A lot of it was their unwillingess to adapt to new times.

Their politics and refusal to have a permanent military force in Rome/Italy helped lead to their downfall.

The Roman Empire got too snug and tried to follow the same principles they had followed when they formed, and not a new principle for how to rule.

So between internal problems and the lack of an Italian army (just scattered garrisons) the Barbarians managed to hit the practically undefended Rome, and completely take control.

Hey Ralen, did the invasion of Japan by the Mongolians occure before or after Khan's death?

I'm pretty certain the Mongols never actually invaded Japan. I hope you're not basting that assumption off of the "Mongol Invasion" Expansion of Shogun Total War....

That entire thing was a "what if the Mongols hit Japan?"

The Mongolians did in fact invade Japan. Their fleet was large, and carried 100,000 warriors across the Yellow Sea to Japan. The Mongolians qucikly established a beach head, and defeated the main Japanese army. Japan was about to fall when a Typhoon came in and blew away the Mongolian fleet, sinking some, and dashing others to pieces on the rocks. Without their food, and supplies, the Mongolians were in deep doo-doo. Indeed, within a few weeks the Japanese army and militia rallied, and slaughtered all 100,000 or so Mongolian warriors trapped on Japan. Because of the decisive intervention of the Typhoon, the Japanese invented the name Kamikaze, meaning "Divine Wind".

I just forgot what year(s) the Mongolians invaded.

Somehow, all this talk is making me want to go play Civilization II

Civilization II sucks. Play a better game? Medieval Total War, or Cossacks, or American Conquest.

I have Shogun: Total War. That is a fantastic game.

Makes me want to be a Samurai.

You should get Medieval: Total War, and then Viking Invasion. You get better siege weaponry, better units, and other cool features, like the ability to launch Crusades if you are Catholic nations, and is currently in the pope's good graces. The biggest Crusade I'd ever assembled numbered 13,000 before it reached Constantinople.

I'm going to have to kick your ass on multiplayer one of these days Kraken.


Medieval: Total War is probably one of my favorite games, ranking up there with Morrowind definitely.

Oh no you don't Ralen *Digs out the Cheat Codes*