Ante Bellum

Following the defeat of the Hussites in Bohemia, Europe had enjoyed some years of internal peace and stability. But everything is about to change. The crushing defeat of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Valencia has recently ended the Iberian Crusade in favour of the Andalusians, the retreating armies leaving the Frankish Emperor dead on the battlefield alongside his only son.

In the aftermath, the throne was hastily occupied by the late Emperor’s old and loathsome uncle Lothair, who has yet to produce a legitimate heir. Should Lothair die without a successor, his passing would not only mean extinction of the Carolingian dynasty, but also great turmoil within the Holy Roman Empire and its immediate neighbours.

Meanwhile, another threat strangles Europe from the south, as the Muslim Sultanate of Sicily is in the final phases of planning a thrust into Italy while Andalusia’s armies assemble for a punitive campaign against the Christians.

Trouble looms yet again in the Middle East; an era of stagnation of the Nizzarid Sultanate has come to an end, with young and ambitious Sultan Abdul ascending to the throne bearing the promise of his forefathers to purge the Levant of Crusader States.

Order which has existed in Europe and the Near East for centuries is about to crumble and this mod will give you the opportunity to experience it first-hand.

Ante Bellum is an alternative history mod currently centered around Europe, East Asia and parts of the Middle East. The design philosophy of the mod is to preserve the base game gameplay without flooding the game with any new mechanics and interactions, while also offering new and fresh gameplay experience, provided by the addition of new countries, mission trees, events, reforms, formables and such.

• No new mechanics to learn!
• New playable and formable countries
• New events, event chains and decisions
• New idea groups and policies
• New or updated mission trees for more than 170 countries
• Over 200 new provinces and wastelands
• New cultures and culture groups
• New age, age screen and splendor abilities
• New special units
• New technology group
• New institution
• New bookmarks
• New celestial reforms and decrees
• New religions
• New monuments
• New dynamic province names
• New mercenary companies
• New national ideas and evolving national ideas
• New original soundtrack composed by Utopia
• New technologies
• New advisors
• New buildings
• New edicts
• New holy orders
• Over 150 new government reforms
• Extension of the timeline to 1900
• Lore startup screens
• Custom achievements
• Navigable Caspian Sea
• Pre-set colonial nations

…and much more!

Playing for the first time and not sure what to pick? Here’s a map which shows you all countries with mission trees in Ante Bellum. Credits to Astera.

If you wish to learn about the history of the world in Ante Bellum, make sure to toggle on the startup screens in the game options. Ante Bellum adds a lore startup screen for almost all major countries. They are the primary source of information about the nations and their history. Alternatively, you can join our Discord using the link below and use #ask-a-loremaster channel where the Loremasters of the mod will gladly answer your questions.

Ante Bellum does have its own Wikipedia[ante-bellum.fandom.com]. Although there is no dedicated person in charge of it, it still contains a lot of useful information, such as the list of all currently available mission trees[ante-bellum.fandom.com] or formables[ante-bellum.fandom.com]. Feel free to expand it, as everyone is able to create and edit the threads there. Making multiple contributions can earn you a new shiny role on our Discord server!

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