RogueTraderEnthusiast: Any coastal supply depot though would be incredibly vulnerable to attack, or at the very least would require a very strong garrison. Plus the supply route would either be by coastal vessels (which the Roman navy would be all over) or along coastal roads which are still very exposed. A ship-of-the-line shelling a wagon train would not be pretty.
After the summer/fall campaign I’m planning an update that’ll focus mainly on diplomacy as both Munich and Constantinople try to pull in more allies.
ImperatorAlexander: He is obsessed with ‘reuniting’ the Roman realms. Some things to consider though-
1) Once he’s in command of a combined German-Roman Empire, any agreements with the Triunes would be subject to ‘revisions’.
2) The important thing is to gain control of the Imperial heartland, a large bloc of territory with 20+ million inhabitants, much more impressive looking on a map then the specks of ‘Rhomania in the East’. Eastern trade is nice, but tax receipts from the Aegean basin bring in a lot more money.
3) Finally, Theodor is in Munich. He has little to no awareness of eastern trade. The HRE is much less involved in eastern waters than the other players. If Rhomania, the Triunes, and the Spanish are all 10s, the Lotharingians are a 8, Arletians 5, and the HRE 2. So his personal experience suggests that losing the east isn’t a big deal, plus see item 1.
The Megas Domestikos will soon be taking personal command of the army in Europe.
Duke of Nova Scotia: Belgrade is important, but Blucher definitely realizes that the Roman army in the field is the real threat.
Tuna-Fish: I admit that it sometimes feels like a cheat, but using OTL names in TTL contexts is an easy way to get the appropriate atmosphere across. It’s one thing to say the Allies have a good siege commander, but it has a lot more oomph if said siege commander is Vauban himself.
Stark: One of these days I’m going to make it that simple. Nobody will see it coming and it will be great…
Lascaris: Agreed. The players are too big to be taken out in a single battle.
Namayan: The Romans can take Belgarde; they have before. It’s not impregnable by any means, but for either side it is a very tough nut to crack.
JohnSmith: Casimir came with 6,000 Polish cavalry, the best that Poland can field. So there are still a decent number of soldiers back in Poland (Theodor doesn’t need more foot soldiers) but they’re mainly second-rate troops. (This is the OOC reason for the sundering of Russia; a united Russia would be smashing down the Polish frontier by now).
Khaine: Interestingly, Jan Sobieski and the Polish cavalry at the 1683 battle of Vienna was the initial impetus for including the Poles in this campaign.
Frustrated Progressive: Henri the Spider wouldn’t have it any other way (minus the Spanish of course)…
InMediasRes: The Triunes don’t backstab people. Henri was just trying to swat a mosquito for you and forgot he had a pointy object in his hand…
Catconqueror: In truth, it’d probably be like Napoleon in Moscow. ‘Hey, I took the city. That means it’s over, right?...*crickets*’
Minifidel: Blast through the land walls with lots of cannons. It’s possible, in theory.