A Serbian Campaign (Short)

This is a Serbian campaign I undertook which led to a disastrous outcome, but it did give me some experience with, what can be, a very powerful armed force (most units are disciplined, which, I personally love). Vlastela Heavy Cavalry and Voynuk forces (swordsman and bladesmen), along with shielded bowman, make up the bulk of your forces. With the acquisition of Greece and/or Constantinople (which is a must when playing as the Serbians, in order to get a good economic base), Latin Auxillaries become available, and are a wonderful unit, which make up the backbone of the Tzar’s later armed forces.
Serbia/GA/Early/Hard/XL

The Rise of Serbia

Tzar Vukan I came to the throne of Serbia in 1087. He found himself the ruler of what was a small, but wealthy, independent kingdom which occupied much of the eastern Adriatic Coast. There was great potential for power and greatness if the Tzar was willing to take risks.

A smart Serbian ruler also knew to keep a watchful eye on the powerful neighbors which surrounded his homeland. The vast gold mines of Serbia drew the envious attention of many a King in the region. The empires of Hungary and Byzantium were powerful rivals indeed. These nations were many times larger than Serbia, both in size and manpower. Tzar Vukan I knew he would eventually have to take up arms against these larger rivals if Serbia would be able to exert any real power over the Adriatic region.

Tzar Vukan I spent the first decade of his reign at peace, slowly building the Serbian infrastructure and armed forces. This peace would not last for long, however.

Tzar Vukan I at the height of his power...

https://photobucket.com/albums/j103/...I1087-1121.jpg

https://photobucket.com/albums/j103/...arVukanIVV.jpg

The Acquisition of Croatia

In the year 1100, the empire of Hungary found itself at war on two fronts. The empire was powerful, but was being squeezed in by the powerful Cuman tribal confederation in the east, and the Holy Roman Empire in the west. Tzar Vukan I knew the Hungarians would focus on protecting the wealthier heartland provinces of Hungary and Austria, and thus, the frontier province of Croatia would likely be under defended. Spies confirmed the Tzar’s suspicions, and, in the year 1101, Vulkan I led a force of over 1000 Serbians into the wealthy province of Croatia. The Hungarians abandoned the province without a fight, and would never again have any territory bordering the rich trading lands of the Adriatic. It was considered a mighty victory for the Tzar’s forces, even though he had lost most of his catholic allies as a result of the invasion. Tzar Vukan I was said to say that Croatia’s vast silver and copper mines were a worthy restitution.

The Invasion of Venice

The Venetians had cancelled their alliance with Serbia because of what they saw as Serbian aggression against a catholic ally. In their eyes, the Tsar was responsible for much turmoil and upheaval in the Adriatic. His founding of Orthodox churches in the predominantly catholic land of Croatia was cause for much concern to those who saw the Orthodox religion as little better than the followers of Islam who lived further east (isn’t it ironic, though, that it was these very orthodox kingdoms, which many catholic kings despised, that protected the small, but wealthy, northern Italian kingdoms from islamic aggression).

Tsar Vukan I received the news with glee, for now he was free to invade the rich lands of Venice and Milan, without having to break a treaty. The official reason was national security. If the Serbians didn’t attack now, surely the Venetians would attack later. But many knew the real reasons were more monetarily based. The province of Venice would add much to the Tsar’s empire.

In 1108, the temptation became too much. The Tzar invaded Venice with a force of some 1200 men. The Venetians abandoned their capital, and the Venetian army sought refuge in the hills of Milan. The Tzar’s forces followed, and, in 1111, the Venetian Doge surrendered his forces. He was executed later that year.

The Tzar was now the predominant ruler in the Adriatic region, and controlled much of northern Italy. However, Tsar Vukan I was not finished with his domination of Italy.

War on Genoa

The Genoese were a powerful maritime nation with a large navy, which dominated the seas west of Italy. Tzar Vukan I knew these lands must be subjugated in order to bring northern Italy fully under Serbian sovereignty.

So, in the year 1113, Tzar Vukan I led a force of some 800 men into Tuscany. The province would fall to Serbian forces the next year. The Genoese capital of Genoa was wealthy, and attracted the envy of many nearby nations. The Tzar intended to bring these lands under his dominion, thus kicking the Genoese off of the continent. They could then be left to rule their Island nation in peace (as the Serbians had no navy to speak of at this time).

Genoa was invaded in the year 1118, and was besieged for one year thereafter, finally falling to the Tzar’s forces in 1119. With this victory, the Serbians were able to push the Genoese off of the continent, confining them to the islands of Sardinia and Corsica (although the Genoese navy still had firm control of the seas, a problem which would come back to haunt the Serbian Empire in the following decades).

Death of a King

In the year of our Lord, 1121, Tzar Vukan I died from an illness in Tuscany while he was organizing his Italian provinces. He was remembered as a wise and able ruler, which had taken Serbia from a vulnerable, tiny nation-state, to an empire in the trueest sense of the word. Vukan I ruled the Serbian Empire for some 34 years.

His son, Prince Vukan II, was crowned Tzar of Serbia and her empire in the same year. Unlike his father, he would see the borders of his empire shrink drastically. Trying to control internal problems, including low loyalty, and external pressures, including the rising power of the Cumans and Byzantines and the containment of revolts in northern Italy, would be the focus of his reign.

The Serbian Empire upon Prince Vukan's rise to the throne...

https://photobucket.com/albums/j103/...anEmpireca.jpg

I’ll end the first post here, but, first, a few campaign notes.

Serbia is placed in a difficult position in the Early Era. Surrounded on all sides by empires much larger than herself (Byzantium and Hungary), and the fact that the small, but wealthy, maritime nations of Venice, Genoa, and Sicily present the constant threat of invasion by sea doesn’t help things any.

The Serbians do have an interesting roster of units, however, and are quite capable of fielding a well-armed, disciplined force once the infrastructure becomes available.

I’ve actually finished the campaign….I didn’t do well at all. I’ll write the rest of my report soon, where I’ll try and point out some of the mistakes I feel I made. Then, I’ll give it another go, and see if I can do any better.

Hope you enjoyed it!

P.S. I don't understand why my pictures are so small....did I do something wrong, I mean besides the white edge from using paint (my bad)....should I be using the ingame screenshot feature instead, and, if so, could someone recommend a good program to read and convert tgas. Thanks.