For the last 2 evenings I've been playing "Ivan the Great", a 3 scenario campaign available both on the Workshop and in the Blacksmith.
It's a fairly typical collection of B&D with some interesting twists. Scenario 2 was arguably the best, as you are forced to periodically pay tribute to the Golden Horde, a la the Bukhara Battle of the Forgotten, while you try to achieve the competing objectives of 2 of the 4 potential allies you need to recruit. All the while the rampaging Outlaws try to make your life difficult by launching raids.
Unfortunately, the experience was spoiled by 2 things- a bug where the Tatars suddenly up their demands for gold dramatically (reported by other users as well), which puts unintended time pressure on the player, and (more significantly)- really bad lag.
Scen 3 tasks you with capturing one of 2 enemy cities, and gives you 2 allies- Mongols and Goths who periodically supply you with Mangudai and hand- and bombard cannons, respectively. These allies are supposed to be threatened by multiple enemies, forcing you to divert troops to defend them- in theory.
In practice, you are told that the Livonian order (teutons) will be attacking your allies in Pskov (goths), but their starting base is guarded by whopping 3 towers and a motley group of Feudal age units- making them a perfect target for early aggression.
Likewise, Mongol camp is hidden in a wooded portion of the map, and a single castle placed in a choke is enough to ensure your allies are safe, assuring you a constant spawn of periodic reinforcements. Scenario also offers an option to bribe the stronger fortress into a truce, providing line of sight, as well as trade opportunities. This makes the task of scouring the large map for hidden enemy camps before assaulting the last enemy city a fairly routine task-enemy unit spam offers some resistance but the map has plenty of resources and a methodical castle push proved sufficient.
Overall, fairly decent first effort, I'll check out the author's Northern Crusades as well soon, I believe.
[This message has been edited by kud13 (edited 04-27-2018 @ 09:08 AM).]