Matrix Games

Sublime Porte, the new DLC of Field of Glory II: Medieval is out now.

Historical background

At the end of the thirteenth century, with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in terminal decline, Anatolia was divided into several small independent Turkish principalities called beyliks.

At first, the Ottomans battled against the Byzantines for control of the local Anatolian cities, but in 1354 they seized their first European territory when they took Gallipoli. This brought them into conflict with the other Balkan Christian states, including Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Albania. The Ottomans were generally victorious in these wars for the next fifty years, becoming the dominant Balkan power.

This run of success was briefly interrupted in 1402 when the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Ankara. With Sultan Bayezid I captured and dying in captivity the following year, the empire was thrown into a chaotic civil war between Bayezid's sons, with order only being restored in 1413 when Mehmed I became Sultan.

The conquests resumed, and another Crusade was defeated at Varna in 1444. Finally, the Turks conquered the great city of Constantinople in 1453, making it the Ottoman capital.

Timur was born in 1336 into a noble family in the Turco-Mongol Barlas confederation in Transoxiana (in modern-day Uzbekistan). Rising to control Transoxiana by 1370, he created the Timurid Empire in modern Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran. Never defeated in battle, he won victories against the Golden Horde, the Delhi Sultanate, the Ottomans, and the Mamluks, becoming the most powerful ruler in the Islamic world. His defeat of the Ottomans at Ankara in 1402 set back Ottoman expansion for several decades.

Features

• Additional coverage for the following nations and factions from 1260 to 1500 AD: Albanians, Anatolians, Turcomans, Black Sheep Turcomans, Bulgarians, Byzantines (Central, Epiros, Trebizond, and Morea), Catalan Company, Chagatai Khanate, Kingdom of Cyprus, Georgians, Indians (Muslim, Rajput, Hindu and Vijayanagaran Empire), Islamic Persians, Jalayirid Sulktanate, Latin Greece, Mamluk Egyptians, Moldavians, Navarrese Company, Order of St John, Ottoman Turks, Serbians, Timurids, Venetians, Wallachians, and White Sheep Turcomans.
• 22 new units
• 62 more army lists allowing historically realistic armies for each of the above factions and their allies at different dates during the period and bringing the total number of Medieval army lists to 361. In addition, armies can include contingents from historical allies. This gives hundreds of thousands of permutations. You will never run out of new matchups to try.
• 8 more historical scenarios covering key engagements of the period on an epic scale: Apros 1305, Saint George 1320, Kosovo 1389, Ankara 1402, Varna 1444, Târgoviste 1462, Krujë 1467, Vaslui 1475.
• 63 more historical matchups added to Quick Battle mode, increasing the total to 302, most playable from either side.
• 5 more historically-based campaigns covering major leaders and conflicts of the era: Rise of the Ottomans Part 1, Rise of the Ottomans Part 2, Catalan Company, Timur, Matthias Corvinus.
• Sandbox campaign expanded to include all the new army lists, allowing you to lead any nation (and their historical allies) against any other nation (and their allies) - giving over a hundred thousand permutations.
• Time Warp modules expanded to include the new army lists