The young page could barely restrain his questions as he knelt before me in the greathall. "My Lord a horseman is approaching the castle." I hurriedly thank him before rushing to the gatehouse. We were all eager for news of the war. All of Mexico had been in turmoil since the overthrow of the ruling dynasty by the upstart Santa Anna. His first act after crowning himself Emperor was to dismiss the Royal Council which by law had a veto over royal actions.
Santa Anna first consolidated his control over the cental provinces. This done he then turned his attention to the frontier and Texas. The war to this point had been a total disaster. Earl Houston was still in the field with a large army so all was not lost.
The messenger with a choked voice haltingly told his horrifying story. Earl Houston acting on inside information from Santa Anna's camp attempted to surprise the Mexican army.
"We were betrayed my Lord", the man sobbed. "Santa Anna learned of the attack and ambushed our army. Sir they took no prisoners. I hid among the dead, then stole a horse to bring word to you my Lord."
"Did the earl survive."
"No my Lord I saw him go down fighting. Duke Austin with most of the great nobles were captured and beheaded. My Lord all the Texan nobility has been outlawed for treason. What are we to do my Lord?"
An excellent question I thought, I wished I had an answer. To stay here would mean certain death, so I gathered all my retainers and what craftsman and peasants I could find and fled for the Davis Mountains hoping the Mexicans would overlook us.
This area is contested by Apaches and Commanches. Perhaps we can make allies of the Commanches if we promised to help with the Apaches. Commanche archers would make a great addition to our defenses. Once there you realize that you cannot make advanced weapons or elaborate defences due to a lack of craftsmen.
The story of this small band for the next twenty years is up to you.
Good Luck.
Great map, all there is to say! Although, there was one part of the map that I found was most peculiar. At the bottom, there was a mark left behind by a keep. Go check it out. It's somewhere in the thin scrub. I don't know if that is part of the story or not because, actually, I never bother reading stories, I just check to see how long they are: 3 pages = 5, 2 = 4, 1 = 3, half = 2, none = 1
The keep should be somewhere around here (go to address):
M1i2K3k4O thanks for your kind comments. The mark of a keep is easily explained. I posted this map first as a skirmish and as a skirmish it had six keep positions. I thought I had redone those positions but must have missed one. I will fix it and upload the revised version soon. If anyone sees anymore problems let me know and I will address them if I can.
Von Kamstra
[Edited on 07/10/06 @ 02:36 AM]
Lord Rushton
Posted on 07/10/06 @ 02:59 PM
Playability: 4
brillant but the invasions sometimes never worked out as plan
Balance: 3.5
i can only get up to 60% done but i guess i am not super talented but i remember there being bandits then a giant mob of archers at my castle killing me and by then i had like 3 walls covered and no way could i stand 300 archers against my 70
Creativity: 4.5
its not super super good but its super good
Map Design: 4.5
same for above but the design is riginal
Story/Instructions: 5
nice strory
Additional Comments:
i love it
strongforce
Posted on 07/13/06 @ 01:24 PM
Its Ok To Me Its Not Realy Fun
peter2008
Posted on 05/21/13 @ 07:11 AM
This is not Texas, this is almost paradise: big amounts of everything. You can build a city to your heart's content.
A bit of hell is there too in form of fire. And, of course, some invasions.