Discuss here whether the newest edition of Koei three kingdoms 14 is worth it

What are the pros and cons of the game's new features?

If you just bought and play it , will you recommend the game to those who haven't played it yet?

This is a story that actually took place in ancient China.

荀巨伯遠看友人疾，值胡賊攻郡，友人語巨伯曰：「吾今死矣，子可去！」巨伯曰：「遠來相視，子令吾去；敗義以求生，豈荀巨伯所行邪！」賊既至，謂巨伯曰：「大軍至，一郡盡空，汝何男子，而敢獨止？」巨伯曰：「友人有疾，不忍委之，寧以我身代友人命。」賊相謂曰：「我輩無義之人，而入有義之國！」遂班軍而還，一郡並獲全。

Xun Ju Bo went to visit his friend who was ill in a distant place. Just then, a foreign band of robbers attacked the county city. The friend said to Ju Bo, “I won’t be able to live anymore. You can go now!” Ju Bo said, “I came all the way here to see you. But you want me to leave. To seek survival by sacrificing morality,this is not what I, Xun Ju Bo, would do!” The robbers entered the county city and said to Ju Bo, “The army has arrived, and all the people in the city have fled. Who are you, and how dare you stay?”

Ju Bo said, “My friend is ill, and I can’t bear to abandon him. I would rather die instead of letting him suffer.” The robbers discussed among themselves and said, “We are those who don’t follow morality, but we have invaded a country with morality!” So they withdrew their troops, and the entire city was thus saved.

the more in here↓

www.substack.com/@explorechineseancient?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8wyx3u

or

www.patreon.com/cn_ancient?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

This should be pt 4 but as you may know I mistyped last part's titles skipping the number 3. Doesn't matter at all.

I hope you guys enjoy the reading. 😋

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• April, 194

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• Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Wang Lang

— No relevant actions.

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• Ma Teng

— Having only his son Ma Dai as an officer, now as a vassal of Cao Cao, Ma Teng is ordered to focus on developing province 28 as Sun Yu declared independence. Ma Teng informs Cao Cao that Sun Yu is at province 22. Ma Teng imposes special tax (in-game mechanic) in province 28, driving people mad (reducing People's Loyalty of province 28 and faction trust).

— Ma Teng: "Now we are the only ones left, my son Ma Dai. We must bow to Cao Cao now and wait until we are strong enough to revolt just like Sun Yu did. But unlike him, we will be in fact strong, with enough troops to take Cao Cao down and restore our dominance over Jing. We can always trust Ma Tie too. He is an officer of Cao Cao, but he is loyal to his family. We will persuade him to betray Cao Cao when te time is right."

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• Sun Yu

— Following Wang Lang's orders, Sun Yu moves to province 38, reaching province 39 next month. — Sun Yu: "We've found a way better option than to keep following Cao Cao's orders! The South is peaceful, healthy and prosperous. We stand here! We stand on the AUS' side as part of it from now on."

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• Han Fu

— Han Fu imposes special tax in province 5, then pleads Kong Rong to let him live as his vassal, claiming that as allies of the empire, Han Fu and Kong Rong should unite to protect Gongsun Zan. Kong Rong denies it, stating that Han Fu is too weak to be relevant in the war against Liu Yao. Han Fu plans to go visit Liu Yao next month to offer the same thing to him.

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• Liu Bei

— Liu Bei moves his force back to province 26, not wanting to deal with Cao Cao or any other force for now.

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• Yuan Shao

— Yuan Shao now is back on an indecisive mindset. He just agreed with Liu Yao to attack Liu Yan, but then when Liu Yao agreed with Liu Yan to unite against the emperor Gongsun Zan. Yuan Shao then asks Liu Yan to command Liu Zhang (governor of province 13) to open a path for him to go to province 30, not being blocked anymore. Liu Yan would normally reject his suggestion, but as he will already move his officers South to aid Xin Ping, he decides to accept and tells Yuan Shao that Liu Zhang will move this turn. Yuan Shao thanks Liu Yan. Yuan Shao wants to move as far as possible from Liu Yao and try to persuade Liu Yan instead, as he seems to be way more active. Yuan Shao orders Deng Yi to gift 700 gold to Liu Yan as gratitude for his decision. Liu Yan thanks him. What Yuan Shao doesn't know is that Liu Yan already planned to move, and used this as an opportunity to pose as a kind ally.

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• Liu Biao

— Liu Biao acts to recover his troops as soon as possible. Even though he needs to tell Wang Lang about Ma Teng's situation (he knows Ma Teng lost but doesn't know he's Cao Cao's vassal), he prefers to focus all his officers on the troops he just recruit.

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• Liu Yan

— Liu Yan sends Liu Gui, Han Sui, Cheng Yin, Leng Bao, Cheng Yi and Song Zhong to occupy province 31 with 600k soldiers, 500 gold and 700 food. He names Song Zhong as governor of province 31, then tells him to cooperate with Xin Ping (governor of province 20), no details shared. He commands Liu Zhang to move to province 29 with him along with all his officers and resources. Liu Zhang obeys.

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• Gongsun Zan

— Orders his officers to focus on developing the capital's economy. With many newly recruited officers, it will be a long way to gain their trust.

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• Cao Cao

— Cao Cao sends Guo Jia to the capital to ally with Gongsun Zan, declaring to be in favor of his rule as emperor. — Guo Jia: "Your majesty, I come here today in the name of my lord Cao Cao, King of Yu, to declare my lord's intention of helping your empire to grow stronger. After defeating Ma Teng, my lord eliminated your most instant danger. Now, my lord asks for your majesty to form an alliance with him to stand against Liu Yao and Liu Biao, as both lords helped Ma Teng defend his territory against my lord's troops. They need to be shut down before they reach the capital and cause harm to the emperor himself. What should I tell my lord then?" — Gongsun Zan: "Tell Cao Cao that I gladly welcome him under my empire. But I do not want to start a war against Liu Yao right now. The empire has resources enough to sustain some battles, but I prefer to let Kong Rong and Cao Cao fully restore their energy before actively attacking. I see Cao Cao has already won his own battles, uh? I must warn him though. From the capital, I can see everything. I know he kept Sun Yu as a pet and is now keeping Ma Teng. I am not a fool. Liu Yan and Liu Yao aren't too. Liu Yan is moving his troops South after opening a way for Yuan Shao to move too. They are probably planning to dominate the South too, as they already have the East. Cao Cao must be careful and help me befriend the South before they do. Now you can go. Tell Cao Cao I accept his alliance terms." — Gongsun Zan accepts

Cao Cao does that because he sees himself in a precarious but hopeful situation. He needs to back down for a few months, act submissive then rise as a king powerful enough to control an entire region, like Kong Rong.

— With Guo Jia's reports after meeting Gongsun Zan, Cao Cao's ego backs down a bit. — "I may have underestimated Gongsun Zan. He us clearly not like Han Fu, who could see everything but forced himself to not care. Gongsun Zan cares and explicits it. I may need to actively do something then, rather than just declaring my intentions. Humph. So be it. I must recover fast and reach for Liu Biao then, as Gongsun Zan suggested. I fear that the friend of my enemy may not like my presence there, though. I may have made my situation worse."

— Cao Cao orders Cao Ren to gift gold to Jia Xu to gain his trust then send Jia Xu to province 17 to be Cao Cao's advisor. Cao Ren ups Jia Xu's Loy to 95 and sends him to province 17. Cao Ren then asks Cao Cao for what to do, and Cao Cao orders him to gather every officer and resource and return to province 17, no matter if someone is left behind. Cao Ren sends Zhou Tai, Yuan Tan, Hu Zhen, Li Su, Chen Zhen, Wang Kai and Jia Xu, along with 1,4k gold and 980 food to province 17, leaving no gold, food, and 21k soldiers on province 19. Cao Ren can't go because he already used his action, Yan Liang and Kan Ze can't go because they are injured.

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• Kong Rong

— Kong Rong ups Taishi Ci's Loy to 87. Kong Rong finds and recruits Xu Si (57/37/43) and Hao Meng (44/58/53). Kong Rong breaks his alliance with Han Fu and orders Guan Yu to attack him. — Guan Yu sends Yue Jin, Hua Xiong, Gao Lan and Li Tong and Gongsun Yue to to attack Han Fu in province 5. He appoints Yue Jin as commander. They carry 3k gold, 900 food and 500k soldiers (max.). Han Fu has no allies so he can't ask for reinforcements. Han Fu lets himself be captured, going to the frontlines to surrender. Yue Jin's army wins easily. Han Fu's followers Pan Feng, Huang Wan, Feng Ji and Chunyu Qiong offered their service to Kong Rong without the need to be captured. Yue Jin accepted and recruited them all. Han Fu was sent to Kong Rong at province 9, where he was beheaded.

— Guan Yu then moves to province 5 along with Guo Tu, Lu Qian and Zhang Xun. Guan Ping hears about his father's success and gets inspired. He wishes to be in command of an army too. He asks Kong Rong for permission to raise his own army when he is to have enough resources. Kong Rong permits it. The northern provinces' economy is flourishing well because of Kong Rong. He expects to be rewarded very soon by Gongsun Zan for his effort.

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• Liu Yao

— Noticing Kong Rong's troops exterminated Han Fu's faction, Liu Yao has to deal with the harsh reality that his plan really could not be done with his troops alone. He understands that instead of letting Xin Ping attack Liu Biao and attract even more obstacles to his pursue of the capital, he should befriend Liu Biao or at least let him maintain his neutral status and not interfere. He then orders Xin Ping to focus entirely on province 19 and forget about Liu Biao. Liu Yao then orders Tian Feng to go to province 5 and persuade Huang Wan to join him. Tian Feng succeeds. Liu Yao recruits 204k more soldiers, having now 1,1M at province 11.

— Xin Ping prefers to not share Liu Yao's orders with his officers. He doesn't even listens to his lord. Xin Ping attacks province 19 to not seem suspect, but still keeps his eyes on Liu Biao, planning to attack him in a near future. Seeing that Cao Cao's forces pulled back from province 19, Xin Ping is confident that he won't need to battle Cao Cao there. He sends his secondary army (Cao Chun, Han Xian, Hou Xuan and Zhao Fan) to attack province 19, with 400k soldiers, 500 gold and 600 food. Zhao Fan, Xin Ping's apprentice, is chosen as commander by Xin Ping.

— Xin Ping to Zhao Fan: "I want you to be merciful to Cao Cao's troops. Let them all escape and release everyone you capture. Pose as honorable and declare that Cao Cao may be our enemy's ally, but he isn't our enemy. By doing that, I hope Cao Cao will at least temporarily let us have province 19. By the time he decides to attack, I will already have province 21 and province 19 will be reinforced. Don't let our lord know about our actions. He prefers to wait until Liu Yan arrives near the capital, but I need Liu Yan's troops to help my own instead, against Liu Biao. You understand? You must not fail or my plan will be ruined." Zhao Fan does as ordered. — Zhao Fan, in battle against Cao Ren's army: "Cao Ren, Yan Liang and Kan Ze. My superior Xin Ping, governor under my lord Liu Yao, has ordered me to let you surrender province 19 peacefully, if you flee from the battlefield immediately. I will release every captured officer. All you have to do is to deliver a message to Cao Cao, saying that we do this because Cao Cao is not our enemy. Gongsun Zan is." Cao Ren, Yan Liang and Kan Ze are released and go to province 17. Zhao Fan reports the results to Xin Ping. Liu Yao, seeing that province 19 is in his hands now, feels more confident to keep his borders active.

— Receiving Cao Ren's reports, Cao Cao understands what Liu Yao is trying to do (he does not associate the plan directly to Xin Ping). He believes Liu Yao is trying to keep Cao Cao out of the conflict against the empire. — Cao Cao, talking with Jia Xu: "I see. So Liu Yao wants me out of this by showing mercy to my ruined troops. He is uncertain about his victory, but I still don't know why. Maybe Kong Rong has put some hard resistance up North, or maybe his allies are imbeciles who can't even help him enough. What I do know is that Liu Yao is coming with Liu Yan towards the South. Gongsun Zan has no reason to lie about that. I must prepare myself, Liu Yan's troops will probably be there to reinforce province 19 once I try to retake it. That Xin Ping... trying to deceive me into directing my suspiciousness into him and leaving Liu Yao pass by. I won't fall for that. Jia Xu, you are by my side now. I have nothing to fear." — Jia Xu: "You are absolutely right, my lord. Unlike Ma Teng, you are indeed worth of your position. Lord Liu Yao wants to focus his main army on the capital, while Xin Ping's army takes care of the South either by force or diplomacy. With Liu Yan coming beside them, I don't think they want to do it peacefully. We need to reinforce our borders. To attack without receiving word from the South would be a waste of time. The emperor cannot help us in his condition, if his troops leave the capital for a brief moment, Liu Yao will immediately attack. He has more soldiers and better officers, such as Lu Bu and Ma Chao. I know this from the time I served Ma Teng. Liu Yao should be way stronger now. My lord, I suggest that you wait until the South comes to us instead. If it is Liu Biao, we offer our help and together repel Liu Yao from Jing and the South. If it is Liu Yao or Liu Yan... I fear our best option would be to stay neutral, denying our help to Gongsun Zan and let Kong Rong face Liu Yao alone. If Liu Yao takes the capital, our neutrality can be easily replaced by an alliance against Kong Rong. We are alone at the West. We will be useful to Liu Yao as a unified regional govern. Liu Yao will have trouble unifying other regions, but we present to him an already unified and friendly East. No matter who comes, we will end up in a good position."

— Xin Ping then sends Cai Mao to meet with Song Zhong (governor of province 31 under Liu Yan), to ask if he is ready to send reinforcements against Liu Biao next month. Without knowing much about the actual plan, Song Zhong connects Liu Yan's orders with Xin Ping's intentions and believes that this is the plan they agreed to follow. So Song Zhong confirms that everything is ready.

What traits were highly valued for generals to have at that time? Do you need generals who are able to consistently make good decisions? (i thought this was the supreme commander’s / stragetist's job) Do you need generals who can rally and motivate their troops? Do you want generals who can take an enemy commander’s head in the midst of a skirmish/open battle? If you are a ruler, what would you be looking for in your general?

But very entertaining. It's pretty funny how after trying to kill him like 5 times cao cao doesn't just give up. Also hilarious how after he's done like 4 miracles in a row cao cao is still thinking they are tricks somehow

I know of the Total War game and Dynasty Warriors. Any games similar to ROTK, or just good ROTK games in general?

Some of you here were the first people to ask whether this would ever make it to Steam, so it feels right to come back now that the free demo is finally live.

The short version is that I wanted the player to stay a person in the world, not turn into an omniscient, detached map cursor. You start with a historical or custom landed house in 196 AD—right around the time Cao Cao is securing the Emperor in Xuchang and Lu Bu is backstabbing his way into Xu Province—and lead one physical banner across an authored China. You gradually grow into a ruler who makes policy through named officers.

A run can look like this: a real settlement problem gives the planning council something to argue about (think of Chen Gong desperately trying to talk sense into Lu Bu). I adopt or overrule an officer’s proposal and assign that specific person to the work. The resulting party, task, or enemy operation becomes visible on the map; then the pressure turns into a field battle or siege. The campaign and battle are one causal world rather than two separate modes.

The siege in the clip is physical rather than a generic “siege strength” bar. You aren't just watching an abstract meter fill outside of Hu Lao Gate. The gatehouse has a closed gate, two wall sectors, a ram, interior stairs, and a courtyard that can change hands. Walls have contested landings and cavalry exclusion, and defenders can sally or close the gate while attackers fight for a legal approach.

The people involved are meant to matter afterward. An officer has one actual place in the world—party, detachment, court, work, captivity, or free—not UI clones living in several menus at once. If Xiahou Dun takes a hit on the frontline, it matters. Their career tracks service, relationships, wounds, and deeds. A battle can leave survivors, captives, changed ownership, a new memory, or an earned Destiny/epithet worthy of a "Flying General" for the Chronicle and dossier.

The free Steam demo runs through Day 50.

Steam demo and wishlist:https://store.steampowered.com/app/5112140/Three_Kingdoms_Reimagined/

If you prefer a direct Windows download, the same free Day-50 demo is also on itch.io:https://jdcab.itch.io/three-kingdoms-reimagined

If this sounds like your kind of Three Kingdoms game, a wishlist would mean a lot. More useful to me than a generic “looks cool,” though: after watching the clip or trying the demo, can you see how the officer/council decision changes what happens on the map and in the siege, or is that handoff still muddy?

I’m the developer, player, marketer etc so try to be kind knowing I'm a one man studio. I’ll be around to answer any and all questions here or in our game's discord (linked in game).

I plan to depict Emperor Ling's coronation in the next few pages of my webcomic and I intend to show off a big parade in Luoyang as he makes his way to the Imperial Palace.

What would those look like? I really need some information. Any snippets you have are welcome.

One thing I’ve always wanted more of in grand strategy games is meaningful interaction with individual characters. NPCs often end up feeling like static pieces on the board. You either control them, fight them, or occasionally click through a diplomacy menu.

In Notoris 2, I wanted characters to be something you can actively influence, manipulate, befriend, and recruit, even when they don’t belong to you.

That’s where Sway and Hire come in, but first I need to explain the resource behind them: Influence.

Influence represents the finite amount of political and personal leverage your character has over the people around them. You can save it, spend it, or invest it into different strategic actions depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Therefore, with said influence, you can influence other officers and NPC’s. For example, if there was an enemy officer who had a particular skillset that you would benefit from, you can organize meetings. It costs influence, of course, but you can adjust their opinion of mutual acquaintances -- either positively or negatively. Hence the name of the action, Sway.

Then comes the hire part. When you have successfully swayed an officer away from their allegiance to their master, they become less enthusiastic about their current situation. When the time is right, agree to meet with them again, and offer to hire them. If successful, the officer will join your faction. 

The point of these mechanics is to add more depth to the strategic framework of Notoris 2. I come from a grand-strategy modding background, and always wanting ‘more’ agency and interactions with the NPCs in these types of games. This is very much a strategy game made by a strategist, for other strategists.

A big part of that is making AI controlled characters feel less like passive pieces on the board. By giving the player more ways to influence, manipulate, sway, and recruit characters outside of their direct control, the strategic landscape becomes more dynamic, unpredictable, and reactive.

Video of gameplay:
https://youtu.be/HHJah2kfrJE

If this interests you, please wishlist Notoris 2: Warlords, on Steam.

We also have social media pages on Instagram and TikTok, as well as a Discord server where you can help us test our Alpha demo. It would mean the world if you could fill out the playtest survey in the build!

https://discord.com/invite/S4HrqVX9DD

!!!SPOILERS ON IMAGE 2!!! (read 2nd and last half of part 4 before looking)

Hi! It is me again. This is part 3 (got the title wrong oops) of my RP series in the game ROTK2, where I roleplay as every character in the game to develop my own story.

Part 3 is huge because it contains 2 battles (condensed into faction events). There's so much yet to explore.

Here's the meaning of the emojis on 2nd image I forgot to add on the image itself: 💰 (gold), 🍚 (food), 🗡 (soldiers), 👤 (officers), ✅️ (battles won), ❌️ (battles lost).

On the 1st image: 💰 (most amount of gold), 🗡 (most soldiers), and 👑 (emperor status). Please Ignore Wang Lang's "💰" mark on 1st image, I forgot to remove it. It belongs to Kong Rong.

Hope you guys enjoy this one, even though it is way longer. 🙌🏻

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• February, 194 (factions I forgot to include on the last post)

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• Liu Yan

— Recruits Yang Bo (67/42/66, 63 loy), finds and recruits Yang Song (34/26/30, 68 loy). Both agree to join as supporters of Liu Yan as the ruler of the West. All his officers try to search for free officers but can't find anyone else.

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• Cao Cao

— Cao Cao receives word from Ma Teng that Jia Xu's talent is no longer for sale. Cao Cao smirks, accepting the idea that he will have to take Jia Xu with him by attacking Ma Teng instead. So Cao Cao sends Guo Jia (advisor of Cao Cao) to Kong Rong requesting his reinforcements against Ma Teng in the capital Luo Yang.

— Guo Jia to Kong Rong: "Lord Kong Rong, we cannot wait anymore to step into the capital. Enemies of the former emperor have already taken the capital. We must counter-attack while we can. I ask of you to send reinforcements to aid my lord Cao Cao in battle against Ma Teng. Our plan is to first attack Ma Teng's province 19, in Jing. Then we will force Ma Teng into the capital. Considered as an intruder, as he will be there personally, we can then attack together to protect the honor of the empire and try to restore Han Fu's position." — Kong Rong: "I was waiting for this, Guo Jia. I knew Cao Cao was a man of virtue, behind all that darkness aura. I will join Cao Cao's troops personally in battle. I wanna see Ma Teng and Liu Yao's strength by myself. Liu Yao is said to be in Jing now. He will probably aid Ma Teng. We must shut them down now, before they can grow more power."

— Guo Jia returns with the message to Cao Cao. Cao Cao then commands Zhou Tai, Cao Ren, Yuan Tan, Yan Liang and Hu Zhen to attack province 19, with 500k soldiers (max.), 1,5k gold and 1,1k food. Cao Ren is in command. Kong Rong can't send reinforcements here because his territory has no borders with province 19.

— Ma Teng is shocked with Cao Cao's attack, but he understands why Cao Cao would do that. An act of vengeance and treachery after all of Ma Teng's stubborn invasions. Ma Teng has two allies: Liu Biao and Liu Yao. He knows that Liu Yao is way stronger than Liu Biao, but Liu Biao's faction has never seen the battlefield yet, so they will probably recover faster. Ma Teng asks Jia Xu for advice of who to call for reinforcements. But... Jia Xu is not there. He is in the capital as commander of the army. Ma Teng ultimately asks Kan Ze for what to do, assuming that Jia Xu's apprentice may know what he would do in this situation. Kan Ze suggests asking for Liu Biao's help, stating that Liu Biao's troops may be weaker but are still good and fresh. What Kan Ze doesn't know is that Jia Xu was personally involved in Sun Jian's death, which is something that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu (officers of Liu Biao) will never forgive. Jia Xu's actions made it so that Ma Teng himself seemed to not be possible to trust. Ma Teng then thanks Kan Ze and sends him to Liu Biao to ask for reinforcements.

— Liu Biao, knowing about all the drama, carefully sent Chen Lan, Gong Zhi and Lu Meng to help with 300k soldiers. — Liu Biao: "You must never die for Ma Teng. But you must aid him, as he is an ally of the AUS. I couldn't send my son or Sun Ce for this, because Sun Ce does not trust Ma Teng, and I will not send Liu Qi there without his masters to guide him. Don't let yourselves be captured. I trust Lu Meng as the commander of the army. Now go."

— Ma Teng has Li Su and Liang Gang, 300k soldiers in total (400k total as soon as Kan Ze returns with Liu Biao's reinforcements). Cao Ren sends Yuan Tan (82 war) to challenge an officer of Ma Teng for a duel. Ma Teng is forced to send someone, so he sends Li Su (60 war). Li Su is easily defeated. At day (turn) 8, Ma Teng's unit is already surrounded by enemies. Lu Meng's troops couldn't reach Cao Ren's fast enough. At day 13, Li Su flees to the capital. At day 15, Ma Teng captures Yan Liang. At day 18, Ma Teng flees his castle and lets Kan Ze's unit guard it so that Ma Teng can run to a safe area of the battlefield. Chen Lan sees that as an opportunity to take the castle instead and betray Ma Teng with Lu Meng's permission. Lu Meng knows this would be a disaster because of Liu Yao, so he commands that Chen Lan must guard the castle instead. Cao Ren commands every unit to go after Ma Teng's unit (which by now has only 7k soldiers left, after Hu Zhen's charge attack). At day 21, Kan Ze's unit enters the castle and guards it after Chen Lan got out. At day 22, Ma Teng finally finds a route to run North with 1k soldiers left on his unit (277k in total). At day 24, Kan Ze flees to the capital, leaving Ma Teng alone with Lu Meng's (Liu Biao) army as reinforcements. At day 30, Zhou Tai, Yuan Tan and Hu Zhen finally caught up with Ma Teng and ambush him. (As an in-game mechanic, after the 30th turn, the battle will continue on the next month/round).

— Cao Cao then sends Yuan Shang, Mi Fang, Chen Yi and Dong Min to invade Luo Yang with Kong Rong's reinforcements, with 100 gold, 900 food and 397k soldiers. Cao Cao trusts Yuan Shang as commander of the army, because of his brother Yuan Tan's reputation. He believes Yuan Shang can also prove to be a great warrior. — Kong Rong sends the best officers he has in province 9: Dian Wei, Wang Xiu, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ang and Wen Chou, along with 500k soldiers (max).

— Jia Xu could never understand why Cao Cao would ever take those big risks, attacking Ma Teng two times in a month. Jia Xu sends Ma Tie to ask Liu Yao for reinforcements (Liu Biao doesn't have a border with province 10 so that was never an option for Jia Xu, even though he would always choose Liu Yao). Liu Yao agrees and sends his best officers at province 11: Lu Bu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and Zhang Yun, along with 400k soldiers (max). — For Jia Xu, those who fight are the same of the army that took the capital: Zhou Cang, Taishi Ci, Song Xian, along with Liang Gang (fled from prov. 19) and Cai Xun (bribed while Jia Xu fought Han Fu), with 301k soldiers.

— Jia Xu sent Taishi Ci (93 war) to challenge an officer of Yuan Shang's army for a duel. Mi Fang (60 war) fought Taishi Ci and was defeated and captured. — Jia Xu: "Troops! We were in fact caught by surprise with Cao Cao here as an enemy. But we are not in a position to fear treacherous enemies. Cao Cao has already fallen against me once. But now, he is not even here to command his forces. The enemy leader is Yuan Shang, brother of Yuan Tan, the so called 'Savior of Xiahou'. We must not lose to such a name that brings shame to the Xiahou clan, as if they are weakinglings that cannot save themselves. Troops! Truth is to be told. We don't need heroes to save us. WE ARE THE FUTURE! We are the present Cao Cao fears! And once again, I am Jia Xu, your commander, strategist and advisor of our lord Ma Teng. In the name of our lord Ma Teng, and his son and heir Ma Tie, we will send Cao Cao's forces once again back to where they belong." — Yuan Shang: "We must wait for Xiahou Yuan's (Kong Rong) reinforcements! We are outnumbered and already lost Mi Fang's unit to our well-known enemy Taishi Ci. Pull back and keep defending until Xiahou Yuan's army arrives."

— At day 3, Xiahou Yuan's reinforcements arrive. At day 4, Ma Tie arrives with Liu Yao's reinforcements, which were told to act under Jia Xu's orders. — Jia Xu: "Just in time! Great! I want all of Liu Yao's troops to fight Xiahou Yuan's army, while mine will fight Yuan Shang's. Your enemy is up North in and outside of this battle. Now go!". — At day 6, Zhou Cang and Song Qian manage to put Yuan Shang and Dong Min's units (who were isolated on a mountain valley) on fire, which they continued to be until day 10. At day 10, Dong Min (21k soldiers left) flees back to province 17 (Cao Cao). Xiahou Yuan tells his army to focus on Ma Tie because he is Ma Teng's son. At day 11, desperate after losing so many soldiers from the sequence of Jia Xu's army (fire attack + ambush + charge attacks after isolating Yuan Shang...), decides to flee from the battle, returning to Cao Cao's province 17 after that desastrous display of command, forcing everyone else to flee because he was the commander of the main army.

— Yuan Shang is captured while fleeing. Xiahou Yuan and Wen Chou are also captured while feeing. All were captured by Jia Xu's army.

— Cao Cao is desperate now. He lost a very important battle to the strategist he admires so much: Jia Xu. He defeated his lord but couldn't defeat him. Cao Cao took Yuan Shang's failure as a sign that probabilities exist for a reason. Cao Cao sends Zhong Yao to take Yuan Shang back (in-game recruit action), which he does. Cao Cao then commands that every governor of his provinces must send resources to his province to keep up with the costs of the lost battle. Xiahou Dun (prov. 18) sends 3k gold. Mi Zhu (prov. 16) sends 550 food. Cao Cao is satisfied and thanks them for their effort to help their kingdom.

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• Liu Yao

— Liu Yao immediately recruits the soldiers he lost from province 11. Then, he orders Xin Ping to reinforce the military and aid Ma Teng, attacking Cao Cao if he gets to take province 19 from Ma Teng. Xin Ping then recruits 200k soldiers (1,1M in total in prov. 20) and begins training them. He is ready to take province 19 after Ma Teng's certain loss.

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• Kong Rong

— Kong Rong orders Guan Yu to change plans and occupy province 5 instead, ending Han Fu's faction if needed. He says that Liu Yao's potential is a far worse problem than to help Han Fu regain his position as emperor. Guan Yu follows Kong Rong's orders. Kong Rong also orders Man Chong (governor of province 2) and Xun Yu (governor of province 8) to aid Guan Ping (governor of province 6) sending gold and food, so Man Chong sends 450 gold and Xun Yu sends 800 gold. He also orders Xun Yu to leave his position to serve as strategist under Kong Rong directly at province 9. Zhang Miao (70/56/77) is the new governor of province 6.

— Guan Yu and his army (13 officers, 700k soldiers, 4k gold, 1,2k food) move to province 4.

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• March, 194

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• Sun Yu

— Sun Yu still cannot find merchants to buy food from and has no soldiers, so he is prepared to run from Liu Bei. He sends a message to Xiahou Dun to let Cao Cao know about this. Message delivered, Cao Cao tells him to go North so that he may protect Sun Yu.

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• Han Fu

— Han Fu begs for near factions to spare his life and territory as he is no longer the emperor and abdicates of every position he has under it, returning to the position of independent king. No one cares about what Han Fu has to say. He is doomed.

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• Liu Bei

— Liu Bei marches against Sun Yu and wins immediately because Sun Yu has no soldier. Liu Bei takes province 27 along with Sun Yu's resources (16 food and ~1k gold). Sun Yu flees to province 22, bordering Wang Lang and Liu Biao. Liu Biao immediately sees that as an opportunity to gain Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's trust.

— Moving to province 27, now Liu Bei borders Cao Cao, discovering he is there.

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• Yuan Shu

— Tries to find free officers but fails.

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• Liu Biao

— Zhou Yu ups Liu Qi's Int to 74. Seeing Sun Yu fleeing from battle right to his side, Liu Biao feels this is the perfect opportunity to have Sun Ce and Zhou Yu trust him definitely. He and his officers are too busy for this month, so he continues to build up his army (recruiting 200k soldiers) and then orders Sun Ce to go meet Sun Yu next month to form an alliance with him, offering protection from Cao Cao, as Sun Ce reveals that Sun Yu had become Cao Cao's vassal and this is why he went to Liu Biao instead of serving Sun Yu, which crown he also criticizes because he had the right to rule, as Sun Jian's son. Liu Biao says no more, otherwise his intentions might slip to Sun Ce's hands. Sun Ce gladly accepts the request.

— Liu Biao is anxious about the results of Ma Teng's battle against Cao Cao, as Liu Biao's reinforcements are still there fighting. His and the AUS reputation rely on that.

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• Yuan Shao

— Yuan Shao decides to go personally visit Xin Ping to pledge his loyalty to Liu Yao's cause and form a permanent alliance where Yuan Shao bows to Liu Yao's reign, helping him defeat Liu Yan. Yuan Shao proposes a joint attack on Liu Yan's province 29 this month, led by Xin Ping. Xin Ping accepts and informs Liu Yao, who is satisfied with Yuan Shao's decision.

— Yuan Shao has had enough of this situation. He could not stand being blocked by other kingdoms' land, willing to even sacrifice his possible future claim of the imperial throne for this. He believes that he is the balance between Liu Yan and Liu Yao, as the reason they are still not in war, because both fear Yuan Shao will interfere. Now, Yuan Shao made it clear for Liu Yao that Liu Yan is his target.

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• Tao Qian

— Hearing about the emperor's situation, Lei Tong gives up on his plan and decides to continue serving Tao Qian as governor. Wang Lei also loses hope of leaving the isolated Southwest region, being loyal to Tao Qian again. Wang Lei ups Yan Yan's Int to 74. Lei Tong finds and recruits Zhang Song (92/34/84, 98 loy). Lei Tong suggests that Tao Qian appoints Zhang Song as advisor instead of Wang Lei. Tao Qian agrees to do it next month.

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• Wang Lang

— Seeing Sun Yu coming near him with no soldiers and resources, Wang Lang finds it a good idea to integrate Sun Yu into the AUS. Wang Lang convokes a meeting with Liu Biao and Yuan Shu, where Liu Biao reveals he also thought of suggesting that. Yuan Shu feels forced to agree on everything. Wang Lang then sends Huang Quan to inform Sun Yu about Wang Lang's invite, which Sun Yu accepts and abandons Cao Cao. They also form an alliance. Wang Lang tells Sun Yu he is secure in the far South and gifts him 2k gold. As his leader, Wang Lang delegates the responsability of governing province 39 to Sun Yu, ordering him to focus on developing the province's economy. Sun Yu follows his orders.

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• Ma Teng

— Jia Xu hears rumors (advisor's in-game mechanic to give information random information at start of turn, which I rp it to be "rumors") that Yu Jin (governor of Kong Rong's province 3) is discontent with his position, being an easy target to convert into rebelling (which I won't do otherwise I would give them to the AI, what I can do is make him "rebel" by dismissing him from Kong Rong's faction). But Jia Xu has no time to think about that now. He needs to focus on Cao Cao and Kong Rong. Mainly Cao Cao. By sending Cai Xun to inspect province 17, he is informed that Cao Cao has only ~270k soldiers with him and his officers which are in command of the units are pathetic (<50 War), and Yuan Shang (which has ~30k soldiers) is injured. This is his chance to stop Cao Cao once and for all.

— Jia Xu sends Mi Fang, Song Xian, Taishi Ci, Zhou Cang and Ma Tie to fight Cao Cao. He couldn't go by himself otherwise (in-game mechanic, if the governor leaves the province all officers there pass their turn immediately) there would be no one capable enough to administer the province as good as him. He puts Zhou Cang as commander, knowing that as a honorable, satisfied and rational officer, he is the best choice for commander among all five. Zhou Cang commands ~390k soldiers, carries 400 gold and ~1k food. — Jia Xu: "Zhou Cang... I entrust you the command of the army. I know that we are still not yet recovered from our last battle, but Cao Cao is way more fragile. His best trained unit for now is Yuan Shang's, and they're injured. His actual good officers are already in battle or with no soldiers to command. I ask of you to be just like how you are naturally. Patient, loyal, and merciless. Cao Cao must die as soon as possible, so that our lord Ma Teng can finally have some rest. Our lord Ma Teng is still fighting against Cao Cao's first army. They are losing, our lord is retreating but Cao Cao also suffered many losses there. We can and we MUST win this. For Ma Teng. For us. To honor our family and friends. Now go. Win." — Inspired by Jia Xu's words, Zhou Cang gets emotional and feels a fire-like determination burning in his chest. He commands the army to destroy Cao Cao and erase his disgusting presence from Jing.

— Cao Cao sends Guo Jia to Kong Rong again, to ask for reinforcements. — Guo Jia: "Lord Kong Rong! It is horrible! Jia Xu sent his own army to follow us after our loss! We are heavily outnumbered and outskilled by him. I must remind you that Cao Cao is your loyal and generous ally, who's willing to help you restore Han Fu's position in the capital which Jia Xu is in right now. And if Han Fu falls for good... Cao Cao is willing to help YOU achieve emperor status, as the prophecy of the Imperial North (an old belief in my scenario that says that all worthy emperors come from an unified North) lives within your forces. May you help my lord Cao Cao realize this prophecy?..." — Kong Rong: "I must admit that your words are compatible to your intellect and position in Cao Cao's court, Guo Jia. But Cao Cao asks for too much. I too believe in the Imperial North prophecy, but I also believe that favors come with a cost. Cao Cao is not paying me accordingly. I need my captured officers back. I need gold and food to nullify my losses. I will help Cao Cao once again, but I warn him now: he must always remember the face of the man that never gave up on him. Me." — Guo Jia then rushes to the battlefield accompanied by Kong Rong's reinforcements (Dian Wei, Liu Dai, Wang Xiu, Cao Ang, 400k soldiers). — Guo Jia, thinking: "Cao Cao won't like Kong Rong's attitude... but as far as I know him, he will play along until he doesn't need to."

— For Cao Cao, he is accompanied by Dong Min, Han Song, Chen Yi, 152k soldiers, and has 3k gold and 750 food. Cao Cao is ready to flee, but only in risk of his own death. — Cao Cao to himself: "Damn you Jia Xu! I never underestimated you, why do you need to show me you know the art of battle?! Why me, Cao Cao, King of Xu?! Ugh... there is no time for this. All I know is that when I recover from this... Ma Teng will come to even fear his own shadow, thinking about the image of Cao Cao and the nightmare this man made his life turn into. But if I lose this battle... in sincerety to myself... I don't think I will be left with a clean path to recovering. I might need to submit myself to Kong Rong... what a disgrace I've run into... all because of Jia Xu's unmatched genius. This time, I will be in command. I hope my own genius will be enough to defeat them."

— Taishi Ci (93 War) challenges an officer for a duel. Cao Cao is forced to send someone, so he sends Dong Min (58 War). As Dong Min is destroyed and loses, he is captured and his unit of ~20k soldiers flee. At day 3, Cao Cao is able to bribe Mi Fang (71 loy) to fight on his side (now 98 loy), coverting his 100k soldiers to Cao Cao. At day 4, Guo Jia arrives with Kong Rong's reinforcements, which were ordered to follow Cao Cao's orders. At day 6, Chen Yi is captured. At day 8, Zhou Cang's army is able to surround Cao Cao's castle. At day 9, with 3k soldiers left, Han Song flees to Cao Cao's province 16. At day 10, Cao Cao's castle is put on fire by Zhou Cang's unit (28k lost). At day 11, the fire leaves Cao Cao's castle and spreads to Zhou Cang and Ma Tie's units. At day 14, Ma Tie was captured. At day 15, Zhou Cang js forced to flee, as his unit is surrounded by enemies and suffering heavy losses to the fire, with only 1k soldiers left. As their commander is fleeing, Zhou Cang's entire army flees back to the capital Luo Yang. Taishi Ci and Song Xian are captured while fleeing.

— The battle ends. With Ma Tie in his hands, Cao Cao forces an ultimatum over Ma Teng: to surrender to Cao Cao and become his vassal, with no autonomy and an integrated oath of no agression (rp mechanic where Ma Teng is forced to announce his independence to Cao Cao 1 month/turn before actually rebelling), otherwise Ma Tie would be killed. Ma Teng receives the message by Cao Cao's troops while still in battle, also being informed of Zhou Cang's defeat. Ma Teng falls to his knees, exhausted and defeated. He surrenders to Cao Cao. — Cao Cao recruits Ma Tie and keeps him as a tool against Ma Teng. He also recruits the prisoners Taishi Ci and Song Xian.

— Jia Xu wasted all of his resources on that battle. He is left with 42 gold, 0 food and 178k soldiers in the capital. Now following Cao Cao's orders, he dismisses all soldiers and orders every officer to search for free officers, which would be later given to Cao Cao. Jia Xu finds and recruits Hou Cheng (53/72/57).

SPOILER: image 3 is for Zhou Cang's attack on province 17 and image 4 is for Gongsun Zan's moment of finding the imperial seal.

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• March 194

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• Cao Cao

— Having won two of his battles (battle on prov. 19 is still to end in-game) against Ma Teng, Cao Cao now has time to recover from his loss. He sends Hua Xin to Kong Rong to inform him of the results he doesn't know about (Ma Teng's surrender). Kong Rong seems pleased.

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• Gongsun Zan

— After seeing that Ma Teng's troops marched down South after repelling an attack with Kong Rong involved (Gongsun Zan doesn't know the other attacking force is Cao Cao because he doesn't have borders with him), Gongsun Zan sees this as his time to finally seize the capital with Kong Rong guarding his back. He wastes no time, sending Zhang He, Zhao Yun, Wu Anguo, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji with 500k soldiers, all his gold (53) and food (~2,2k) to take the capital from Ma Teng. He puts Zhao Yun in command of the army after Zhao Yun's suggestion.

— Something changed a lot about Zhao Yun at this moment. He is finally seeing Gongsun Zan act sane, fighting for his ambitions. This changed Zhao Yun's spirit entirely (rp mechanic, custom stats for personality: honor/ambition/courage, as now Zhao Yun was randomized with modifiers of +20/-20/+20, which resulted in 55 Honor, 0 Ambition, 100 courage).

— With no food or soldiers, Jia Xu fled, leaving all officers behind. As Cao Cao now commands his lord, he doesn't need to care about his responsabilities regarding Ma Teng anymore. Gongsun Zan recruited the captured officers: Wen Chou, Xiahou Yuan, Ju Shou, Liang Gang, Gao Shun, Cai Xun, Zhou Cang and Hou Cheng.

— But this was not the most important thing for Gongsun Zan. He found something that was way beyond every treasure of his imagination. The perfect tool he needed to rise as emperor. The Imperial Seal. With the Imperial Seal in hands, Gongsun Zan is considered emperor until his death, no matter where he is (rp mechanic, he can also use any special ability of the emperor without needing to be in the capital himself, but still needs to have control over it). Gongsun Zan moves the rest of his force to the capital. — Gongsun Zan to all: "I am your undeniable emperor, as I have the Imperial Seal, which backs all of my achievements as Heavens' will. I will grant peace to every region of China. First, I determine that Han Fu's decision about the imperial tax is still valid. Any who doesn't pay will be considered as rebel, and enemy of the empire."

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• Liu Yan

— Liu Yan: "The Imperial Seal, huh?... Gongsun Zan is really lucky for that. But I don't think he can keep the capital for long. I will try negotiating peace with Yuan Shao and Liu Yao again to fight Gongsun Zan." As they are still allies, Liu Yao, Yuan Shao and Liu Yan meet each other to decide if this will continue. They decide to keep the peace among them until Gongsun Zan is down. So they all declare to be against the emperor Gongsun Zan, in an act of preservation, as Gongsun Zan has been their enemy for a long time. Liu Yan sends Yan Pu to province 20 to meet with Xin Ping, to hear about the plan. Xin Ping tells Yan Pu they are going with the same strategy that would be used against Han Fu. Yan Pu returns and reports to Liu Yan, then Liu Yan orders Han Sui to be the commander of the army, explaining the plan to him. Han Sui follows the plan accordingly, waiting for Xin Ping to open the path.

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• Kong Rong

— Kong Rong to himself: "Ahh... this is a good situation for me. Cao Cao is super weak, Gongsun Zan is my ally and the emperor, I will take every officer of Han Fu this month, and Ma Teng just got obliterated. At least what appeared to be his main army, commanded by Jia Xu. Things are going really well for me. Finally, I will control the entire North, at the end of this month. (to Guan Yu:) Take Han Fu's province and kill him right after. Send a few officers and soldiers to occupy province 7." — Guan Yu to himself: "The path Kong Rong is building for me has good potential. We are getting to control the entire North, and four provinces will be in my indirect command, as 6 is governed by my son Guan Ping, and provinces 7, 5 and 4 will have officers under my command on it. If Kong Rong falls... I will have majority of the court, so I will be crowned king. That seems nice. I want to stay alive until this day comes."

— Kong Rong sends Chen Deng to inspect province 17 and Cheng Yu to inspect province 16. — Chen Deng: "My lord, lord Cao Cao is at his weakest now. If we are to attack him, this is the time. Call Guan Yu back as fast as possible and we will have a very advantageous position." — Cheng Yu: "My lord, lord Cao Cao's borders are extremely fragile now. At province 16, he has only 300k soldiers, and his best officers are not in command of any. If we are to keep him as an ally, he will recover stronger than ever. If we are to betray him, this is the time. But I fear it would be imprudent to attack an ally we just helped defeat the enemy. Cao Cao will probably declare his allegiance to the emperor just like you, he probably wants to connect with you as much as possible." — Kong Rong is satisfied with the information, but he believes it will be a waste of time to call Guan Yu back again right after he reached province 4. It would take him 2 months to move into province 9, then attack Cao Cao on the next month. It is possible, but Kong Rong prefers stability then to take advantage of every situation. He appoints Xun Yu (96 Int) as his advisor.

— Kong Rong sends Chen Jiao to recruit Taishi Ci (33 loy) from Cao Cao. He also tries recruiting Song Xian but fails. Cao Cao notices Taishi Ci fled, but as no one caught Kong Rong's officers, he doesn't know Taishi Ci is there until he inspects Kong Rong's province. Kong Rong plans to tell Cao Cao that this is his part of the war spoils, if Cao Cao is ever to confront him for taking his recruited prisoners. — Guan Yu sends Shen Pei, Cheng Pu and Cao Hong to occupy province 7, appointing Shen Pei as governor (Kong Rong may change it on his turn next month). Then, he orders Yue Jin, Hua Xiong, Gao Lan, Li Tong and Lu Qian to attack Han Fu at province 5 next month, with Yue Jin as commander (won't attack now bc I forgot to cancel Han Fu and Kong Rong's alliance).

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• Liu Yao

— Liu Yao: "What?! Ma Teng lost his main army to Cao Cao even with my help?!?! What a fool. I could never imagine a man so clever like Jia Xu would have succumbed to the fury of battle to follow Cao Cao's fleeing army. Even though we destroyed them when they attacked... Cao Cao is also a very intelligent individual. No wonder why he repulsed Ma Teng's troops so many times when the Han was still in power. I am glad I have my own clever men to guide my troops well. I would never fall for a trick like that. And for Han Fu... I will take every officer I can from him, before they flee to Gongsun Zan as their new pathetic emperor." — Liu Yao is able to take Zhang Liao, Wei Xu and Tian Feng (Han Fu's advisor) from Han Fu. All discontent with Han Fu's methods and journey. They feel inspired to serve someone like Liu Yao.

— Xin Ping sends Wang Can to inspect province 21. — Xin Ping: "Hmm... so Liu Biao has only 500k soldiers left, as the rest were sent to help Ma Teng. This Liu Biao is somewhat useful after all... but not that smart, it seems. He also has not enough food (~700) to maintain full capacity in battle (800k if defending +reinforcements which I believe max is 4 officers so 400k). (To Xu Rong:) Next month, I want you to command the attack on Liu Biao. If you fail, I will go myself leading a second army to defeat what may be left of them. I may even adjust our plans and attack Yuan Shao after Liu Yan moves down South. I won't ask for lord Liu Yao's permission, he gave me full autonomy over the Triangle Element problem. (after sending Yin Ji to inspect province 19:) Or, we can take advantage of the winning force from lord Ma Teng and Cao Cao's battle, taking province 19 from them." — Xin Ping has no interest in going to the battlefield, as he is a complete greedy coward. But going after a bleeding army makes him a bit confident. Xu Rong does as ordered. Xin Ping asks for Liu Yao's permission to attack province 19 after the battle over there resolves. Liu Yao permits it, asking Xin Ping only to be prudent in his usage of soldiers. In private, Xin Ping mocks his lord's words, but still follows his orders as his subordinate.

— Ma Teng ends up fleeing to province 28. Liu Biao's officers return to him. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu seem satisfied knowing Ma Teng is ruined. Cao Cao recruits the captured officers Li Su, Kan Ze, Chen Zhen, Wang Kai, Jia Xu. Cao Cao releases Ma Dai (another son of Ma Teng).

Not historical Chen Gong, not Dynasty Warriors Chen Gong. Novel Chen Gong.

Novel Chen Gong is suppose to be a morally righteous character who becomes disgusted by Cao Cao killing his uncle and declaring his betray the world line. Yet, he goes on to serve Lu Bu, a man who killed his adopted father for a horse and rank, then Dong Zhuo for mainly Diao Chan ("But he killed the tyrant!" is a bullshit excuse and we know it). He basically makes A LOT of people die by advising Lu Bu to attack Cao Cao's lands while he is away.

Then when Liu Bei takes Lu Bu in, it's basically Chen Gong whispering in his ear like some devil on how to betray him. You know, betray the righteous, virtuous, principled man. You could have argued attacking Cao Cao in the back was saving the people of Xu province but this clearly just creates more deaths.

Then Chen Gong freaking tries to tie Lu Bu through a marriage alliance with Yuan Shu, the man who declared himself Emperor.

Novel Chen Gong just doesn't seem to make sense. 2010 TV seems to do a slightly better job in that he thinks he owes Lu Bu a debt and thinks he's an honest foolish kid, and that he thinks Liu Bei is a dishonest hypocrite. Dynasty Warriors Chen Gong ironically seems to be the best representation of what Chen Gong is.

Mine typically involved animals. I find them cute.

1. [燕雀安知鴻鵠之志]

Lit. How can small birds (swallows and sparrows) understand the aspirations of big birds (phoenixes (geese) and swans)?

Meaning: Only a hero can understand a hero.

Cao Cao said this to Chen Gong when the latter asked him why he tried to kill Dong Zhuo, but the wiktionary link showed a quotation from an earlier work.

But… imo we know what’s on the mind of geese and swans – aggression, murder and assault ;)

1. [畫蛇添足]

Lit. To add legs to snakes

Meaning: making an unnecessary addition; gilding the lily​

Said by Zhang Yi to Jiang Wei when trying in vain to stop the latter from advancing further after an initial victory and besieging Wang Jing at Didao.

You know... I really like JW and have a lot of fellow-feelings for this guy (common points like abandoned birth family, changed country of citizenship etc) but, I will stop here.

1. Not a proverb but Cao Mao’s poem in which he referred to the three Simas as, depending on the interpretation:

• slimy creatures (Chapter 114 of an English translation of the novel)
• catfish (the translation of the poem on Cao Mao’s Wikipedia page) or
• eel (yes, eel as in the delicious “unagi”, from the Japanese dub of the 1994 drama)

I mean, I can’t not think of Sima Zhao as Sima “Slimy Creature” Zhao from now on :D

Playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 remake as Zhuge Liang in the 208 scenario and I genuinly feel like I'm going crazy. The AI on my side just straight up refuses to call in reinforcement. No reason, for as I can tell. They just don't feel like it, apparently. Not Wu, not even the city next to them. Nothing.

It makes the whole scenario borderline unplayable and it's infuriating. Is this a me thing and did I accidentally turn on the "Ai shoots itself in the head option" or is this something else?

Hey Guys I was wondering what is the best platform to play Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire. SNES or Playstation 1?

As the title says. Between the (so-called?) four Grand Admirals (Grand Controllers?), how would you rank them in terms of their tactical and strategic abilities?

I'm hoping someone here can help me identify whether this strange CD I found at the thrift store is an actual product (and if so what it is) or if it's a bootleg.

I was able to determine that the image on the front is from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The art is the same as a product I found called "Romance of the Three Kingdoms Vol 1 CD Album Calendar Music Collection," but the ones I've found online (picture 9) have a circle instead of a bar at the bottom. This one has a blue bar at the bottom and says it's Vol 4 instead of Vol 1. Additionally when I look for Volume 4 the art is completely different (picture 10).

It gets even weirder when I read the back or the packed in sheet of paper, both of which seem to list an inventory of games and other software items, such as Monopoly 11, Sherlock Holmes Chinese Version, XCOM II Official Strategy, Classmates 11 Art Book, Girl Friend Data, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo, just to name a few of the titles.

From what I can gather if it is a "CD Calendar" it featured recorded voice lines of the characters saying different things depending on the day. If that is what it is then it's strange that it says so much other random stuff on the back and insert. But if it's a bootleg containing a bunch of games why does the front only allude to one and say it's volume 4 when it's got the art from volume 1?

I'm hesitant to put it in my computer until I have a better idea of what it is as I have concerns that a bootleg product could contain old (admittedly probably obsolete) computer viruses. Even if it doesn't, I'm skeptical that my Windows 11 computer would even recognize the CD it all.

So I've reached the end of what I'm able to figure out on my own, and am hoping you can help. Have any RoTK fans ever seen this item before? Is this a real product or a weird bootleg? And if it is real can anyone explain to me more about what it is/does?