The Magyars of Russia

[Flo]

Episode I: The Beginning
Character: Gyula Jeno Jeno of Magyar and the Jeno Clan
Years 769-775

The present state of affairs

As you can see, the Magyars start with some decent space in modern day Ukraine. I start with five provinces (all nomad obviously) including my capital province. I have one vassal tribe, the Tarjan. Their leader, Tarjan Tarjan, is slightly more military minded than my starting character, who kind of sucks (see below) so I am pleased to say the Tarjan accepted a day one blood oath, so I will not be worried about fighting them at all. Something else of note, there are three tribal holdings in the three western most provinces. These could become a pain at some point, but we shall see. I have the ability to absorb them if they are both my culture and my religion, so I will try to do that as soon as I can, because my population limit is hampered by them existing, and it also creates the opportunity for revolts, as they are all slavic, not tengri.


This loser tho

As you can see, the stats are pretty average in terms of what I need for a tribal chief. Grey Eminence is nice, certainly, but not really for a warlord. Certainly an unassuming fellow and not the obvious starter of a grand dynasty, but we'll roll with this chump. He is brave, which is a plus. I select the military focus to help improve my martial skill. I also select the military focus for both of my children because what other skill does a horde need, amirite? I am hoping my oldest son, Djeszo, can become relevant enough militarily to be competent, because I may struggle early on, particularly if the Tarjan become the next Gyula of the Magyar Confederation. For my characters ambition, I have decided to improve my combat abilities, because in CK2+ you often find yourself in personal combat in battles and I really don't wanna die yet.

Presently, the stupid clans want more land. Fuck 'em, amirite? I know this is a bit dangerous, but I decide to press my luck with the minor clan uprising by waiting until I conquer Kiev from the foolish Volhynien Duchess Dobrava. I am not sure if this Dobrava Turov is a real person. I doubt it. Regardless, I will take Kiev and burn her cities to the ground.


A real sex bomb amirite?

Before the war, I decide to give my character a better mustache and goatee. It's much better right? Hopefully he doesn't get that face hacked off in this war. My blood brother of the Tarjan joins me in the war automatically, so it should be an easy fight. In the first battle, it seems my character learns about the land he fights on. Good for him. o/ (he gains the flat terrain commander modifier) I easily win the first battle in Kiev, but decide to follow their routed army to Turov to finish them off.

I easily win the next battle as well, and follow them further until they are completely destroyed. Their tribal warriors were no match for my horse archers. I capture Dobrava in the seige of Kiev and the war is won.

This Dobrava has interested me though. She is only 19 and has good stats. Perhaps I should take Turov and try to capture her again. She has the warrior woman stat which makes her martial very good. I will think of this. Regardless, Kiev has been sacked by Magyar hordes.



In the meantime, I have begun pillaging my new province of Kiev. Kiev is a major city so this will take some time. I have also decided to begin scourging the western provinces to remove the heresy of slavic paganism.



The choice was difficult but I want to eliminate the savages. In the end, the efforts failed and the slavics persist. To help counteract a potential revolt I build a new set of horde armies. When they are finished recruiting they will be 1000 strong. This will give me an army of 3500 total.



I also receive word that my son, Deszo, is quick. This will be very valuable for the future, when I will potentially not be leader of the Magyar. My son Deszo will hopefully be a strong leader. With Kiev being burned to the ground, Jeno Jeno has moved the tribe to Kiev, to stay warm by the burning pyres of the former Slavic citadel.

With Kiev taken, it is time to establish a new tribe. the former capital of Olyshye is fine enough. The new clan is named Somogy and is led by Szilvzester. He is a decent commander, and will serve me well. Despite giving the new tribe a good province, the clans still desire more land, so I have decided to attack the Bulgarians to my south, to claim the province of Olvia.

The war was significantly tougher than the conquering of Kiev, but in the end, they succumbed to Magyar arms. The province will be given to the tribe of Somogy as soon as the tribal holding is demolished.

In 77, the Zunists reformed their religion. Yes, you read that right.



I have never seen the AI do this... ever. I'm still in shock. This is a good opportunity to share a bit about what else is going on in the world. Charlemagne is indeed great as he has formed the Carolingian Empire. The Saxons still exist, so maybe they will be destroyed soon, time will tell. Also of note, Asturias has started an early reconquista. I'm not sure how they've defeated the Umayyads so easily, but they have taken two duchies from them. Very strange. The Byzantine Emperor is a bloodthirsty tyrant who everyone hates, and the Abbasid Caliph has already descended into decadence. I'll let you know when they collapse under the boots of angry muslims.

For now, I will end this first part. I will continue playing and will post the next part when something significant happens o/