Medieval Empires is a simulation of the rise and fall of Kingdoms and Empires in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa in the years from 770 to 1470. The players take the part of medieval monarchs and attempt to lead their dynasties to dominate Europe. There are five scenarios representing different periods in the Middle Ages, and a campaign scenario which allows the player to lead his or her kingdom through the entire seven hundred years covered by the game. In the unregistered version of the game only the 1100 A.D. scenario may be played.
You may pass on the unregistered version of Medieval Empires to your friends, but please include all of the documentation that accompanies the game. Distribution of the registered version of the game is forbidden.
Medieval Empires is distributed as shareware: only if you like the program do you pay for it. Unregistered users may play and enjoy the 1100 scenario as much as they like, to get a feel for the game and to determine if they'd like to register. If they do choose to register, they will receive the latest version of the game, with all scenarios and features enabled.
Medieval Empires may be registered by mailing a check or postal money order for $25 to:
John Willoughby
13402 Gordon Drive
Manassas, VA 22111
USA
It would be a very good idea to include your name and address.
Registered users may upgrade to this or future versions for $3 ($5 overseas) to cover postage and materials.
International Customers: Please include a check payable in US dollars with your registration; most banks can issue such checks on request. Canadian customers may send $25 US, all other international customers please include $30 US.
I will answer e-mail sent to fenris@aol.com.
The Province:
The basic unit of land in the game is the province. Each of the different land areas that you see on the map is a province. Every province has certain attributes; these attributes may be viewed during a player's turn by clicking in the province. These attributes are described below.
Name: Each province has its historical name.
Language: Each province has a language. This represents the tongue spoken by the majority of its people. Language is used in the game to represent a commonalty of culture and interests. Related languages indicate related cultures, with somewhat similar interests (e.g. people of an Anglo-Saxon speaking province will get along better with a Norse ruler than they would with a French king, but not as well as they would get along with an Anglo-Saxon ruler. A table of language relations is included in the Appendix.
Faith: The religion of the province's people. This works in a manner similar to that of languages; people prefer leaders of similar religions. There are 5 religions: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Heretical Christian, Muslim, and Pagan. Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox faiths are similar enough for the purposes of the game that they are considered related. (Indeed, at times they will merge and be treated as identical faiths.) All other religions are considered unrelated to each other. A province's religion may change over the course of a game, but not very often.
Prosperity: A province has two numbers indicating its wealth. The first number indicates its current prosperity. This will fluctuate up and down due to good harvests, famine, plague, wars, etc. The second number is the "normal" prosperity of the province. Only a few historical events can alter a provinces normal prosperity. All other things being equal, a province's prosperity will tend towards its norm. When these rules refer to a province's prosperity, they mean its current prosperity. Prosperity may range from -4 (worst) to +4 (best), although it will never be more than 2 above the normal prosperity. A province's prosperity is the maximum amount that it may be taxed. (A province with a prosperity below 1 may not be taxed.)
Population: This is an indicator of the relative density of the province's population. The indicator may range from -4 (lowest) to +4 (highest). A province with a population greater than one is harder to conquer; its fortified cities help it to resist. On the other hand, a high population means greater susceptibility to plague and disease. High population provinces are easier to raid for gold, since their wealth is more densely packed. Population does not vary in the course of a game.
Fortifications: Fortifications represent defensive improvements within a province (castles, forts, walls, etc.). A province's fortifications may range from 0 to 3. Fortifications make a province harder to conquer or raid, as well as helping to lower a province's rebelliousness. When a province with fortifications is conquered, its fortifications are reduced one level. The level of a province's fortifications will vary over a game as they are built and destroyed.
Ruler: A province may or may not have a ruler. A ruler is the kingdom that currently controls the province. A province with no ruler is independent; held by a quarreling group of the local nobility. A province's ruler will change as the province is conquered or revolts during the game.
Claims: Claims represent a more-or-less explicit recognition of a kingdom's "right" to a province. Two or more kingdoms may have claims to the same province; this is frequently a cause for war. Claims may be established and lost during a game. Claims are important for winning the game.
Ties: Ties represent personal bonds between the local nobility of a province and the ruling dynasty of a kingdom. A province which has a tie to the kingdom that rules it is less likely to revolt than a similar province with no such bond. More than one kingdom can have a tie to a province at the same time. Ties may be made and broken during a game.
Court: If a province is a court, then it is the seat of government for a kingdom. Its religion and language determine the religion and language of the kingdom's rulers. Each kingdom will have only one court at a time, but the court may move from time to time. When a province is a court, it will have a crown icon appear after its name in the Province Info panel.
Unrest: If a province is in unrest, it means that the populace is angry and rebellious towards its ruler. (Independent provinces are never in unrest.) The province is much more difficult to tax, and much more likely to revolt. Local princes may arise in provinces in unrest and start their own kingdoms. Provinces in unrest may be pacified by their rulers. A province may enter and leave unrest many times during a game. If a province is in unrest, it will say so in the Province Info panel.
Seafaring: If a province is seafaring, that means that its people have a strong nautical tradition. It is cheaper to launch naval raids and invasions from such provinces, and such campaigns can reach farther. A province's seafaring status does not change over the course of a game. If a province's people are seafaring, it will say so in the Province Info panel.
The Kingdom:
A collection of one or more provinces under a ruler is called a kingdom. A kingdom has several attributes; these may be viewed in the Kingdom Info panel during the kingdom's turn.
Name: Each kingdom has a name. There are a number of different kinds of name in the game, for historical reasons. An explanation of these names appears in the Appendix. The name of a kingdom appears at the top of the Kingdom Info panel during that kingdom's turn. Different events may cause a kingdom's name to change during a game.
Ruler: Every kingdom also has a ruler. For game purposes, every ruler is either a "King" or a "Prince". The difference is that when a prince dies his kingdom is dissolved, but a king will pass on his rulership to an heir. The players will take the roles of kings; a player may never be a prince. The ruler's name will appear in the Kingdom Info panel. A ruler has four attributes. The first three, Prowess, Administration, and Diplomacy, determine how good the ruler is at war, government, and diplomacy. The fourth attribute, Drive, determines how active the ruler will be. These are represented by numbers ranging from 1 (worst) to 10 (best). These numbers appear beneath the ruler's name in the Kingdom Info panel. A ruler also has a language and faith. These are automatically the same as his Court Province. The rulers of a kingdom will change during a game as they die and are succeeded.
Actions: Every kingdom may perform a limited number of actions in a turn. The number of actions is a function of the ruler's Drive attribute. Each action represents a major effort by the ruler, and may be expended in attempts to campaign in or raid provinces outside the kingdom, defend against other kings' campaigns and raids, to rule or fortify one's own provinces, or to practice diplomacy. Ac tions need not be used at all, if their king does not choose to use them, but they may not be saved from turn to turn.
Gold: Each kingdom has a treasury of wealth which may be used to finance actions, or to improve their chances of success. This wealth is called gold, and is measured in points. Gold may be raised by taxing one's own provinces or raiding somebody else's. Gold may be saved from turn to turn. A kingdom may never "deficit spend", and have a negative treasury.
The Game:
To play the game, launch the program and select a scenario. Please note that the unregistered version of the game will only play the 1100 scenario. After a few seconds of set up time, you will be presented with a window showing the kingdoms and rulers for that scenario. All of the rulers start as type "Mac", which means that the computer will play them. If you want to watch the computer's kingdoms play each other, then just click "OK". Otherwise, use the pop-up menus to change one or more of the kingdoms to type "Human". You can also edit the rulers' attributes, if you want to alter their historical capabilities. When you are through, click "OK".
You will be presented with the game window. It consists of a number of panels, which are used to display game-related information.
The Date Panel displays the current game year. Each complete turn represents the passage of five years. Clicking on the Date Panel is a short-cut for ending your turn.
The Message Panel is used to display messages to the players. Messages will display for a short period, or until clicked on. The player may set this time delay in the "Game" menu, as well as the types of messages displayed.
The Map Panel is where most of the game's action takes place. At the start of the game it is in "Overview" mode, showing all of Europe and sections of the Middle East and North Africa. During a human player's turn, the player may click on the map and zoom into "Zoomed" mode. In this mode, provinces display their names and show up to three icons below their names. These icons are called the Status Line. The players may set which province attributes are displayed in the Status Line from the Draw Provinces item of the "Game" menu. When a player clicks in a province, the province's information appears in the Province Panel. The player may put the map back in Overview mode by clicking the "M" button in the lower right-hand corner of the Zoomed map.
The Kingdom Info Panel displays information about the kingdom currently taking its turn. This includes the names of the kingdom and its ruler, the ruler's attributes, the number of actions remaining in the kingdom's turn, and the state of the kingdom's treasury. If it is no kingdom's turn, the Kingdom Info Panel will be empty.
The Province Info Panel displays information about the currently selected province (if any) during a human player's turn. Below the province's information, a pop-up menu allows the player to select one of the endeavors possible in that province. Options which cannot be performed due to a lack of actions, gold, or a non-conducive local situation will be greyed-out and unavailable. After an option is chosen from the pop-up menu, the Province Panel will display the Success Level for the action, its cost, and an "Add Gold" pop-up menu. The Success Level is a numerical indication of the action's likelihood of achieving a positive result. A Success Level of zero or less has no chance of succeeding, while a Success Level of ten or greater has the best chance of succeeding (there is always a chance of failure). A player may spend gold to increase the Success Level for an action by using the "Add Gold" menu. The action is executed by clicking on the "Execute" button, or canceled with the "Cancel" button. Note that the only action possible in a province that you don't own is "Diplomacy."
The Turn:
Each five year turn begins with a number of Events which may effect one or more of the kingdoms. After the Events take effect, any Raiders that are active will attempt to pillage provinces in their target areas. (Events and Raiders are enumerated in the Appendix.) When the Raiders have finished their depredations, the human and computer players take their turns. The order in which the kingdoms take their turns is determined by their rulers' attributes, worst first (it is usually more advantageous to move last).
During a player's turn the player will expend gold and actions to improve his or her kingdom's situation. Once during each turn the player may tax the kingdom, using the "Tax" item of the "Game" menu. When the player has taxed, and doesn't wish to expend any further actions (or has run out of actions) he or she may end the kingdom's turn by selecting "End Turn" from the "Game" menu (or clicking on the Date Panel).
There are five ways that a ruler may spend his actions. They are described below:
Campaign: If the player has selected a province that he or she owns, and it borders on a second province that the player doesn't own, then the player may elect to campaign in the second province. Success may conquer the target province, failure may hurt the prosperity of the source province. The player's Success Level will be higher if his or her ruler has a high Prowess and if the target province has a similar language and religion to his, and lower if the target is fortified. A Campaign will always cost at least two gold, perhaps more if by sea.
Raid: If the player has selected a province that he or she owns, and it borders on a second province that the player doesn't own, then the player may raid the second province. Success may result in gold being seized, failure may hurt the prosperity of the source province. A province with a Prosperity of -4 can not be Raided. The player's Success Level will be higher if his or her ruler has a high Prowess and if the target province has a dissimilar language and religion to his and/or a high population, and lower if the target is fortified. A Raid uses no gold, unless costs are incurred for attacking by sea.
Rule: A player may Rule in provinces that he or she owns. Success may improve the Prosperity of a province, failure may reduce it. In addition, any neutral or positive result while Ruling will take a province out of Unrest. If a province's Prosperity is at its maximum, and it is not in Unrest, the Rule option will not be available. The player's Success Level will be higher if his or her ruler has a high Administration attribute and if the province's language and religion are similar to his, and if it has a low Current Prosperity; it will be lower if the province's Prosperity is already high. Ruling costs no gold unless, of course, the player adds gold to improve the Success Level.
Fortify: A player may Fortify provinces that he or she owns. Success may improve the Fortification Level of a province, failure may reduce the province's Prosperity. If a province's Fortification Level is already three, then the Fortify option will be unavailable. The Player's Success Level will be higher if his or her ruler has a high Administration attribute, if the province's language and religion are similar to his, if it has a high Prosperity, and if it has a high Population. Fortification costs two gold.
Diplomacy: A player may practice Diplomacy in any province except the player's own Court. If the target province is not a Court, then a success may result in the player earning a Tie or a Claim, or even ownership of the province. If the target is the Court of a kingdom that is not controlled by a human player, then a success will improve relations with that kingdom. The better relations are with a kingdom, the less likely it is to attack you and it is more likely to vote on your side in a Parley. Of course, if you attack any kingdom (or vice versa) relations between that kingdom and yours suffer. The Player's Success Level will be higher if his or her ruler has a high Diplomacy attribute, if his Court's prosperity is higher than the target's prosperity, and if the target province has a similar language and faith; if a province is ruled by somebody else then the Success Level is automatically reduced by the owner's Diplomacy attribute (this does not cost the defender any gold or actions). Diplomacy costs one gold.
Defense: In addition to its regular turn, a Kingdom may have an opportunity to defend itself when it is attacked. If a Raider or kingdom attacks a player's province, that player may defend IF he or she still has at least one action AND one gold left. Defending allows the defending kingdom's ruler to subtract his prowess from the attacker's Success Level. If the defender chooses to expend more than one gold, then even more is subtracted from the attacker's Success Level. In order to defend, it is wise for a Kingdom save at least one action at the end of its turn if any kingdom that hasn't moved can attack it. Of course, the last Kingdom to move in a turn need not save any actions: nobody's left to attack it! If a Kingdom saves one or more actions for defense, and is not attacked, the action(s) are lost.
Parleys:
When a Kingdom acquires a province that is owned by another player of a similar faith through Diplomatic means (or through a dynastic inheritance Random Event), a Parley may result. In the Parley all kings with monarchs of a similar Faith will vote for one of the two parties concerned. The winner will get control of the province(s) in question. A kingdom has a number of votes equal to its ruler's Diplomacy attribute (plus five if the kingdom has influence in the Church). In addition, the Byzantine player (if any) has more votes in matters concerning Orthodox provinces. When a Parley occurs, if there are any human players in the game a dialog box will show the current vote totals. The player(s) may vote by clicking the button under the name of the kingdom that they're siding with. Once all players have voted, the dialog will close and the Message Panel will display the results of the Parley. Note that non-player kingdoms do keep track of how you've treated them in the past, and will vote accordingly. Then again, a vote for a non-player kingdom is remembered as a favor.
Winning:
At the end of the game, the scores of the surviving kingdoms are displayed. A kingdom is rated by comparing its ending Glory Points with those it had when it began. Glory Points are awarded as follows:
For each province owned: 4 points
For each province owned in Unrest: -2 points
For each point of positive Prosperity: 1 point
For each owned province with a Claim: 3 points
For each unowned province with a Claim: -2 points
You can see that while Claims do not do a lot for you during the game, they're very valuable for scoring purposes.
The Menus:
File: This menu has the options that you'd expect to find. Please note that the unregistered version of the game cannot save games or open saved games.
Edit: The Edit menu has no purpose in Medieval Empires and exists only to support other programs.
Game: The Game menu allows the player to set some preferences, tax his/her kingdom, and end his/her turn. The items on this menu are:
Ñ Draw Provinces: This allows the player to select which three icons are drawn on the province status lines. The options to choose from are Prosperity (which shows a small circle with the province's current Prosperity), Fortification (which shows a small square with the province's current Fortification level IF the province is fortified), Unrest (which shows a clenched fist if the province is Rebellious, and Religion (which shows an icon corresponding to the province's current faith).
Ñ Message Delay: Determines how long messages will be displayed in the Message Panel. A message can always be dismissed by clicking on it. The message delay effectively determines how fast the game will run, since nothing new will happen until the old message is cleared.
Ñ Messages Displayed: This determines which messages are displayed. The game moves faster when fewer messages are displayed. "All Messages" shows all Random Event messages as well as the actions performed by all of the current kingdoms. "Human Players Only" shows all Random Event messages, but only those kingdom actions that concern a human player. "No Messages" shows no messages to the player; this is best used in a game with no human players (otherwise you'll have no feedback from your actions).
Ñ Toggle Map: This zooms the map in or out, depending on which state the map is currently in.
Ñ Show Kings: This will bring up a window which will let you examine all of the current rulers, and change their type from Human to Mac and viceversa. You can also cheat and edit their attributes, but you would never do that, right?
Ñ Tax at Level: This will be enabled if you haven't already taxed your people this turn. You may choose a level from 0 to 4 to tax your people at. This determines how rigorously your collectors shake down the peasants. Needless to say, taxation can cause your provinces to enter unrest or revolt. Taxing at a high level makes this more likely. At any level of taxation, your collectors will not pass up any gold they can safely collect.
Ñ End Turn: This ends a human player's turn. A shortcut for this option is to click on the date panel.
Appendices
Language Relationships:
All languages within a family are related to each other, and unrelated to any other.
Language Family Language
Celtic
Gaelic
Brythonic
Germanic
Anglo-Saxon
Old Norse
Old German
Low Frankish
Romance
Langue d'Oil
Langue d'Oc
Iberian
North Italic
South Italic
Vlach
Slavic
West Slavonic
South Slavonic
East Slavonic
Hellenic
Hellenic
Baltic
Baltic
Arabic
Arabic
Magyar
Magyar
Bulgar
Bulgar
Turkic
Turkish
Other
Indigenous
Explanation of Kingdom Names:
Empire: Whether Frankish, Byzantine, or Holy Roman, these kingdoms trace their heritage to the Roman Empire. In Medieval Empires, empires are ruled by kings.
Kingdom: This is the more common Christian kingdom, e.g. France or England. A kingdom is always ruled by a king.
Principality: This is a Christian "kingdom" ruled by a prince.
Caliphate: This is a non-Turkic Muslim kingdom, ruled by a king. Historically, the Caliphs traced their authority to the prophet Mohammed.
Emirate: This is a Muslim "kingdom" ruled by a prince.
Sultanate: This is a Turkish kingdom, ruled by a king.
Khanate: This is a Mongol "kingdom", ruled by a prince.
A pagan ruler's kingdom is known simply by the name of his court province, e.g. "Saxony".
A few historical kingdoms and principalities are given their historical names, which are not represented above , e.g. the Ayyubid Dominions and Kievan Rus.
Explanation of Random Events
Poor/Good Harvests in <Area>. The indicated area has had unusually bad or good harvests this turn. This means that the Prosperities of the provinces go down or up by one, where possible.
Disease Strikes <Kingdom>. The specified kingdom has been stricken by disease. Provinces with a high population may lose one from their Prosperity.
The Black Death Strikes! This will only happen on or after the year 1200, and represents one of the periodic epidemics of bubonic plague which devastated Europe in the Middle Ages. The highlighted provinces will lose two from their Prosperities.
<Ruler> of <Kingdom> dies without heirs. The ruler of the indicated kingdom has died without leaving a clearly designated heir, or left one too weak to hold the throne. This may result in provinces revolting and leaving the kingdom or entering unrest. In addition, the Court of the kingdom may move to another province of the same language (the home of the new dynasty). The kingdom will lose all Ties that it holds to any provinces (their deals were with the previous dynasty), as well as Claims to any province that it didn't own at the beginning of the turn. Finally, any other kingdom that uses Diplomacy to take one of this kingdom's provinces in the next turn (only) may do so without causing a Parley. This event can be a major disaster for a kingdom.
Enlargement of the king's personal holdings in <Kingdom>. This represents the enlargement of the monarchy's power at the expense of the nobility. The practical effect is that the kingdom receives one additional gold point each time it taxes for each one of these events that have benefited it. In other words, if the Kingdom of England has received this event twice, it gets an extra two gold each time that it taxes. The next time the kingdom's leader dies without heirs (q.v.), all of these benefits are lost.
<Kingdom>'s claim to <Province> recognized. The kingdom has received a Claim to either a province that it doesn't own but has a Tie to, or a province that it owns but to which it had no previous Claim.
<Kingdom> scores a diplomatic success in <Province>, all foreign ties removed. Pretty much as it says; all foreign ties to the named province are lost.
<Kingdom> develops superior weapons. This represents such military advances as Greek fire, or gunpowder siege weapons. The effective Prowess of the kingdom's ruler is increased by three until this benefit is lost. It is lost when the kingdom suffers an adverse result when attacking or defending. (It is assumed that the kingdom's enemies have either adopted the weapons themselves or developed effective counters.)
<Kingdom> develops superior tactics. This represents the development of a way to use existing military technology to greater advantage. Examples might be the use of massed archers to defeat armored horsemen or the use of massed pikemen for the same purpose. As with superior weapons, the effective Prowess of the kingdom's ruler is increased by three until this benefit is lost. It is lost when the kingdom suffers an adverse result when attacking or defending. (It is assumed that the kingdom's enemies have either adopted the tactics themselves or developed effective counters.)
<Kingdom> develops influence in the Church. This event will only come to rulers who are Catholic or Orthodox. In the next Parley, the kingdom will have five extra votes to cast.
The <Kingdom> receives a dynastic inheritance to lands around <Province>. The kingdom has inherited one or more provinces to which it has claims. If the province(s) are unowned then ownership transfers automatically. If they are ruled by another player of similar Faith, then a Parley will determine ownership.
<Kingdom> develops missionary fervor. The kingdom's ruling dynasty is filled with religious zeal. Provinces in and around this kingdom are more likely to convert to the ruling dynasty's faith then would otherwise be the case. This is especially effective against Pagan provinces.
<Principality> has prospered and become <Kingdom>. If one of the short-lived Principalities is successful enough to conquer five or more provinces and it receives this event, then it becomes a Kingdom, and its ruler will pass control on to an heir when the ruler dies.
<Kingdom> has diminished and become <Principality>. If a non-player kingdom (only) has control of only one province and it receives this event, then it becomes a Principality which will dissolve when the current ruler dies. Sad, really.
<Principality> has fallen. A one-province Principality has collapsed and is out of the game.
A heretical Christian sect arises in <Province>. This represents one of the periodic outbreaks of unorthodox Christianity in Medieval Europe. The province's Faith becomes Heretical Christian, which is treated as unrelated to all other Faiths. This will increase the province's rebelliousness until it converts back, which may take a while.
The ruling dynasty of <Kingdom> now speaks <Language>, and has moved its Court to <Province>. If it should occur that the bulk of a Kingdom's Population and Prosperity are of a different Language than the Court (but the same Faith), and the Kingdom receives this event, then the Kingdom's ruling dynasty has intermarried with that other group and eventually become part of that Language group. Naturally this actually happens over decades or centuries, but the game simulates it as a sudden transfer. The best historical example of this kind of occurrence is the transformation of the French-speaking "Angevin" kings of Anglo-France to English-speaking kings of England as they lost their French holdings.
Major new kingdom arises in <Province>. A new Kingdom has arisen with its Court in the named province. Kingdoms may arise in unowned provinces, or in provinces that are in unrest. This should be some incentive to keep your provinces out of unrest!
Minor new kingdom arises in <Province>. A new Principality has arisen with its Court in the named province. Principalities may arise in unowned provinces, or in provinces that are in unrest.
Explanation of Raiders
Raiders are non-player forces representing historical peoples who terrorized various parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. For game purposes they operate out of one or more source provinces. The Raiders will remain active even if the source provinces are part of a kingdom. These provinces never suffer any adverse effects from the Raiders' activities. Raiders are only active for a particular period, and will not otherwise appear.
The Saracens are a generic name for the Muslim corsairs who raided and pillaged in the lands around the Western Mediterranean. They will not raid every turn, but are active until 1100. They will not appear if their source province of Ifrikiya has a religion other than Muslim.
The Desert Nomads represent the various groups of nomadic tribesmen that raided out of the Saharan desert. They are not active every turn, but will raid North African provinces throughout the game. They will not appear if the Sahara is not independent AND has level three fortifications built in it.
The Magyar are nomadic horsemen operating out of the province of Hungary, and may be active as late as the year 1000. Most probably they will cease their raiding earlier, as they don't raid after Hungary becomes Christian. Most of Central Europe can be raided by the Magyar.
The Vikings are seafaring raiders sailing from Denmark and Norway. They will raid provinces along the North Sea, English Channel, and Atlantic coasts of Europe until 1100. They may stop before then, if both Norway and Denmark convert from Paganism OR are ruled by a kingdom which has level three fortifications in each of them.
Benefactors
This version of Medieval Empires would not happened without the support of a number of people. Their support made the game possible, but they are in no way responsible for any flaws that may remain in the game. In no particular order, they are:
Peter Szymonik, Dave Menconi, Sean, Rick Mulligan,
The Executive Vice President In Charge of Whining,
