(Red dots on the map indiciate large Roman cities and green dots indicate the position of Roman legions, heavy resistance can be expected there. The dark lines are provincial borders to help you indentify on what portion of the map you are whilst advancing into Roman territory. Note that Roman legions each start with ten units and that those units are half the troop size of yours.)
Under the will of the late Emperor Theodosius I the Roman Empire was split in two. The West, less urbanized with a spread-out populace, was to experience an economic decline. The East was not so destitute, as Emperors like Constantine the Great and Constantius II had invested heavily in the eastern economy. As a result, the Eastern Empire could afford large numbers of professional soldiers and augment them with mercenaries, while the Western Roman Empire could not afford this to the same extent. Even in major defeats, the East could, certainly not without difficulties, buy off its enemies with a ransom.
In the years that followed the East would recover from its initial turmoil and flourish, showing that it had become an economic powerhouse capable of paying friend and foe alike to do their bidding. The Western Empire's resources were much more limited, and the lack of available manpower forced the government to rely ever more on barbarian troops. Rome was weak, unable to keep full control over their territories and increasingly unable to afford to pay its armies. Oh, how the tables had turned. The tribes beyond the Rhine now looked West, at the fertile and poorly defended land of the once mighty Roman Empire, poised to carve out an Empire of their own from the ruins.
But it wasn't just expansion that fueled their aggression, the Huns were coming. Hordes of horsemen, from the depths of hell. Slaughtering and pillaging their way through eastern Europe. The aura of terror surrounding the Huns was so great that their enemies were barely able to conceive that they were also human beings, rather then stand and face them, they fled. Ever going west, taking the place of previous tribes that had fled before them. With the land running out and with the Huns in their back they had little choice but to invade the ruins of Rome and seek safer lands southwards. What they didn't count on was that Rome would not be defeated so easily, it's soldier few in number and overstretched, still remained a formidable foe to be reckoned with. Given time and with the aid of its eastern counterpart, the Empire would surely recover.
(The location of each tribe is shown on the map with its corresponding number. The information behind each tribe is an indication of what your tribe is currently good at in terms of combat or if they have a special disposition towards Romans.)
1, The Franks: (Excellent cavalry, good sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, good archers. They currently have access to the sea and they have active trade with the Western Roman Empire.) 2, The Saxons: (Average cavalry, excellent sword/axe infantry, excellent spear/pike infantry, average archers. They currently have access to the sea.) 3, The Visigoths: (Excellent cavalry, average sword/axe infantry, good spear/pike infantry, excellent archers. Inspire fear in the hearts of Roman soldiers.) 4, The Alamans: (Excellent cavalry, poor sword/axe infantry, good spear/pike infantry, good archers. Hatred for Rome, extra morale when fighting against the Romans.) 5, The Jutes: (Poor cavalry, superb sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, average archers. Extra resistance to cold and more capable of fighting in the snow. They currently have access to the sea.) 6, The Danes: (Poor cavalry, excellent sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, average archers. Extra resistance to cold and more capable of fighting in the snow. They currently have access to the sea.) 7, The Seubi: (Good cavalry, poor sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, good archers. Tolerated by the Romans and allowed to live in the province of Gaul.) 8, The Caladonians: (Poor cavalry, superb sword/axe infantry, poor spear/pike infantry, excellent archers. Hatred for Rome, extra morale when fighting against the Romans. They currently have access to the sea. 9, The Picts: (Poor cavalry, superb sword/axe infantry, poor spear/pike infantry, average archers. Inspire fear in the hearts of Roman soldiers. They currently have access to the sea.) 10, The Burgundians: (Excellent cavalry, average sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, superb archers. Extra resistance to cold and more capable of fighting in the snow. They currently have access to the sea.) 11, The Quadians: (Good cavalry, poor sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, good archers. Hatred for Rome, extra morale when fighting against the Romans.) 12, The Vandals: (Superb cavalry, average sword/axe infantry, good spear/pike infantry, good archers. Inspire fear in the hearts of the Roman soldiers, despite that they have a positive opinion of the Romans.) 13, The Iazyges: (Superb cavalry, poor sword/axe infantry, poor spear/pike infantry, good archers. Inspire fear in the hearts of the Roman soldiers.) 14, The Maurians: (Excellent cavalry, poor sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, poor archers. Extra resistance to heat and more capable of fighting in the desert. They currently have access to the sea.) 15, The Garamantians: (Excellent cavalry, poor sword/axe infantry, average spear/pike infantry, poor archers. Extra resistance to heat and more capable of fighting in the desert. They currently have active trade with the Western Roman Empire.
Diplomacy and Trade: When you're in Roman territory with your tribe you are not capable of trading with anyone but Rome, and only if you are on good speaking terms with them. In order to trade or establish diplomatic relations with another tribe you need to either have conquered a piece of territory that once belonged to the Romans, which has to be completely under your control. You do not need to control the complete province but there can not be any Roman legions encamped near the land you control, poised to attack and reconquer it. Or you need to be outside of Roman lands where you are capable of safely establishing a city or large encampment without the threat of Roman legions marching in.
Furthermore, if there is another tribe blocking the route to the tribe you want to trade with, or if there is a piece of Roman territory in between. You need to make an agreement with the blocking party that allows you to move your goods through their territory. The more trading partners you have the wealthier your tribe will become which over time will increase your industry levels. The blocking also applies to diplomacy, a representive of your tribe will need to be able to safely move through another player's territory. A tribe that has access to the sea has no such difficulties but will need to know about other tribes to be able to trade.
Keep in mind that you as a tribe only know the tribe next to you, the tribe next to them you do not know and can only know about if you are told about them. The Romans however, know about every tribe they border directly.
Industry: For every trading partner that you have you will gain one technology point each turn/post that you make. technology points can be spend upgrading your units to be more effective but come at a heavy cost and once spend can not be changed again. Rome is an unique trading partner to have and gives you three technology points each turn. Rome however, gets only half a technology point for trade. In order to balance things out, once you start trading with Rome your tribe will become more and more influenced by Rome and they will start to get used to certain luxuries. The clever player who thinks he can spend several turns hoarding technology points by trading with Rome may suddenly find his tribe firmly opposed to attacking Rome.
You will also gain technology points for any base industry you have. Poor industry gives you two points every turn, average gives you three, good gives you four and excellent gives you five. Should trade be obstructed or cancelled you will also go backwards in industry level.
Grading system: It starts out at poor and goes up to average then good and then to excellent which is the maxium a Barbarian tribe can achieve on its own. The Romans however are at another level, standing at superb. Roman units will always be better then yours but pay for that by having their units sizes halfed and already suffering from low manpower and small legions. Your strength foremost will always be your large numbers. Remember, quantity is a quality of its own. Though you can safely assume that an excellent unit will fare much better then a poor unit in combat.
Technology points: To upgrade a poor unit to an average unit you will require one technology point, to upgrade an average unit to a good unit it will cost you three technology points and to go from good to excellent it will cost you six technology points. This applies to individual units that have been recruited into your army and does not mean all the units you will recruit suddenly have better preformance. Superb units can be formed only when on good terms with Rome, which includes active trade. Rome can then approve the training but it comes at a very expensive nine technology points.
Replenishing a unit costs one technology point for each thousand men in that unit, creating/recruiting a new one costs three points. Each tribe will start with twenty technology points in place, though if you should spend them all is up to you. If you suffer large casualities you may find that having saved up points does you well. Costs for Rome are doubled.
Keep in mind that the Western Roman Empire often has heavily armoured units with large shields, something that has to be taken in account even when one unit has the edge over another on paper.
Pikemen: The pike, due to its unwieldy nature, was always intended to be used in a deliberate, defensive manner, often in conjunction with other missile and melee weapons. However, better-trained troops were capable of using the pike in an aggressive attack with each rank of pikemen being trained to hold their pikes so that they presented enemy infantry with four or five layers of spearheads bristling from the front of the formation. As long as it kept good order, such a formation could roll right over enemy infantry but it did have weaknesses. The men were all moving forward facing in a single direction and could not turn quickly or efficiently to protect the vulnerable flanks or rear of the formation. The huge block of men carrying such unwieldy spears could be difficult to maneuver in any way other than straightforward movement.
Highly effective against melee units and cavalry once in formation, but very vunerable once flanked, the unit also lacks shields and continous missle fire will quickly decimate the unit.
Sword infantry: Depending on the size of the shields that were being carried, the unit could form up closely and raise their shields over their heads with only the front low keeping the shield pushed outwards. This allowed the unit to advance under heavy fire, though the bigger the shields, the bigger the amount of arrows you would be capable of blocking. Sword and shield formations were often flexible and could quickly turn and adapt different formations in order to deal with changes on the battlefield. Their weapons and defense however does not allow them to put up an effective formation against enemy cavalry, and if charged could only hold cavalry back for a certain amount of time before ultimately breaking from combat.
Highly effective against spear units, moderatly effective against other sword infantry and axe infantry, less effective against cavalry and pikemen.
Spear infantry: With the shorter and more flexible spear the unit would be more flexible on the battlefield and could form up more quickly. However, much like their Pikemen counterpart, once they were in close combat they would be easily cut down by the enemy. Their shorter spear, some what augmented by short shields still ment that they fought at a closer range then the Pikemen. The shields however allowed more protection against missle units and added protection against melee infantry. Ultimately the experience of the unit would dictate how effective it was in combat.
Highly effective against cavalry, moderatly effective against sword infantry and axe infantry once in formation, less effective against pikemen.
Cavalry: The fear of every soldier on the battlefield, getting run down or charged by a formation of horses often decimated any unit in combat except those specifically created to keep them at bay. Charging your cavalry into melee infantry yields high results, though keeping your horses engaged in close combat usually ment they would be cut down unless their initial charge killed a sufficient amount of troops. Cavalry is best kept in reserve or to protect the wings of your own army, though large armies of cavalry are known to completely decimate even the most experienced armies on the right terrain.
Highly effective charge against all units, moderatly effective against sword, axe infantry and other cavalry. Less effective against pikemen and spear units.
Axe infantry: Armed with an axe and a shield these units would often run an charge the enemy formation, piling all their weight on their initial swing of the axe in an attempt to break the opponents shield or simply cut them down. The added strength behind their swing ment that they were more capable against armoured units. Much like their counterparts with their swords, the unit is capable of forming shield formations. They suffer against cavalry much the same and unless properly trained will most likely get stabbed through the gut by a Roman sword when they raise their hand to strike. Ideally though, a well experienced unit has the slight edge over sword infantry.
Highly effective against spear infantry, effective against sword infantry, moderately effective against other axe infantry, less effective against cavalry and pikemen.
Missle units. Firing away at the enemy from a distance, either armed with javelins, longbows, short bows or crossbows. Different in range but all had one thing in common, their ability to pepper and decimate any unit unfortunate enough to receive their attention. The only thing capable of stopping their barrage would be armour and shields, the heavier and the larger the better. Also capable of using fire arrows in order to ignite buildings and to decrease the morale of the enemy.
Highly effective against all units from a distance, be that infantry, cavalry or other missle units. Less effective once in melee combat against all other units.
Tribe: (Simply write down what tribe you are here.) Government style: (Typically barbarian tribes were ruled by a high king or by a king that was adviced by a councel of lesser tribal kings. Though there are also examples of the oldest nobles of society making up the ruling class.) Head of State: (Even if your government system doesn't allow one set leader simply put down the most influencial member of the group. Also tell us a little about him and how he sees the world, basically a little character sheet inside the nation sheet.) Ruling Family: Sons of barbarian kings often joined the army to earn the respect of their tribe and that of other tribes. Daughters could be married off to settle the tension between other tribes or to simply seal an alliance deal. Religion: (Religion has always been a matter of conflict for people all through out history, it's safe to say that you'd get along more easily with someone that shares your faith.) Technology Points: (Starts out with twenty points. Each turn/post that you make you will receive one technology for each Barbarian trading partner you have and three for trade with Rome. Your industry will also give you a certain amount of points each turn/post.) Trading Partners: (List the people that you're currently trading with, for most of the starting factions it's irrelevant at the start, you can however make partners as the roleplay progresses.) Industry: (Starts at poor for all tribes except those that have trade with Rome, they start at average. For each two trading partner you have you will go up one level, so from average to good and from good to excellent. Rome has the same value as two tribes in terms of trade and by just having trade with Rome your Industry will increase.) Agenda and concerns: (Help me and the other participants better understand what your tribe is hoping to achieve or what it is currently having problems with. For example, perhaps you are worried about the changing climate and your lands getting less fertile and you hope to find better and more fertile land down south. Or perhaps, it's just the Huns fueling your aggression against Rome. Never the less, this should help you identify with people that may be suffering the same issues as you.) Tribal Army: (Infantry units have 4,000 troops in one unit, missle units have 2,000 troops and cavalry has 1,000 troops in their unit. The mandatory general unit each army has will only have 500 troops but is made of highly skilled warriors in order to protect your general. Seeing as this is based on Total War, killing the general will obviously disorganise your army. Simply write down the formation of your army here, though i'd advice to use all unit types, having no archers or cavalry for example can really cripple your force in the long run. Also, be sure to include how many men are left in your unit. At the start those numbers will be 100% of course.)
Combat in the Roleplay. Despite using things from the Total War series to establish the values for the tribes and the workings of the units, we're going to be using the honour system a lot as well. I expect players to communicate with eachother properly and to attempt to play out battles as realistically as they can. Remember, it's not always about winning but about the experience as well. I always try to picture myself in the combat situation. If I have a big shield and decent armour I will calmly advance through heavy missle fire, yet if I had no armour or shield for that matter, and my friends were dying next to me left and right. I'd be much more likely to run away.
For the sake of knowing what is going on try to describe how your army is marching or set up, simply by saying that for example; four units of spears are advancing at the front with four units of sword infantry following closely behind them, perhaps with your axe infantry on the flanks of the formation and with your cavalry on the wings. Then it's easy for the other participant to paint a mental image of what he's dealing with. Again, try to imagine the situation in your head. If you've just advanced your troops up a steep hill or you're fighting on said hill, you're going to be tired and at a disadvantage.
Keep in mind that once your unit is engaged in combat and you try to order it to pull out to allow another unit to take over, or just for a retreat. A lot of them will be cut down. You can try to get certain units of the enemy into combat in order to exploit him on other flanks with different units, such as cavalry.
@Lauder@SomeChap@ClocktowerEchos@Minimum@carla6677 One of you told me that he had not posted a Nation Sheet yet because he was waiting for mine. I am now wondering if it's the same for all of you. I figured this was dead, hence I have not posted anything yet. I've already invested a lot of time into this, hence I want to make sure I have participants before spending more time on a Nation Sheet.
So, by all means. Post/make a Nation Sheet. My role is already clear and you know i'm a participant 100% guaranteed. Never the less, if I see sheets being posted then I will get mine up as well.
I know I'm not done but here is what I have so far
Tribe: The Vandals Government style: Ruled by a high king Head of State: Lanster Wind-Breaker, a tall and burly, 39 year old man who has the lightest of hearts and simply wishes to have a good time. He is not one for starting fights but he will not take an insult, unless it is jokingly. He has a full head of long, untamed blonde hair with a equally long beard. Ruling Family: The Wind-Breaker Family Meredith {Wife} Midna {Daughter, 19} Sven {Son, 15} Theodora { Daughter, 14} Fenrir {Son, 6} Religion: Roman Catholic Technology Points: 20 Trading Partners: None as of now Industry: Poor Agenda and concerns: (Help me and the other participants better understand what your tribe is hoping to achieve or what it is currently having problems with. For example, perhaps you are worried about the changing climate and your lands getting less fertile and you hope to find better and more fertile land down south. Or perhaps, it's just the Huns fueling your aggression against Rome. Never the less, this should help you identify with people that may be suffering the same issues as you.) Tribal Army: (Infantry units have 4,000 troops in one unit, missle units have 2,000 troops and cavalry has 1,000 troops in their unit. The mandatory general unit each army has will only have 500 troops but is made of highly skilled warriors in order to protect your general. Seeing as this is based on Total War, killing the general will obviously disorganise your army. Simply write down the formation of your army here, though i'd advice to use all unit types, having no archers or cavalry for example can really cripple your force in the long run. Also, be sure to include how many men are left in your unit. At the start those numbers will be 100% of course.)
(WIP I think) Tribe: The Saxons Government style: Aristocracy? Duchy? King? I have no idea. Head of State: Freaho Of Old-Saxony: Tall and muscular 29 year old. Enjoys food and partying as well as war and conquering. He will start a fight if he feels like it but is also sometimes quite diplomatic. Red head and beard. Ruling Family (Currently): The Bedford Family Son in law: Offa of Angel Son: Kim Daughter: Aelfgiva Son: Wig Religion: Pagan Technology Points: 20 Trading Partners: None as of now Industry: Poor Agenda and concerns: Conquering more lands and keeping there own safe.
Tribe: The Franks Government style: Petty Kingdom Head of State: Genobaud:Invader of Rome. His first concern is of his people. He is a skilled warrior and is a strategic genius. He hates being oppressed Ruling Family (Currently): Wife: deceased Son:Dagovert Religion: Arian Christianity Technology Points: 20 Trading Partners: Rome Industry: Average Agenda and concerns: Defending Flevum and capitalizing on Rome's weakness Army: (limits?)
