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. The princedoms of Armoire, Calais and Bologne are turned into the duchy of Normandy.

Haakon asks for an alliance with England, after France begins raiding both Aquitane and Normandy.
 * The Abbasid Caliphate declares war on Damascus in order to capture the renowned city.
 * The Chinese launch an invasion of Southeast Asia.



1111
Japan sends even more colonists to Australia, and their Borneo colony expands. they also begin requiring that all men ages 18-25 spend 1 week per year training with muskets as militia.

China sends more troops to their advancing armies, equipped with fire lances, and move south into more of Southeast Asia.

'''(Gunpowder?) what kind of Gunpowder? "gunpowder weapons" could refer to barrels of gunpowder thrown from catapults, or steel rifled breechloading artillery'''
 * The Abbasids land an army on the coastal region of Damascus' borders. They take a few coastal towns and send another army up from the south.1112.png

1112
The Japanese continue to send colonists to Australia, and send diplomats to Southeast Asia to help the Southeast Asians form an alliance against the Chinese. the Japanese also sell them weapons. finally, the Japanese establish another colony in Borneo.

To smite the Japanese for their associtation with the Southeast Asians, the Chinese send a large army to invade the Korean peninsula.

The Scandinavians continue to fortify both the Azores and their eastern frontiers. Haakon leads an invasion of Poland, and takes East Prussia by the end of the year.

1113
The Chinese army moves south as they capture more of Korea and eventually Seoul.

Ieysau and the Japanese army counter attacks. the main Japanese army moves up the Korean Peninsula, and engages the Chinese outside Seoul. the Japanese win a smashing victory, thanks to their musketry and artillery. meanwhile, a large force of Japanese Navy Marines and another large army land north of the Chinese army, and set up field fortifications along the only highway into Korea, forcing the Chinese to charge right into their prepared defenses. the Chinese army is again crushes, and they starve while trapped between two Japanese armies. since the rest of the Chinese army is occupied in Southeast Asia, they are unable to send reinforcements. the Japanese occupy a small part of Manchuria, and begin building a long line of fortifications. meanwhile, the Japanese Naval squadrons based in Taiwan, the Phillipines and Borneo raid all along the Chinese coastline, greatly disrupting commerce, and weakening Chinas already strained economy.
 * The Abbasid Caliphate finishes conqeuring the coastal regions of Damascus. The move farther up from the south.

'Dude, the Japanese did not have any muskets in this time, plus, what are you talking about Marines?! The Japanese didn't have Marines until hundreds of years later! 1. if you had taken the time to actually read my posts about Japan, you would have noticed that the Japanese have developed muskets. 2. when i said Marines, i meant the armed contingents present on ships, which were generally used in boarding actions and raids against coastal establishments. the Japanese navy recently underwent a large expansion, so there would be a lot of them.'

'^Wow! I didn't know that 1 year equals 5 years now! '

What are you talking about?



'''He had explained the muskets earlier, but the Marines make no sense. Also, their is no way that the Japanese could even hope to:'''

A: Retake korea (which has only been under their control for five years of so) from a massive Chinese army (No matter how big a difference the crop advancements are, they wouldn't make a difference in only 6 or 7 years on the population of males of fighting age).

B: Be able to continue forward and take Manchuria, with an area almost twice that of the Japanese home islands.

'''C: Be able to keep enough troops/militia in the Philippenes to keep the Moros and other tribes down. The Spanish barely managed to do it themselves OTL, and that was when they had far more advanced technology than what the Japanese have at their disposal. We had to release the island as an independent state back in 1908 because we couldn't deal with the insurgency there.'''

'''D: Do all this in A SINGLE YEAR!!??!! (Let alone a campaining season).'''

Yea, Destroyanator seriously needs to learn what patience is.

Also, quick memo to all: dont put in a new map until the current year is finished.

Scandinavia finishes it's border forts, and pimps more troops into Poland. By now, the entire coast is taken, and a Scandinavian salient reaches almost all the way to Krakow. Haakon expands his navy in the Atlantic, with France raiding and attacking Normandy constantly. England agrees to stay neutral in any sort of widespread confrontation.

'''Alright, i'll admit the invasion of Manchuria was completely unrealistic (i was feeling somewhat vindictive at the time). but, the Japanese and Korea empires have been united through dynastic marriage. Japan never actually conquered Korea. Japan has much better gunpowder weapons, and they actually have an effective navy, which the Chinese lack. they could easily just starve the Chinese army into submission by preventing any supplies from reaching them. keep in mind, the further down the Korean Peninsula you get, the farther the Chinese are from their supplies. so, either the Chinese would be starved by the time they got to Seoul, or they had so many troops protecting their supply lines that the Japanese would crush them. finally, i think i already explained about the Marines'''

Also, the Japanese or the Koreans wont get gunpowder weapons for another 200-400 years.

'''Alright, i changed the part about the invasion of Manchuria. is everyone happy now?'''

Mayans establish an Empire and began expanding out of the Yucatan. The first Mayan Emperor establishes the Cliques. These are similar to the European Guilds and they focus on a particular profession, the largest of which is science.

1114
The Chinese are able to pull out of Korea, but their troops are then able to counterattack the Japanese in Manchuria.

The entire northern half of Poland is taken by the Scandinavians, and Krakow has fallen. Scandinavia agrees to return all the conquered lands except for Gnask and two other ports. Poland itself is to become a protectorate of Scandinavia, supplying its exellent and much-needed cavalry for the upcoming campaign in France. Colonization of the Azores and Greenland has been temporarily halted in order to divert resources into the invasion. Troops from the various ethnicities of the Scandinavian kingdom are flooding in: Scottish highlanders, Irish kerns, Norwegian pikemen, Swedish bowmen and axemen. An estimated 50,000 men have been gathered for the main invasion, while a second contingent, mainly from Norway, is sailing into the Med in order to take Provence. The invasion is scheduled to begin next year.

The Japanese offer a peace treaty to the Chinese. they offer to stop their meddling in Southeast Asian affairs, as long as China refrains from attacking them. They also continue colonizing Australia.
 * With the no territory on the coast, Damascus has lost connection to Mediterranean trade. This halts Damascus' economy. The Abbasid army moves farther in and besieges Damascus.

1115
The Japanese continue their expansion into Australia, although they send a few colonists to Borneo to establish more naval bases. they also begin establishing spice plantations on Borneo, and selling it to the Europeans. this helps finance their Australian colonies.

The Chinese, now with their dreams of expansion into Southeast Asia and Korea dashed by the Japanese, the Chinese begin to settle west into as far as India.
 * The Abbasids continue the siege of Damascus.
 * The invasion of France begins, with the allack on Provence, and a raiding fleet sailing up the Rhone to Avingon. A cavalry force sweeps past Il-De-Le-France into Languodoc, and takes much of the land there.
 * A young warlord from Mongolia becomes a significant power, after defeating a few other warlords.
 * Haakon diverts some colonization funds to increase the fortifications along the border with the siberian tribes, as well as the Russians.

1116
The Japanese build more spice farms all along Borneo's coast, and establish more farms in Australia to feed the spice workers. also, a Japanese trader brings a shipload of sheep to Australia, where they are sold to several large farms. the wool produced by these sheep is extremely profitable, and the Japanese begin shipping huge loads of sheep to Australia. this provide a huge economic incentive for colonist to travel to Australia, and soon the Japanese are forced to expand their colony fleet to keep up with demand.

France is defeated by Scandinavia at Avingon, but hold on to Il-De-Le-France, Othe, and Champagne. Much of Provence is taken, and their is a small connection along the Rhone to Languedoc, which is also mainly pacified. Haakon hears of the fighting tactics of the nomadic Turkic tribes of the far east, and sends an emissary (along with a well-armed and large escort) to investigate. By now, most of the Azores are either sheep farms, ports, or coastal forts. Iceland has crofts scattered all over the interior, while the coast is dotted with small ports for fishing. Greenland has over 15,000 Scandinavians, who are mainly either sheepherders or fishermen. The monk Baldaric continues his experiments with electricity. He reveals his work to the entire monastary, and they all begin work on the mysterious properties of lodestones and wires. One discovers that when connecting the wires together, it creates sparks. Realizing that this is the same mysterious power that increases a magnets strength, Baldaric begins experiments on how to successfully store this energy, as well as how to exploit it. The Chinese, after months of preperations, launch an invasion of their long time enemies, the Mongols. They are able to push far into Mongol territory, until the Mongols send large barrages of cavalry on the Chinese, as they retreat they also begin to build forts and fortify captured cities, the war is headed toward a stalemate.
 * After a year of siege, Damascus surrenders and the city is taken. The Abbasids work on icorporating the new territory into their empire.

'The mongols never were a power until like 1240. Right now they are just one of the many Turkic tribes north of China.'

'''it could be interpreted as a invasion to prevent banditry.... i guess'''

1117
The Japanese expand their spice farms in Borneo and their pastures and wheat farms in Australia. thanks to their advanced agricultural techniques, they produce much of the spice consumed by Europe. because they use ships to transport their spice, their spice is much cheaper than the variety shipped over the silk road. this begins to produce a huge growth in the Japanese economy. because of this newfound emphasis on trade and manufacturing, several powerful daimyos begin investing in merchant fleets, along with most of their feudal underlings.

France capitulates, and Scandinavia forces a peace agreement on them. France is to be dissolved, with the four duchies of France (Champagne, Othe, Languedoc, and Provence) to be reorganized as Dominions of Scandinavia (a bit like Canada was to GB in c.1850s-90s). The king of France is executed, as is all of his family. Due to the relative coopereation Provence gave Scandinavia during the invasion, the duke of Marseille is appointed administrator of the Dominions for the King. Baldaric learns of the story of a Swedish trader in Sumeria in 980 AD, and reads his description of the strange pots filled with lemon juice and with wires sticking out of them. He begins to experiment on this, and imports lemons at great expense. The Scandinavian emmisary reaches Samarkand, and writes home in detail of the amazing horse archers. He also buys a sample of "magic powder", and, not realizing the qualities of this, absentmindedly pockets it away.

The Abbasid Caliphate continues incorporating Damascus' territory. They prepare an army in Mecca in order to capture the territory in southern Arabia.

We need a map, boyos.

'''Indeed we do, buckaroo. My Paint isn't working, so could you be so kind as to place a map for us?'''

The Chinese army, now equipped with fire lances, breaks out of the stalemate with the Mongols and are able to push miles into the Mongol land, which they intend to use to expand trade with Europe and the Middle East.

Maya expand northwards and start a war with another Central American civilisation.

1118
The Japanese continue to expand their colonies, and a daimyo discovers that if you smelt iron ore in a large blast furnace, using charcoal, it creates much higher quality iron in much greater quantities. this provides Japan with another profitable product to sell to other merchants all around the world. daimyos also begin experimenting to find a cheaper steel-making process. a group of samurai philosophers also create a basic process of scientific inquiry, allowing discoveries to be made much faster. finally, the Japanese establish a colony on the Horn of Africa, in order to better facilitate trade with Europe.

The Chinese army pushes forward to take more of the Mongol tribes, when a Mongol tribe is conquered they are given a simple choice, join the Chinese army, or be completely destroyed, though most join the empire and continue with their lives, some are more rebellious and either continue to fight or are massacred by the Chinese.

Due to the large debts and loss of manpower incurred on Scandinavia during it's recent expansions, Haakon retires hhis armies (but keeps a large defensive force at the ready), and focuses on paying off his substantial debts. As this was purely the king's money, many of the various dukes (who, as a result of various wars and pillaging have become quite wealthy) begin to raid Spain and Portugal (not the muslims).

1119
The old Japanese Emperor dies, and his son is taken under the wing of Minamoto Ieyasu. Ieyasu intends to merge the title of Shogun and Emperor upon his death, in order to prevent much of the infighting which usually surrounds the death of a great Shogun. the new Emperor is very intelligent, and show signs of being and even better leader than Ieyasu. he already speaks Japanese, Korean, Chinese, several southeast Asian languages, and Arabic. he suggests that the musket's bayonets should be attaches to a ring, which is slid around the barrel, instead of rammed down it.

The Scandinavian duke Eoghan of Cork begins expirements on advancing the primitive bulkheads now in use by most ships. In order to better coordinate and support their raids on Iberia, many dukes begin to gain their own personal navies (mainly just 1-2 longships or cogs). Many mecrenary companies spring up, mainly in Scotland and Ireland.

The Fatimid Caliph (sorry when I said Abbasid I really meant Fatimid, my bad) declares he is on a mission to unite all of the Arabian Peninsula and remake Arabia an important part of the Islamic world. He sends diplomats to the small state south of Hejaz (can't seem to find what it's called Aden maybe, or Mocha) and insists that the residing Sultan join the Fatimid empire. Discussions are being worked out.

'Why do you have muskets???? AAAGGGGHHHH!!!!'

But seriously, it's too early for muskets.

'''What makes people decide that it's "to early" for something? technological advancement is not a linear process. during Roman empire, technology advanced reletively quickly. however, during the Dark Ages, technological advancement stopped for around 1000 years. the advancement of technology is a result of societal conditions, not the time period. in these map games, people seem to be dead-set on having the industrial revolution when in happened in OTL, not when it would actually happen given the societies present.'''

'''It's too early when you give no notion of anyone actually trying to research musketry. In one year someone found out how to make muskets? No. So then why does that happen here?'''

'''umm.. in the very first post, i wrote about the Shogun hiring teams of artisans to try to build an effective musket, and trying to come up with an effective gunpowder formula. after 4 years of experimentation, they came up a formula which is close to the ideal one. after another 2 years of experimentation, they came up with a simple flintlock musket. '''

'Yea, give the guy a break. I was writing about compasses and electromagnets, why can't he get a simple musket?'

'Sorry, my bad. It just get's annoying when one country develops super technology and thinks they can dominate another country, sorry I'm just trying to hint at a larger issue here.'

1120
The Japanese expand their Borneo and Australia colonies, and Ieyasu invest much of the tax surplus generated by the spice trade in expanding Japan's navy, and their merchant fleets. the Japanese now also begin to dominate the silk trade out of China, since their ships out-compete the traditional silk road. Ieyasu issues a decree, giving peasants more rights, and creates the post of governor of Australia, and governor of Borneo, in order to manage the growing colonies. he also begins the expansion of the Imperial Guard to 10,000 soldiers, which will allow them to crush most rebellions. he also encourages the practice of assigning government posts based on merit, not aristocratic status. this makes him extremely popular among the lower orders of nobility, and ensures that if a powerful lord rebels, his own feudal underlings will not support him.

While the Scandinavian militias are always at the ready, Haakon believes in the need for a centrally-controlled, professional defense force, and thus creates the Scandinavian Army. Currently made up of only 4,000 archers, it can be expanded rapidly in case of war, due to the large mercenary companies springing up everywere. Plans are made to add a medium cavalry force, and studies are made over which type of cavalry can be flexible enough to be effective not only against western knights, but Muslim light cavalry and light infantry.

1121
The Incan Empire is formed after they invade a peaceful minor state.

'''The Inca Empire didn't exist until the 1400's..... incan civilization didn't exist until the 13th century.... try again'''

The Japanese expand their Borneo and Australia colonies, and expand their port on the Horn of Africa. also, the Imperial Guard finishes training their new recuits, and establish a new division, devoted to light infantry tactics, in order to better combat raids from natives in the Phillippines, Australia and Borneo. the light infantry division will eventually have 2000 men. finally, the imperial guard begins training a light cavalry division, for patroling the vast areas of Australia around their colony. this division will also be composed of 2000 men.

Scandinavian studies show that a well-trained force of horse archers is effective against almost all types of weapons and tactics encountered by the Scandinavians. A force of 6000 troops starts to train in the style of the Turkic tribes of the east. Baldaric dies, but many of his students carry on his work on the "elektros" force that he had discovered. Scandinavia establishes a consulate in Alexandria, and requests a pact of non-agression from the Fatimids.

1122
The Japanese expand their colonies in Africa, Borneo, and Australia. they also send an expedition to find a way around Africa

A simultaneous expidition is launched from Cordoba, funded by the Dukes of Gwenned, Oslo, and Cork, as well as several rich Berber shiiks, with 7 ships.

The Chinese army finishes up its conquering of the many Mongol tribes.

Someone please make a map showing the Chinese taking over the Mongol land.

Cordoba is in Fatimid territory.

Yea, but it was a sort of international expidition, it was only funded by Scandinavians.

1123
The Japanese encounter the Scandinavian expedition off the Ivory Coast. the Japanese suggest that the Scandiavians establish a base there, and the Japanese will ship the spice and silk there, and the Scandinavians will take it the rest of the way. on their way back to Japan, the Japanese expedition establishes a base on the Cape of Good Hope, and on Madagascar. they also expand their colonies on Borneo and Australia. The Scandinavians agree, and supply the Japanese with several compasses and iron to take back. The Scandinavians send two colony ships, one to Malabo, and another to Gambia, to set up waystations for the traders.

Chinese forces make their final push towards the Mongol tribes that are still opposed to the Chinese rule, the Chinese now utilize the great horses and horsemanship of the native's land to finish these rebels off, the cavalry are equipped with stirrups, which easily allow them to take down an enemy with their swords, giving the Chinese a great advantage.

'''The horsemen wouldn't be able to reload the fire lances. they're to unwealdy to be used by cavalry'''

also, the recoil would knock them out of the sadel

I hate to say this, but stirrups were pretty much ubiquitous in Asia by the fifth century AD

1124
The Emperor of Japan invests a large part of the Japanese treasury into expanding ports all over the Empire, especially in Taiwan. they also expand their colonies in Australia, Borneo and Africa

The Chinese army finishes up its conquest of the rebellious Mongol tribes, by now around 90% of them are conquered.

The Scandinavian African colonies grow, and both are fortified. Haakon appoints his nephew Andre Duke of Africa.