The Second Crusade? Never heard of it! (Map Game)

=Rules= Each person picks a nation, they control that nation, AND you get if you desire you can create a fictional explorer or use a real world one to write about his journies and conquests.

Note: -Expansion is regulated, and the NPC battles will also be calculated, so the world doesn't result in one mega-alliance attacking a monster who devours up NPCs. -2-3 nations in one alliance. 4 and more nation alliances are allowed for a few turns at a time, then they must break up. -Approximately twelve pixels of settling per turn. Explore as much as you want but stay plausible. If it is ASB, expect it to be removed. However, as time progresses the maximum pixels-per-settlement will go up.

Since we're starting in 1100, no exploration at the start. You do not even need to claim an explorer at the beginning. Iceland will be the first nation to discover North America, in the early 1200's. Other nations will be allowed to start exploring one turn afterward.

1100

 * Japan: a Japanese shogun name Minamoto Ieyasu leads a powerful army which crushes several powerful daimyos. Minamoto begins centralizing the Japanese government by requiring that all feudal lords spend every other years in Kamakura, the capital of Japan. he also begins modernizing the Japanese Army and commisions several prominent alchemists to develop a more effective musket (ill just call them muskets, because im not sure what else their called), and improve their gunpowder formulas.
 * For fear of a crusade against Constantinople, the Byzantine Emperor signs an alliance with the Almoravid Empire. The Byzantine Empire also signs an alliance with Norway- Norwegian soldiers for the Varangian Guard are traded with trading rights in the Black and Mediterranean Sea.
 * Norway expands it's holdings in the Orkneys, and eyes Scotland, just to the south.

1101

 * Japan: Ieyasu engineers the marriage of the Japanese Emperor to the recently widowed queen of Korea, merging that realm into the Japanese Empire. he also invests a large portion of the Japanese treasury into the expansion of the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy (which consists mostly of Korean ships). he also builds a colony in Northern Taiwan, in order to facilitate trade with southern China
 * Norway continues a troop buildup in the Orkneys and Shetlands, and reorganizes the kingdom into 23 counties, each ruled by a duke. All men between 15-25 train 3 days a week during summer and winter, and saturdays the rest of the time. They begin to expirement with imported composite bows, as well as billhooks.

1102
Norway invades Scotland and completely takes OTL Lordship of the Isles by the end of the year. They also have Carla II of Norway marry Hanson of Sweden, paving the way to unite the two kingdoms. The militia system is revised, with all men who wish to marry required to serve full time for two years in the militia. Swedish troops under Hanson invade the Balts and take all of the coast.

In order to ensure that the Norway/Greek alliance remains strong throughout the future, the two kingdoms agree on a "bodyguard exchange program", where the Norwegian king is protected by elite Byzantine soldiers, and the opposite for the Greeks. This is to ensure that one of the two countries cannot betray another.

Japan continues to expand it's colonies in Taiwan which soon encompas the entire coast. they also establish a colony in the Phillipines.

1103
Japan leaves the remaining colonization of Taiwan to population growth, and establish several other colonies on different islands in the Phillipines. the alchemists assigned to research gunpowder advise the ratio of sulfur and charcoal to be about 20% sulfur, 70% saltpeter, and 10% charcoal. Ieyasu next assigns a group of artisans to design a musket that can be fired without using a gun-rest, and only requires one person.

The Byzantine Empire begins to build up its military; they introduce conscription to the military, which states that every man of a certain age must serve in the military for three years.

The Scandinavians complete their invasions of Scotland and the Balts, and begin to fortify them. Several enterprising dukes take their retinues, as well as scottish ex-prisoners-of-war, into northern Ireland in order to conquer it.. King Olaf of Norway dies, and the crowns of Norway and Sweden are united into Scandinavia.

1104
Japan begins to reduce the number of samurai each daimyo needs to maintain, and use their increased tax revenues from trade with southern China to help form a standing army, loyal to the Emperor. they are equipped with the new musket invented by Japanese artisans, which uses a flintlock mechanism, and has a plug bayonet. the army is composed mostly of commoners, although the officer corp is composed of nobles

Scottish mercenaries serving the Duke of Lewis invade and capture Godthaab on the Greenlandic coast, and raise a local militia to conquer the remaining towns and villages. The duke of Kefalvik also sends an allied force, that takes Suygn on the eastern coast.

1105
Japan makes several key technological advancements. they develop fore-and-aft rigged sails, which make their ships less manpower-intensive, and much faster. they also discover that certain cover crops actually increase soil fertility, and can be used as fodder for livestock. this greatly increases their population growth, and makes the commoners very happy. they expand their colonies in the Phillipines.

All of Ireland north of the Shannon is conquered by the Scandinavians, and all of the Greenlandic villages are under control. Swedish troops invade the remainder of Finland. A Scottish scientist and Duke of Skye, James The Bond VII, discovers the properties of lodestones, once thought to be a simple magician's trick, to be useful in navigation. Many Scandinavian ships are equiped with primitive compasses, and 20 are sent to Byzantium for inspection. Shipbuilders improve the age-old longship design, creating large ships that utilize primitive bulkheads, almost doubling their carrying capacity. These are known as Stor Skeppas. The second type is a highly evolved longship designed for swift raiding and ship-to ship fighting. These are known as Angripers. Due to population levels rising throughout Scandinavia, land is scarce, and raiding begins all over France and England's Continental holdings.

1106
The Japanese begin manufacturing larger gun for seige work in their armies. a Korean inventor designs a weapon known as the Hwacha, which can fire a volley of 250 arrows. a Japanese inventor improves the design by suggest that all of the rockets be attached to a frame, which is strapped to the back of the Hwacha. after the rockets discharge, that frame is simply removed, and a new one is slotted into place. this allows them to fire a volley ever 30 seconds. the Japanese also expand their colonies in the Phillipines and a Japanese explorer discovers Australia.

Finland is completly taken by the Scandinavians, and King Haakon reforms the military. Each county (23 in all, each ruled by a duke) is required to have every man between 18-20 training and preparing for war for an entire two years. Slave labor from the Balts, and from raiding France, more than makes up for the manpower loss. Each county is also required to have one fully crewed longship out raiding for every 300 citizens. The militia system is revised, and allows select slaves (usually all the men from 12-30) to fight and/or serve as sailors up until age 50, in which case they are released as full citizens. After 20 years of service, all the children and family of the slaves serving are released. All freemen between 10-20 are forced to become profecient with the axe, composite bow, spear or goedendag, and horse or sailing.

In order to repay the Scandinavians for their gift of lodestones, the Byzantines give them the formula for greek fire.

'This is illogical, the Byzantine scientists and rulers were very secretive about Greek fire, they always took the secret of Greek fire to the grave. I doubt they would have ever given it to pay a debt.'

'''But it's certainly not illogical that within five years, the Japanese have gone from glorified fireworks to a rocket launcher that puts out 500 arrows a minute, not to mention a professional army fully equipped with flintlock muskets, right? Plus, the Byzantines have an alliance thingy going on with the Scandinavians, read the other posts. Now, I'm not saying that it was the most likely thing to happen, but seeing what Japan is doing (are they even sticking to the twelve pixels rule>), I thought I'd tap into that.'''

'''I'm sorry, i should have clarified. the rockets fired by the Hwacha don't explode, they just impale their target. and each individual rocket wouldn't be very effective. that is certainly possible with "glorified fireworks", don't you think? the Hwacha was a real Korean weapon during the 1300's. i just modified it with the frame-loader, so they would have a decent rate of fire. also, if you had read my posts, you might have noticed a post about an increase in Japanese agricultural technology. finally, i probably should have mentioned that the professional army is really more of a royal guard. i plan on evolving it into a professional army. if it helps prevent conflict, i'll remove the Japanese colonies from Borneo and Australia.'''

1107
The Japanese discover that Australia has vast quantities of arable land, and a colonization effort is planned, although it is several years off. thanks to the stability provided by the Minamoto Shogunate, many Japanese daimyos begin to turn to the sciences for a career path. Ieyasu also authorizes the creation of several daimyodoms (im not sure what they were actually called) in Taiwan and the Phillipines. he also creates a formula for the process of adding new daimyodoms to the Empire. finally, he creates the position of governor. there is a governor in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the Phillipines. each of the governors reports to the Emperor (and the Shogun).

^^Twelve pixels of settling per turn, dude!^^ Hope you keep that in mind!

A Greenlandic monk, Varsten Baldarik, discovers that when one spins a coil of wire around a magnet, it becomes much stronger. Due to the remoteness of his cell, not even the nearest priests know about this. He continues to experiment.

When blown off course on his way to Cordoba, Swedish merchant Alf Peterson stumbles on the Azores (Otl they were discovered by catalans in 1344). He reports this to King Haakon, who sends a few hundred settlers.

Haakon himself calls up the county militia, in order to prepare for an invasion of the Slav princedoms of Russia. The Royal Finnish Army, under Carl Kiinelsiinko, would move along the White Sea, and then wrap around south, taking the lightly settled eastern portions of Russia. The Royal Army, under Haakon himself, would move from OTL Estonia straight at Novorogrod (Muscovy hasn;t even been founded yet), the strongest of the princedoms.

1108
The Japanese establish a colony on Borneo. they also build several ports on smaller islands in Indonesia, and a large port in Australia. A Japanese samurai discovers that if you rub a lodestone on a piece of iron, it will continually point north. this is a great help for Japanese navigation.

Haakon orders that more colonists be sent to the Azores, noting the exellent fishing grounds surrounding it. To protect the fisheries, he orders the construction of 3 forts on Picos.

1109
The Japanese expand their Borneo colony, but focus most of their efforts on expanding their Australian colony. Ieyasu finishes the training of the Emperors royal guard, all of whom are equipped with flintlock muskets and plug bayonets. he also creates a dedicated artillery corp, to man the cannons and hwacha.



Scandinavia attacks Muscovy. The Finns manage to take Archangelsk and much of the east, while Haakon takes the main army into Novorogrod, sacks it, and moves straight south towards Kiev, the only Russian strongpoint left.

Scandinavian raiders create several city-states on the English Channel: Bologne, Calais, and Armoire. They are all appointed du

kes of the respective territories in order to make sure of their loyalty.

Due to population strains, Haakon resettles several thousand Swedes and Finns in both the Azores and Greenland.

Why the hell does everybody ignore my posts when making maps?

1110
&nbsp The Japanese send thousands of settlers to Australia. most of them settle in coastal farms, and they provide the food for Japan's colonies in the Phillipines and Indonesia. he expands the royal guard and artillery corp. the Royal guard now has 2000 extremely well trained soldier, and another 3000 are being trained.

Scandinavia makes peace with the Russians. Scandinavia is to receive Belarus and Pskov, as well as Komi. All the other princedoms are allowed to keep their independence. Many veterans (including the Russian ones that had their homes taken by the invasion) are resettled along the coast of Greenland. Due to increasing raids by the Bulgars from the east, Haakon orders the construction of a series of forts throughout his territory for defense.