but that doesn't matter)

Scotland belongs to us now!

With the fall of britain new nations arise in the Americas. The United States, Gran Columbia, Quebec, the Huron-Wyandot, and the Pirates have returned.

New nations.....ready to join the Order (by force of arms)

There are also many rogue provinces, of course it's a scramble to grab those before the Mughal do.