Diplomacy was hard in the ancient world. “On the diplomatic side, yes, Imperator in its deviations from the EUIV model captures something real about the ancient world, which is, quite simply, the relatively primitive and disconnected state of diplomacy in… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part I: Divisa in Partes Tres
Delegation. “the war system is quite different. Gone are moving individual armies through provinces, replaced by ‘fronts’ to which armies are assigned to either defend or push forward. I think some players are going to be quite unhappy with the… Read More »Miscellanea: Victoria III Confirmed! (First Impressions)
Cities were powerful in the past. “A lord could dictate to the peasants, but had to negotiate with major towns, and this just isn’t well reflected in-game.” https://acoup.blog/2022/10/14/collections-teaching-paradox-crusader-kings-iii-part-iv-emperors-soldiers-and-peasants/
Some lore if the ring does not make sense to you.
How? “if power is personal, rather than institutional (leg one) and highly fragmented between many people (leg two), then how is power gained and kept within such systems.” https://acoup.blog/2022/10/07/collections-teaching-paradox-crusader-kings-iii-part-iii-constructivisting-a-kingdom/
Ruling is not easy. “Because vassals only provide a percentage of their military strength to their liege but will field all of their strength in the event they rebel (typically through forming a faction whose demands are refused), large realms… Read More »Collections: Teaching Paradox, Crusader Kings III, Part IIa: Rascally Vassals
Yes, Saruman had policies. “The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and means can never be considered in isolation from their purpose…war should never be thought of as something autonomous, but always as an… Read More »Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VIII: The Mind of Saruman
Motivation sometimes looks strange. “But Aragorn’s comments should be motivating, not scary: fight hard, they’re coming to murder your children. That’s something to steel the courage, not sap it; think of your families who are in this very castle, counting… Read More »Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VII: Hanging by a Thread
Making swords that make sense is not easy. “Saruman is facing an enemy that makes heavy use of mail armor, which cannot be meaningfully cut, but can be thrust through and he has equipped his soldiers with swords that cut… Read More »Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VI: Is This a Good Sword?
Even orcs have lungs. “To be clear, the plan here is to run a 200m dash, then lift a heavy ladder, then rapidly climb that ladder and then be ready to immediately fight multiple Elven swordsmen. While probably still out… Read More »Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part V: Ladders are Chaos