A forest of frámeás - A second try

Introduction

Some time ago I tried to make an AAR about the Sweboz, which I named to "A forest of frameas", and posted here. But because of problems with my computer, that whole save was lost, and I did not feel like playing the whole thing again, rewriting it as the new save could and probably would turn out quite differently. I have now decided to try a new AAR as the Sweboz, which I will also call "A Forest of Frameas" just because I can't come up with something better right now.

Please note that, with the exception of above named attempt that got nowhere far, this is my first AAR. I'm not experienced at this at all, and my interest in reading AARs is somewhat low, so I will want comments from everyone who reads this. What is your overall opinion of this AAR? More importantly, what have I done good, and what could be improved? The reason why I'm writing this AAR is not solely to have fun, enjoy myself writing up history, or to entertain anyone dumb... err... unfort... willing enough to actually read this, but to train in my use of English, storytelling, creativity etc. If I'm not told what I do wrong I won't know what to fix, and if I'm not told what I do right I don't know what to build upon. It's as much a "fun thing to do" as it is a learning opportunity.

That said, I do hope you will enjoy my little tale. It won't rival the best stories out there, I know. That, as made clear above, is not the goal of this AAR. If you enjoy it, I will be more than happy enough just to know that.

House rules:
Strategy map:
#1: Garrisons are supplied by each individual settlements. A settlement can only have foreign troops in it until a government beyond pacification is built. Exception for when I can't (for example if I don't have the funds, or the population is so small I literally can't train one).
#2: Offensive movements must be lead by a general. Defensive movements are preferably too, but there it is not a requirement. But if there is one available...
#3: Buildings can only be built if there is a family member within the city or province. Queueing buildings can only take place if the general has spent at least one turn in the settlement itself. In type 3 or 4, a diplomat may act as a minor family member, being able to build buildings, but with one turn idleness between each building, and no queueing. If he leaves the settlement, if only to return the same turn, he can't build anything no matter the circumstances.
#4: Likewise with the training of soldiers. Exception is for levies if the village is threatened, but when the threat is over those levies must be disbanded.
#5: No more than 2 units of slingers/army.

Tactical map:
#1: General cam, always.
#2: Tactics by how smart and brave a general is, not necessarily how tactically sound they are.
#3: If the general dies during the battle, all units must be put under AI control. After all, the one I'm playing as is dead, so he can't give orders anymore.
#4: No exploiting the red line.

As a last thing, I would like to make a special thanks to madmatg, who helped me with the linking. Thanks! :2thumbsup:

Chapter 1: The Uniting of the Tribes
Episode 1: A vision is born
Episode 2: Gáwjám-Kimbroz

A vision is born

Spring is here. Gone is the winter, and with it went the snow. No more hiding in our holes, waiting for the sun to come back; no more long, dark nights until the next winter. But now spring is here, and the sun shines again with omens of a new age. The gods have given me a vision, a vision of a greater prosperity for us, and for our people. Wodánáz has told me that it is now that all the tribes should unite under the banner of the Sweboz Confederacy. It is time for truly heroic deeds!

That is what Héruwulfáz, my Kuningáz and master, told me that morning. I, the narrator of this chronicle, am only his servant, told to record his achievements from this day and onward. He says that the workings of the gods, for he is descendent from the gods, must be remembered by all lesser men and it is my task to make sure it will be so.

That whole day Héruwulfáz and all his warriors prepared for the offensive. Soon we will move out. I say we because, even though I am but a slave and not a free man, and thus not expected to fight, I have been ordered to come along to record His battles too, from first hand. It is important, he says, that he who writes about the battles must have seen the battles, or he shall not write at all. I am not worried about my own safety, though – I know Heruwulfaz is a great man, warrior and leader, and he will not fail. I have nothing to fear as long as I am by his side.

So finally we were ready. Our warriors were gathered, supplies packed, destination set and we were about to move out. We went north towards Gáwjám-Rugõz, and on the way we joined up with Ánsuhárjáz, a great warrior and general too, having proven his valour many times already. But it would take some time yet to get there. In the meantime, Héruwulfáz sent word down to Hrábnáz in the south to start moving north-eastward. His objective was to bring Ascaucalis into the federation, whether by force or diplomacy. The people of Ascaucalis are fierce in battle, and it is told that, even though Hrábnáz had hired a gang of mercenaries in Silêngolándám, they still outnumbered him and his men, so they will probably not give up their independence without a fight. It is for Hrábnáz to prove himself as a competent warrior.

An emissary, namely Hágárádáz, sped to make trade arrangements with the people of the south, seeking wealth for our money stripped lands in a more peaceful way. Atháwulfáz stayed to govern Swébotráustástámnoz.

The Battle of Gáwjám-Rugõz

As soon as Héruwulfáz came into reach of the town, he ordered the attack. He did not wish to wait in a siege when he outnumbered the enemy so. With 1245 infantrymen, 404 riders plus himself, Ansuhárjáz and their bodyguards, he felt certain to win.

The village didn’t have any wall at all, and the main way in were completely left open to whoever wished to walk there, if he could get past the defenders. Héruwulfáz, not being a fool, realized that he could use this to his advantage, as he had more men. He himself would lead the main attack straight on. Supporting him were, other than his own bodyguards, 402 spearmen and 120 archers. Ansuhárjáz would lead a flanking force to the right, together with 603 spearmen and 120 archers. In between them were 202 horses, and to the left of Héruwulfáz were the remaining 202 riders, who were supposed to flank to the left.

Immediately as he moved forward, the enemy sent forth a band of skirmishers. Armed with javelins, big shields and a framea for melee, our left wing cavalry would be in trouble if they were left alone with them. But Héruwulfáz saw this attempt by the enemy, and intercepted them before they could reach the horses. While those skirmishers were well suited to take on our light cavalry, they had obvious problems standing up to heavy infantry such as Héruwulfáz and his guards. With quality swords they hacked through the skirmishers, killing many and suffering little, and when the skirmisher band were about to turn and flee, half of the riders from the left wing set loose upon their rear, defeating all hopes of escape, killing them to a man.

Meanwhile, Ansuhárjáz moved on unchecked to the right, and the middle band of cavalry saw the enemy archers open, unprotected straight ahead of them and charged in to take advantage of their apparent vulnerability. That is not all good news though, because out sprang 200 spearmen who had been hiding in the buildings, set for an ambush! Héruwulfáz didn’t waste a second. He quickly ordered his spearmen to rush in and take over the fighting, while he sent one cavalryman from the left wing to give the orders to withdraw to the engaged and threatened cavalry in the middle. He and his men then rush forward just behind his spearmen, having been winded from his fight with the skirmishers.

With the order to withdraw, Héruwulfáz middle cavalry retreated as orderly as their training and discipline allowed. As they retreated, they threw their last javelins at the enemy and left the fighting to the frámehárjoz. Ansuhárjáz, who had moved further up on the right, rushed to flank the enemy skirmishers, who had joined up with their ambushing spearmen, in their rear. He sent his spearmen to move to the town square from the southern main road together with the archers. The left cavalry wing moved on to do the same from the north.

With the enemy ambushers firmly occupied, Héruwulfáz passed them, in order to intercept another band of spearmen, who had moved up to flank Héruwulfaz’s frámehárjoz. Being more experienced than the lightly armed skirmishers from before, they offered a better fight, if still being the losing side. Still, they had the advantage in local numbers, and Héruwulfáz and his men were getting more and more tired as the fight went on. He had of course his archers right behind, who could also serve as light infantry should the situation call for it, and there were yet more spearmen he could draw forward, but the enemy had reserves as well.

After a short while, it was the enemy who took the initiative. Under a rain of arrows, the enemy general charged into Héruwulfáz left flank, trying to make a decisive strike and turn the tide of the battle right there and then. At first it seemed as if he were at least somewhat successful, driving Héruwulfáz’s men back, but his charge failed to deliver any true force, and they become bogged down in melee. Héruwulfáz’s men quickly took up their frameas again to fight this new, mounted threat.

At the same time, the spearmen who had tried to ambush Héruwulfáz’s cavalry felt they had had enough and ran. Ansuhárjáz were now free to help his Kuningáz, and spearmen moved up behind to help Héruwulfáz on his left flank. That was all that was needed to give the Kuningáz and his exhausted men a break. The enemy general along with what was left of his bodyguard and his spears, fled back towards the town square, where his swordsmen were already engaged by the spearmen Ansuhárjáz earlier had ordered to come from the south. At the same time as the enemy general made it there, the riders that had moved up the left flank charged him in his rear, killing both him and all his guard. They then proceeded to attack the enemy Sahsnotoz in their backs. After a short fight the town was conquered, and the population forced to swear loyalty to the Kuningáz of the Sweboz confederacy. This was Héruwulfáz’s first victory in his campaign to unite the tribes.

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Great start...I think the hardest thing about writing an AAR with the sweboz is trying to get their city/general names right! A fun group of barbs to play with however. Its looking good. Once you get some more under your belt I will take a closer look. Just glanced at it and it looks good thus far :) Keep it up and I'm glad were seeing a sudden growth of AARs on the forums

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Originally Posted by Chirurgeon

Great start...I think the hardest thing about writing an AAR with the sweboz is trying to get their city/general names right! A fun group of barbs to play with however. Its looking good. Once you get some more under your belt I will take a closer look. Just glanced at it and it looks good thus far :) Keep it up and I'm glad were seeing a sudden growth of AARs on the forums

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Thanks mate. Cities isn't that hard thanks to the maps on the main website. Character names I simply write down, but that's not so difficult either. For example, every a seems to have that accent (á), so I've become more or less used to it.

Pictures for the first part will come as soon as I can access the computer containing them. Me and my brother are putting together a new desk for it to stand on, and he's out playing football with his team. Since I will not spare him his part of the job, I won't be able to do it until he comes back home. ~;)

It's good to see this AAR back in action. Lets just hope that another disaster doesn't strike this time.

Thou heathen creature!

If I should witness the day when, a disturbing monkey of your integrity, through simple and pure laziness would cast away his works of public literacy and leave his once detailed stories unresolved - It would be a great tragedy, an example of the faltering commitment that the authors here do allow to vanquish their motivation.

So with these words I perch your tale above all others where it may be read with priority, and this will - less you shamefully resign - spur you to completing your Germanic ventures!

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Originally Posted by Glenn

Thou heathen creature!

If I should witness the day when, a disturbing monkey of your integrity, through simple and pure laziness would cast away his works of public literacy and leave his once detailed stories unresolved - It would be a great tragedy, an example of the faltering commitment that the authors here do allow to vanquish their motivation.

So with these words I perch your tale above all others where it may be read with priority, and this will - less you shamefully resign - spur you to completing your Germanic ventures!

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I'm nowhere near as eloquent so I'll just keep it simple :D
Nice one keep it coming, I look forward to seeing how the campaign develops :)

Cheers

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Originally Posted by Glenn

Thou heathen creature!

If I should witness the day when, a disturbing monkey of your integrity, through simple and pure laziness would cast away his works of public literacy and leave his once detailed stories unresolved - It would be a great tragedy, an example of the faltering commitment that the authors here do allow to vanquish their motivation.

So with these words I perch your tale above all others where it may be read with priority, and this will - less you shamefully resign - spur you to completing your Germanic ventures!

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My apologies. Even heathen creatures like I do not always have things go as they had hoped. Like last Sunday, so there wasn't much done then, and things slipped my, according to human propaganda, "less developed mind". I swear on my tail I will not give up on this yet. :shame:

Thank you all for your words, it's always nice to hear one's work is appreciated.

Good luck, mi' lad. Certainly one of the harder factions to write an AAR for. I've had three attempts at writing a half-decent one myself and can never seem to make anything post-worthy. Hopefully with the next release I'll be able to get a clearer picture in my head of what they're about. Anyhoo, great start. Keep up the good work. :bow:

Gáwjám-Kimbroz

We stayed only a short while in Gáwjám-Rugoz after capturing it. As soon as autumn came he sent a small depleted band of cavalry to aid Hrábnáz in his move towards Ascaucalis. He himself then left for Swêbotráustástámnoz, and left his most trusted captain to govern and keep Gáwjám-Rugoz in control.

Halfway there reports of enemy activity on our northern border came down. Apparently, a warband from Gáwjám-Kimbroz had moved down to raid our trade routes. Héruwulfáz would not tolerate it. He immediately switched course, heading for Gáwjám-Kimbroz. The raiders, being completely outnumbered, retreated back to their village when they saw Héruwulfáz mighty army approaching. In the new spring, the first year since the Kuningáz’s vision, he consequently proceeded with besieging Gáwjám-Kimbroz. He had lost more men in Rugoz than he would have liked, and had decided on the little more cautious method of starving the defenders before fighting them. News spread that Hrábnáz had reached Ascaucalis and was besieging it, too. In the autumn we get new reports saying that the garrison had finally sallied, but were defeated and Hrábnáz had successfully taken the village. But to his ridicule and disgrace, rumours said that Hrábnáz had behaved like a dog in battle. Perhaps the rumours were false, but then no word of bravery had passed on his part, so they may well be true.

That winter Gáwjám-Kimbroz we found out that Hêruwulfáz’s attempt to starve the garrison had been successful, but not excellently so. They still were numerous and brave enough to dare a sally.

We didn’t have time to properly prepare when they came, so we only formed a basic shieldwall-line, archers behind and cavalry concentrated to the left. The enemy was mainly missile oriented, and tried to whittle down our shieldwall that way. We answered in kind, and it was quite a spectacle: frámêás flying back and forth, arrows whistling, soldiers dying. At last, their right flank seemed to run out of frámêás to throw, and so their charge. Seizing the moment, Hêruwulfáz saw that the enemy general had positioned himself awkwardly, with his flank turned our side and only their bowmen and skirmishers, equipped the same way as those in Rugoz, to help him out, and they had been greatly hurt from our archers’ and frámêhárjoz’s barrage. Fearlessly he charged, and Ansuhárjáz charged with him. This inspired his other troops who weren’t already engaged to leave the shield wall and rush forward, hungry for the glory, and eager to prove their bravery..

Needless to say, a missile based army doesn’t stand well up against a melee based army when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. They were slaughtered left and right and centre. But look! Hêruwulfáz had missed something! Enemy cavalry had sneaked up on our right flank, completely unawares, and just waited for our linesmen to rush forward for honour and glory. Now when there were no unengaged warriors left to defend our bowmen, they charged home, and there was not much to be done. It is lucky that our archers are equipped with a frámêá too, because that was what saved them. It helped them survive long enough for Hêruwulfáz to rout the enemy general, which gave panic to the enemy cavalry as well, fleeing from our archers leaving them alive. What followed was a chain rout, and a simple bloodbath for the remaining enemy soldiers who would not surrender.

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Wow short but sweet eh? Keep 'em coming mate this could be a real nice AAR when you really get the Sweboz going as a proper "nation" :2thumbsup:

One minor point though, and I know its not your fault (bloody germanic languages!)

Nonetheless all the names of places and people (very simmilar in structure and full of Zs and accents) continuously coming after each other makes it a little straining to read, perhaps you could try to exclude them where possible, or break them up a little bit in the way you write?
As I said I know it's not your fault and its a very minor point but it would certainly help with making it more readable if you can find an adequate solution.

Anyways keep it coming, 'tis a nice 'lil stomper :yes:

EDIT
PS is that your general there next to the standard bearer in the 3rd screenshot? He looks a little overwhelmed at that point :D