The Final Campaign: A Trip Down Nostalgia Lane(LOTR 2)

[Brian Swartz]

Herein shall be documented the most likely .... scratch that, almost certainly boring events of Germany in the late 13th century. LOTR means Lords of the Realm, not Lord of the Rings, in this case. Why am I doing this? Well, Lords of the Ream II is a Sierra game from the early 90s, one of the first(along with one of the Caesar games and a couple of others) to use the now exceedingly well known turn-based strategic map and real-time battle tactics combination of strategy gameplay.

At the time, I was much younger naturally and didn't have the patience to really learn how to be good at it, but always enjoyed it. In the lens of history, there is a certain addictiveness to it, but it's mostly repetitive with shockingly bad AI(it's almost difficult to lose a castle siege when defending, for example). I picked it up some weeks ago again and have reached the final campaign, far better than I managed to do when I played it 15 years ago or so, making only the third campaign in Ireland which I narrowly failed on multiple occasions. This is really just an exercise is exorcising some gaming demons of my youth. It may well be of little interest, but I'm interested in writing about it, so ...

here it is.

So I, Earl Huntington, am in Germany, and these are my pointless, boring, text-only adventures(no method of screenshot capture seems to work, PrintScreen and Fraps both fail with the version of the game I have).

Our journey beings, with all advanced options on except Fight Humans Only naturally, in the Winter of 1268. The previous few campaigns have taken me about two decades each to complete, for reference. Germany has 16 counties, as many as any of the eight campaign maps. We control Silesia, in the northeast; the Countess, often the most dangerous opponent, has Carinthia in the southeast. Bunched up together in the northwest, hopefully spoiling to beat each other up, are the other three nobles: the Knight, the Baron, and the Bishop.

Naturally, we'll butter the others up with compliments -- it can't hurt -- and then turn our attention to Silesia. We have a royal castle, which is the strongest that can be built, complete with drawbridge, inner keep, a number of pots of boiling oil, and a garrison capacity of 600. Naturally, there's no troops there at the moment.

Population: 165
Happiness: 47

Well, that's rather horrible actually. A decent county population is over 1k, and I generally keep happiness at 70 minimum even in maximum war-time. Making matters better, 7 of 13 fields need reclaiming: of the remaining six, two are set to fallow, two to grain and two to cattle, as I always maintain a balanced approach to farming.

Silesia's two resources are wood and stone, meaning no ore which I need for weapons save bows. But first we must reclaim fields and build up our economy -- we will need about a 500-man army to expand at all, and that's three times our total population at the moment. So it's time to get to work.

[Brian Swartz]

1269 ANNUAL REPORT

It was a boring year with decent weather, which was great for Silesia. We saw modest gains in our situation as no calamities arose:

Population: 247(+82)
Happiness: 71(+24)
Grain: 138(+128)

We're up to about 90+ serfs working on reclaiming the fields most seasons, which is enough only to make painfully slow progress. 7 of 13 remain unusable.

[Brian Swartz]

1270 ANNUAL REPORT

Mad cow disease strikes in the summer, temporarily cutting into our dairy supply. We buy ale from a passing wagon merchant to improve the people's disposition that same season -- not enough money in the treasury to buy anything else of use.

Weather is just decent again, which is unusual not to have anything extreme one way or the other. I'll take it.

Population: 400(+153)
Happiness: 100(+29 -- max)
Grain: 383(+245)

With happiness at the maximum, the population will start growing faster, which is good as it gives us more workers, and bad as we don't have enough fields to support a lot of people yet. Reclaiming work continues.

[Brian Swartz]

1271 ANNUAL REPORT

Another year of productive boring, which I'll take thank you very much. One field is reclaimed and three more are being worked on by hundreds of men constantly.

Population: 710(+310)
Happiness: 100(--)
Grain: 574(+191)

The situation is much more stable than it was three years ago, but we still need to grow a bit and get some more fields ready before we can think about expanding.

[Brian Swartz]

1272 ANNUAL REPORT

In the Spring we add a third field for cattle(each one can eventually support just over 100 serfs a season on dairy when enough are bred).

In the Autumn Saxon Macemen(mercenaries) present themselves for hire and this time we bite. They are good fast attackers and not that expensive. Along with a couple dozen archers and swordsmen, we have an initial army of 199 men -- but the armory is bare. They head to the neighboring county of Bohemia, that way they can eat off their land and not ours. Bohemia complains of course, but as with all neutral counties they don't have a standing army and therefore can't/won't do anything about it. We'll need more than that to actually take it over of course.

Another boring weather year -- 4 in a row!! ends with the Bishop taking over Thuringia. It appears he's winning the expansion race for now.

Population: 978(+268)
Grain: 696(+122)

We should start growing the food reserves a little faster now as we have a third field ready for wheat. All of our remaining four fields are being worked on -- they should be ready by next year's report.

[Brian Swartz]

1273 ANNUAL REPORT

In the Spring, the economy is officially up and running after 4+ years of hard work(by the serfs naturally, not by the noble lord, yours truly. That stuff takes up your whole day!). With some men not needed in the fields, some are sent to woodcutting, some to stone quarrying, and some to the blacksmith. What little iron we have will be used in making a few pikes, the best defensive weapon and a cheap one.

In the Summer, the Bishop declines my alliance offer and advises me to 'give up quietly'. Not in this lifetime, Your Arrogance! In the Autumn, the Baron is even less gracious -- 'May you die well'. *sigh* It isn't as if I didn't try ...

Pleasant weather again -- I think a hex is on the clouds. The fix is in. Something's going on.

Population: 1253
Grain: 946(+250)

Only one field remains to finished, and it will be shortly. The population won't grow nearly as fast now in Silesia -- it's time to look beyond our borders. We've nearly exhausted the iron, which means our only reliable source of weapons would be more bows, which would be nice, but probably not necessary. Better than one-third of the serfs, 451 men, most of them peasants, are added to an army that now numbers an even 650. What they lack in skill and proper equipment they will have to make up in manpower.

[Brian Swartz]

Spring, 1273 -- Battle for Bohemia

Having reached the heart of the county, our 650 are met by a little under 400 with the courage to resist the Earl's forces. They have 100 archers and 70 pikemen, so our Saxon macemen and waves of peasants will have to overcome them in order to prevail.

They hole up on the side of a bridge, a pretty good defensive position but not perfect as we are able to attack both over the bridge with expendable peasants and along a narrow strip of land on their side of the river with our limited professional troops. There's not nearly enough room to get even half our men into the fight, which allows their archers to do maximum damage. Even with that, the ferocity of our macemen attack allows us to give better than we receive, and their lines thin eventually. It becomes a slaughter when we break through and engage their archers hand-to-hand.

Better than half(396) of our men live to tell the tale, though almost 100 of the 150 macemen fall here. With just over 100 professional soldiers left(the rest of the survivors are peasants), we'll need to recruit more before expanding further.

[Brian Swartz]

Summer 1273

100 Knights were available for hire in Bohemia, and their unparalleled lethality would have helped immensely. They were also far too expensive. Our new county had less than 400 men, and only 30 happiness -- it needed a lot of work, and was basically a Silesia clone -- 12 fields, forests and a quarry but no iron mine. So archers + mercs it is, plus whatever else we can buy to marginally improve the situation.

More macemen were available back in Silesia though -- Burgundians, who travel in bands of 250. We could afford them -- barely, but it was worth it. With that many, we could be confident of success in advancing north to Meissen, which scouts reported did in fact have an iron mine. It also borders the Bishop's lands, but fortune favors the bold and all that. The remaining Saxons were sent home to do ... whatever it is a merc does when he's out of contract.

[Brian Swartz]

Autumn 1273 -- Battle for Meissen

Nearly 600 men approached the town, and found 700 ready to fight them, including 150 archers and 100 pikemen. This would not be easy, esp. if they were smart about where they chose to fight.

Fortunately for the ambitions of I, Earl of Huntington, they were not. We drew up against the in a nearly completely open field. I separated about 100 of the Burgundians to flank them and engage their archers -- it was critical to occupy them and not allow to slaughter our peasants en masse, even if it cost us in the main battle line.

It worked flawlessly, and even so the battle was in doubt for some time, and casualties were very high even on our side. Well over a thousand fell combined between the two sides, and we had less than 150 men left when it was over. Still, a victory is a victory -- it has been a banner year for the Earl.

[Brian Swartz]

1274 ANNUAL REPORT

Everything went as well as it could have in the last year(except more boringly average weather). So far this has been quite an anti-climactic campaign -- no plagues, drought, storms, or floods have arisen to impede progress, and getting the right mercs at the right name was a major stroke of luck.

There is still some danger though -- we are stretched very thin and need to consolidate and defend the new counties. The first goal is to build a Norman Keep in each, the largest of three 'small' castle types. We have plenty of stone for that, and it will provide some security if we can get them up soon enough. As it is, a small to moderate-sized army could take out any of our counties with ease.

Population: 1,970(+717)
Happiness: 65
Grain: 2,080(+1034) -- still not all that much for three counties
Usable Fields: 28 of 39
Men-at-Arms -- 136
Armory -- 64 weapons

[Brian Swartz]

1275 ANNUAL REPORT

We encountered our first drought in the summer, but it mostly affected Meissen only. Bohemia had to reduce rations in the fall, lacking enough food to properly feed everyone. Meanwhile, Silesia is almost back to 1200 men again.

Population: 2,547(+577)
Happiness: 90(+25)
Grain: 2936(+856) -- It would take a true calamity to threaten our food stores now.
Usable Fields: 29 of 39(+1)

We have almost enough stone ready to begin the first keep in Meissen.

[Brian Swartz]

1276 ANNUAL REPORT

Another pleasant and successful year. The keep in Meissen was finished in the Autumn, and in another half a year Bohemia's will be completed. Money is starting to flow into the treasury again, and soon the iron mine in Meissen will be up and running to give us some real weapons to use.

Population: 3200(+653)
Happiness: 100(+10 -- max)
Grain: 3,393(+457)
Usable Fields: 32 of 39(+3)

[Brian Swartz]

Winter 1277 -- Battle for Bavaria

This year's report is delayed a bit for some surprising events. When another good band of 250 Burgundian Macemen became available, we combined them with the almost 200 archers we've managed to raise to form another decent army to expand with. There's not enough iron to get our own infantry up and running, and there were basically two directions to choose from:

** West, to Thuringia. This was very problematic as the Bishop has recently erected a Royal Castle there. We don't have the men or industry for the weapons required(approx. 1000-man professional army to be safe) to take over such a stronghold.

** Southwest, to Bavaria. However, as our men entered the county, we received word that the Countess had recently taken it over. It was about time for her to make a move of some kind, but in this case it was fortuitious.

We arrived at the town as her army had been damaged by the recent battle for occupation, and had 472 men against only 174 for her, 100 of them peasants. The Burgundians alone could crush them if need be. We lost just 14 men.

[Brian Swartz]

1277 ANNUAL REPORT

Bavaria adds another county and, more importantly, one with another iron mine. As soon as we get it pacified, it'll be time to build up a large professional army and starting going for the jugular -- all five enemy counties have royal castles, but I don't intend to take any more neutral counties. We're in a strong enough position that this would be just a waste of time now.

Population -- 4,642(+1,442)
Happiness -- 86(-4) ... Bavaria's people are downright mad after being conquered twice in one season. That will take some time to rectify.
Grain -- 5,017(+1624) -- thanks to a surprisingly large stash in Bavaria, this has really become a non-issue.
Usable Fields -- 48 of 52 -- a very small problem, and soon not one at all.

A keep in Bavaria and building up a stash of pikes for the garrisons are our present goals.

[Brian Swartz]

1278 ANNUAL REPORT

This year had a bit of everything. Wolves and mad cow disease consistently attacked our cattle herds, and the Bishop expanded west to Brabant. He now controls three counties, and is my only real rival.

Emigration from Bavaria savaged the population there, but the worst is definitely over. A keep has begun to be constructed, and with some major iron now coming out of Meissen, we are forging weapons with two goals: first, to upgrade the garrisons in the keeps to include crossbowmen and swordsmen for maximum effectiveness, and after that to build a sizable professional army to go on the offensive.

This is the last 'quiet' stage of the campaign. Once we are ready, it will be time for the final war against the other nobles. For being just a decade in, we are doing extremely well.

Population: 5,420(+778)
Happiness: 96(+10)
Usable Fields: 51 of 52

[Brian Swartz]

1279 ANNUAL REPORT

The Bishop stretched out to the south in the summer, taking Swabia. He's on the rise, and within a year or a little more we will be ready to confront him. The keep in Bavaria has not gotten much work, as the people were concerned with food most of the year, but with the population on the rise again there will soon be men to complete it.

Population: 5,912(+492)
Happiness: 98(+2)

[Brian Swartz]

1280 ANNUAL REPORT

In irrelevant news, as we go to press we've received word that the Knight has expanded to take Arles in the extreme southwest.

This year has been one of massive recruitment and industry, and we are set to send a large army to the heart of the Bishop's lands -- Franconia, in the heartland of Germany. The waiting is over, and the time to strike has come!

Population: 5,304(-618) -- We may have lost serfs, but our men-at-arms now number about 2,500, and growing all the time.

[Brian Swartz]

Spring 1280 -- The Siege of Franconia

We had 1,479 men, and the Bishop defended with almost the full 600, but almost no quality infantry. He did have 410 archers to defend the walls, so the battle was a matter of getting inside and neutralizing them.

This was a job for pikemen and their thick armor -- first order of business, digging through the moat.

A not-insignificant portion of the were lost in the process -- 57, some to boiling oil, some to archer's arrows, and the attack proceeded as the battering rams moved up to the main gate. It soon fell, and the bulk of our forces rushed in.

Swordsmen and knights led the way, with the main battle being engaged just outside the inner keep. The Bishop's lack of infantry and our numbers proved totally decisive, even with archers continuing to fire from inside the second gate.

Another 100+ died horribly via boiling oil, but that was just delaying the inevitable. By the time the inner gate was broken down, our 600 or so archers had left less than 50 alive inside of it.

We lost over 200 total, with 1253 remaining, a relatively small portion of the army, and dealt a decisive blow.

[Brian Swartz]

1281 ANNUAL REPORT

Taking Franconia had a domino effect. The Bishop's power in central Germany was broken instantly -- Franconia was the glue that held it together, and with no two of his counties bordering anymore, he was reduced to just Brabant in the extreme west. That meant we held five counties, and the other four nobles combined had five as well.

In a grand strategic sense, it was over, and the rest was just paperwork. There was one more battle, in autumn, costing us another 100 men to take out almost 500 of the Bishop's archers, a garrison from newly liberated Thuringia.

Population: 6,495(+1,191)

It's now down to an endless cycling of men to the front, keeping the front-line garrisons full and taking down one stronghold at a time.

[Brian Swartz]

1282 ANNUAL REPORT

In the middle of the year, a leftover garrison of the Bishop from Thuringia, almost 500 archers, engaged what was left of the army and we lost 100 men to it. In the Autumn, as we approached the Baron's final stronghold in Frisia, he sent out an army of nearly 500, with 140 knights. Potentially dangerous, but overwhelming force allowed us to win with a loss of less than 60.

Almost 1100 men remained to take on the Baron's castle, where he used his boiling oil well but did not have enough quality infantry to make a real stand. Another 300 were lost, but it fell and his final defeat was secured. I have another county to rebuild, and now hold more than the other nobles combined.

Population: 7,751(+1,256)

[Brian Swartz]

1282

Quite a bit of storms, flooding, etc. this year but it's irrelevant at this point -- we have too many resources to draw on. The Bishop's final keep in Brabant was our next target, and we attacked with almost 800 men at the end of the year, a little under 200 archers defending it.

Population is up to 8 and a half thousand, rising with each conquest.

[Brian Swartz]

1283

The Knight is our most powerful remaining foe, and in the Autumn he launched a doomed attack into Franconia, while we began an assault with over 1300 men on his fortress in Lutharingia. He did better than the others in defending it, taking out over 250 pikemen at the moat, nearly our entire complement, with a combination of oil and crossbowmen. Once we got inside, he did not fare as well. Only 100 more were lost.

Afterwards, the Knight's army in Franconia was recalled, and we eliminated that one as well along with a decent-sized but ill-equipped army of the Countess in the east. If they'd managed to rouse themselves a few years earlier, things might have been different -- but as it was, they had no chance of posing a real threat.

10,300 men live under my rule, not counting the army which is over 2000 and rising despite the attrition. Only two counties remain in opposition.

[Brian Swartz]

Summer, 1284

Having divided our forces in two, we had both of the final pair of sieges to fight. First up, the Knight had done as well as he could have in Arles, building a keep recently and putting a very decent garrison in it. They were still outnumbered 4:1 and had no chance, taking down less than 150 of our 800 men who overran it and knocked him out completely.

Carinthia would prove to be the final battle, and potentially a tougher one -- the royal castle stronghold of the Countess. 1066 attacking for us against almost 600, and less than 100 of them peasants -- a pretty well-composed force, and one that could do significant damage to us if well-handled.

In this case I had virtually no pikemen for the moat, so the swordsmen, less well equipped to the task, would have to handle that duty. The Countess only employed one pot of oil on them, but she had a number of crossbowmen and almost 180 perished before the moat was breached.

After our first ram was destroyed with the gate almost down, the backup ram easily breached it and they retreated to make a stand at the inner keep. Once my 100+ knights got into the fray it was a slaughter.

Another nearly 300 men lost in total, but it was finally over -- my kingdom is secure!

THE END.

[Izulde]

Congratulations! Bet it felt good to finally beat it.

[moore4807]

I remember that game well. It is still in my collection but I havent pulled out the disc in ages. I wonder if it will play on Windows Vista CPU? Thanks for posting, brought back many good memories.

[Brian Swartz]

Sure did Izulde, thanks!

moore: actually, I think it woudn't be a problem on Vista. If you have an old version, DosBox or another emulator should do the trick. Win7 is what I have and played it on, so ...