That sounds great!
Although I would love an extra Romanian campaign (you said campaigns for new civs) I think only 3 campaigns per DLC is the standard and Serbs/Croats don’t have one, maybe a Dracula rework as I said above.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have more than 3 campaigns, I just think it’s unlikely, but in the event that happens. There’s this old Romanian campaign concept I made a while ago about the foundation of the Romanian Medieval States, where you have 2 protagonists, missions 1-3 for Basarab/Wallachia and missions 4-6 Bogdan/Moldavia.
(and yes developers, feel free to use and monetize this concept)
**Here is the concept:**
The story cutscenes take place in 1633 but the actual campaigns take place between 1310 and 1345. In the cutscenes, a Romanian scholar Grigore Ureche narrates the origin of his people to Władysław IV in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
This is not random, Grigore Ureche was a real Romanian chronicler who was an advisor to Władysław IV at some point. He later wrote books about the events in 1310 and 1345, so it’s not out of the question that he may have narrated them to Władysław IV at some point.
I choose 1633 specifically, because that was the start of another Polish-Ottoman War. And this time Wallachia and Moldavia are Ottoman vassals meaning they will fight against Poland.
I imagine Władysław IV speaking from a position of authority and Grigore Ureche as a humble servant.
FAQ: A good question is: Should we use the terms Romanians or Vlachs? The first record we have of the word “Romanians” to describe Romanians is by a foreigner in the first half of the 14th century, “rumeni” / or “romani” in Romanian. As for the Romanians themselves, it’s worth pointing out that the oldest surviving document wrriten in Romanian is from 1521 so quite late, but Miron Costin (another Vlach scholar) wrote in 1601: “Although foreign speech and time have given us other names, our ancient name is firmly rooted as Romanian”.
“Romanian” only a modern term because other people used to call them Vlachs, but for the Romanians, “Romanian” is not a modern term, it’s, as Miron Costin says, their ancient name.
- Historiograph Johann Lebel attests in 1542 that "Common Romanians call themselves “Romuini”
- The Polish Humanist Stanislaus Orichovius notes as late as 1554 that "these left behind Dacians in their own language are called Romini, after the Romans, and Walachi in Polish, after the Italians "
- Another humanist, who took up residence in Transylvania, the Dalmatian Antonius Verantio, who later would become cardinal and viceroy of Habsburg Hungary, also states in 1570 that “the Wallachians call themselves Romans” and provides an example: “When they ask somebody whether they can speak Wallachian, they say: do you speak Roman? and [when they ask] whether one is Wallachian they say: are you Roman?”
- Jesuit Theology professor Martinus Szent-Ivany cites in 1699 Romanian expressions: "Sie noi sentem Rumeni " (modern standard Romanian “Și noi suntem români”) and "Noi sentem di sange Rumena " (in modern standard Romanian “Noi suntem de sânge român”
- The geographer Anton Friedrich Busching writes in 1754 that "the Wallachians, who are remnant and progeny of the old Roman colonies thus call themselves Romanians, which means Romans ".
- The Hungarian writer Andras Dugonics in 1801 states: “But those Romans who remained in Dacia mixed their Roman language with the language of the Sarmatians [of the Slavs] and that of the Dacians. Thus a special language was formed, the Wallachian language (oláh nyelv), which is nothing else but a mixture of the Latin language with the Slavic and Dacian language (dákus), and they themselves are today called the Romans (rómaiak), ie rumun”.
- The English author John Paget, in 1839, in his book, Hungary and Transylvania writes: **"the Wallack of the present day calls himself “Rumunyi” and retains a traditional pride of ancestry, in spite of his present degradation."
With that appendix out of the way:
Unique Heroes: Bassarab (playable missions 1-3), Bogdan (playable missions 4-6).
MISSION 1: REVOLT!
**Mission 1 Intro:**
Władysław IV: Grigore.
Grigore: Yes, my lord?
Władysław IV: The war with the Turks is about to begin, in order to reach the Ottoman territory I will have to cross Moldavia and Wallachia, you were born there, weren’t you? Tell me about these Romanians, maybe I can convince them to side with me against the Ottomans.
Grigore: Yes, my lord, what do you wish to know?
Władysław IV: I want to know if there is a way to make the Romanians switch sides.
Grigore: My people have a way with wars for independence, for you see, before we were under the Ottomans we were under the Hungarians and succesfully revolted against them, earning our independence.
Władysław IV: Interesting, tell me more.
Grigore: It all began when the Hungarians drove out the Mongols, in order to secure their eastern border, they organized the native population in two vassal states, but that would only last until 1330 when Basarab revolted and attacked Severin. Basarab would not be the first Romanian to revolt against the Hungarians, Litovoi revolted before him, only to be killed and replaced, but Basarab would be the first to succeed.
→ In the actual mission, 1330, you play as Bassarab and begin with an army and some villages, and your goal is to capture a heavily fortified town named Severin.
**Mission 1 Outro:**
Grigore: And so Basarab captured Severin. But the Hungarians would not let this treason go lightly. They prepared their forces, and bid their time, waiting for the perfect time to attack.
Władysław IV: Hmm, so they can’t be trusted as a vassal state, what makes you think that they won’t revolt against me if given the chance?
MISSION 2: THE PRICE OF ARROGANCE
**Mission 2 Intro:**
Władysław IV: What then? He revolted and the Hungarians just let it slide?
Grigore: Then, Bassarab became arrogant. To gather foreign support, he dwelled in international politics, helping Michael III of Bulgaria agains the Serbs at Velbuzd, with hopes that Michael would help him in return, it was almost his undoing.
Władysław IV: It’s it unwise to involve yourself in foreign wars while you still have an enemy at home?
Grigore: He took a gamble, thinking he can stand up to Hungary with Bulgarian support.
→ In the actual mission, your troops have an ally, Bulgarians, and you have to defeat the Serbs. Afterward, you complete the final objective, Serbia reinforcements arrive and you have to retreat with Bassarab at the opposite corner of the map before you are found and killed.
**Mission 2 Outro:**
Władysław IV: Hmmph, he barely escaped with his life. I’m sure this is the moment the Hungarians were waiting for, with his army broken Bassarab would stand no chance against the Hungarian army.
Grigore: Indeed my lord, the Hungarians invaded with 30.000 men, and they were sure Basarab’s defeated army stood no chance, he barely managed to recruit 10.000 peasants before the Hungarian army arrived.
Władysław IV: So far your people have only shown arrogance and imprudence, maybe it’s better to have them as enemies than allies.
MISSION 3: BATTLE OF POSADA
**Mission 3 Intro:**
Władysław IV: So, what happened next?
Grigore: Rather than facting the enemy army directly, and you will see this is a running theme among our people, Bassarab picked his battles, he knew he could not face the stronger Hungarian army head on, so he had to improvise.
Władysław IV: Ah, yes, I know this about your people, very dishonorable fighters, Vlad the Impaler (the cutscenes take place in 1600s, Vlad the Impaler lived in 1400s, and Basarab & Bogdan that the story is about in 1300s, so he knew about Vlad the Impaler) used hit and run tactics with the Turks and then attempted a night attack when they were most exposed. He lacked the honor to face them head on.
Grigore: Ask the dead if honor matters my lord, Vlad was fighting to win, and so did Bassarab.
Władysław IV: You dare question me, Grigore?
Grigore: No my lord, I …
Władysław IV: Go on, tell me what happened next.
Grigore: Bassarab avoided battle until he found an advantageous terrain and the Hungarian army unaware. His army of conscripted peasants could not compete with the Hungarian knights, at least not head on.
→ In the actual mission, you start on a large map covering all western Wallachia, with mountains in the top of the map and plains + rivers under it.
From west to east you have 4 important Wallachian cities: Severin, Bratilov, Ocnele Mari, Arges, Campulung (we’ll ignore Targoviste) and lastly to the north-east in the mountains a small town Posada (a 5th, but this one is very small).
The Hungarian AI invades from the east with a huge army of Paladins, Arbalesters and Champions.
They will attack the 4 towns in a straight line.
You start in Feudal Age and need to advance to Imperial and recruit as many troops as possible ASAP. Then after Targoviste is sacked, the Hungarian army attempts to retreat through a mountain passage near Posada, you will have to prepare your forces and fight them there. Hopefully, by this time you’ve made many Imperial Age units.
**Mission 3 Outro:**
Grigore: When Charles saw his best knights being killed, without being able to fight back, while the escape routes were blocked by the Wallachian cavalry, he gave his royal robes and insignia to one of his captains, who died under a hail of arrows and stones, and, with a few loyal subjects, made a difficult escape to Visegrád clad in dirty civilian clothes.
Władysław IV: Dishonorable, but works. And that was the end of the Hungarian dominance over the Romanians?
Grigore: No, my lord. The Hungarians left Wallachia alone only to create another Romanian state in the north, between themselves and the Golden Horde. But history has a way to repeat itself.
Władysław IV: Hahahahaha, it seems like your people are very bad at building states but better at undermining states they are already part of.
A map for reference:
MISSION 4: OUR DISLOYAL SUBJECT
**Mission 4 Intro:**
Władysław IV: That other state was Moldavia, correct?
Grigore: Yes, my lord. Dragos was a Romanian count in Transylvania, and in 1345 he led an expedition in Moldavia against the Golden Horde, he defeated them, and the king of Hungary made him the duke of Moldavia as a reward.
Władysław IV: Let me guess, Moldavia revolted and Dragos became independent, history repeats itself.
Grigore: No, my lord. Dragos was a loyal servant of the crown of Hungary, he died and his son Sas took his place.
Władysław IV: Ah, so there are loyal Romanians after all, I was beginning to think treachery is all you people know. His son revolted and became independent.
Grigore: His son was loyal too.
Władysław IV: If I had a golden coin for every loyal Romanian I’d have 2 coins, which is not much, but it’s weird that it happened twice. How did Moldavia became independent then?
Grigore: Because of another disloyal ruler.
Władysław IV: There we go.
Grigore: Bogdan was the duke of Maramures in the kingdom of Hungary, but he fell into conflict with King Louis I of Hungary, yet but none could make a move against the other, the king would appear like a tyrant and the duke would look like a rebel. In order to secure his strength, Bogdan seeked to secure the loyality of those below him. One Romanian count below him, count Giula of Giulesti, refused to support Bogdan reaffirming his loyality to the crown of Hungary.
→ In this mission you play as Duke Bogdan and have to defeat Count Giula, also a Romanian.
Bogdan ruled Baia Mare, a much larger city.
**Mission 4 Outro:**
Władysław IV: Bogdan sounds like a fool. He played right into the king’s hand. Now he had the excuse he needed without looking like a tyrant. Wouldn’t King Louis I punish this violation?
Grigore: He demanded Bogdan restore Giula’s lands but he refused, using whatever pretext he thought best to avoid open rebellion and bide his time.
MISSION 5: TO GREENER LANDS
**Mission 5 Intro:**
Władysław IV: No excuse would have worked against such a clear violation. Another imprudent Romanian ruler. Your people’s arrogance knows no bounds, it was only a matter of time before the king attacked Bogdan and took his lands.
Grigore: Which is why Bogdan decided to move first. He decided to attack the duke of Moldavia, Sas. There was already a popular revolt in Moldavia, against the Dagosesti dynasty. Being a duke himself as well, Bogdan came and promised them better conditions, should they support them as their new duke, taking the command of the revolt.
→ You play as Bogadan, cross the Carpathians into Moldavia and try to convince various peasants and small nobles to support you instead.
When you have enough support you march on the city of Suceava and capture it, killing Sas.
**Mission 5 Outro:**
Władysław IV: When the king’s wrath was on him, he saw an opportunity and took it. An ambitious man this Bogdan was. So far he only fought other Romanians in service of the king, I’m starting to think the Romanians can be loyal.
Grigore: He wouldn’t fight other Romanians for long, as the king of Hungary followed him with a large army, he also confiscated Bogdan’s lands in Maramures and gave them to Sas’s son. The message was clear, this would not do, this looked like the end of Bogdan.
MISSION 6: THE KING AND THE DUKE
**Mission 6 Intro:**
Władysław IV: Now the story begins to be similar to that of Wallachia, what happened next?
Grigore: The Hungarians sent multiple armies, but unlike Bassarab’s recently defeated army in Wallachia, Bogdan’s army was more than ready to fight the Hungarians in open fields.
Władysław IV: So your people can be honorable after all.
→ You play as Bogadan, now prince of Moldavia, waves of Hungarian armies come from the Carpathians, you have to protect 5 cities (Sucevita, Putna, Moldovita, Baia and Suceava) and defeat the waves of Hungarian armies.
At least 1 city must be standing.
It is similar to Bassarab’s last mission except in this case you already start in Imperial and with a strong force, but the Hungarian army is even more numerous and multiple armies attack you.
**Mission 6 Outro:**
Grigore: Then the king of Hungary retreated and recognized Moldavia’s independence.
Władysław IV: I don’t doubt the Romanians will revolt against the Ottomans if given the chance, the question is, will be loyal to me afterwards?
Grigore: We never had empires, but we always valued our freedom, with all respect my lord, I think you will find it a challenge, as your humble advisor I would suggest you propose an alliance with them rather than make them your vassals, they will have no reason to hate you and already have all the reasons to hate the Ottomans.
Władysław IV: No, these people can’t be trusted. For such “freedom fighters”, I have to wonder, how did you find yourself so low to become servants of the Ottomans?
Grigore: After we became independent from the Hungarians, we would enjoy roughly a century of independence until the Ottomans came from the south, by the time they reached our borders, their size was that of the Byzantine Empire that they destroyed, we didn’t give in without a fight, and due to our stubbornness we remained vassals rather than being incorporated in the empire, the Sultan reasoned that annexing us was more trouble than it was worth it. But times will change my lord, David will beat Goliath, maybe not today, but in time, we will rise as we once did, and be on the map again.
That’s it.
It took me a long time to make it. What do you think?
