Barbarian Invasion Players Look Here! [Archive]

Al: Total Gore

10-09-2005, 23:35

Well I've just started a new game as the ERE after a failed game as the WRE. I'll give you a brief history of the WRE.

Spring of 363: Valentinus the Wrathful assumes control of the Western Roman Empire upon the death of Julian the Apostate. The Christian emperor orders the destruction of all pagan temples throughout the empire and constructs Christian shrines in as many cities possible. This act makes the emperor unpopular with the pagan majority. Immediately the treasury is depleted. The emperor takes measures for financial stability by disbanding all German Foederati.

Winter of 363: Massive rebellions caused by economic strife and religious schisms spread throughout the Western Roman Empire. Emperor Valentinus the Wrathful takes harsh measure to control the situation by massacring any rioters. Scores of garrison soldiers are killed and the emperor's hold on power is questionable in the outer provinces. The empire is in a severe debt, and the situation looks even grimmer then before. Several prominent generals and governors scheme to overthrow the tyrant.

Spring of 364: Any stability the Western Roman Empire had in the previous years disappears as a rebel faction headed by formal general and count of the Saxon shore, Nero Flavius, assumes the purple. Nearly all of Gaul and Spain join the usurper’s cause. A long civil war has begun.

Winter of 364 - spring of 368: Valentinus the Wrathful's remaining family members fair poorly in combating Nero Flavius. Any remaining armies loyal to Emperor Valentinus are destroyed by 365 and in 366 the Western rebels ally themselves with the Eastern Roman Empire. A Spy took note of a large Vandal horde gathering on the borders of northern Italy. Valentinus takes steps to heavily fortify Northern Italy and the emperor moves to Ravenna. In 367 the ERE is successfully in taking Salona and the usurper Nero Flavius leads a massive army and besieges Milan. For the next year Emperor Valentinus prevents further incursions into Northern Italy and only Northern Africa and Britain remain loyal beyond Italia.

Winter of 368: The ERE lands a small army in southern Italy but is defeated by local garrisons. Vandal hordes amass and besiege Ravenna but the emperor escapes to Rome beforehand. Nero Flavius withdraws his army close to Massilia. The ERE takes Pannonia and Lepcis Magna along with its governor join the rebel cause. Carthage is besieged by Berbers.

Spring of 369: Ravenna is taken after a long hard fought battle. The Vandal horde is severely weakened in the process. Nero Flavius resumes his siege of Milan. For the first time in centuries Rome, the eternal city, is exposed to attack. The situation is grim. The ERE has gained naval superiority against the inferior fleets of the WRE. The Berbers failed in taking Carthage. Another Emperor Valentinus dies in Rome and is succeeded by his weakly son in Carthage.

After Valentinus died I gave up. Even though I was on the road to losing this game was very fun and eventful. Unfortunately the rebellion left me with crappy family members who were terrible generals.

ChaosLord

10-10-2005, 07:09

Nice read even if you did end up losing Al, kinda makes me feel sorry for the Romans in my game, they seem to be facing similar problems. Although if you read my games history, you might take some satisfaction from it.

Alright, this is my third game of BI now, after two short ones as the Franks and Saxons getting the hang of things. This game is on H/M as the Saxons. I wrote it out as I was playing, then checked it for errors after I finished for the night, so expect me to have missed some(its 1am here). The one thing I didn't keep track of was the date while playing, so I only have the current date. Anyway, hope someone finds this interesting.

Introduction:
Geldar has told me the gods want a record of what we Saxons do, so that those who follow after us may know what happened. With his guidance and the accounts from Geldar and his sons, I have written the history of the Saxon Conquest thus far.
______________________________________________________________
The time had finally come for the Saxons and their Angles brothers to fulfill their destiny under the leadership of Geldar. The once mighty Romans had fallen to fighting amongst themselves and hordes were gathering in the east. The time had finally come to conquer. Warriors were gathered from all around Tribus Saxones and Geldar's son Freawine was apointed their commander, forming the first Saxon army. Their target would be the fertile province of Tribus Frisii. However it turned out Geldar was not the only Saxon thinking of conquest, rebellions sprung up all along the edge of Tribus Saxones. Geldar took it all in good stride, saying it was the gods way of showing him the traitors among us.

Freawine's warriors were sent to the smaller of the two encampments, dispatching its warriors with ease. Then Freawine turned on the larger army, outnumbered by one-hundred men even after being reinforced with warriors from Vicus Saxones. But the army while large consisted mostly of peasants from villages along the border, they proved no match for Freawine's men. With their path cleared Freawine returned home to reinforce his army so they could begin their march on Tribus Frisii once more. Saxon nobles were dispatched out to the Franks, Lombardii, and the Burgundii to talk of solidifying their friendship. After a few months of negotiations the pact of the Northmen was signed, linking all three tribes to the Saxons in an alliance.

Well rested and his men at full strength Freawine set out for Campus Frisii once more, this time acompanied by Synfyr, his fathers soothsayer. Troubling reports were coming out of Tribus Frisii however, telling of Roman armies encamped outside the city, gathering their men for an attack. When Freawine asked Synfyr what he saw in his future and the armies the soothsayer simply replied "Death, but wether we deal it out or receive it the gods do not say." While Freawine marched on Tribus Saxones Admiral Bertgarda was busy scoring a victory for the Saxons out at sea. Pirates who had been raiding ports all along Tribus Saxones were cornered and boarded, the few men who survived the slaughter were sold as slaves.

The Romans while more numerous then the men guarding Campus Frisii were too disorganized to mount an assault. Making good time Freawine completed his long march before the Romans could decide to act and beseiged the city with his army. Meanwhile Etelgis, the second son of Geldar had come of age in Vicus Saxones and was given control of a small force of Levy Spearmen to hunt down the remnants of the forces Freawine had defeated in the previous years. After some searching Etelgis tracked down the leader of these rebels and defeated him soundly in battle.

The siege ended as soon as Freawine had the time to construct two stout rams and enlist a group of local Foerderati Mercenaries to man it in the attack. During the battle the Frisii proved no match for Saxon steel, killing only one-hundred sixty while losing their entire force of five-hundred fifty some odd men. Most of the casualites suffered in the Saxon army were by the Foerderati who bravely charged through the gate first after the ram brought it down, and then held it long enough for Saxons to entire the city and defeat those guarding it. The city of Campus Frisii was occupied with little resistance from the populence, their former ruler Adalwolf had been too cowardly to confront Freawine's army or the Romans now camping only a few miles from the city and had lost his peoples respect.

Freawine and his men had proved themselves the better rulers through combat and they accepted it. Of course, all the battle hardened soldiers marching along the streets probably helped persuade them. With Tribus Frissii under his control Geldar now had to face the problem of the Romans. If they left they would prove their cowardice, but if they stayed the Saxons would be forced to engage the crumbling but still mighty Roman empire in war. The Romans decided not to turn and run, or to sit where they were. Instead they marched on Campus Frisii with an army consisting heavily of spearmen and light cavalry.

Although his men had barely had time to recover from the taking of the city Freawine decided to waste no time and sallied forth to assault the Romans, hoping to catch them by suprise. His plan worked brilliantly, catching the Romans just after dawn still in their camps. While his archers set their tents aflame with arrows his Saxon Keel and Levy Spearmen marched through in shield-wall formation, an unstoppable juggernaut in the face of disorganized Roman troops. The only challenge came from Captain Magnetius and his nearly two hundred strong force of Foerderati Cavalry. But wherever they went Freawine and his cavalry followed, sending them fleeing. In the end over a thousand romans died with only eighty Saxons to join them.

Not wanting to waste any time Freawine left a small garrison force in Campus Frisii, sending a request to his father Geldar to reinforce the city. Freawine meanwhile took his army and marched into Germania Inferior, camping outside the city of Colonia Agrippina in prepartion for a siege. After recieving word of Freawine's victory and his plans Geldar dispatched Etelgis and a force of spearmen to take over defense of Campus Frisii. Once more Freawine only waited as long as it took to construct the siege equipment to assault the city.

The city was only defended by a paltry force, one-hundred sixty levy-quality spearmen commanded by Nero Flavius, a well known Roman commander. The mans genius in battle was said to be far greater then any in the area, but genius can only go so far when faced with overwhelming numbers. Flavius was cut down alongside his men inside the city, with only seventy some odd Saxons joining them. Once the city was in his hands Freawine enslaved half the populence, sending them off to Campus Frisii and Vicus Saxones to work the fields.

Bad news came after the city was taken however, the Burgundii had declared war on the Lombardii, threatening the pact of the Northmen. Geldar was forced to side with the Burgundii to keep his borders secured. But now the path to conquest lies open, with both Samarobriva and the Augusta Treverorum defended by light garisons. It appeared to Geldar and his sons that the back of the Roman army has been broken in the west. With this in mind Geldar ordered Freawine to take his forces and march on the city of Samarobriva in the province of Belgica.

Along the way his army ambushed a Captain Rufinus and his men who were trying to reinforce the city, his soldiers were slaughtered nearly to the man, but the Captain himself surrendered, offering his knowledge of Roman tactics to Freawine in return for his life. After some debate with Synfyr he accepted the mans offer. Freawine then continued on and layed seige to the city. It was lightly garrisoned but defended by strong stone walls, it appeared the Captains knowledge of the city would come in handy if they were to overcome them.

Meanwhile warriors all over Tribus Saxones and the newly conquered Saxon lands flooded the cities, looking to join the Saxon army and be a part of the Saxon Conquest as it was beginning to become known. Etelgis under order of Geldar took over governorship of Colonia Agrippina and set about building a second Saxon army. Freawine attacked Samarobriva the next day. The city proved costly to take as the Saxon soldiers secured the gateway and the walls. Freawine led the charge into the city himself, killing the the commander of the city in the battle that followed. Once the city was firmly under Saxon control he ordered his men to butcher the majority of the Roman citizens living within to the city. His reason was two fold, first to thank the gods for their victory, and second to firmly put the city under Saxon control.

In his speech to those who remained alive he told them "You are Romans no longer, you are now Saxons. Our gods are yours now, and so are our blades. Every man here will die before he lets an enemy set foot within the walls again. On this, we give our solemn pledge." Following his speech his men targetted the two remaining Roman symbols, the arena and the temple of Mithras. They burned both of the structures to the ground and set about building a shrine to Wotan. Following this victory Freawine's second in command Reingardis was sent back to Vicus Saxones.

In return for his service in the Saxon Conquest he was granted the hand of Geldar's daughter Thusnelda in marriage. Following the ceremony Reingardis set off to Colonia Agrippina to take command of the army Eltagis was building. Meanwhile in the west scouts still reported lightly garrisoned Roman cities, as if the Romans were incapable of putting up a real defense. Pleased by this Geldar turned his eyes east where the Franks and the Burgundii had also been expanding. While they hadn't been as successful as the Saxons, they had carved out sizeable kingdoms for themselves none the less. This troubled Geldar, since they relied apon the Franks and Burgundii for a secure eastern border...
___________________________________________________________
Part one of the Saxon Conquest, written by Byror the mystic of Warlord Geldar in the winter of 369 AD.

Honestly I never expected to beat the force attacking Campus Frisii, or at least not with such overwhelming numbers. Even after the battle I was suprised. The battle consisted of me marching the three units of Saxon Keel and two units of Levy Spearmen forward in Shieldwall formation, then luring the enemy to me with Hunters. While my infantry took care of their infantry, my Warlord went after their cavalry whenever it showed up keeping them back.

Though in the end it doesn't seem like their cavalry did much to my infantry, I expected much more casualties. But them being led by a Captain probably had something to do with it, as well as the +2 morale my soothsayer gave me. Oddly my general didn't get any stars for the battle, despite it being a heroic victory of 1100 some odd killed to 80 lost, and my general Freawine taking out 355 himself. Go figure.

After that its been pretty easy going forward, i'm actually making a nice sum of cash now and can afford to train troops. The only problem is i'm sure sooner or later the Burgundii or Franks(possibly) both are going to turn on me. Breaking alliances usually makes the AI(at least in RTW it did) think you're prone to breaking them, so they don't care about keeping them. Either way it should be fun, this is playing alot more like MTW with all the barbarians fighting each other, instead of jut Britain/Rome/Gaul/Germany in this area its Celts/WRE/Franks/Saxons/Alemmeni(sp?)/Lombardii/Burgundii.

Edit-There, cleared out some typos and made it a bit easier to read, funny how many mistakes you miss at 1am.