Nigel

Yes, EaglePrince, I think you are right when you say that many of us are very busy with their work and education and their activities in real lives (which is actually a?good thing) and find it hard to set aside the many?hours that mapmaking would require. One?of the reasons, why the Siege That contest worked so well, was because players only needed to spend one evening per month for it (plus a few minutes each day for?checking and posting on the forum). I actually have a map sitting on my?PC that can be used?for a new "mission style" game. It is just a single event, so when I have it completed, we can get a few lords together, find one evening and give it a go.

We have no responses and it looks like this contest just did not take off. Well, it happens. I guess we just don't have enough active Crusader 2 map makers in our group right now. As I don't want to leave it unresolved, I am closing this contest. But no worries, I am sure that there will be a new contest and further events soon :)

What version of the game do you guys use to play SH2 in multiplayer? I have a version of the game from years ago. It works fine on my new computer, but it does not automatically update and I may have to install the appropriate patch manually.

OoC:? hehe, don't worry, Chris. I am sure we will still give you ample opportunities to assasinate us. Even if we have escaped this time. Sir Loring and his men, who had been following in the? "rear guard", stepped forward into the clearing. Curiously he approached Brother Goodman and Sir Richard and cast a questioning look at them, wondering what their new commander's next step would be.

Hi guys, Good going in this adventure :) I will be afk for a few days and return on Thursday. Keep going in the meantime - I look forward to catching up when I return.

Sir Loring returned to the camp. While the men had been busy tending the horses, weapons and their own needs, he had searched the area around the battlefield. Now he brought a small group of 10 soldiers with him. All of them wore the Duke's uniform, but they were in quite different condition. Some had ecaped the carnage by running away, some by hiding. Some had been left for dead (and had the sense to keep up that pretence?as the battle raged over them). He had encountered 13 stragglers altoghether, but 3 were either unfit or just not prepared to join him. One had torn off his uniform, thrown away his weapon and with a curse for the army had vowed to return to his wife and plough and never run away again. The other two were just too terrified to continue the battle. In? any case, he brought 10 men back to the camp and after some rest they would be useful and make up their total number to 40. Now he joined Sir Lloyd and listened intently what Goodman had to say.

Interesting article about Bluetooth. I had known about the Danish King Bluetoot and always wondered why the system was named after him. The logo even looks like an old viking rune. Anyone got any ideas or knowledge about this?

"Indeed", Sir Loring nodded. "Goodman is a great leader and it is a fortune for us all that he is with us. But even his strength is not infinite, and he has been through a lot already. Let us make it our task to support him and take as much weight of his shoulders as we can. I shall take it upon me to search the area and see if I can bring back a few stragglers?or otherwise?lost souls."

OoC: Matthew, great you are still with us. Jump in whenever you see the opportunity - or create the opportunity yoursef :)?? I will move the story on a small bit. Sir Loring rode up to Brother Goodman and nodded. "Good plan to scout that village yonder. If it is friendly, we may find some further help there, Also, lets look out for stragglers from the Duke's army. There must have some who escaped the carnage. Even some of Varus' men survived the Teutoburg forest and returned to Rome many years later. I would think that a soldier who escaped here will be glad to join up again under an organized command."

Yes, this looks great. I love especially the bridges made out of wooden towers. Seems we finally have a bridge that can be destroyed for tactical reasons (e.g. to cover your retreat). Something I have been hoping to get in the series for some time.? :)

Well, it is the 12th of October and I have not recieved any entries. I am not sure if this contest is still going to take off. Perhaps we just don't have enough? mapmakers around at this point in time.? Still, I should ask the question: Did anyone make any maps? Does anyone want a timeline?extension? It would still be cool if we could have?a few?maps to organize further games.

As they were riding, Sir Loring noticed that the wounded Sergeant behind him came to. "How are you doing, good man?" "Ok Sir, ... wounds not as bad as I thought" came a weak voice. "Well, can you tell me, what were the Duke and his men trying to do out here, so far away from the main army?" OoC: I will leave it for Charles or Chris to write the response and decide how much they want to reveal to us. If nothing, they can just let the sergeant lapse back into unconsciousnes and we'll carry on with?what information we have.?? :)

Ahh, it has been quite a while since I was on that trail (never managed to finish it). Your story gets me tempted to try it again. Nice writing. Keep it coming :)

"Yes, we should keep moving." Charles Loring looked again at the wounded man in his care.? "He seems to be doing fine. If we move at a reasonable pace, he should be ok. Although if the going gets tough and we have to spur our horses and race for our lives, we may have to accept that we will loose him. But where to now? I suggest that?we circle around the battlefield carefully. If they have taken the Duke prisoner, we should be able to find and follow the tracks of their horses or wagons or whatever they used to take him away. Who knows, with some luck we may be able to rescue the Duke even before he is locked away in his own dungeon."

OoC: very good.? Here is my go at bringing us back to where we were. As the flames roared up and the men ran for their horses Charles Loring had sudenly cought sight of the wounded guardian and saw that the man opened his eyes again. "Hey, this man is not dead yet! Sir Lloyd, lend a hand". With one big effort they had lifted the wounded man onto Hazel's back, behind Sir Lorings saddle. Now, a safe distance away from the carnage, Charles looked back and to his relieve he saw that the man was still breathing. Pulling some cloth from his saddle bag, be prepared a makeshift bandage. This would have to do until they could dress his wound properly. "Let's hope he will make it through. If he was indeed a close bodyguard of the Duke, he should be able to tell us some very interesting things."

OoC: Hehe, fine by me.?Although "upset" is perhaps?too strong a word - we are only playing a game here, after all. But if you guys want to, we can just forget the lost pages and start again from this point :)?

Same here. I am much relieved to see that the site is back. Many thanks for all your efforts. Edit 2: Yes, the posts I make to the thread about the site downtime get redirected here..... reproducibly.

No worries, Lord Paul. All the best for this new step in your carreer and good luck for your first assignment?:) Hopefully there will be at least a few players making a map for this contest.

Loring nodded in agreement and rode on silently. Hopefully they would soon find the bandit camp or encounter someone who would help them gather more information.

Greetings Lords and Ladies, As mentioned in this thread, I am announcing the start of a Battlefield Creation Contest for Crusader 2. The purpose of this contest is -?of course to have fun and enjoy the game -?but also to give us some maps with good battlefields to play with and hold multiplayer contests and events in the future. Maps should be nice looking landscapes with some interesting tactical element like rivers, bridges, hills, mountains, cliffs, swamps, forests, ruins, etc. Villages can also make a tactical lanscape feature. You don't have to include all those features mentioned above, but a good selection would make an interesting map. Map size of L or XL is ideal. Size M is probably too small to allow armies enough space to maneuver. To give you some ideas, here is a list of a few themes that would be interesting to play on: - The dark forest - England's rolling hills - The narrow mountain pass - Small castles of old times - Rivers and swamps - Villages in the fertile valley These are just a few ideas, if you want to invent your own theme, even better :) The contests starts now and will be open for submissions until October 12th (but this can be extended if needed). Submitted maps will be scored on a rank from 1 to 5 for - Beauty of the landscape - Tactical features for battles Honour and fame awaits the winner - and of course bragging rights ;) Post here to sign up and let us know that you are taking part. Edit: typos corrected

Charles Loring rode up to Brother Goodman. "I have to confess that I somewhat lost orientation now. What are you planning, Brother Goodman? Remembering what the poor messenger sad, or tried to say, the Duke's army is under attack right now. Maybe we should ride back to them and see if we can help them in some way."

In case you missed it: today FirelFly updated their announcement with a new picture showing the winner's names and also added a really nice reference to StrongholdNation in the introduction text. :D

Congratulations on your new purple coat, Matthew. Now there is three of us. How do they say? "One for all and all for one". :D

The judges have spoken and FireFly have named the winner of their Siege That contest today. Here is the announcement: Congratulations Sir Blobka You are adding FireFly's title to the one from Stronghold Nation you already have. I was very happy to hear that. :)

That last round was really tough - a great castle and well defended by the FireFly team. Although the lords tried hard and fought very bravely none of them managed to take it. :o But some of the players were able to get their troops into the keep and there were some really good fights. FireFly are now going to judge the winner by who got furthest or did most damage to the defening lord. We shall avait their verdict with tension ;) Edit: The maps of this contest, by the way, were Pyke Castle (round 1) by Cons7an7in and Double Hill Castle (round 2) and Steinschloss Castle (round 3), both made by Bayoda. All of them are excellent creations. Steinschloss is actually build after an existing castle in Austria.