So having told the story thus far with a wall of text, it's time to let pictures paint a thousand words...
We have a new duke....
And he's not a happy chap. He was already stressed to be dragged from his castle in Bari, and now he has caught a chill on his way to Jersualem.
But we should be alright, as long as he doesn't pope his clogs.
And so, as soon as he returns, it is on with the war against the King of Italy....
Things are not looking bright for old Fresco, but he does have those 3,000 troops north oft he Alps which might well cause a problem - depending on how severe the winter is.
A swift bout of murdering, shows us in a strong position in the election - even with a very weak candidate - given his age.....
And the war ends - I believe we were fighting over a castle in Padua, that was held by the Italians, even through it was in territory controlled by us. And the end of the war shows us in a nice fincial position....
The dukes has time to relax now, settle down to domestic bless with his 16 year old squeeze... at which point he drops down dead and we have a new Duke....
He is a distant relative from the Duchy of Croatia.
The duchy of Croatia is interesting because it was given independence @200 years ago, and then shortly passed out of the dynasty due to daughters, but has since come back into the fold, and has proven a staunch and true ally of the republic.
So while the Duke makes the traditional pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the military make their traditional prepartions for war with Italy....
The King of Italy currently as a maximum levy of @18,000 troops, so you might think sending 50.000 plus mercenaries is a tad over the top... but no matter, that's the way Sicily does things....
And as soon as the Duke returns to the action starts....
Pavia is the first province to fall, and we get a nice bonus...
As Italy crumbles, I am reminded of a biology textbook...
The war ends, and the Duke of Modena gets Verona - for which he is very grateful, just as I am very grateful to him for taking the time and trouble to get the claim. What I am not pleased with him about, is the way he distributed the lands I win for him. Instead of dividing them among the Polkarios family he has an annoying habit of giving them to his cronies.
And so, having learned a thing or two by now, it is off to Algeria in a Holy War to disinherit the heirs of the Duke of Modena's drinking buddies....
We have a new heir, and this one needs much less help - in the way of murder to ensure his election victory...
And here come the cavalry...
This should be fun, how many of those 18,000 Abbasids do you think will make it across the desert?
The correct answer was 11,000.
And I probably shouldn't have split my forces....
But my cavalry arrives in the nick of time...
And the fate of Algeria is sealed...
And with the Duke of Modena's drinking buddies son's safely installed in the church, it is time to complete a piece of long overdue business, in the form of a Holy War for Tangiers - which has the benefits of disinheriting a few more people who have annoyed me, clearing out a few more of the Polkarios clan who would otherwise be skulking around my vassal's courts, but mainly it will once and for all destroy what remains of the Byzantine Empire....
The Pope is giving us money again....
That's nice of him...
And the Byzantine's are no more...
And with the fighting over, it's bac to making three times more money that the Pope...
Plus the Duke of Modena as very kindly obtained a claim on Pavia, so the new Duke will have something worthwhile to fight about.
Incidentally, as a sign of how mad the King of Italy is, he is currently fighting in Northern Norway, against the Queen of Sweden over his right to a castle.
peace:)
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