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I had to start again to due applying the patch to P&MTW 1.5. Consider the Scots crushed:
http://ourworld.cs.com/Carledwards15/pmtw2.JPG
Hi everyone, reading some of the entries on this thread encouraged me to have go myself, I doubt that i'll be as good as some, but here goes...
First though, some background info. I love playing the Danes in Early but I find that my games take on the same rhythm, i.e. Within 100 turns (if that) i've crushed the HRE, gained all the Northern ports, got a full treasury and the game is essentially over. This time I decided to be completely isolationsit (with limits which I hope are explained) and only accept alliances when they come with a pretty new Princess for heirs to play with. Also, I'm playing on expert/GA/early which I've never consistently done before, which could make some later battles very interesting...
I hope everyone enjoys this, all comments are welcome (but be gentle. Also I'm having Screenshot difficulties but I'm working on it)
***
The Isolationist Danes
Olaf the Nation Builder
21 years, 21 long years had passed since the last great Viking king, the Hardrada, had died as Stanford Bridge. Since then, what? Nothing but anarchy. That was the only way to describe it. Without Hardrada the kingdom had simply fallen apart as innumerable claimants to his throne fought, killed and fought again in a seemingly endless round of blood-letting. For years it seemed that the Gods would only be sated once every Viking had passed on to paradise.
King Olaf shuddered at the memories; how many sons had lost a father? How many mothers were without a son? All that blood spilt, and for what? Nothing. What had once been a might empire, spanning the North Sea had been decimated. Olaf‘s kingdom now occupied little more than the Jutland archipelago, a wind-swept rock surrounded by hostile enemies. His authority barely passed beyond the walls of Copenhagen town.
‘Is that what comes from war and destruction?’ he thought as he stared across the bleak, inhospitable North Sea. ‘Do you truly reap what you sow? Little more than death, destruction and poverty…’ He let the thought drift off into nothingness.
“My friends,” he announced suddenly, startling the assembled landowners who were gathered around his cramped chamber, “The cost of conquering others is too great, our nation, my nation cannot withstand it. Let my decree go across the land, never again will a Dane conquer another, never will he attempt to bend another to his will. We will ignore the outside world and defend our homeland only. This is our home, and we will defend it to the death, beyond that, the world with all its death and warmongering can carry on without us. No more Danish men will needlessly die on foreign fields. This is my will, this is my decree.”
As the startled landowners left with this news to enjoy the feast the new King had provided, Olaf smiled at the irony. One of his first acts as King was to disobey his own decree. Still, he thought, ‘there are some scores that must be settled…’
His mother was a Swede, the cousin of the King of Sweden to be precise, and it was from her he derived his tenuous claim to the throne. Truth be told, it wasn’t much of a claim, but, his skill, and god’s providence, had granted him the throne. Finally, vengeance could be done.
He may have been young at the time but he still remembered the hurt and fear he had felt that night his mother had been killed. As a young male of royal blood, he had been but a pawn in the hands of others. And one day the others came for him. He remembered hiding, cold and wet in the evening rain, listening to the cries of the servants as they were cut down. He remembered the fear he felt at being taken by these strange, huge and hairy north men. He remembered the weird combination of anger and bloodlust on their faces as they trashed his home searching for his sanctuary. Most of all he remembered the screams of his proud, dignified mother as they took it in turns to rape her before killing her with a blow from their massive, blood-stained axes, laughing as they did so. He remembered the tears as well; he remembered the tears that never seemed to stop. Most importantly he also remembered the vow he took there and then to one day avenge this brutal act, to punish those Swedes who took it upon themselves to attack his home and kill his mother in front of his eyes. Those bastards must pay for what they did!
“Bring me Haengsson” he called.
***
Erik Haengsson, the new Earl of Denmark, was a big, imposing man, but even he was nervous when he saw the look on his King’s face. He had known him, and fought alongside him, for years, but the look in Olaf’s eyes still struck him as somehow inhuman.
“Erik, prepare my army, I have to claim a debt” said Olaf.
“My Lord?” replied Erik, confused by this statement.
“Are you deaf Erik? Or do I stutter? Prepare my army I said”
“What army my lord? Your mercenaries have been paid off and gone home; all that remains are my weary infantry. They have followed you for years and many battles, they have proven their loyalty, my friend, but they need a rest. If you would only wait 6 months I could train some more, but until then…”
“I’ve already waited 26 years Erik, I can wait no more” the King suddenly bellowed, filling the cramped room with his anger, “fetch me my guard. I leave first thing tomorrow.”
The cool wind felt good on his face as he paced the deck of the small ship carrying his personal guard across the Skaggerak to Sweden, to home. In his more rational moments he realised that he was being impetuous, it made more sense to wait, stabilise his new kingdom and then settle his personal grievances. But it had already been too long; it nagged at his heart day and night. He couldn’t rest until his family was avenged and the tears of a ten-year old had been dammed,
The sleepy port of Stockholm was unsure of what to make of this new King, enough pretenders had passed through its gates in recent years for this new arrival to appear mundane. Consequently there was no great parade or even acknowledgement of him as king, no notables rushed down to pay homage; no animals were slaughtered in his honour. Experience had taught these people that chances were he wouldn’t be king for long, there was no point getting excited about every pretender who came to town.
In all he spent three days in Stockholm, resting and preparing his troops for battle. On the fourth morning he prepared to ride out to face his enemy, face the men who had killed his mother. His column had only made a short distance from Stockholm when a messenger, a squire to one of his bodyguards, hurried to the front of his meagre army
“Sire, I have a message for you, it’s from Lord Haengsson.”
Impatiently, Olaf snatched the message from the boy’s hand, roughly unfurling the scroll he read the correspondence from his friend; My Lord, it will take more than bravery alone to win your battle! I have taken the liberty of rounding up the local convicts and shipping them across to you. Rest assured your kingdom is safe in my hands. Your eternal servant, Eric.
“What does this damn message mean?” Olaf demanded of the now terrified squire who physically took a step back from his intimidating monarch.
“I’m unsure sire” he stammered, “But I think it’s connected to the unit of spearmen who arrived in town just after you left.”
Olaf smiled, ‘Well, well Erik my old friend’ he thought, ‘you’ve surpassed yourself this time’.
”Philip!” he commanded one of his guards, “ride down to the docks and bring those scummy convicts back with you. We’ll need all the men we can muster. Quickly now! We’ll celebrate victory by nightfall”
As Philip rode off, Olaf marched his column slowly up the road into the wild northern forest, but he did so with a spring in his step, and renewed determination in his soul.
“Two years! Two stinking years!” the King bellowed, “We’ve been here two years to the day and what have we found? Nothing! Not one stinking rebel.” The King was talking with Sir Sweyn Jarl, the new Earl of Sweden, he had arrived with a unit of elite landsmen a year earlier, but they had yet to be tested in battle.
“Sire, we are doing our best. We have searched every scrap of forest, but whenever we get close they slip away. They’re probably over the border in Norway.”
“Norway?” The King paused. Norway was a very different proposition. “Are you sure?”
“In all likelihood Sire, my men stumbled across their camp the other day. It was completely deserted. All we found was this.”
In Sweyn’s hand was a necklace, a beautiful amber necklace shaped like a lion. It was Olaf’s family crest and proof that his mother’s killers were gone far over the border into nightmarish Norway where no laws and only the hardiest warrior could penetrate. In that moment Olaf’s fight left him. He could not avenge his mother’s death on this expedition. The tough men of Norway were too tough for his meagre band and no amount of courage could overcome this discrepancy. It made far better sense to return home to Denmark where Lord Haengsson had recently completed the border forts intended to seal Denmark off from the outside world. For the time being he had failed in his mission; it was time to give up on his personal quests. It was time to build a nation.
The next years were kind to Denmark, under the wise rule of King Olaf and his loyal lieutenants, the Danish kingdom flourished. The border forts erected years earlier had provided security against outside influences. While the acumen of Lords Haengsson and Jarl had encouraged trade to flourish and gradually Danish goods were penetrating mainland Europe. The taxes gathered from the burgeoning merchant class had provided the funds needed for Olaf to modernise the Danish army to his own specifications while providing enough left over to allow for an opulent Royal Palace. In short, King Olaf’s reign was proving itself to be one of stability and prosperity. Yet, the lack of justice still nagged at him.
At 58 the King was too old to lead a military expedition himself, the cold Northern wind had attacked his bones and given him arthritis. As good a commander as he was, he could not feasibly lead his men into battle. It was time for his heir to win his spurs. Prince Olaf had recently married a Sicilian Princess, strengthening the alliance between these two sea-faring peoples. He was patently ready for Kingship; it was time for him to gain the skills of war.
“Son,” the King addressed his heir, “My bones grow old, and every day I sense death that bit closer. It will not be long until all this is yours. But, until I can rest safely I need you to obey one last command from me.” With that, Olaf told his eldest son a story that only a select few knew and asked him to lead his troops into battle and avenge the blood-debt that still rankled with the otherwise impenetrable King.
Prince Olaf didn’t need a second invitation, boredom of court life had already forced him to take a secret mistress, and he yearned for the active campaigns that his father and his advisors often colourfully described. Without hesitation he bade goodbye to his bride and gathered the army from its barracks. Pausing in Sweden only to recruit Lord Jarl in his quest he marched bravely into wild and lawless Norway, he was ready to settle scores…
The rebellious bandits were quick to fight, their lack of civilisation meant they knew no other way and seeing the relative inexperience of Prince Olaf they were confident of their victory. Initially this confidence seemed misplaced, the skilled archers of the Prince inflicted massive casualties against two Viking units who were placed forward from the bandit leader, who had retreated behind a hill. Consequently when the lines closed the elite Viking landsmen managed to prevail in the bloody struggle which followed. However, the elite unit remained standing and without the supporting fire from the archers, the remaining rebels managed to strike as the landsmen were re-organising and re-gaining their breath. Charging down the hill they flung themselves at the nearest, and most depleted, landsmen. Chaos flashed through the relatively inexperienced Danes as the huge, battle-hardened men closed and inflicting their bloody work. These men were used to defending what they had with force of arms; they were unwilling to cede all they had to this young Prince who had yet to experience the bloody havoc that was Viking warfare. The cause soon became hopeless as man after man fled towards the Swedish border in a desperate attempt to save themselves from the deadly axes of the Norsemen. Despite the best efforts of the Prince who personally killed 5 rebels, the battle was lost and Norway remained rebel. Within two years King Olaf was dead. It was said he died of a broken heart.
Death of King Olaf I (The Nation-Builder) 1087-1113.
Prince Erik was always close to his older brother, and he knew the dreadful defeat he had suffered was a source of constant shame; the whispers of ‘runner’ at his coronation were deeply hurtful and untrue. His brother deserved a better epitaph than that. To that end he resolved, as heir to the Danish throne, to restore lustre to the family name. He had few troops, a single unit of archers was all he had with him, but that didn’t matter. He marched out that day. Courtiers smirked that he had inherited his father’s hot-headedness!
The battle was long. He was fully aware of the danger of the Norsemen in hand-to-hand combat and he was determined not to befall the same fate as his brother. Unwilling to risk direct combat he settled instead for a battle of movement. Bravely and repeatedly riding behind the enemy he distracted their attention long enough for his archers to pelt the undefended backs of the Vikings. Before long the field was a bloody mess as Norseman after Norseman fell with an arrow in his back. Consequently, when he finally allowed his guard to engage the enemy they were easily able to rout the Vikings and pursue them until, in the words of his Chronicler, Not one Norse remained alive for miles and miles and miles. The few prisoners that were taken, including the aging rebel leader and orchestrater of the attack on Olaf’s home so many years ago, were brutally slaughtered. Finally, his father could sleep easy in his grave and his grandmother had been avenged.
However, capturing Norway was one thing. Pacifying it was another. The Norse had grown used to independence and resented the imposition of a new sovereign. Within a year they had rebelled and quickly made progress from their heartlands among the impenetrable fjords. Prince Erik’s army was too small to effectively keep control over the entire country and until he could gain assistance from Lord Jarl in Sweden he was helpless. Eventually though, Sweyn Jarl, a hardy soldier arrived with his landsmen and Erik was finally ready to give battle. Taking advantage of his opponent’s military naivety, he skilfully manoeuvred his men into a strong defensive position, on a steep hill at the end of a valley. Predictably, the carnage was immense. On their approach the rebels’ Men-at-Arms were decimated by sustained arrow fire and when the Jarls’ landsmen and Erik’s few knights charged the tired, scared rebels panic soon set in, panic which quickly spread to the entire army. Soon the rebels were in full flight and made easy pickings for the now adrenaline-filled knights. Once again the prisoners were executed in the square of the capital, which seemed to bring peace to this fractious land. For the loss of only 14 men, Norway had been secured once more for the Danes.
With Scandinavia secured, Olaf I’s dream of a safe, secure, isolationist Danish kingdom could be pursued. Olaf II might have failed as a military leader; he was determined to succeed as a modern, European king.
Everyone agreed the bride looked beautiful, and if she was nervous she didn’t show it. As always in these times, a wedding involving royal blood was a political event. The Poles were eager to secure their place on the Baltic coast; a blood alliance with the Danes would secure this, while the Danes needed Polish support if the Holy Roman Empire ever turned its greedy eyes northward. Prince Sweyn, the eldest son of Olaf II, and therefore heir to the throne, stood at the altar in the recently finished Church, supposedly the finest in the North. To stave off the anxiety caused from an impending marriage to a woman he had never met, his let his mind wander to the state of the kingdom he would one day inherit.
Truth be told, the years since the pacification of Norway had been quiet. Aside from the sailing of the first Danish fleet into the Baltic, which provided security for traders to peddle their wares to the pagans in the East, little had occurred in the Danish kingdom. Continued trade had brought enough taxes to finance a permanent standing army in the Jutland peninsula which in turn allowed King Olaf II to continuously travel his realm with his brothers, constantly checking on the performance of his subordinates, secure in the knowledge that his homeland would be protected. However, not all was well in the Danish kingdom. The royal court had become bloated and overly extravagant, and complaints from the merchant class could not be suppressed for ever, while across the ocean the French were consolidating their control over mainland Britain. It surely couldn’t be long until they turned their attention east to Scandinavia.
Still, Sweyn thought, these problems could wait. Tonight he would have his new bride to ravish. All the perversions that he had attempted to bottle up would be finally allowed expression. This Polish whore would soon learn the duties inherent in being the wife of a true Dane; and one day he would be King!
Death of King Olaf II (The Runner) 1113-1139
The death of King Olaf II was oddly appropriate, for a king whose reign was typified by peace and stability, passing away quietly in his sleep seemed apt. Since the wedding of Prince Sweyn ten years previously, little had changed in the sleepy Danish kingdom. The expansion of the royal fleet into the North Sea had relieved growing pressure on the treasury and quietened growing dissent among the trading classes. Aside from that though, the 12th century had been a quiet one for the Danish people. However, after the upheavals of the previous 50 years most viewed this as a blessing. Now though, Olaf’s son Sweyn was filling his deceased father’s crown and the wisest of Scandinavian society predicted a major upheaval…
***
Aragon suddenly seemed a long way away for Princess Urraca, the cold winds of Jutland were just not found in Navarre and her silken wedding dress provided little protection from the elements. Despite this though the shivers that passed through her were not brought about by the weather, instead they were caused by the nerves that coursed through her system. The alliance between Aragon and Denmark did not seem a natural one and certainly they possessed fundamentally different cultures, although the previous nights ribaldries had lessened the differences somewhat and both sovereigns had pledged eternal friendship and a potential second front if the increasingly expansionist French invaded either small, fiercely independent kingdom. This pledge was to be honoured through this marriage of Urraca to Prince Harald, Sweyn’s son and heir.
Harald was a fine figure of a man and he certainly cut an impressive figure as he entered the town square and towered above the crowds during his wedding procession. Despite this Urraca was nervous, it was rumoured that the Prince had inherited his father’s perversions, and certainly the haggard look on the Queen’s face was testimony to their extent. Her once youthful looks and been dulled and ruined. But, she thought, despite the fear which increasingly dominated her mindset, as looked around the fine, expensive furnishings and cloths which increasingly dominated the trading town of Copenhagen; this strange land was not without its benefits!
Death of King Sweyn (The Trader) 1139-1169
The coronation of King Harald I was a special occasion, one to live long in the memory of all who attended. The sun’s rays had finally supplanted the cold rains of winter and were finally warming the backs of the masses who thronged into Copenhagen hoping to catch a glimpse of the 42-year old King and his queen. While not beautiful in the traditional Nordic sense, there was little doubt that Queen Urraca had matured into a stunningly beautiful woman and attired in the finest Brittany linen and Cordoban silks she looked resplendent as she smiled benignly down on to her people from her palace balcony. Flanking her was her son Chrsitoffer who had inherited the good looks of both parents, and even at the age of 10 was a strikingly handsome young man.
Flanking her were the representatives from Denmark’s great alliances Aragon, Sicily and Poland. These families, joined to Denmark by blood, were more than just friends. They also helped secure Denmark’s place as the greatest trading power of the north; from the Norwegian Sea to the Gulf of Valencia Danish traders traversed the waves exchanging their goods and bringing in a healthy profit which helped make Stockholm the greatest trading city outside of Constantinople itself! On a yearly basis over 1000 gold coins from Sweden alone flowed into King Harald’s treasury and allowed extensive building work to be done in all the new Kings provinces.
Despite the large numbers which packed into the square to welcome their new King, the overall atmosphere was calm. Where once such numbers signified social unrest, the people were generally happy, happy enough to celebrate a party anyway! Besides which, the presence of fearsome Huscarles, their sheathed axes sparkling in the spring sun, helped maintain order and provided entertainment for young children who speculated upon, and aspired to be, these awesome, all-conquering ‘tin-men’ who followed in the fine tradition of their Viking raider forebears. Extensive agricultural development constantly provided a surplus of crops at harvest-time and maintained happiness among the populace. It short, the Danish kingdom was happy and secure. However, it was rumoured that not all was well, it was whispered that one day soon, these fighting men and the King’s gold might be needed for war which inevitably followed prosperity.
But those worries could be left for another day, right now was a time to celebrate; a new King, security at home with the prospect of seemingly unlimited gold from abroad and a sumptuous feast containing the finest foods Western Europe and Iberia had to offer provided later. Free of charge of course! What was there to worry about? Right now the Danish nation was confident in itself and secure in where it wanted to be. Let the other states worry about blood and slaughter, for the Danes there was money to be made!
This is all I have so far, I'll write more if people like it, if not I won't waste my time! If anybody has any questions/suggestions then I'd be more than glad to hear them. Enjoy!:2thumbsup:
Like it? CrazyGuy, you crazy guy, I love it! Great stuff - keep it coming! :2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyGuy
Indeed, great job, Crazy Guy! A very good job, I must say!.:yes:
Disaster strikes the Picts.....
The treacherous Mercians had turned on the armies of good King Angus II, but before the war could be decided, a new and perfidious foe emerged to threaten the entire populace of the British Isles - more deadly even than the great plague....
Yes, the spectre of Hard Drive Failure stalked the lands of the Picts and their Mercian foes alike, killing indiscriminately, and wreaking havoc on both nations, and on the Welsh and newly re-emerged Saxons.
Well, more a case of storm damage than Hard Drive failure, but the end result is the same....I am currently setting up a new PC and transferring those files that can be retrieved, but things are not looking good for my Pictish campaign...d'oh! Should have taken that "minor victory" when it was offered and wrapped it up there!:wall:
Bamff - I'm devastated. The two campaigns I was most enjoying (yours and YLAC's) derailed.~:mecry:Quote:
Originally Posted by bamff
Last post first. I agree with Bregil, two brilliant campaigns cut short. I will be looking foward to the next.
You know CrazyGuy, I have to admit when I saw that you were going to do a campaign based on Isolation, and of the Danes no less i went, yawn, looks like a set up for failure. Then I read it. Nicely done, some really great stuff in there. I definately look forward to hearing more about it, so on with the ravaging of foreign Princesses :whip: .
I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to taking screenies and recounting it like some people might, but on Saturday I started an Armenian/Hard/Early/GA/XL 3.0 campaign. :yes:
It's currently 1098/1099, and I think that the Seljuks have the desire to get wiped out early by my hand. I took several turns in the beginning to build up a nice army...King Reuben I, his heir, Prince Reuben, two Armenian Cavalry, six Armenian Infantry (if I remember correctly) and three or four Archer units. I invaded Rum, and the Seljuks gave it up without a fight. Quite hilarious. Especially when their Sultan, with 3 command, proceeds to invade Lesser Armenia, backed up by two of his sons and a unit of Turcoman Horse Archers.
Three words for you regarding that last part - forest and downhill equals horse as a delicacy. Well, actually, that's eight words...nevermind. Suffice it to say, I thought that a unit of Armenian Infantry, Urban Militia, Horse Archers, Armoured Spearmen and two normal Spearmen would be slaughtered, especially on the open field. Heh...those two Seljuk Princes didn't go back home that day. And the Seljuks learnt a hard lesson...
I'm allied with the Byzantines and Fatimids, a sort of...Triple Alliance, all of us fighting a common enemy, the Seljuks. However, the Fatimids have not faired all too well, and the Byzantines only border Armenia now. I'm playing piggy in the middle at the moment, and I'm the piggy in the middle. Suffice it to say, I am playing defensively at the moment. I figure I can wear the Seljuks down quite easily without leaving myself open to losing any land to them. Their own darn fault, I'm sort of a tactical distraction. Hopefully the Byzantines and Fatimids can get a swipe in edge ways. I just have to hold the line.
In fact, my armies are more than capable of enduring volleys of arrows off of Horse Archers and Turcoman Horse Archers, especially when on top of a hill. That happened to me in Rum recently, and is happening a second time in a battle I have to fight next (had to quick save it, auto-resolve and exit the game, didn't want to force the CTD on the battle deployment screen by alt-tabbing just in case it did anything to my saves). I won't go with the auto-resolve, because it was only to exit the game in a safer manner...but, I am confident my army will do well. Once the exchange of sharp, pointy, flying sticks is over, I shall dispose of the Seljuk army...
Prince Reuben is getting a very similar army right now, in fact. Just a number more units to recruit, and he's got his nice new army. I'm not bleeding money like there's no tomorrow. I don't have heaps of it, hovering around the 2000 florin mark with not too much income per turn. But what must be done will be done so Armenia can become a great power in the world.
Maybe I should remember that fortune favours the bold, and strike back at the Seljuks as soon as possible, perhaps at Armenia, the original homeland of the Armenian people. Sitting on my butt won't get anything done. And like I said before, the Byzantines and Fatimids are depending on me to hold the line against the Seljuks. I ought to really stab them where the sun don't shine, I guess. This Triple Alliance must survive, it must endure...it must prevail. Failure is not an option...
Part Seven of an Account of a VI 2.01 campaign as the Danes
The Legend of Prester John
Despite the utter failure of the Crusading movement – no Catholic army had threatened Egyptian dominance of the Holy Land – the legend of Prester John, a Frankish Knight ruling a Christian kingdom among the heathen, persisted. Some tales placed this realm in Africa, where the endurance of Christianity in Abyssinia fuelled such rumours. Others credited Prester John with the conversion of the Mongols and the establishment of a Catholic regime near Samarkand.
Whatever the truth of these tales, there was great excitement when stories reached Europe of a Christian uprising in Armenia, led by one William Redshanks, a descendant of Edgar the Atheling and a claimant to the throne of England. Rallying pilgrims, sailors and exiles to his flag, as well as native Armenian Christians, William declared himself King of England, Armenia and Edessa.
Knud of Denmark was fascinated by this development and sent emissaries to discover the truth. An English army in Edessa was unlikely to threaten Danish rule in Britain, but might well cause problems for his Egyptian enemies. Knud saw William as a potential ally rather than an enemy.
Sadly, by the time the emissaries reached Armenia, all they found was a country ravaged by war and piles of unburied corpses. William was dead. The region was ravaged by rebel forces rising against Sultan Ali, but they were Muslim rebels, not the knights of Prester John, and the outnumbered Christians had been overwhelmed and destroyed.
A Rising for the Pope
Another dramatic re-emergence was that of the Piast dynasty of Poland, last seen trying to re-establish an independent Dukedom of Silesia. The last scions of this house had fled to Italy in 1213, and Prince Wladislaw had become a protégé of the future Pope Clement. During the conflict between Clement (supported by Emperor Otto) and the Italian anti-Pope, Wladislaw raised support for Clement among the Polish exiles. Before long he had a sizeable force, and with Papal blessing he launched two attacks – one against the anti-Pope’s headquarters in Venice and one to reclaim his family seat in Poland. That this brought him into conflict with Denmark, Germany’s closest ally, did not concern Clement or Wladislaw. The Piasts wished to restore their ancient realm, and Clement was weary of being a German puppet.
Knud was unable to defend Poland against such a massive and popular rebellion. Instead he ordered his garrison to withdraw, taking with them as many Danish settlers and as much Danish property as could be salvaged. The result was the devastation of the land, with everything of value being looted or destroyed and even the ancient city of Krakow being put to the torch either by fleeing Danes or rioting Poles. Wladislaw gained his throne, but he was crowned in the roofless wreck of a church while the city burned around him.
The rebellion in Hungary was unable to secure Papal blessing or to identify a clear leader, and in the field it came up against Olaf Guddrodson, the Steppe Chieftain who had defeated and captured Ogodai in Kiev. Olaf faced the rebel army – crossbowmen and archers defended by urban militia with poleaxes - with a force of feudal sergeants and a large cavalry contingent. While his spears advanced against the massed rebels, Olaf used the terrain to mask the advance of his cavalry around the flanks of the enemy. The co-ordination of the pincer attack was close to perfection – for the loss of just twenty men Olaf Guddrodson captured nearly six hundred rebels and killed the rest.
The taxes levied by Knud caused ill feeling even in Denmark, where a group of influential landowners decided to invite Hardeknud, son of Harald, to claim his rightful inheritance. They plotted to seize control while Knud was still making his way back through Flanders and Friesland. But Hardeknud did not arrive. Instead, the armies released from Kiev by the collapse of the Golden Horde came back to Denmark to deal with the rebels. What followed was less a battle than a massacre, and the sparks of rebellion were extinguished under iron-shod heels.
A Year of Uprisings
The bloody decade came to a close, but there seemed no prospect of an end to war. More tumult awaited. In Champagne, a champion arose for those whose land hand been ravaged in fighting between Denmark and Spain – Henri of Rheims, soon to declare himself Henri II of France. Henri’s partisans, perceiving the Danes as the immediate threat, struck first at Champagne and southern England, and thousands rallied to his banner.
Meanwhile, the Hellenic League, having evicted the Byzantines and Danes from mainland Greece and the Mediterranean islands, was seeing itself as a spent force. Athens was now the seat of a proud German emperor. Asia Minor was in the hands of various Muslim factions. Danish troops occupied Cyprus and Rhodes and Danish ships controlled all trade. The League was no more than a group of disconnected rebel barons.
A bold stroke by a minor noble named Alexius Draconis changed this. By dint of superb diplomacy, he negotiated a deal with the steppe clans that would bring them under his banner against the perceived threat of Danish or Egyptian domination. With such impressive forces ready to take his side, Alexius found it easy to rally the Hellenic League to his cause. When Constantinople also declared for the new Emperor, there could be no doubt – this was a re-emergence of the Byzantines, albeit one made up of Muslim rebels and Mongol tribesmen as well as Greek partisans.
Knud responded by sending his nephew Sweyn to Wessex to encounter one half of the French threat. Sweyn, the only son of Olaf III, was the key to Knud’s popular support and everything the Danes admired: a tall, broad-shouldered youth never happy without sword and armour, and a hardheaded materialist who paid lip service to notions of piety or chivalry. Sweyn’s adoption by his uncle had made it clear he was the chosen heir, and now he set out to prove his credentials as warrior.
The French and their rebel allies assembled at Portsmouth and marched north towards London. Sweyn, arriving at Dover from Flanders, marched west to intercept them and join a force marching from the capital. The armies met at Bagshot Heath, Sweyn commanding a mixed force of 1396 while the French, under the dandyish Sir Foucher Clement, mustered 1860 men.
Sweyn fought a cautious battle behind the Danish shield-wall, letting his arbalests and crossbowmen do their work before the French infantry reached his lines. Then, with the forces engaged, he unleashed Scots clansmen and Irish gallowglasses from his flanks. As the French wavered, he himself led a charge from the centre while the main body of his knights rode around the French left and scattered their archers. The first wave was in tatters, with Sir Foucher already a prisoner. Sweyn let his men pursue a little way, where they destroyed the French war-engines, and then fell back on the same defensive line to await the French cavalry.
The French horsemen, supported by crossbowmen, advanced boldly, but hardly seemed likely to be able to break the Danish lines. Sweyn had replaced his Scots with English fyrdmen, a legacy of the Danelaw established by King Christoffer, and these worthy men did good work with their spears. With the cavalry broken and fled, the French crossbows did not stay to face a Danish counter-attack. Urged to pursue, Sweyn laughed and shook his head. With Danish ships controlling the channel, he doubted the fleeing French would ever find their way out of England. He was in no hurry. On the battlefield he had killed more than a third of the French army and captured almost as many, for the loss of 123 men, but without risking another man he had obliterated the French presence in England.
Champagne was not seen as vital to the campaign in France, so rather than fight Henri the Danes withdrew to Flanders and Lorraine. Like his Polish counterpart, Henri found himself celebrating his coronation in the ruins of a province plundered and ravaged by the fleeing Danes.
Against Alexius, no resistance was offered. A rising on the island of Rhodes was not opposed, Knud allowing his peasant garrison to disband without a fight. But once again the Danish withdrawal resulted in plunder and destruction. Alexius ordered his ports closed to Danish shipping – a brief revival in Mediterranean trade came to a crashing end.
Wladislaw of Poland continued his siege of Venice and saw off a pro-Byzantine rising in Poland, while simultaneously mounting an attack on Carpathia. The defenders, outnumbered and ill-equipped, succeeded in denying Wladislaw a way across the river, and his humiliating defeat was compounded by his own cowardice, having fled the field in the early stages leaving more than a thousand of his men to be killed or captured.
Battle in La Mancha
Meanwhile in Spain, Valdemar’s campaign of destruction continued. The city of Leon fell to assault, allowing the Danes to plunder the province. A raiding party overwhelmed the garrison of Portugal. But these were mere sideshows to the long awaited confrontation of the Spanish and Danish armies in La Mancha, to determine the outcome of the siege of Cordoba. The main forces of the opposing armies met in a great bridge battle, recalling Valdemar’s successes against the Golden Horde in Kiev. However, the Prince understood that the army of Spain presented a different threat, with heavy infantry, cavalry and pavise arbalesters all available. His own army was a mixed bag, comprising Danish knights, Norwegian Vikings, German and Livonian crossbowmen and arbalesters, Scots and Irish warriors, English and German spearmen and even some steppe horsemen. It had marched under the ancient Raven banner as well as the Danish Lion, recalling The Army of pagan times that had ravaged the Frankish and English kingdoms. Valdemar’s army was just as savage and rapacious.
The battle was hard fought and cost the Danes dearly, not least in terms of knights lost. Having seen off the first wave, Valdemar led a reckless counter-attack against newly arriving forces that eventually saw him fleeing back across the bridge with half his knights slain, barely escaping with his life. This was not, however, an impetuous escapade on his part. Valdemar had realised early on that he could not win any exchange of shot across the bridge with the Spanish having so many more crossbowmen, and many of them with pavises. His surprise counter-attack also cost the Spanish dearly, killing or capturing hundreds of crossbowmen in the hills on the far side. The defenders could withstand the attack of this reduced army on more even terms, could hold their ground and exchange loss for loss, until ready to counter-attack again. This time there was no doubt, and the Spanish broke. Weighed down by pavises, the Spanish arbalesters were easy prey, and after some difficult early moments Valdemar was able to report a total victory. He took a careful count of the dead and captured: for 403 men lost, he had slain 2325 and captured 599, and effectively destroyed the army defending Spain.
What was to surprise his brother, King Knud, was not the extent of the victory but the messenger chosen to deliver the report. He arrived in Hamburg on a misty October night, and met the King’s men as they took ship to Denmark. Though cloaked and hooded, they could see he was a young man, slight of figure, though he walked with a confident bearing and, rather than bowing to the King, he held his head high. As Knud approached he drew back the hood and smiled.
“You seem familiar, boy,” growled the King.
“I should, uncle,” came the reply. “I am Hardeknud, son of Harald, King of the Two Sicilies and heir to the thrones of Denmark and Aragon.”
The King’s men loosened the daggers in their scabbards. It was only a year since blood had been spilled in the name of Hardeknud’s claim to the throne. But Knud waved them back.
“The King of Sicily is an Italian brigand by the name of William Sinibaldi,” said Knud levelly. “The Kingdom of Aragon has lived under Spanish rule for almost a century. And the heir to the throne of Denmark is your cousin Sweyn. I am surprised to see you alive, my boy. Your mother’s ambitions nearly cost you your life before, and they may yet.”
“My mother is dead.”
“May she rest in peace. You left Denmark, remember, as a boy of seven clinging to his mother’s skirts. How can we know what manner of man you have become? Your cousin has served his country and won honour and glory. He has proved his fitness to eat bread and jam at my table, and be called a Prince of Denmark. As for you – you will not even leave this dock alive unless you are prepared to call me sire!”
The boy’s blue eyes glittered in the torchlight: “Give me a task and I will show my fitness – sire!”
Knud smiled back: “You are your father’s son. I sail for Denmark on the tide, or sooner if I can persuade the sea to do my bidding. Your ship however, has another destination…”
I feel quite intimidated posting straight after Bregil. Please don't make any unfavourable comparisons!
As we left the isolationist Danes, King Harald had just been crowned and the Danish people looked forward to a prosperous future. However, some tragic news soon hit...
***
Death of King Harald 1169-1179
The sudden death of King Harald sent shockwaves throughout the Danish kingdom. The manner of his death, a sudden illness which swiftly carried him off as he was hurried to medical help in Oslo, seemed apt, as if the old world with its old ways had passed with it. Danish society now looked with trepidation at a future which no longer guaranteed security and prosperity.
They looked forward to this potentially hazardous future under a new leader. At 20, the new king Christoffer was by far the youngest monarch to rule Denmark and its provinces since his illustrious forefather had brought stability to the kingdom 100 years previously. There was no doubting his talent, but the nagging question remained; how could this person, more boy than man, sail the kingdom through the choppy waters which surely lay ahead?
King Christoffer knew of these concerns and they did little to settle his growing anxiety. Almost out of habit he reached for the jug of ale that was always kept nearby. In the six short months of his reign he had already developed a pronounced drinking habit as he sought to cope with the pressures of Kingship. What was more he had more reason than usual to drink today. The North Lords were coming.
The outside world had changed; geo-political pressures increasingly commanded the Danes to move to their whim. No longer could the Danes retreat to their homeland and expect to be ignored. Increasingly action had to be taken. Hence, the arrival of the North Lords. King Christoffer may have been young, but he was no fool. He knew that if the Danes were to reverse the policy of many lifetimes he would require the consent of his nobles; his position was too weak to command them to his will.
In the distance Danish hunting horns signified the arrival of a noble with his private guard. Christoffer ignored it and marched into the Grand Council Chamber. This small room was dominated by a large circular oak table, stolen; it was said, from a Saxon Parliament during a Viking raid. Now though it was an anachronism, a relic from the past. Silently he prepared himself for the meeting ahead. Walking around the room he pictured where people would sit, and the arguments they would make. They were not arguments which promised easy consensus. Immediately to his left would sit Sir Toke Masson the Earl of Sweden. A huge man, full of fire and anger, he scared Christoffer and was the biggest threat to his throne. Although he openly professed loyalty, Sir Toke was full of royal blood and ambition. Despite this though, he remained in a position of power. As the Danes’ leading military strategist, his cunning would be vital to any military actions decided upon today.
Next to Sir Toke would sit Antonio Ferrer, Ambassador of Aragon. He had arrived two weeks ago, ostensibly to visit the King’s mother, Queen Urraca but also to bring news, news which had necessitated the calling of this meeting.
Further round, and directly opposite the King would be Lord Svertinggson, Earl of Denmark. Severtingsson had many faults, his temper was increasingly a problem but he was still immensely valuable to the Danish crown. As a humanist, a man of numbers he had transformed Copenhagen from a sleepy capital to a vast trading metropolis and under his guidance the Danish capital had become a magnificent city indeed! More importantly, he was also respected by the important trader class who increasingly clamoured for representation. His opinion and consent will be vital, perhaps decisive.
Further round still, opposite the Ambassador was a space to be filled by the Earl of Norway, Lord Skotkonung. He was the youngest, and perhaps least important of the nobles who would fill this room, he lacked the military stature of Sir Toke or the acumen of the Danish lord. Despite this, he would still play a role. If military action were decided upon the tough fighting men of Norway would form the foundations upon which the army would be based.
Finally, and in a privileged position to the right of the King would sit Bishop Sweynsson, head of the church in Denmark and the king’s chief advisor. With his fathers’ regular trips around the kingdom necessitating his absence for large periods of time, the elderly Sweynsson had taken on the role of Christoffer’s guardian. It was a role to which he was well adapted. Sweynsson was a wise man in many ways, a theologist, philosopher and mathematician. He was wisely considered to be the wisest man in Christendom, and his presence brought great credit to the Danish throne. Christoffer was relying on his advice more and more.
Eventually, after what seemed to Christoffer to be an age, the pomp and ceremony was completed and the meeting could finally begin. Ambassador Ferrer, who had brought the news that has led to this meeting, spoke first, his elegant voice reverberating around the cramped chamber;
“My friends, I do not know you by name but now we are united as comrades against oppression. Every day the French expand their power and soon they will turn their greedy eyes towards the proud Aragon kingdom. We will not be able to withstand this threat alone. We are peoples who are joined by blood and marriage and now we come to you ad friends who need your help. Please, in the name of comradeship, stand with us and fight the French monster that will not stop until the world is his. Remember my brothers; this monster will surely one day turn its eyes to you.” The passion of the short speech was so great that immediately after speaking the Ambassador collapsed into his seat under the weight of his emotions.
“Sire,” Svertinggson spoke up, “I can confirm that description, every year our traders report that more and more ports are in French hands. Increasingly a French hand controls to the coasts, from Scotland in the North, to Navarre in the South and Pomerania to the East. The French kingdom is certainly growing and I do not know where it will stop. However, I must counsel against open warfare, our people depend on goods from the outside world to maintain their lifestyles; a war with France would surely hinder our access to foreign ports and foreign goods. I assure you that the people of Denmark would not live comfortably with such measures.”
Skotkonung was the next to speak, although the junior member of the council, it was his people, the sturdy Norsemen who would provide the backbone of any Danish army, therefore his opinion mattered;
“My Lord, I assure you that the Norse are still true fighters. We are tough men certainly, more than a match for any Frenchman ---“
“A match for any 10 Frenchmen!” Toke Masson interjected, “Sire, my men are the finest in the world; I assure you that if a war with France is called for then all of France will fall under our axes. At the slightest command we will march and we will be in Paris in a month!”
It was clear to Christoffer that the meeting was going nowhere, while to declare war with France might be folly; he owed it to Aragon to do something, didn’t he? Almost in desperation he turned to his closest friend the Archbishop;
“Sire, while Sir Toke might be correct that our armies could destroy any French army, it would still be foolish to declare war. We will certainly win the opening exchanges, but gradually their superior numbers will win the day. We know little about this kingdom, about its ways, all we know is that it’s larger than us. Remember the old saying my child, ‘it is the tallest tree which first falls in a storm’. Gradually such a large kingdom will collapse under its own weight and will cease to be a problem. Until then it would be better to stay as we are. Our navy will protect us from sea-borne invasion, and I’m sure that Sir Toke can protect the land routes into Denmark. Sire, my advice to you is that you build up our defences, behind our walls, and challenge the French to defeat us. Do not commit the mistake of fighting a larger man on his own terms. Our sympathies must go to the Kingdom of Aragon, but our concern must rest with ourselves.”
Bishop Sweynssson’s wise words won the day, much to the consternation of Ambassador Ferrer, and the humanist Svertingsson who distrusted the religious background of the King’s advisor. But the group did not depart happily. No overall conclusion had been reached, and the Danes could not ignore the change in the outside world for ever. Yes, at the moment it was possible to hide behind high walls and get rich from trade. But sooner or later hungry eyes would turn to this peaceful, rich kingdom and then what? What would happen when the Danes could hide no more?
“So where are we going?”
“I’ve told you before, we’re going to Finland.”
“Why?”
“’Cos the King says he needs it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know something about the French and an invasion, or something. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. Just settle down, do your job and we’ll be home soon.”
Conversations such as these rung around the Danish navy as it transported the small army across the Baltic Sea to Finland. Finally, after 95 years of complete isolation the Danes were marching to battle once more. The Finnish force was just a small one, it was all that was needed to deal with the small population of Finland, but it carried an important role. One day, the French would come, and while the small, but fierce, Danish army would fight well, and kill many, eventually sheer numbers would overwhelm the small kingdom. In that event cold, bleak, inhospitable Finland would be a safe haven for resistance fighters and a place of refuge from French rule. Also, from a trade perspective, Finland possessed much in the way of natural resources and an opening into the Russian markets, away from prying French hands. The occupation of Finland was therefore an important step in the long-term safety of the Danish kingdom.
Inge Thorrodson knew all this and while he was acutely aware of the importance of this mission, he felt no fear. He was confident in the ability of his men to do the job asked of them. He was also confident in his own ability to lead them and then rule as Lagman in the King’s name. He had seen the power that had accrued to men such as Skotkonung from their control of a province, and he longed for a share of the spoils and a seat at the Council Chamber. Time would prove this prediction right, the rebels, largely unskilled in the art of war, were all too eager to give battle. A decision they regretted as they were decimated by a hail of arrows and routed by a sharp cavalry charge. Finland was secure and the first tentative steps that the Danes had taken in breaking their long isolation had been successful ones.
King Christoffer heard the joyous news in the company of his attractive new bride, the German princess, Jutta, who was all too eager to please her new King. Christoffer’s habit of drinking heavily and late had so far prevented the actual consummation of this marriage, but with the wind in his sails he was now sure that this would be a glorious day indeed!
Wow, all these great posts, and then I come along and ruin it, well hopefully I'll be able to start a new campaign in early/normal/GA as the Volgar-Bulgarians.
Other then that I'd like to tell of an old Polish campaign on normal, domination, that sadly went bye bye, after I got my gold edition. From what I remember of it, going from 1087 to 1100, I did a blitz across the steppes which led to me holding 13 provinces by 1100, basically I nearly conquered 1 province per turn. I then turned on the Russians, taking Novgorod(sp?) around 1105-1115, quickly followed by Finland, where they defeated for good. starting in 1125 I started on the Hungarians and by 1135 had beaten them, but I was excommunicated for this, luckily the pope died within a few years, can't remember which. I then rested for a while, to one let my army get healed, and to bring up my revenues, which despite all of the conquests, was nearing the red, had only about 300-500 florins by 1140. After that I turned my armies and went after Asia Minor, and took the northern half from the Eggies. It's now around 1165-1175. By 1200 I had taken the rest of Asia Minor, wiped out the Eggies, left the Byzantines on the isles of Rhodes, Cyprus, and Crete, and left the Turks with a minimal force in Edessa. Again a rest period, then in 1210-1213 the HRE attacked, I lost Silesia for a decade, for the fact most of my forces were in the mid east, and some German bouts either sank mine, got away before I sank them, or just blocked me from bringing my men home. And as usual, the HRE got excommed, which led me to Polish Blitz them, wiping them out by 1240. Now by that time the GH appeared, which led me to think I was screwed when I counted about 13,000 men in Khazar, only province they attacked, to my garrison of 400, which was just 4 spearmen. I was able to bolster my numbers with some of the Mid-East vets, which made it 13,000 on 2200 or so. I lost Khazar, but the GH lost something more important, as some missile units were shooting at some of the MHC they managed to get the Khan, but I wasn't paying attention, and missed that. So despite losing some 1400 men before retreating, the KH was dead before they could even hold any land. After that... well I got bored with the campaign, and moved onto a Russian one.
Sorry for no pics tho, for one I never took any, and if i did, they'd be on my old hard drive, which since has died. Tho I do hope my recount wasn't to sub-standard.
Oh and one question, does anyone know of an image converter I could get? I'd like to start taking screen shots, and I know I need a converter. I had one before, but it left a water mark, which I found annoying. Anyway thanks in advance to anyone that can help me.
Part Eight of an Account of a VI 2.01 campaign as the Danes
The Era of the Three Popes
There were at this point three Popes – Clement in Rome having the superior claim, Innocent in Milan having inherited the role of anti-Pope, and Pius in Toulouse convincing no-one but the Spanish king who paid his bills and made his policy. Small wonder Europe was aflame with war.
Revenue from raiding and ransom boosted the flagging Danish economy, but the collapse of European trade remained a primary concern. Sadly, Knud’s attempts to promote peace fell on deaf ears. A mission led by Bishop Thorstein made overtures to Sultan Ali with the aim of ending hostilities, but with Danish forces besieging Ryazan there was little chance of peace. Alexius V, now successfully established as Emperor of Byzantium, was unmoved by the tun of greengage preserve sent by the Danish king, and promptly invaded Muscovy. Felipe of Spain, though married to Knud’s sister Birgitta, was unlikely to forget that the Danish king had killed his father, and in any case Knud’s brother Valdemar was still ravaging the Iberian peninsular. Even the Emperor Otto IV, whose nephew Sweyn was heir to the Danish throne, decided to break with his former allies in the hope of retaining some control over the increasingly independent Pope Clement and his Polish adherents.
Otto’s treason cost him dearly. Danish raiders attacked him in Greece and he was cut down in battle – though his son, Hermann, escaped to Italy where he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Ravenna.
The assassination of a number of their bishops led the Danish church down a more militant line, supporting the aggressive reforms of Innocent over the political accommodations of Clement. The Danish church – or more specifically, the Celtic element within the Danish sphere – followed this lead by providing an Inquisition of Faith. Fearing the impact on his own people, Knud encouraged the Inquisition to pursue targets in France and Poland, where the scions of Clement and the suspect Pope Pius held sway. The impact in Poland was minimal, and when a minor Spanish general was burned for heresy in Britanny, it seemed little more than an annoyance, a sign of diminishing faith in the Spanish leadership. But when the influential Lord Caris was executed in Normandy in 1243, the Lords of Europe began to take note of the Inquisition’s power. Wladislaw, though a protégé of Pope Clement, had never exhibited much piety or understanding of doctrine, and to correct this omission and ensure that no taint of heresy could be attached to his name, he contracted the services of a simple Friar to school him in the True Faith.
In a remote forest hermitage, this Friar delivered extreme unction to the monarch, and while this tale cannot say for certain whether Wladislaw entered the Kingdom of Heaven, he was at least conducted to the afterlife – sooner than he had planned. By the time his body was discovered, the Friar and his companions were well on their way to Denmark.
However, the rebel warlords who succeeded Wladislaw in control of Poland and Venice proved no less troublesome. In 1244 a war-band invaded Brandenburg and, for the time being, Knud had nothing to offer by way of resistance. They took the castle by storm the following year, before a reliving army could arrive. For the last few years Danish forces had been thoroughly occupied elsewhere…
A Date among the Palms
Despite the almost universal state of war, some individuals found time for more peaceful pursuits. Beneath the shady palm trees of a Moroccan oasis, Prince Hardeknud of Denmark found time to eat dates and drink coffee with camel-riding Berber merchants while their Catholic Spanish overlords humbly filled his coffers with silver. If the City Fathers of Marrakech did their work with little complaint, perhaps it was because the money was not their own, but their king’s. This was the ransom for the men captured in the battle at La Mancha last year. No doubt it would be spent on Danish armies that would wreak more havoc in Spain – but that was of little concern to the folk of Marrakech.
Hardeknud sipped his coffee and looked around thoughtfully. Despite his typically Nordic complexion – fair skin, light brown hair - he liked the hot desert climate. He had much preferred the years he had spent in Sicily to his early childhood in gloomy Denmark, notwithstanding the danger posed to his life by the rebels who ruled the island he had been taught to consider his birthright. Since his mother Valeria had died, he had learned to adopt a more realistic approach to his royal ambitions, but he hoped that his uncle Knud would continue to assign him to duties in warm places, and not make him the garrison commander of somewhere like Novgorod or Ireland. The sweet, strong coffee, which stimulated but never intoxicated, felt good in his stomach. He made a gracious gesture to the Spanish burghers, who indicated that they had completed their work.
“I like this country,” he said with a twinkle in his blue eyes. “So much so – I believe I may even choose to stay here.”
Don Fernando Perez, the knight in command of the Morocco garrison, regarded the strange youth curiously: “Stay here? Your Highness, is of course, welcome as our guest for as long as – ah – but surely other duties..? Your Royal Uncle…”
“I do not mean as a guest,” smiled Hardeknud, swatting a fly that threatened his coffee. “I was thinking more as a conqueror.”
“A conqueror?” asked the dumbfounded Don Fernando. “But Your Highness – you arrived under a flag of truce!”
“That truce applied to the prisoners I was escorting, and is not withdrawn,” replied the Prince, his voice rising in pitch. “They are free to seek out their homes, their families, providing they make no war on me. But as for you – you arrogant, overstuffed Spanish peasants – don’t bandy words with a Danish warrior, a son of kings, descended from the very gods themselves! I say I will take this place! In a moment, I could call on armies that will make you tremble behind the walls of your city. Choose either to fight me or to let me have my will.”
“You – you mean to fight us?”
“Of course, I intend to finish my coffee first,” replied Hardeknud, his voice calm again. “Then, I will send this treasure back to my ships. Then, I will disembark my men. If you have the stomach for it, meet us on the field of battle. If not, consider yourselves conquered.”
Don Fernando did not have the stomach for it. The walls of the citadel were strong, only hunger would breach them. But the prisoners returned from Spain would make short work of the supplies. He could pray this mad youth would get bored and leave them alone, or that King Felipe would send help from Spain or Tunisia. But the boy did not seem like one who would give up easily what he had taken, and Felipe had problems of his own. The people of Morocco would doubtless know famine and great loss before this conflict was resolved. With one last, horrified look at Prince Hardeknud, Don Fernando ordered the townsmen back to the walls, and then called for his swiftest horse to be brought. Meanwhile, Hardeknud finished his refreshments, mounted a camel and allowed himself to be led back to his ships.
Ghenghis Khan and Jebu Bator
The siege of Ryazan was interrupted by the arrival of the Byzantines under Lord Romanus, a largely Greek force well-equipped with crossbows and arbalests but, surprisingly, not supported by the formidable Mongol Heavy Cavalry who had chosen to join forces with the new Emperor. The besiegers, now defenders, were led by the formidable Haflidhi Forkbeard. Using his infantry and cavalry to best advantage, Forkbeard drew the attack onto his centre and then, before the better-armed Byzantines could get the better of an exchange of fire, he attacked with cavalry spreading out on his wings. The Byzantines were rolled up in minutes and routed. Losses were trivial on both sides –25 Danes, 161 Byzantines – but Forkbeard took over 700 prisoners. It was a stern warning to the new Emperor.
Ghenghis Khan was the alleged founder of the Golden Horde, a legendary hero or monster who had conquered all of Asia and whose descendants still ruled in India, China, Persia and much in between. Ogodai, his successor the west, had intended to add Europe to that empire, but had failed, and now another Ghenghis Khan, a scion of that great dynasty, served as a commanding officer under the Byzantines. It was a paltry position for a man whose bloodline might have made him master of the world. The Danish captain who opposed him in Pereyaslavl, Sir Ulf Skottkonung, made much of this in the exchange of words before the battle, provoking Ghenghis to furious anger. Sir Ulf knew he had little chance of defeating an army twice the size of his own tiny force, but that any losses taken in the field would prolong the survival of the garrison under siege. So he set out to fight and to kill as many Mongols as he could. His bowmen took a deadly toll of the Mongol horse archers, and his Viking warriors, ambushing Ghenghis’s Mongol nobility in a wood, did deadly work. But his Slavic allies fared less well against disciplined Byzantine infantry, and then Sir Ulf himself was struck and wounded with an arrow. As the Mongol cavalry slammed into the flank of his spearwall, Sir Ulf fell dying from a dozen wounds. His disheartened men fled back to the castle, save the Vikings who found themselves surrounded and died to the last man.
Another scion of the Golden Horde was Jebu, the conqueror of the Crimea and former Khan of the Alans. Like Ghenghis, he now served as an officer in the Byzantine army – “A Greek lackey where you were once a king,” as his opponent, Lord Haengsson put it. Haengsson, commanding the defence of Kiev, was a Swedish huscarle of the old school, a dour-handed fighting dog best pleased when he held an axe in his hands. “Many times have your countrymen come to grief on this crossing,” he warned. “If you wish your turn, I am happy to oblige.”
Jebu’s response was to muster his men for an attack across the Dneiper when the first snows fell. He was confident in his numbers – 2074 against 1246 – and the quality of his troops, a mix of Mongol warriors and Byzantine regulars. He also reasoned that despite his bravado, Lord Haengsson was not the commander Prince Valdemar had been.
As it turned out, Jebu had underestimated the sturdy Swede. His assault on the bridge went disastrously but predictably wrong as his horsemen, having weathered an arrow storm to cross the river, were struck by a volley from a Chinese organ gun placed on a sand-spit beside the bridge. Hardly a man made it across to the shield-wall that awaited them – English-born chivalric sergeants, ordered in unfaltering ranks. Within minutes the bridge was littered with dead and dying men and horses, and Jebu and the survivors were flying in panic. Some managed to rally for a second run, and they met the same fate. The Mongol infantry and horse archers came next, and they too found only death and disaster waiting.
As the attack faltered, Lord Haengsson unleashed his cavalry to chase the enemy infantry from the field. These proud companies of Rus nobles, Khazars and Avars unleashed their fury on the fleeing men, until Jebu’s cavalry reserves arrived to save them from complete massacre. Haengsson’s men fell back, and not without loss, but they fell back to a strongly defended position, and all that awaited the attacking force was more death. As heavy snow began to fall, the Mongols found it only blinded their archers, while Lord Haengsson’s arbalesters kept shooting and shooting – even amid the swirling snow, they knew where the bridge was and therefore where the enemy must be.
For the loss of 66 men, Lord Haengsson killed 853 and captured 21. Jebu’s losses would surely have been higher had his men been less willing to flee. Ten years earlier, the myth of Mongol invincibility had been a weapon of terror in his hand, but now it was the Danish defenders of Kiev who had that reputation.
The following year the Mongol nobility, still under the Byzantine banner, attempted one last hurrah, an assault on Chernigov. The lessons of previous bridge battles not being learned, they suffered as heavily as before, and once broken they found themselves pursued. If they had learned anything at all from their experiences, it was not to launch a second wave, but to quit the field.
By 1243, the Danes were able to take the offensive, moving to the relief of Pereyaslavl. Ghenghis and his men were outmanoeuvred by the armies arriving from Ryazan and Kiev, and after getting the worst of the early exchanges he fled the field. Meanwhile, Jebu Bator met an unexpected end, perishing in his cups after a wedding feast much as Attilla the Hun was said to have done. The presence of a Danish agent, Godfred Gille, in Sebastapol at this time suggests that the death was not necessarily of natural causes.
With their most capable leader dead and their armies broken into pieces, the threat of the Golden Horde had finally passed; and without his Mongol subjects the new Emperor Alexius V found himself in an awkward position on the steppe. He was driven from Volga-Bulgaria by Grand Duke of Lithuania, and captured the following year when he counter-attacked. The Grand Duke pressed his advantage, and by 1246 Khazar was taken, leaving Alexius and his weakened army penned up in the Crimean peninsular.
And I remember Spain…
Valdemar’s cruel campaign continued apace. The ravaging Danish army plundered and stripped Leon, Portugal and Cordoba in turn, the great citadel of Cordoba finally surrendering in 1242. While Valdemar offered the honours of war to the defenders – for a consideration, allowing them to march away with their weapons, armour and horses – he showed no such mercy to the defenceless citizens. Indeed, by this time Valdemar had left Spain, sailing round the Cape of Gibraltar to launch a surprise attack on Aquitaine. Other strands of his army had won comprehensive victories in Valencia and Granada, but with a small Valencian garrison firmly entrenched in the castle this attack was abandoned. Instead, the great Moorish citadel of Granada became the focus of another siege.
King Felipe could offer no relief to the suffering of his people. His strongest armies were concentrated in the north, where the Danish threat was no less. He encouraged uprisings against the ravaging invader, but where these occurred the Danes had long gone. Instead, local uprisings usually degenerated into skirmishes between loyalists and nationalists who had had their fill of Dane and Spaniard alike. Felipe’s plight became acute in 1243 when a strong Danish army landed in southern France and threatened to trap him in the citadel of Toulouse. He fled south, but the Danish armies pursued him into Aragon, while in Toulouse an apocalyptic battle in 1244 finished in favour of the Danes, two thousand Spaniards casting away their lives to try to relieve the citadel.
In Africa, the Spanish army gathered from Tunisia and Algeria marched to the relief of Marrakech, only to break itself into pieces against Prince Hardeknud’s besiegers. In the arid terrain Hardeknud’s Irish and Scottish swordsmen performed well against the spears and polearms of the Spaniards, clearing the way for his steppe horsemen to deliver the coup de grace. Confident of his plan (and wary of Spanish missiles) Hardeknud and his knights stayed dismounted at the top of a hill throughout the battle, Hardeknud sat on a rug eating dates even as the armies clashed a few yards away. His victory was complete, Marrakech surrendering the next day and Algeria lying open to the invaders. Hardeknud wasted no time in pressing his advantage. By 1245 Algiers was in his hands.
On the Flemish and Burgundian frontiers, Spanish armies declined further battle with the Danes for fear of coming into conflict with the French armies in the region. The French nobility had invested much in the resurgence of Henri of Rheims, many forfeiting lands elsewhere to come to his aid, and he had an impressively strong force in terms of both manpower and equipment. Perhaps Felipe could rely on Henri to succeed where he had failed?
Henri Deux, ce roi vaillant
Henri of Rheims, styled Henri II of France, commanded the largest and most modern field army to be found in any province of Europe. His first excursion had been to seize the province of Champagne from the Danes, and he had been unopposed. Thus encouraged – and not dismayed by the failure of his supporters in southern England – he mounted several more attacks on Danish territory.
The first of these was against Lorraine, where Sir Haakon Thorrodson led a defensive force less than half the size of the French army. Nonetheless, the Danes fought valiantly, and inflicted a humiliating defeat on Henri. The King only escaped the battlefield by hiding in a wood and stripping off his insignia of rank – the Danes had killed a decoy wearing the royal armour and had thought him dead. So did the French army, who fled, surrendered or died. Out of 3400 followers, Henri lost 515 killed and 1255 captured. Just 127 Danes were killed. Thorrodson’s use of ambush and manoeuvre throughout the battle were crucial to the extent of the victory.
His second attempt on Lorraine was with a larger, better equipped army, and was still more disastrous. Thorrodson had employed two organ guns in the first battle, but neither had fired. This time he had a chance to see their worth, shattering the fragile morale of the advancing French just before the point of impact. Henri was not seen during the battle, and is thought to have fled under cover of bad weather as the battle turned against him. The only saving grace for the French was that casualties were lower since their men fled earlier.
A third battle was fought in Flanders in 1243, Henri despairing of beating his nemesis and instead turning his forces on the young Prince Sweyn. As fate would have it, Sweyn had decided to relieve Thorrodson, transferring him to Flanders as a prelude to a furlough in Denmark. Thus the two opponents met for a third time in as many years, with Thorrodson commanding a substantially weaker and less experienced garrison in Flanders (some of its strength being needed to help suppress rebellion in Wessex). But the difference in the commanders was crucial. Thorrodson inspired his men to a crushing victory over the demoralised French, taking nearly a thousand prisoners despite a suggestion from Prince Sweyn that it would be better to offer no quarter. Henri, seeing the battle turn against him, fled the field with some alacrity. Prince Charles attempted to rally the second battle of the French – who might still outnumber the defenders – but his French nobles came out second best against a band of Swedish knights and with their demise the army was lost. Henri refused to ransom the prisoners. Some commoners were sent back to their homes, with the instruction never to serve the treacherous House of Rheims again. Some nobles also persuaded their captors to release them into peaceful retirement. But many throats were cut in the aftermath of that battle, and still more prisoners were cast into dungeons to waste away, waiting for ransoms that would never be paid. The fate of Charles, the King’s cousin and heir, remains unknown.
The reward for Sir Haakon Thorrodson would be the Dukedom of Pereyaslavl and marriage to the king’s niece, Princess Regitze. All Henri would earn from the experience was the chance of a re-match against a new and inexperienced opponent – the sixteen year old Prince Christoffer. But with his reputation as a king and warrior in tatters, the French king needed a resounding victory to restore his claim. Instead, his men barely stayed on the field long enough for the Danes to kill or capture them in any numbers.
The House of Aragon restored
As Felipe of Spain and his retainers fled across Spain before the rampaging army of Prince Valdemar, the people of Barcelona contemplated the return of the House of Aragon for the first time in almost a hundred years – for as a descendant of King Fernando through his daughter Violante, Valdemar might have restored to his kinsmen the throne wrested from them by Enrique of Castile in1150 .
Any Prince but Valdemar might have done so, but his reputation for brutal rapacity was further served by his treatment of the abandoned Barcelona. He turned it over to his soldiers, his ragged collection of Danes, English, Germans, Balts and steppe warriors, and once they had stripped it bare they burned it to the ground. Conquest was not his aim, but the destruction of his enemies and their cities. Abandoning Aragon, he chased King Felipe through Castile and finally saw him trapped in Navarre by an army including the Danish knight Sir Ulf Huntjofson. Hopelessly outnumbered, Felipe made a bold stand and died as his father had done, wielding a sword until Sir Ulf and his companions cut him down. He was 27 years old.
Felipe’s 30 year-old cousin, Alfonso, had the closest claim to the Spanish throne, and hastened to Valencia to stake his claim. He was crowned in December 1246, but his reign was to be short, since Valencia was ringed with Danish armies. Alfonso IX became the third Spanish king in succession to die in battle. Having fled the field when his armies were defeat ed in open battle, he acquitted himself better when the city fell to assault in March 1248, making the Danes pay dearly for the conquest and dying as well as his kinsmen had done.
The Emperor Hermann had barely escaped from Greece with his life after his father Otto had initiated war with Denmark, but he had lost no territory and showed no inclination to end hostilities. Rome and its puppet Pope remained within his grasp. But surely he must have recognised that the destruction of his mid-European realm was an inevitability if he did not come to terms with Denmark, while in Italy the power of the Doge Merino I and the struggle of the Catholic Church for independence was a threat to his precarious foothold in the Roman states. Nonetheless, he had a father to avenge and half an Empire to be won back.
Thus within a few years were the enemies of Denmark vanquished; but with warlords and maverick inquisitors continuing to light flames across every province, the prospect of peace seemed no closer.
Honestly Crazy Guy you have nothing to worry about - I have nothing but admiration for your storytelling. I just hope its not too confusing having two Danish accounts so close together, with similar names and situations.:dizzy2:Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyGuy
Having posted part eight of my account, I'm not sure there is much more to say with it. The Danes are clearly going to win eventually, though the Europe they will dominate will be a somewhat damaged one.:viking: Unless anything really interesting hapens I may just let it lie.
If I get the hang of posting pictures I may just finish off with a few screenshots, for completeness... :lam:
Actually Crazy Guy and Bregil, I have really enjoyed reading the two accounts in parallel. It is amazing how campaigns with the same faction have unfolded so differently. Sort of highlights one of the major attractions of this game, really.
That aside, both have been retold with great skill.
Well done both of you, I say! :2thumbsup:
Ah, if only I could get my nvidia problem sorted....:wall:
Light on the horizon, or false dawn?
I managed to get my old PC up and running....well, mostly...over the weekend.
Yes, I have had quite a bit of data loss, yes the on board clock seems to be really struggling, and yes, things keep hanging/crashing.....BUT....I did manage to get MTW fired up...and started a new campaign in XL 3.0 as the Serbs in early.
No promises that the PC will get me all the way to the end, but I will write up what I have done thus far....stay tuned, Serbs in early is a bit of a roller coaster (well it has been for me anyway!).
Cheers
First an apology - I have been away from this thread for quite some time - a mixture of real life not giving me enough time coupled with the time pressures of running a japanese Shogunate and holding back the Soviet hordes from Istanbul in 1963 (for more details see the Chapter House!!!) has meant no time to write up my MTW meanderings. However for all my fans.... well at least Martok!! I felt I should return with a quick update on my current campaign because I am finding it so interesting. Spurred on by the MTW challenge thread, I thought I would try something different. Most of my campaigns have gone the same way - rapid expansion, push on despite money problems, reach critical mass before anybody else. So I decided to look for a challenge where I could not follow my normal path.
I came up with Hard Byzantines in Late XL - outmoded troops, surrounded by potentialy more powerful enemies, lots of diplomatic challenges. Add the problems of low trade income with XL and I thought this could be fun.
So - what has happened so far? First you need to sort out your troops as your generals are rubbish. Being Byzantine you have a pile of titles to put in place. Careful useage gives you a 4 star and some 2 star generals. Troops are OK - Varagians, Katanks and Byz infantry and you can make them straight away. However you need to cut your cloth accordingly. Money is the issue so begin the build up of the economic side of things - trade, mines, farms etc. Inns are a top priority - you will need mercs ASAP. Finally I got busy diplomatically - the Bulgarians and Horde are top priority as you must secure things to the north and west.
The early years were dominated by a naval war with the Hospitalliers - they started it!! - and the build up described above. My only expansion was into Tresibond. The real pleasure is the inn in Nicaea - it is a honeypot for a host of mercs - I felt like a child in a sweet shop - longbows, bills, Chiv knights, CMAA, organ guns, pikes, gallowglasses - with gold armour!!, even lancers. Soon I had a powerful defence force - but no cash. My provinces were like the highway for a pile of Crusades off to the Middle east. All were allowed through so they could fight the Turks and Marmeluks for me. My war with the Hospitalliers ended when I had sunk his fleets and peace broke out. I stood back as the English, French and Armenians slugged it out with the forces of Islam. Once the Turks were weakened, I took out their last province - Anatolia.
So - a rollercoaster ride - after the first few years I was getting the insufficient funds message most moves. On the plus side, I have never had so many allies and my princess is married into the Horde. I concentrated on the diplomacy more than normal which has been fun. So the mix is diplomacy, money, mercs and watching and waiting for opportunities. I will post again soon with another exciting episode.:2thumbsup:
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 1 – A Place to Live
The year is 1080. Tzar Vukan I had assumed sovereignty over the Serbian people, and now faced the onerous task of ensuring a future for his people. This in itself would be no small task. To the north, the might of the Hungarian ruler Laszlo, sat poised like a hungry wolf ready to sweep south and swallow Serbia. To the east was the empire of the Byzantines. If Hungary was to be likened to a wolf, the Byzantines represented an entire pack, such were their numbers.
Vukan knew that either of these two neighbours would be more than able of crushing Serbia on a whim, and that he could ill afford to raise the ire of either. He also knew that in order to survive, his people needed more territory, and access to more resources. The answer to his dilemma lay to the west. Croatia had recently attained its own independence, and boasted ample mineral deposits. Unlike Serbia’s northern and eastern neighbours, Croatia was, like Serbia, something of a military minnow. Yes, mused Vukan, it was indeed the time for bold and decisive action. Troops would have to be raised, and raised quickly, so that he may strike before any other laid claim to the rich lands that he so coveted.
Ever the pragmatist, Vukan also took steps to ensure (as best he could) the security of his northern and eastern borders. Emissaries were duly despatched north to an audience with the Hungarian court, and east to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.
As the spring thaw of 1082 warmed the lands on the Adriatic coastline, Vukan’s army had at last reached a state of readiness, and with their Tzar himself at the head of the column, the Serbians marched on the Croatians. This was not to be the first conflict between Serb and Croat, nor, sadly, would it be the last.
News of the approaching Serbian army spread quickly, and the Croatians hastily gathered a force to meet the invader. At the head of the Croatian army was Nicephorus Stratiocus. As his name betrayed, Stratiocus was originally a Byzantine, and had served the armies of his homeland with distinction before deciding to sell his sword in foreign lands. Stratiocus chose to face the Serbs in the rolling hills east of the old village of Prnjavor.
The Battle of Prnjavor
The Croatian army was comprised of spearmen and horse archers. The Serbian army was comprised solely of horse archers. The Serbs did, however, enjoy a numerical superiority. Including the Tzar’s own Carska Garda, the Serbian horse archers outnumbered the Croatians by just over 2 to 1, and the resulting advantage in weight of fire would prove decisive in the coming battle.
Stratiocus was painfully aware of this fact, and in a vain attempt to reduce the Serbian advantage, he chose to split his force, taking the fight to the enemy with his horse archers, whilst leaving his spearmen to hold a small hillock. It was to prove a disastrous miscalculation. The Serbians horse archers rained death upon the Croats. As the sole surviving Croatian horse archer fled the carnage in panic, the Serbs turned their attention to the Croatian spearmen. Tzar Vukan knew full well that he did not have to engage the Croats. He simply surrounded them, and watched as volley after volley of arrows depleted the Croatian ranks. Finally, with all arrows expended, the Serbs charged in from all sides to rout the devastated survivors.
As the battle drew to a close, 66 Croats lay dead on the field. 73 sat as sullen faced captives. Only 2 Serbs perished in the battle.
This battle, though not the last of the campaign, was indeed decisive. Another Byzantine, Romulus Angelus, attempted to rally a Croatian army in 1083. He marched to meet Vukan’s force near the township of Kostajnica.
The “Battle” of Kostajnica
The engagement at Kostajnica was perhaps one of the most unusual “battles” of this era. With the magnitude and manner of the Serbian victory at Prnjavor still fresh in the minds of his troops, and with a number of unresolved questions about the mental stability of Angelus, his army quietly dissolved on the very eve of the battle. When Angelus awoke, he found not another soul still in camp. A lesser man would have quietly ridden away, but not Angelus. While his actions that day may indeed have confirmed the rumours regarding his sanity, they would also speak volumes of the bravery and determination of Romulus Angelus, as he rode alone to meet the armies of Serbia, and died alone in a hail of Serbian arrows.
Croatia was now under the rule of Vukan I.
The Conquest of Venice
Word of the Serbian victories in Croatia travelled far and wide, and in 1086 came the welcome news that King Sancho of Aragon wished to cement an alliance with Serbia. To this end, he offered the hand in marriage of his daughter, Princess Isobel to Prince Vukan. Tzar Vukan I was delighted to accept on behalf of his eldest son.
The young Prince had always been pleased to help his father to secure the future of their fledgling kingdom – and in this case, particularly so. The beauty of Isobel was legend throughout the Mediterranean nations, and upon meeting his betrothed, Vukan discovered that not only was the Princess every bit as radiant as she had been rumoured to be, but she was also “of a most pleasing demeanour and disposition”. To his great joy, Isobel also found his company to be every bit as pleasing to her. Whilst their marriage had indeed been arranged, the two soon found themselves very much in love.
Love, though, however strong, cannot stand in the way of duty – particularly when one is heir to the throne. Prince Vukan was soon enough to be wrenched away from his bride to commence training a new army. Barely 5 years after the bells had peeled the joyous news of the wedding of Vukan and Isobel, they now tolled news of war with the Venitians, following attacks on Serbian shipping in the Adriatic. Fortunately for Serbia, Prince Vukan’s army was by now ready to meet the threat of Venitian aggression. In 1091, they marched on Venice itself. The Venitians surrendered both their dignity and their home province, fleeing in disarray before Prince Vukan’s army. A decisive victory in the Adriatic followed in 1092, and with his forces on both land and sea now embarrassed by the Serbs, the Venitian Doge appealed for a ceasefire in 1094. Tzar Vukan magnanimously accepted.
Barely three years later, relations between Serbia and Venice had further improved to the point that a treaty of alliance was signed in 1097.
Tzar Vukan’s diplomatic skills had won him friends both near and far. King Olaf I of Denmark was so impressed with the Serbians military power and diplomatic skills that he too sought an alliance with Vukan. In 1098 his emissaries arrived to offer the hand of the Princess Ulfhild to Prince Stefan. Vukan accepted on behalf of his second son, and once again Serbia rejoiced to news of a royal wedding.
Sadly, whilst the union of Vukan and Isobel had proved a happy one, the marriage of Stefan and Ulfhild was not so. Stefan soon turned to the bottle for solace, and rumours were to emerge of a number of adulterous affairs.
In 1102, a number of provinces of the Holy Roman Empire rose up in rebellion, and it was not long before both the Tyrolians and the Austrians had won their independence. This provided an opportunity too good to resist, and in 1104, at the tender age of just 20 years, Prince Uros, third in line to the Serbian throne, led a Serbian army north to seize Austria from the Schaunbergs.
Battle joined at Gmund
Uros caught the army led by Ludwig Karolinger near the township of Gmund. The Austrians attempted to flee into the nearby mountains, but Uros’ men, with a significant advantage in speed due to their horse archers, raced ahead to cut off their retreat. With the horse archers of Zivota Chavic in the van, the Serbian force then ruthlessly rode the Schaunbergs down. 41 Austrians were killed for the loss of just one Serb.
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Austria now joined Venice and Croatia as Serbian conquests.
With this victory fresh in his mind, Tzar Vukan now felt that the time was right to challenge the might of Hungary. The Hungarian army had been worn down through the long running war with the Cumans in the east, and could not field anything like the numbers that they would have boasted in days gone by.
“The Cumans have pulled a great many of the Hungarian Wolf’s teeth,” noted Vukan to his generals, clearly intending to stick with his favourite metaphor for his northern adversaries. “Now is the time for us to strike.”
The Battle of Maribor Bridge
Tzar Vukan assembled a substantial army, and marched north in 1108. His army met the Hungarians at Maribor Bridge on the River Drava. With only the one crossing available, his trusted advisor, Vasa Jimovic, pleaded with the Tzar to reconsider. “My Lord, please reconsider. We can face the Hungarians on another day, on a field more conducive to victory.”
Vukan would have done well to heed the counsel of his general. After many hours of bloody combat, 465 Hungarians and 614 Serbs lay dead, and the bridge remained firmly in Hungarian hands. The waters of the Drava ran red for many leagues upstream, and the wailings of widows and mothers on both sides of the Drava were to rent the air for weeks to come.
This defeat did not deter Vukan, however, and in 1109 he launched a second invasion of Hungary. This time the Serb army marched east from Austria, under the leadership of Prince Uros.
The dissatisfaction and depression of Prince Stefan reached new depths with news of this appointment. Not only was his elder brother, Vukan, the next in line to the throne and in perfect health, but now he had been overlooked for his younger brother! He retreated further into the bottle.
The Battle of Szombathely
The Hungarians chose to make their stand at Szombathely, in the western region of the province. Uros enjoyed an advantage that had been denied his father the preceding year – open ground. The Hungarians were no longer protected from his horse archers and mounted crossbowmen by the natural barrier of a river, and he meant to take full advantage of this opportunity.
He directed a troop of horse archers and one of mounted crossbows to skirt around either flank of the Hungarian force. The remnants of a troop of Hungarian horse archers tried in vain to fend off one such pairing, but the simple mathematics of 40 horse archers and 40 crossbows against 24 horse archers dictated that the Hungarians were soon eliminated from the battle. On the opposing flank, the Hungarians had but 18 archers to call upon for support, and these men too, were soon dead or fleeing.
The Hungarians now faced 155 archers and crossbowmen to their rear, and 120 archers and 40 horse archers to their front. Knights, javelin men, Slav Warriors, Urban Militia, and Spearmen alike died under the hail of arrows that rained down upon their position, before the Serbs charged their depleted foes. Again Vasa Jimovic and his Voynuk swordsmen led the way, eager to avenge their fallen comrades from Maribor. Uros and his army had won the day! 471 Hungarian dead littered the field, alongside 243 sons of Serbia. 86 Hungarian prisoners gloomily awaited their fate. With the Cumans on the march in the east, it was unlikely that the Hungarian King would be able to spare a ransom for their release, even if he were able to hold Carpathia.
Those Hungarians that survived the battle at Szombathely retreated to the sanctuary of Esztergom Castle. It was to provide them with precious little respite, falling to Prince Uros after the briefest of sieges. Hungary had fallen! While it was true that a state of war still existed between Hungary and Serbia, the sole remaining Hungarian loyalists were now under siege in Carpathia, with that province, together with neighbouring Wallachia under Cuman control. As a consequence, Tzar Vukan was secure in the knowledge that the Hungarians posed little (if any) real threat. Fortunately for those at court, his Chamberlain successfully advised against yet another tedious "Hungarian Wolf" analogy.
In 1113 came the news of the death of the Hungarian king at the hands of the Cumans. With his demise, along with the last of his line, the Hungarians were no more. Tzar Vukan I ordered a great celebratory feast. The 34 years of his rule had seen Serbia grow from a single province nestled precariously between two mighty empires to five provinces – Serbia, Croatia, Venice, Austria, and Hungary. Vukan knew that if he could hold these territorial gains, his empire was in a very healthy position indeed. Sadly, the now elderly Tzar had precious little time in which to enjoy the fruits of his labours. In 1114, he passed away peacefully in his sleep, and his eldest son ascended the throne as Tzar Vukan II.
The reign of Tzar Vukan II would start in a healthier position than had that of his father, but threats and potential enemies and rivals still surrounded Serbia. Only time would tell if Vukan could live up to the exploits of his great father. Could he guide his people to prosperity? Would he be able to fend off enemy armies? Would the old computer hold together long enough to complete this campaign?
Perhaps the next 45 years would hold the answer….
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Welcome back Bamff, may your hard drive prosper.
This is my attempt at writing a history of me Empire, I don't go whole hog and bother trying to win through domination. I play with the pomp and ignorance of the faction at that time, plus i'm lazy. Cheers to Ja mata TosaInu who fixed my account for me.
I am trying the Napoleonic Total War as a change for a while. I'm not a great writer and a worse MTW/NTW gamer.
Faction: English
Mod: Napoleonic Total War
King George II
King George II of Great Britain, Ireland and Hanover is an autocrat king who rules a small power Empire; a small badly equipped army and an incapable economy burden this Empire. The English realising that the French could quickly become a threat and with a weak economy and an unready army decide that an ally on the continent is best. The Dutch seem ideal, a country that England has had links with in the past that posses a strong navy and good army. An emissary is hired to negotiate an alliance with the Dutch against the French, failing this he instructed to propose a treaty of mutual support for each other should one be attack by the French. A Dutch fishing ship seeing a Royal navy ship sailing to Holland docks gets the wrong impression and instead of the alliance the Dutch king declares war. The initial battle along the English Channel saw an English 6-rate ship lost for 1 Dutch 5-rate ship; neither side gains an advantage.
The naval battle the next year however results in a very different outcome, the English fleet is caught deploying and all but one ship is destroyed, the Dutch people rejoice and the British panic. The same year the French join the war by invading (Dutch) Flanders, King George seeing them as a good short term ally offers his daughter in marriage. The French Emperor Louis I officially rejoices but both sides see this only as a temporary truce, although King George still thinks a permanent negotiation can be made. The French persuade the English that an attack on land would win the war quicker and cheaper than a navel fight. The English loosing most of their ships in a previous battle do not make an attempt to argue and the British Kings German Legion Army (BKGLA) is ordered to prepare an attack. The BKGLA’ general replies that he will not win if he does not get any artillery, the King and his advisors agree but decide not just to send two regiments of four-pounder artillery but the 1st British army which was based in the East Midlands at the time. The new allied force, now joined by the Swedish who are at war with the Danes, Know it’s only a matter of time before they are victorious and the Dutch realise that time is not on their side. In the year 1753 the Danish whilst struggling in the war with the Swedish receive a message from their Dutch ally requesting help in their struggles against the allies. Suggesting an immediate attack of the British in Hanover reasoning that their navy is tied up and economy is weak could only resist for so long. The Danish King bound by his alliance and short of troops himself he decides to attack Hanover the same year. The Danish army comprises of no artillery, cavalry of a lot of fighting spirit but little fighting value and infantry, which is average in everything. The BKGLA and the 1st BA British armies are multi-cultural forces, comprising of Germans, Englishman and Scotsman they have adequate artillery, cavalry that is good but only light Hussars and some of the best infantry in the Europe. The Danish King attacks in April 1753 and meets the British army at a river crossing where battle shall commence.
The Defence of Hanover
The battle stumbled into action early, the English held three bridges across the river, two of these bridges are close to each other because there’s a small town either side of the bank. The engagement begins with Danish hussars perhaps more than 3 regiments strong charging across one of the pair of bridges and engages British Highland Infantry. This regiment was chosen purposely by the British armies General Robin Neville as he knew BHI would be best in a melee engagement, which the battle might come to. The Hussars proved their fighting spirit but also their lack of fighting worth;the attack was a terrible failure taking nearly 100% killed.
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On the right side of the battlefield the Danish king marched across the bridge to see how well it was defended seeing 200 of the Kings German Legion he marched back across. The Danish king soon attacked again this time supported by 200 Danish line infantry. The king charged into the KGL taking no account of how much slower infantry is to cavalry, the Last Danish king was killed with all his bodyguards before the 200 Danish infantry could catch up to support him. The Danish infantry attacked, the KGL took this onslaught in their stride pushing the Danish back onto the bridge. By this point the Four-pounder artillery had been given enough time to position itself on the high ground, set up and had been long pounding the Danish infantry and those Danish Hussars that hadn’t attacked on the left.
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The near by houses took their fair share of the shells which damaged many houses and shielded some of the Danish army. On the right the KGL was fighting fiercely and the remaining 34 Danes ran from the field in determination to save their own necks chased by the remaining 189 KGL. With an improvised council now commanding the battle for the late king, it is decided with the right flank unprotected and as the king is dead the Danish are defeated a withdrawal is planned to end useless bloodshed unknown to the English General. The Danish council for war sent a regiment of Danish infantry to engage the Highland Infantry on the other side of the bridge to give the rest of the army time to withdraw, the Danish regiment ran away in no time but the British did not pursue the Danish. The figures released by neutral observers seem to be the best, the British killed 580 mostly by artillery and lost 40 themselves. The Danish faction was eliminated although Denmark remains independent, ruled under the council of war retitled Government, Robin Neville is praised for providing a decisive English victory and the Dutch loose their ally and face the war alone.
King George II
The Dutch took their new-found solitary stance in their stride when in 1754 a fleet that consisted of both French and British ships was almost entirely defeated by the outnumbered Dutch fleet. The entire English Navy was sunk and all but one French naval ship in the English Channel was sunk, however the Dutch took losses of their own and unlike the British of French didn’t have the finances or the resources to replace their losses. The British Government questioned the slow advance of the army and the army blamed the poor state of the economy and failings of the navy. General Neville realising he needed to provide a victory, made even more so by the recent delivery of two regiments of eight-pounder artillery and the kings son Prince Alfred to command one of the armies under Neville. While the British bickered one of her allies Prussia was locked in a war with Poland, being pushed out of Prussia itself in summer 1755. Although not apart of the allies, the Prussians are naturally close to Britain because of the British involvement in Hanover. By the end of 1755 Neville had come up with a plan to invade the province of Holland and in early 1756 a re-born allied fleet destroyed the Dutch navy. The beginning of the end has come, the Dutch have no means of replacing their losses at sea and it becomes obvious it’s simply a matter of time. Such time comes in the spring of 1759 when two British armies commanded by Prince Alfred and supreme commander Robin Neville attack the small but potent Dutch army.
The battle starts with two regiments, ten eight-pounder guns being ordered to bombard the Dutch line principally to kill the large amount of Dutch cavalry employed. Over the course of the bombardment the artillery regiments are ordered to fire at different Hussar regiments and thin out their numbers effectively. As the English line Infantry and KGL line up the bombardment is support by two regiments of Four-pounder artillery tasked with attacking the Dutch line infantry. Two regiments of Kings German Legion Hussars march towards some trees near the Dutch left flank, as the thin red wall of infantry begins to advance. As this wall passes the artillery, each artillery regiment is ordered to cease-fire respectively finishing with the four-pounders.
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Each British Line regiment is tasked with Dutch or Belgian line regiment in front of them they must head for, the engagement of infantry is short but decisive. General Neville avoids capturing as many men as possible in order to keep the Dutch garrison large enough to starve out rather than having to try and storm the fort, he realises he doesn’t have siege artillery at all and would take huge casualties trying to break in. Instead he uses his Hussars to intimidate the Dutch to carry on running. The Dutch are in a siege and although the Dutch king was killed in the bombardment, he was replaced by his son and has no reason to call for peace as it is likely that Holland could rebel against the English. The war isn’t over an MP in the commons is heard saying and true it might be.
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Napoleonic Total War looks great, I really should get back to rebuilding my Medieval Empires. :2thumbsup:
Alright, a bit of news. Due to some mod-hopping(and my bad case of restart-itis, I will no longer be continuing my French campaign. However, I have detirmined to try and narrate the entire tale of the line of the Grand Princes of Kiev next, courtesy of VikingHorde's XL v. 3.0 mod.
The Tale of the Grand Princes of Kiev.
Chapter One- The tale of Ysevolod the Great
The Rise of Eastern Orthodoxy.
In the year 1080 of our Lord, Ysevolod I ascended to the rank of Grand Prince of Kiev. His subjects at the time consisted of a few ranks of loyal soldiers, and the provinces of Kiev and Pereyslavl. To his north and south, Pagans ruled in the forms of the Lithuanians and Cumans, respectively. Several less powerful kingdoms ruled over several of the nearby provinces. Likewise, all were Pagan. Ysevolod was determined to expand his rule, to ensure the continuity of his blood, and to convert the savage pagans. However, he needed to prioritize first. Immediately upon his coronation to the rank of Grand Prince, he sent diplomats to the southern pagans, the Cumans, to persuade them to an alliance. Efforts proved successful, with the Cuman Khan vowing his support for Ysevolod. Meanwhile, he raised what troops he could in Kiev, in preparation for an invasion of Lithuania. He would need the rich areas for income, in addition to destroying a potential rival. His opportunity occured just two years after his coronation. The Lithuanian king sent many of his best troops to subdue the native people of Cherginov, leaving his home province with little defense. Pouncing on the opportunity, Ysevolod led an invasion of Lithuania himself. The Lithuanian troops, outnumbered and out commanded, retreated back to the keep. However, it would not be long before the garrison soon began running out of supplies. Lithuania was unable to counter attack the larger force, and after two years of seige, Ysevolod captured Lithuania. After two years of consolidation his rule in Lithuania, Ysevolod gathered his army, and with reinforcements from Kiev, invaded Cherginov, and destroyed the outnumbered Lithuanian army absolutely.
With Lithuania no longer a threat, Ysevolod could focus on consolidating his territory. He sent diplomats to the independant peoples of Smolensk, and, with a monetary incentive, convinced the troops in the region to declare their loyalty to Ysevolod. Now with a sizable economic base, Ysevolod began looking elsewhere for further conquest. To the north were his allies and fellow Orthodoxy followers, the Princes of Novgorod. He was still allied to the pagan Cumans to the south. However, to the west, conflict opened the door. In 1093, the Cumans launched their first invasion of the Polish kingdom. Poland was not one of the kingdoms that Ysevolod counted in his favor. Gathering a great army, he prepared to help his allies, by assisting in destroying Poland. He put his son, Ysevolod II, in charge of the army. Ysevolod II was, like his father, a sound military mind. He was at once considered to be a skilled warrior, but the luxuries of courtly life took their tolls on his physique. By the time of the planned invasion, he was grossly overweight, reducing his battlefield activity to that of a supervisor.
However, it would turn out that Ysevolod II would not need to fight much in the coming battles. In 1096, Ysevolod II led a large invasion of Volhynia. The Polish army, despite having comparable numbers, could not match Ysevolod II's army, and knew it. While the Kievan army was composed of many heavy Rus Spears and mounted crossbowmen and horse archers, the Polish army consisted mostly of slavic conscripts and fragile militia troops. The Polish army retreated, and surrendered the province without a fight. Two years later, Ysevolod II was once again on the move. This time, his target was Prussia. The native Prussians were attempting to withstand a Polish seige at that moment. Once again, despite having comparable numbers, the Polish retreated from the province, which soon fell to Kievan forces, as the garrison had already been stretched to the limit. In the south, Poland was just holding off Cuman forces in lesser Poland, exchanging the province back and forth before finally expelling Cuman forces for good. However, during the battles, the Polish king fell ill, and his son, Wladyslaw, took over. It seemd Wladyslaw did not have his father's caution, as he immediately ordered forces stationed in greater Poland to retake Prussia, despite having a slight numerical disadvantage, and a great disadvantage in the professionality of his army. And it would be at the battle of Prussia that the Polish army would be broken.
Battle of Prussia
Ysevolod II, still in command of the grand army, was much surprised when he learned from his scouts that Wladyslaw had sent a force to attack him. He arranged his troops in a straight line, with his heavy Rus spears dominating the middle of the formation, and woodsmen levied from Lithuania hedging the flanks. In front were mounted crossbowmen and horse archers, and at the very edge of the formation wee his elite cavarly, the Druzhinas. The Polish army, seeing a straight formation matched against them, attempted to copy it for their attack. Polish troops, most of whom were levied slavs and militias, had little resolve in comparison to the stalwart heavy infantry of the Kievans. Furthermore, the few Polish troops which could have matched up on the Kievan troop had to walk through a hail of arrow and crossbow fire. The battle became a slaughter. The heavy Rus spearmen easily repelled the light Polish infantry, many of whom routed quickly in the face of such professional soldiers. The effect became near instantaneous. The Polish formation crumbled as troops ran off wholesale, so much so that soon, even the Polish general fled. Seing his fleeing enemy, Ysevolod II ordered all of his cavalry to run the enemy down, with his infantry advancing behind them. In all, over 500 Polish soldiers were captured, all of whom were summarily executed.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Polish army would never truly recover from Wladyslaw's disastrous decision. However, Ysevolod cared not for the territories of Greater and Lesser Poland. He was of the opinion that it would unnecessarily open him to more potential enemies and give more territories to defend. So, he offered Wladyslaw the opportunity for peace. However, Wladyslaw would decline Ysevolod's offer three times. Upon the third denial, Ysevolod threw a fit of rage, and sent orders to his son to march his army through both Greater and Lesser Poland, and destroy anything and everything. Ysevolod II took the opportunity, and marched his force south from Prussia, into Greater Poland. Nearly all Polish resistance in the region was still shattered from the disastrous invasion of Prussia. Polish troops retreated, and Ysevolod II yet another province without a fight. Once there, Ysevolod II gave the orders to his troops to destroy, pillage, and burn everything of value. In all, over 2,000 Florins would be added to the Kievan coffers, florins which were badly needed due to the economic strain caused by constant warfare. With everything in Greater Poland razed, Ysevolod II continued his march south, into Lesser Poland. Lesser Poland was the last bastion of Polish strength, and offered the only hope of resistance against Ysevolod II and the Kievan army. It would be here that Wladyslaw would make his stand.
Battle of Krakow.
Despite Wladyslaw's numerical superiority, Ysevolod II was once again confident that the battle would be a short one. The Polish army consisted of yet more slavic conscripts, although this army would field more cavalry than previous ones, with a fair number of mounted crossbows and regular horsemen, in addion to Wladyslaw's royal guard. It should be noted that the Polish army finally had fielded a few professional soldiers, in the form of two units of armoured spears. However, the heavy Rus spears offered good counted to Wladyslaw's cavalry, as well as being superior in both numbers and quality to the armoured spears.
The Polish army had gathered itself at a natural enclave, a grassy pasture surrounded on two sides by forest, which offered good cover. However, Ysevolod II instead marched through the grassy opening, to give his horse archers and mounted crossbows adequate room to fire. He set the crossbows in front, with the horse archers behind them. The battle would open with many bloody volleys from the Kievan forces, as the Polish simply couldn't match up volley for volley. After nearly emptying his ranged troops ammunition, Ysevolod II marched his forces towards the enclave, in tight ranks and formation, forming a wall of spears, with cavalry, woodsmen, and tribal voi swordsmen coming behind. The Polish troops finally attempted a charge at the Kievan frontline, offering stiff resistance to the Kievan march As Ysevolod II's forces continued onwards, an ambush of Polish mounted crossbows and horsemen suddenly materialized on the flank of his army. The Polish cavalry inflicted severe damage before they were finally repelled back into the forests. Meanwhile, the few professional soldiers of the Polish army had long been defeated, and the slavic conscripts were offering little resistance. Wladyslaw, with defeat seeming near inevitable, managed to pick a moment at which the Kievan troops were least organized, and made a last charge into Kievan ranks. Wladyslaw would turn out to be a valourous foe, slaying many Kievans and fighting continously for nearly 15 minutes, despite being surrounded on all sides. In the end, Wladyslaw would meet his end at the hand of a tribal voi soldier, just as Polish reinforcements were coming to the field. By this time, the battle was all but over, but the Polish troops, with no province to retreat to, offered as fierce a resistance as possible, before finally fleeing the field for good.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Following the battle of Krakow, Ysevolod heard word that his ally, the Cumans, were faltering under the pressure of Hungarian invasion. The Hungarians had invaded Moldavia, and put in under their rule. While his sone was besieging the survivors in Lesser Poland, Ysevolod sent his his daughter, Svetlana, to the Hungarain court of King Bela. As the keep near Krakow fell to Kievan rule, Svetlana was officially wed to Bela's son, Bela II. Ysevolod II sent a messenger to his father, sending word that he was saddened to miss the beatiful wedding(and the bounteous feast that was bound to ensue). And as per the marriage agreement, Ysevolod agreed to cancel his alliance with the Cumans, in favor of Bela. Meanwhile, bandits had risen up in Greater Poland, and taken the province for themselves. Once again, Ysevolod II razed the infrastructure of yet another province, pulling in yet more income to aid the strained Kievan coffers. Ysevolod II pulled his army out of Lesser Poland, into Volhynia, and once again left it to any rebels who might take the opportunity. Unfortunately, as luck would have it for the now aging Ysevolod, Polish loyalist instead took control of Lesser Poland, and also convinced the bandit troops in Greater Poland to convert to the Polish Banner as well. However, it mattered little, as Poland was still effectively rendered impetent, with little infrastructure, and few troops.
With Poland effectively out of the picture, and with little reason to not do so, Ysevolod, now in his 60's, took advantage of the situation with the Cumans. The Cumans, under intense pressure from Hungary, suffered a bitter civil war, with their troops in Leser Khazar rebelling. With his coffers now somewhat less strained, Ysevolod felt confident in convincing the rebels to join the Kievan banner, with a little incentive, of course. The next year, he heard good word that the rebels had joined his ranks, netting him Leswer Khazar a well, once the transition was complete. Meanwhile, he gathered a small army in Kiev to invade Levidia, which consisted mostly of Rus spearmen and Druzhina cavalry. He sent them, along with few units of woodsmen from Volhynia, to take Levidia. However, this battle would not be under the leadership of either Ysevolod or Ysevolod II, and instead were under the leadership of the promising but raw commander, Mikhail Shchukin. Furthermore, the Cumans were an entirely different threat than the Poles.
Battle of Levidia
The Cuman forces had chosen a vast, grassy plain on which to fight the battle. Concerened about the Cuman cavarly's mobility and ferocity, Shchukin attempted to keep his spearmen close together, and prevent holes from opening up. However, he hadn't taken into account the few units of Cuman warriors, armed with the fearsome recurve bow. The warriors, at the far front of the Cuman army, began inflicting severe casualties. Shchuking sent a unit of Druzhinas to charge the warriors, and break them. The warriors began to fall back in the face of the charge, but failed to retreat orderly. The unit fell into chaos, and routed. However, as the Druzhinas were attempting to run them down, a unit of Cuman Heavy Cavalry charged towards them. Shchukin sent the signal for the feigned retreat. He ordered the Druzhinas to pretend to panick, running away from the Cuman cavalry, leading the cavalry straight to the Kievan main body. The Cuman cavalry abliged, chasing the Druzhinas into a wall of spears. The Rus spears were shocked by the ferocity in which the Cuman cavalry slammed into them, and suffered casualties despite their inherent advantage. However, not Shchukin ordered a unit woodsmen to wheel around, and the woodsmen let loose a terrible charge into the Cuman's ranks, tearing through the Cuman armor with their axes. With one of the Cuman heavy cavalry routed, Shchukin felt confident, and sent roughly half of his force, including the Druzhinas, towardst the rest of the Cuman cavarlymen, and another unit of Cuman warriors. The rest were to guard against a flank attack from the Cuman warriors who had recovered from being routed earlier. However, half the force prooved insufficient, as the Druzhina's were routed, and many spearmen died. Not until the woodsmen were once again able to hit the Cuman flank with their charge were the Cuman cavalry all defeated. With their cavalry gone, the Cumans were left with few troops, only standard archers, the unit of warriors, and no more. With so little in their favor, and their general perished under the strike of an axe, the remaining Cumans fled the field. In all, the Kievans won, but never had a win been so bloody, relatively, for them.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
However, Ysevolod would not hear the results of Shchukin's efforts. During the winter of 1118, he fell ill, and at the venerable age of 67, died. Although he did not lead many of the battles that would make him legend, the scope of his conquests, as well as the leadership he provided, gave the territories under the Kievan princes an astounding start to secure their future as serious players in world conflicts. At the beginnin of his reign, in 1080, he held only Kiev and Pereyaslavl. At the time of his death, in 1118, he had expanded his realm into the Baltics, put Levidia under siege and taken Lesser Khazar, secured many small independant realms for Kiev, rendered the Poland impetent, and nearly completely vanquished Paganism, with the aid of his allies, the Princes of Novgorod. Now his son, the war hero, Ysevolod II, would take the throne. Could he mimick his father's success, despite taking the throne at a much older age? Only time would tell.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The year 1760 to 1765
General Neville, after his victory, wanted to command the forces in Holland for the siege but was ordered by King George to return him and his army to England and prepare his forces to attack Iberia. Prince Alfred was given command of the BKGLA in Holland, he was instructed to prevent rebellions in Holland, this task he succeed with a combination of pardons and capital punishments. Neville arrived back in England in 1762 and in the same year Christian III of Denmark returned to his Kingdom of Denmark to try and remove the evil `democratic` government that had become a dictatorship. With a combination of numerical and better forces Christian III sent the Rebel army, which was equipped with old muskets and rationed gunpowder, reeling back into Copenhagen national fort. Here a waiting game ensued. England’s spell of isolationism is quickly disappearing as, in the year 1763 King George hosts a banquet for an emissary employed by the Austria Emperor in the hope that an alliance can be struck. This news initially came as a surprise to George not expecting such a great empire to acknowledge such a small power, perhaps the war with the Dutch has, however slightly, put England on the map and the King accepts gracefully. During the celebrations of the new friendship news is brought to the King’s attention that his son has successfully starved the garrison of Holland to surrender whilst avoiding rebellion. The English proudly announces the news while the Austrians confirm with themselves that England was the better nation to ally with. King George however is still concerned by the poor state of his navy, even though it has recently beaten a Dutch fleet it was allied with the French and realises that isolationism has resulted in an old-fashioned and badly lead navy that could become a liability in a coming war. At the next parliament, that year, the King announces his plans to rebuild and improve the navy with new technology, with better and in the short term more ships. Not all of parliament wants to expand the navy, seeing it as a form of aggression but these are mainly old school MPs of the isolationist period and the bill is passed.
The King sees expanding the navy as a way of contributing to the allied course, the British high command see it as a way of putting the French off attacking. While the King believes the French will keep their side of the treaty, the British still remember the many times either side failed to keep to the terms of agreements. The Kings beliefs lie in a simple belief that Europe will be divided between the three allies. The Swedish will hold the smallest slice mainly Scandinavia and northern Russia, the British will hold the next biggest slice roughly 40:60 to the French slice which will be the biggest. The British argue this is ridicules but all they have to back it up with is history which the King dismisses, the debate is briefly forgotten by the announcement by the Prussians that the Polish have been defeated on the date 1764. In the same year the Danes take Denmark from the rebels thus returning Denmark back to autocratic Danish rule. Early into 1765 aren’t good to Neville who is planning the invasion of Spanish Iberia because the Spanish announce the defeat of the Portuguese who Neville was hoping to ally with in Iberia. This is a blow to Neville realising that if the Portuguese can be defeated and the French aren’t taking any ground the British army might struggle, for the first time Neville is siding against the war, it is officially recognised that he is `very honest`. However despite these reservations by more and more people England still prepares for war, cannon foundries are founded, barracks set up and farms raised. At a formal meeting of the three allies the King announces unofficially that he could attack in two years, the British look to see how the French react and the French aren‘t sure what to make of it naturally weary of British plans as the British high command expected.
Wars and alliances
In 1765 an emissary employed by the Russian tsar appeared at court to propose an alliance of `our two great nations`. The King is made aware by his advisors that the Russians are allied with the Spanish, the king believes the Russians would remain allied with him in any war with Spain and accepts the alliance after much thought. Britain prepares for war building, training its troops and improving its infrastructure. After the depravity, slumping economy and backward infrastructure of the isolationism England, since the war with the Dutch, is enjoying an economic boom. This is not halted even is 1766 when the Danish fleet attack a single English ship in the North Sea, the result is far different to the naval battles of old however a Danish ship is sunk for no English losses. The King was ready to attack the Spanish and had scheduled a date in 1767 for the attack, this why there was only one ship in the North Sea. Another of the king’s sons is about to emerge onto the military scene, Prince Rowland is a four star General appointed to take control of Prince Alfred’s BKGLA in 1769. Neville, unable to travel by sea to Hanover, is ordered to garrison Holland to release Prince Alfred’s BKGLA to protect Hanover. In 1767 the single British ship takes on the remaining Danish navy and sinks their entire fleet, this is a massive boost with the newspapers announcing the Navy is ready to right. This has a much more substantial effect on the British war effort as this means an old plan to invade Denmark can be revised. On 17 May 1768 with some light mist in the air a Danish light house catches a glimpse of a British convoy of ships carrying the Kings Own British Army, commanded by King George II and the BKGLA marches from Hanover to meet up with it. The Danish King with a small army of estimated 700 withdraws completely from Denmark and Christian III flees the country, a massive victory for the English more psychological more than anything as it proves the British can fight alone and win. Britain economy booms by the increase in jobs and work and the English discover the reason of the attack. It appears that King Christian III determined to remain on his throne authorised a war in the hope that if its successful it’ll unite the nation around him and win him allies. At the time the country had high unemployment and was suffering economically since the deposition of the Government and little recognition from the world with no allies. King George II celebrates and milks this victory for all he can but there are troubles ahead.
The French after great advance into Iberia, bringing justification to the Kings desire to attack, have fallen back and lost many troops and even briefly loosing Aquitaine to the Spanish. The British opposition to the Spanish war gains popularity and the King, impressed by the Spanish advance, questions his advisors if now is the time to break from the treaty with France and declare war against the French allied with the Spanish. His advisors come back with an interesting document just written it’s a proposed treaty of alliance between the Russian Tsar Alexander IV, Spanish King Ferdinand VII and Great Britain’s King George II, new allies and a new allied course. Britain would generally be closer to the Russians who share allies while the Spanish atm fight alone except for the Russians. The year 1770 is celebrated in Britain by the coming of age of another of the Kings sons, Prince Stephen is another four star General who wants to take after his father and so joins his fathers army as a under general. Also the Spanish offer an alliance with England however after long and deep thought the King, still confident about his victory against the Danes, declines the offer although he implies it may not be permanent. For the next two years the labours labour away making guns, wheat and beer while the King and officials debate about the coming war. Many people propose no war at all but the King insists while others, generally young MPs say England must keep her word with France and France shall keep hers in return. The last is those who are pro Spanish and pro war with the French, traditionalist who still believe England has an ancient right to control France and try to persuade with fantasies of a new `French Empire` like the old Plantagenet Empire stretching from Normandy to Aquitaine via Anjou. The Kings advisors insist he has two options, if he still wants to attack he must decide whom and do it before 1774. Failing this he must wait and see what comes from the two fighting nations, perhaps Ferdinand’s luck will come to an end and the French regain their losses. Britain confidentially prepares for war.
Chapter Two-The Tale of Ysevolod the Unfortunate
Ysevolod II, War Hero in the Kievan-Polish War, son of Ysevolod the Great, was coronated in Kiev in 1118 A.D. With his strong legacy as a great field commander, many of the nobles of the court expected great things in his reign as Grand Prince, even if it was shortened by the age at which he aquired the throne. With the Polish and Cumans no longer a threat, and the Byzantines and Turks locked with one another in a fierce war, Ysevolod II found he had little place to turn for conquests. He doubted the nobles would approve of an invasion of Novgorod, as they were brothers in faith, and on top of that, allies. A similar situation occured with the Byzantine province of Crimea, which Ysevolod II badly wanted, to reduce the potential threat against the underbelly of the Empire. For much of his first year, the only actions were the continued efforts to subdue the garrison of Levidia, through bribery, and the consolidation of Lesser Khazar. In the end, Ysevolod II would never reach a plan of conquests. As circumstances would have it, Ysevolod II's years of binging on the finer delicasies of the world, would catch up to him. In 1119, merely one year after his coronation, his body, broken from years of warfare and indulgence, could take no more, and Ysevolod II, son of Ysevolod the Great, War Hero of the Kievan-Polish War, died of of illness. It seemed that his heart, strained from his gross gluttony and stress of warfare, simply could go no more. The nobles of the court weeped, as they had lost a great mind, one that they had thought would take them to greater heights.
Ysevolod II died with no living heirs, partly due to his constant military campaigning, and also due to the fact that his horribly overweight body disgusted his wife, Catherine, who was orinally of the court of Aragon. Thus, the Empire was left to his younger brother, Yuri. Yuri, in comparison to his brother, was of average stock. He had not particated in any military campaigns, as Ysevolod the Great had assigned him to the defense of Cherginov, which was never invaded. He was not especially bright, known more for his steely gaze than his mathematics. Furthermore, although few knew it, he had long been involved in affairs with women of the courts of Novgorod. Having spent as much time as he did near the borders of the two kingdoms, it is little wonder that he was only involved with a single Novgoridian, by the name of Svetlana. This relationship would prove to be a major impetus in future events...
Tales of the Kievan Kingdom
Chapter One- Ysevolod the Great
Great Bohemia, a home of the most famous valour, and the middle of the Earth!
There are many hundreds of accounts portraying the historical ventures of the Bohemian Kingdom,
but these are all falsified, written with biased and drunken views.
Some of them scorn and bear too harshly of the central Royalty, others praise too liberally - to the eclipse of sycophancy!
This construction, anonymously scribed so that the observer may view only the words I digress,
(And not the foretellings and assumations of their own mind), writes a history of the Bohemian Kingdom's greatest achievements.
It reports the Battle for Munich, preaches the true events that occurred on the crossing of Franconia, my file honours the name Vratislav with the virtuous tales it has served,
and censures it for the grave misfortunes it represented in Bohemia.
I have even translated here, the battles within Bohemia itself, (Otherwise known as the War of the Compass, for the numerous directions from which Bohemia was attacked),
and the fine ability and tact that gave the Kingdom notice in courts as distant as Sicilia.
Before my prologue ends, and I allow you to devour my notes, I wish that my reader would put out of his mind, all the previous and dishonourable fiction he has believed on the reign of King Vratislav I.
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In the very first years of it's ascent in the political scale, Bohemia was a Kingdom it is generally agreed, smaller than the Italian Provence & Genoa.
When Vratislav I came to Feudal power during the Polish Reign of King Wladyslaw I, he had many feuds outside and amongst the borders of his rule.
His son, and future ruler, Vratislav II, was an ignoble, ignorant, and ignored young man who was so ill-spoken and so incapable of all arts he was considered by most of the Bohemian nobility to be inbred.
This pressured the King, his father, into the decision of demoting him to a captain in the Royal Lancers.
Almost disowned, yet by his life, entitled to his fathers possessions - Vratislav II hated his father, and his many young brothers who aspired in talents numerous and awesome.
Yet dissent in the Royal family was only a minor flaw in comparison to the reality of the Bohemian Kingdoms' situation.
Though Vratislav himself had no intent or ambition internationally, and was incessantly occupied with domestic affairs, the Kingdom of Bohemia was surrounded on all sides by young leaders, militaristic and willful.
The King was not ignorant of this, but he was intimidated by the very discussion, or shaded possibility of warfare so early in his reign.
Nonetheless, under constant advice and guidance, he leant his power upon the lower class Bohemians, and succeeded in forcing them into permanent military service.
Within two years there was a standing garrison of approximately 550 men stationed in the Kingdom, trained well and weekly, some in skirmishing and use of the javelin.
Others in the use of the spear and tactics against cavalry, some of the nobility were persuaded to recruit themselves to the Royal Lancers, and the Middle class contributed to the addition of an Armoured Spears regiment.
Yet all these things were still being accomplished, and the land south of the Bohemian Keep being cleared in hope of farming, when the Polish King Waldyslaw I invaded with 600 men in the late autumn of 1088.
This was the first battle in what was to be style the, "War of the Compass", a title still used to describe an overwhelming diffculty or situation.
The Polish ruler came with his own selected cavalry, three regiments of spears, two being armoured well, a company of archers and in addition,
a new levy of town Militia and local horse archers.
King Vratislav I was overcome, for the Hungarian Kingdom south of Bohemia was in alliance with Poland, and was equally optimistic in the acquisition of new claims.
If the Bohemian divisions survived the Polish offensive, Hungary would control an army of between 800 and 900 men capable of uprooting the very Keep Vratislav dwelt within.
This was overshadowed by the standind army idling within Lesser Poland, and the great hordes of Militia that bored themselves in the West - amongst the Holy Roman Empire!
The War of the Compass began in the middle of a great storm, and Vratislav possessed himself of an eminence that gentled and then dropped into a great valley which braced itself against the Polish advance.
Confidence however, gripped the Eastern invader, and Wladyslaw shouted his spears over the rise opposite Vratislav, before climbing it himself.
Here, with a thin, but greatly steep valley between, and in the assault of the weather the two militaries were allowed to view each other.
Vratislav I had experienced himself as deeply in war as he had in management of a Kingdom, and the disobedience of his son aided no one.
He positioned the three spears in one great line of five ranks in front of all, with the Armoured regiment holding a slightly larger ground on the left.
The rest, the lower class gathered behind the spears with their javelins in a cluster, and Vratislav himself took the Royal Lancers, with young Vratislav, and formed a line seperate from the army on the left flank.
The Polish formation was thus;
The Spears were sent forward in ranks six deep, with the Militia circling far on the Polish right flank, and the archers forming up on the left due to their despise of the Bohemian Lancers.
Wladyslaw himself followed neatly behind with his personal guard of vassals, as they advanced the horse archers attempted to find an easier route on the far right Polish flank.
When both men had surveyed the valley and their foes readily enough, the Bohemians raised a shouted and Wladyslaw,
in his heaviest tone, pushed his infantry into the valley and followed once they had begun to climb the other side.
It was as this happened, the spears lowered themselves and the javelinmen cast their weapons down into the valley with great effect on the Polish advance.
King Wladyslaw I was forced to repair to one of his willing vassals' horses, when a javelin felled his own and pinned the steed against the bank.
With the Royal guard itself losing half it's number by the weight of a single volley, the lower class spearmen fled immediately and began to spread far from each other in search of the easiest retreat to the side wherefore they came.
The Armoured regiments, though suffering as greatly, pressed up the hill as Wladyslaw summoned on the routing spearmen and another rank of javelins loosed upon the attackers.
The Militia, who, due to their lightness and also the small value of their shields preventing them from forming a phalanx similar to the spears,
were the more anxious to advance upon the Bohemians, and on the Polish right took themselves with great speed up the steeples.
The Lancers, induced by Vratislav's demeanour against the Polish, and by the havoc wrought upon the phalanx in the valley, began to almost chant a request to charge from the King.
Vratislav, quite willing to allow anything that would put him in the favour of his men, saw nothing but weakness in the exhausted Militia, and his horse sprung ahead of all.
The Javelins were now exhausted, yet the phalanx formed below the Bohemian line was reduced by more than half, and the spearmen, though recovered from their rout, now were spread across the entire valley,
and hard pressed to navigate and find formation again.
Wladyslaw, seeing the danger of his Militia at the sudden charge, and spurred by emotions - fear and anger - called his entire infantry to the banner of the Bohemian king.
As the Polish spears became a loose herd in a rush to seek revenge on calamity, the Bohemian spears and lesser men, despising their enemy, flung themselves into the valley, some against the archers, (Who were no use to the Poles),
yet most ran amongst the Polish colours and ripped apart the tired, encumbered spearmen.
The Horse Archers, seeing this, and their King surrounded on all sides by cavalry and spears, routed into the Eastern forests.
Wladyslaw, seeing his vassals fighting upon foot and many heaped in the cupped pit of the valley, the Bohemians covering the hills and the purple banners dominating the sky, found it above his predetermined virtue to allow his death to occur in this place.
The Polish King impaled the rider of a Bohemian horse, mounted, and fled after the remainder of his cavalry.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was testimonial to Wladyslaw's true destiny, and rewarding to the Bohemian valour, that the Polish King contracted a disease in that battle, and died within a month.
The Polish honour was in ruin, Vratislav I entertained guests from kingdoms all over Europe pleading alliance with the rogue and daring Kingdom of Bohemia.
This War of the Compass was won upon the Eastern point, yet there were two leaders who did not beg alliance and treaty with King Vratislav.
Chapter 3- The Tale of Yuri the Vengeful
Trouble brewing
In the year 1119, Yuri, son of Ysevolod the Great, and younger brother of Ysevolod the Unfortunate, took the throne amidst turmoil. Whispers were abound in the royal courts that Yuri lacked the consitution for war that his brother and father had. Yuri's agents caught more than one noble who whispered a tad too loudly, and said nobles were summarily executed for their attitudes toward the Grand Prince. For Yuri, nothing more than supreme loyalty would be allowed.
Further turmoil erupted a mere two years later. Yuri's mistress, Svetlana, who was wife of the Novgoridian nobleman, Alexander of Muscovy, was caught during attempting to sneak into Yuri's territory when her husband had unexpectedly returned not long after leaving for war council, as he was intercepted by a messenger with news that the council had been called off due to illness of the Grand Prince of Novgorod, Mstislav. Alexander was outraged to learn that his wife, for 25 years now, had been going behind his back to visit the Prince, and now ruler, of an opposing kingdom. Svetlana was immediately executed for treason as a spy against the crown of Novgorod. It did not take long for Yuri to hear news of his love's tragic demise. The court witnessed a terrible display of anger from Yuri when he recieved the news from a messenger. Yuri bolted upright immediately, fire in his eyes. He beheaded the hapless messenger for daring to bring him such terrible news. Immediately, Yuri shouted in anger, "Bring me my horse! Rally the troops! THIS IS WAR!"
War With Novgorod
From his position in Lithuania, Yuri immediately gathered every available troop he had, over 1,600 troops in total, and set course straight for the Novgoridian homeland. Mstislav, with only 1,000 troops of his own, ordered a withdrawal from the province, with a loyal one hundred troops staying to garrison the keep. Meanwhile, in the Baltic sea, a terrible naval war raged. As part of his invasion, Yuri ordered his entire fleet in the Baltic to engage the Novgorod fleet, to hold no quarter, to destroy every Novgoridian ship they saw. The navy, whether inspired by awe of Yuri, or fear of him, accomplished their job admirably, sinking the entire Novgoridian Baltic fleet in less than one year. And lastly, before leading the army himself into Novgorod, Yuri left orders to his governors that they were to train and conscript every soldier they could.
The efforts of Yuri paid off. In Novgorod, Mstislav launched three different counter attacks to attempt to relieve his trapped troops. However, each time, Yuri led his troops to victory. Every time, Yuri, with a larger force, was able to wrapj his light infantry around the flanks of the smalller Novgoridian army, while his heavy Rus spearmen held the central of the battlefield admirably. However, unlike his older brother, Yuri took to the field with the full intention of combat. Upon each counter attack, he manuvered himself and his bodyguard to the flank of the enemy formation, letting loose many arrows before closing in. However, each time, Mstislav escaped, as well as Alexander. After four years of siege, and three different counter attacks, the city of Novgorod fell to Yuri. Not to mention, Yuri was quickly disspelling fears that he was not able to hold up to his legendary brother and father. After the fall of Novgorod, and a new influx of fresh troops, Yuri took the offensive into Muscovy, while he sent a newly gathered force in Cherginov to take Ryazan. In Ryazan, the Novgoridian forces handed the province over without a fight, retreating to Muscovy. However, Yuri had not taken into account this possibility, and decided to call off the attack for the time being. Off in the west, Yuri's allis, the Danish, were also attacking Novgorod positions. They had taken both Finland and Estonia. Yuri soon decided it would be best to make sure he didn't let Denmark establish too strong of a foothold, and the year after calling off the attack of Muscovy, he invaded Livonia from Novgorod. Novgoridian troops in Livonia retreated to the fort, and after two years of siege, surrendered the province to Yuri's rule. Thus, all that was left of the Novgoridian territories was Muscovy, where both Mstislav and Alexander lay cowering from Yuri's wrath. Leaving a sizable garrison to ensure loyalty of the province, Yuri returned to Novgorod. He joined up with fresh troops from Lithuania and Smolensk, and planned his final revenge for Mstislav and Alexander.
Yuri's Revenge
Now that Mstislav and Alexander had nowhere else to go, Yuri was finally ready to finish them once and for all. With over 1,000 troops, Yuri departed from Novgorod towards Muscovy, where Mstislav lay in wait with 550 troops, most whom were either severly battered from war, or else slavic conscripts with little true taste for battle. Upon taking the battlefield, Yuri ordered his soldiers in prototypical formation. His heavier Rus spears in the middle, with tribal woodsmen and voi on the flanks. Behind the spears was Yuri, along with two regiments of Druzhina cavalry. The battle of Muscovy was not so much a battle as a slaughter. The slavic conscripts, for all practical purposes, bounced off of the Rus spearmen in the middle. The Druzhina cavalry departed from Yuri's side to deal with two impudent units of archers. Much to Yuri's dissapointment, Alexander fell early in battle when his unit of druzhina foot soldiers was flanked by tribal woodsmen while Alexander was attempting to break the line of spearmen. Yuri had truly hoped to slay him himself. However, he did gain some consolation when the soldier who slew Alexander brought his head to Yuri following the battle. Before Mstislav knew it, he was practically by himself, his army crumbling in front of his very eyes. The Kievan line advanced forward towards Mstislav, who attempted to fall back while continuing to fire arrows with the remnants of his bodyguard. However, he soon found himself encircled on three sides by spears and Druzhina cavalry, while Yuri and his bodyguard launched volley after volley of arrow fire at him. The encirclement folded on Mstislav, and it took approximately 2.4 seconds for Mstislav to finally lose all nerve, and flee from battle, towards his fort. However, the fort would provide little haven from Yuri. After three years, the fort's supplies ran out, and the guards opened the gates to Yuri's army. Yuri had finally captured the ruler who slew his now deceased love. With Mstislav bound and kneeling at his feet, Yuri took great pleasure in bringing his sword down with all his might through Mstislav's neck. However, Yuri's rage proved to destablize his swing, and thus, the beheading was botched. Yuri became further incensed by Mstislav's apparent refusal to die, and immediately took one of the axes from a nearby druzhina guard. He brought the axe down on Mstislav with all his fury, hacking and hacking until the body was no longer recognizable and his fury had abated. The nobles nearby were shocked, but not displeased, that Yuri had developed a taste for bloodshed and war.
Aftermath
With Novgorod vanquished and destroyed, Yuri had not only taken his revenge for his former love, but also added considerable territory and riches to his empire. Meanwhile, sons from his legitimate marriage had grown older and were nearing coming of age. However, Yuri had, in the course of his battles with Novgorod, developed an instinct to kill, a love of war. To the south of his kingdom, Yuri had decided the time was right to take Crimea from the Byzantine empire, who were otherwise occupied with the threat of the Seljuk Turks. He sent a force of 450 into Crimea, and the Byzantine army of 100 men handed the province over without a fight. Soon after, a ceasefire was established, and soon after that, an alliance, as the Byzantine's were all too happy to have Yuri on their side and not on the Seljuk. Not long after the occupation of Crimea, war erupted between two of Yuri's allies, the Danes and Swedes. Yuri maintained his alliance with Denmark, as he sensed an opportunity to grab the riches of Sweden. As much as he would have liked to removed Danish influence from Estonia and Finland, the two provinces simply were too poor for Yuri to care. Soon after declaring his alliance with Sweden null, he invaded Sweden, leading the army, once again, himself. Time, it seemed, had been on his side. As his troops were crossing the Baltic, the Swedish navy was off in the Skaggerak combatting the Danish fleet. At the same time, the Swedish king Hardeknud left his station in Sweden, taking all but 100 troops to invade Scania. The Danish army in Scania withdrew to their fort, while the Swedish army withdrew to their keep in Sweden. Thus, Hardeknud was left with no province completely under his control. To alleviate this, he immediately attacked the Danish fort in Scania, reducing it to rubble. However, Yuri sent one of his most eloqent diplomats to negotiate the surrender of Stockholm castle. Efforts proved successful, and Sweden fell to Yuri with no bloodshed. The year after these events, a large Danish army invdaded Scania, and overwhelmed Hardeknud, and thus, eliminating the Swedish kingdom completely. Yuri soon returned to his palace in Kiev following the conquest of Sweden. Now at a venerable age, Yuri's bones and soul had grown weary. The conquest of Sweden had brought no joy to him, and now, at the age of 58, he realized that his revenge against Mstislav and Alexander had brought him no joy either. More than anything, he just wished he could have Svetlana back. He felt 20 years senior of his actual age. His sorrow and age, combined with an illness he contracted back in Sweden, soon caught up to him. At the age of 60, in his palace at Kiev, Yuri the Vengeful died in his sleep. Once more, nobles of the Kievan court would weep for the loss of a great Grand Prince. A new change would come, no doubt, as Yuri's eldest son, Vladimir III, took the title of Grand Prince at the age of merely 20. Vladimir III was highly promising as a military man, having witnissed many of his father's campaigns while growing up, and soaking in advice from his father. Time would tell what feats this promising young ruler would accomplish, with hopefully many years more than his father on the throne.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Chapters of the Kievan Empire
Chapter one- https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...postcount=1227
Chapter two- https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...postcount=1229
Excellent campaigns, folks~:cheers: I shouldn't have stopped reading here just because I quit playing...
Anyway, I guess it's a bit too long ago to resume my Polish campaign now, but I got tired of it anyway. It ended up with me and Spain being the two major factions (and almost the only two factions), and I didn't really look forward to a huge slugfest with the Spaniards.
The map when I quit playing (1330-1340-ish):
https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8139/campmapzo9.png
I'm thinking of starting a new campaign in the Late period, so that it won't become too lengthy. I've modded my Late XL campaign pretty heavily, and I'm planning to follow some personal rules to make it more interesting. We'll see how it turns out.
The Holy Roman Empire - Normal - Late XL
First of all; what has been modded:
I like to tweak the game myself a lot, and the Late XL campaign is probably the one which I've altered the most. Quite a few units have been altered (improved, mostly), but the only ones that have been changed enough to be brought up here are the handgunners (since I intend to use them a lot once possible): I was tired of the gunpowder units being so useless, so I decided to "boost" the coolest looking of the two, i.e. the handgunners. Handgunners now fire longer and more deadlier than arquebusiers (which are superfluous), and are almost as good as CMAA in melee (some testing has shown that in 1/5 of the cases, they will beat CMAA's in a head-on charge, without using their guns). As a result, they are now a lot more expensive to recruit (although the upkeep is still the same), and they now require a Swordsmith's Workshop and Gunsmith's Guild to recruit.
Second, I've changed the map quite a lot, both for historical and playable reasons (as you can see below). The GH and the HRE have lost a lot of ground, especially the HRE. This is to
1) Prevent the Horde from butchering the Poles right away
2) Prevent the HRE from being that boring big-but-fragile state that gets split between all the others
3) More or less historical reasons (the HRE wasn't a unified kingdom etc)
And finally, I've boosted every faction's homeland. This means I've added or improved a few buildings in each homeland province (Sweden for the Swedes, Bavaria for the Germans, Ile-de-France for the French etc), hoping that this will reduce the number of spearmen and UM's running around in the 15th century.
Oh, and one more thing: I'm planning to use one important personal rule. Realising that I lose interest in the game once I grow too big and powerful, I've decided that once/if I reach the number of 20 provinces, and my situation is good, I will trigger a cataclysm, like starting a stupid war and intentionally losing a major battle, getting myself ex-commed etc. If I survive the cataclysm, and proceed playing until I reach 30 provinces, I will trigger another cataclysm - and so on for every 10 provinces I conquer.
That's that, now onto:
The Reign of Ludwig IV: 1320 - 1340 A.D.
Europe in 1320 AD:
https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/50...ope1320tv7.png
Over the last half-century, the once so glorious and mighty Holy Roman Empire has been reduced to a number of independent counties and duchies. Internal conflicts, "issues" with the Pope(s) and failed wars has lead to the disintegration of what was once the most powerful and prominent kingdom of all Christianity...
Emperor Ludwig, the fourth Holy Roman Emperor to carry that name, had grown up during these years of decline. He had seen what corruption and weakness that had torn the empire to pieces, reducing it to a mere shadow of it's former self. All his life, he had struggled to turn the tide, and in the year 1314 of our Lord, he was crowned king of the Germans in. Just six years later, in 1320 AD, he was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor, at the age of 38. And indeed, with his ascension to the throne, the tide did turn.
Ludwig's first action as emperor was the reorganization of the army and the construction of many watch towers and borders forts along the borders of the empire. The German army was outdated and ill-equipped, and needed a dramatic improvement if the empire was to survive the sandstorms of time at all. Also, the construction of a new navy was ordered in Saxony.
Already a year after his coronation, Ludwig considered himself ready to go to war. After Karl von Herden, leader of the Schaubergs in Austria declined his offer to put Austria under the direct rule of the emperor, Ludwig promptly marched into Austria with a grand army in the summer of 1321. von Herden, shocked and surprised by this drastic action by the emperor, dared not face his opponent in the open field, but preferred to let the emperor fight his way through Austria, while the Austrian troops remained safely in their castles. He was hoping that hid old friend and ally, the duke of Burgundy, would come to his aid, but in July that year, Arnold Merowinger, royal emissary of the Holy Roman Empire, negotiated and alliance with duke Phillipe II, nullifying his chance for rescue. Emperor Ludwig IV's campaigns in Austria continued for years, capturing castle after castle, until in 1324, when von Herden himself surrendered Vienna to the emperor, recognizing his authority. Austria was again put under the rule of the emperor.
The campaigns of Prince Ludwig
In 1323, there was a great famine in the lands of Franconia, but this bothered the emperor little, as he celebrated the sixteenth birthday of his eldest son, also named Ludwig. Ludwig was a man who enjoyed two things: war and beer, the latter perhaps somewhat too much. After keeping the prince with him for weeks, celebrating his birthday in a newly conquered Austrian castle, the emperor eventually let him go, sending him to oversee the recruitment and training of a new army. In late 1324, the emperor entrusted him with the new imperial army, raised in Bavaria. This army was small, but consisted of men well equipped and well trained.
According to his father's orders, prince Ludwig marched with this army to the lands of Friesland, which he reached not until late 1325, due to plenty of time spent drinking by the prince. The army rested for the winter, and the campaign was recommenced in early 1326. The border to Friesland was crossed in May that year, and the frightened Friesians decided to rather hide in their castles and forts. A stalemate began, due to difficulty in travelling through the marshy terrain and the slow advancement of the army, but the prince was not bothered by this, as he sent for reinforcements from Franconia. Prince Ludwig figured that it didn't take the finest soldiers of the empire to starve out a few Friesians who cowardly hid behind their walls, and instead marched south with his army in the summer of 1327, crossing the Rhine into the duchy of Lorraine.
The duke of Lorraine, Richard de Poitiers, was a man of greater courage than his Friesian neighbours, and decided to face the invaders, not wishing to become the subject of the emperor, who was his rightful master. On a small river running up to the Lippe, he met prince Ludwig with his force.
The summer day was cloudy, and right before the onset of battle, a heavy rainfall began. This worked in the favour of prince Ludwig however, as his arbalesters were not affected by the rain, whereas the crossbowmen of de Poitiers would have difficulties aiming and shooting properly with their wet bowstrings. A short bridge over a narrow river was all that separated the two forces, and although attacking across a bridge was never easy, the prince dealt excellently with the situation. His arbalesters moved up first, outranging the enemy crossbowmen, depleting them and annihilating an entire regiment of knights (these knights were however of lesser quality, and still fought with weapons and armour fit for the feudal era). This left de Poitiers with half a regiment of crossbowmen, one regiment of knights and his own spearmen.
Seeing that the enemy was weakened, prince Ludwig ordered his infantry across the stream, and de Poitiers and his men retreated to a nearby hill before the danger. The German infantry advanced towards de Poitiers and his men, but the surviving crossbowmen, who had withdrawn in a different direction, now fired at them in their flank. Realising the danger, Ludwig himself charged with his retinue across the bridge, chasing the crossbowmen off and capturing many of them. Meanwhile, the far superior halberdiers and noblemen of the Holy Roman Empire easily defeated de Poitiers and his men in melee combat, ultimately capturing de Poitiers himself, after which the remaining Lorrainians routed. de Poitiers, along with the other men captured, were duly executed as the rebels against the emperor they were.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The war was not over yet however, and prince Ludwig continued to campaign in Lorraine, until finally in March 1328 when Nancy was stormed, captured and sacked. Thereafter, no man in Lorraine dared to oppose the might of the emperor.
The year 1329 of our Lord carried with it further triumphs for the Empire. Prince Ludwig married Princess Ruta of Lithuania in that year, and his younger brother Rudolf, only aged 17, married Teresa of Aragon. And finally, in September, Groningen, the last Friesian stronghold to fight the empire, fell.
The years of hardships
Although the first ten years of emperor Ludwig's reign were to be crowned by success, the last ten years were not to be quite as glorious.
In 1330, a famine plagued the people of Saxony, and the same year, king Wladyslaw IV of Poland invaded and conquered Brandenburg. Although Ludwig was not yet supreme ruler of Brandenburg, these lands were contested by the empire, and has once been an important part of it - and now the Polish had beaten him to it! It was no wonder that the emperor declined the proposal for an alliance presented to him by king Wladyslaw later that year.
It would however take years before Ludwig was ready to strike, and not until 1333 had he assembled an army powerful enough to throw the Poles out of Brandenburg. Commanding the army was prince Rudolf, and his opponent, prince Wladyslaw retreated in all haste, not even leaving troops to defend the castles and towns, when he realised the Germans were upon him. Brandenburg had been taken without the loss of a single life.
Despite the initial success of the war against Poland, it was soon to prove a mistake, as a league of Catholic nations soon allied with Poland in an attempt to prevent the Holy Roman Empire from ever regaining its former strength. In the summer of 1334, the Swedes in Pomerania sent a poorly prepared army under the inexperienced commander Lord Knutsson raiding into Saxony, where it was ambushed by German troops and driven away.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The result of this attack was a German naval blockade of all Sweden. This blockade was raised in 1336 however, as a Swedish fleet in the Baltic Sea defeated its German counterpart. In the same year, the empire saw a slight glimpse of of light though, as prince Herrmann came of age. An event which was greatly celebrated - or at least to the degree that the heavily strained treasury allowed it to be celebrated. The setback in the Baltic was followed by other disastrous naval defeats in the English Channel in 1337, and again in the Baltic in 1339. Only one naval victory did the empire claim, as it in 1339 defeated a Swedish fleet in Skagerakk. This was not enough to reinstate the blockade at sea however, and Swedish reinforcements continued to arrive in Pomerania.
At land, things were going somewhat better, although the empire now lacked all initiative as Bohemia and Venice joined the anti-German coalition in 1337 and 1338 respectively. The imperial troops were outnumbered, and with the exception of the grand armies recruited in the 1320-ies badly equipped. Still, they managed to repel the Bohemian invasion of Bavaria in 1337, and the Venetian invasion of Swabia in 1338. The Venetian army in particular was decisively beaten by a much smaller force, even with superior ground for the invaders, and Doge Giovanni VI, who commanded the army himself, was slain at the battle of Lindau, well known to be the smallest battle in history to claim the life of a such a prominent ruler.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Despite the triumph at Lindau, 1338 AD was a black year for the empire, as its most important conquest over the last few years, Austria, was invaded by the combined forces of Bohemia and Venice. Emperor Ludwig saw no other way than to retreat, leaving only a minor force to defend Vienna itself. The city was stormed and fell in early 1339 however. In a bold move, emperor Ludwig now sought to strike against the poorly defended lands of Bohemia proper, and himself led an army from Bavaria into Bohemia, leaving Bavaria nearly undefended. The outnumbered defenders retreated behind their walls, but were rescued in the autumn of 1340, as a huge Polish army came to their aid from the east. The emperor saw no other way than to retreat, but the cold and tiresome march back home through the autumn cold caused him a fever, which he never recovered from, and the old emperor drew his last breath in December in the year 1340 of our Lord.
Emperor Ludwig IV had been a man of great ambition, and initially his grand plans had met with great success, but towards the end of his life, his enemies gathered, and against their combined force it was not very much that he could do. He would however be remembered and praised as the man who finally dealt with the internal issues of the Holy Roman Empire, and who returned several provinces to the empire's domains. He was succeeded by his son, Ludwig, who was crowned emperor in early 1341 at the age of 33. He faced war on three fronts, and the empire he inherited was only slightly stronger than the weak and scattered state his father had come to rule before him. Would he be up to the task to repel the power of the coalition and restore the empire to its former strength?
The Holy Roman Empire in 1341:
https://img151.imageshack.us/img151/...any1341bn9.png
Emperor Ludwig V:
https://img146.imageshack.us/img146/...dwigve4.th.png
It feels like I've lost all my writing skills during my time off. Hopefully I'll regain them once I get back into it. This episode became a lot more bare and stiff than I had hoped for:thumbsdown:
Alrighty, first post of the new year in this thread!:thumbsup:
Chapter 4- The Tale of Vladimir the Righteous
In the year 1138, Vladimir III, eldest son of Yuri the Vengeful, ascended to the rank of Grand Prince of Kiev. He took over a very strong kingdom which occupied nearly all of the open steppes, as well as prominent cities such as Kiev, Novgorod, and Muscovy. His borders were few, allies many, and a strong econonomy to boot. However, the course of his reign, which would last over thirty years, would take Kiev through a whirlwind of ups, downs, and adventures aplenty.
Upon his coronation, Vladimir announced to the nobles of the court the new objective for the Kingdom of Kiev. He wanted to complete his father's conquests of the steppes, to lessen his boundaries, and perhaps, if possible, complete conquests of Scandinavia. In 1139, he sent diplomats to Georgia, to convince the local troops to join Kievan rule, and found great success. At the same time, yet more diplomats were sent to Khazar to negotiate with the Khazars. Efforts in both provinces proved successful, and in 1140, both provinces joined the grand kingdom of Kiev. This left just Volga Bulgaria free from Kievan control in the great open steppes. However, Vladimir would need no excuse to invade. In 1141, the Volga Bulgarian army invaded the weakly garrisoned Ryazan, perhaps in an attempt to try and take advantage of the change in power in Kiev. Vladimir was secretly glad the Volga Bulgarian army had invaded, as it gave him a great excuse to erase them off of the map. However, in the same year, Vladimir's spies and diplomats returned to the royal palace with grim news in western Europe. The Almoravid kingdom had completed conquests of Spain and Aragon, and was now launching a new offensive into France with seemingly little resistance. France, which had been on the brink of eliminating England, was stopped cold in its tracks, with a vastly superior Almoravid navy cutting off troops in the British Isles, and soon lost both Wales and Wessex. Vladimir was alarmed that the Islamic world seemed bent on the conquests of Europe altogether. In 1142, he ordered his recently expanded navy to cut off Almoravid support to the British Isles and the Norman coast. In the meantime, he gathered troops from Muscovy and Lesser Khazar. However, his attempt to relieve the siege in Ryazan was put on hold due to communication and discipline problems with the troops from Lesser Khazar, many of whom were either Cuman or descended from Cuman troops whom Vladimir's father had bribed previously. The Kievan navy met success in the waters of the English Channel against Almoravid ships. Similar success was won off the western coast of France, opening up a path to an invasion of the British Isles, to liberate the people from Islamic rule. In Ryazan, the Volga Bulgarian army made a most puzzling move. They attempted to assault the defenders of the fort, only to change their mind just a mere 500 yards from the fort itself, and withdrew. The following year would prove decisive for Vladimir and the fortunes of the Kievan kingdom.
In 1143, with the path to the British Isles clear, Vladimir sent a large force, led by his brother, Sviatopolk, to take the province of Wales. The force was comprised of a great variety of mercenaries, as well as Viking Huscarles recruited from Sweden, a few of the ever faithful Rus spears, a unit of mounted crossbows, and a unit of light Cherny Kobluki lancers recruited from Muscovy. As Sviatopolk was setting sail, Vladimir was arranging for the destruction of Volga Bulgaria. He marched in a a small force from Muscovy, led by himself, to meet up with a the force from Lesser Khazar. Meanwhile, he sent a moderately large force into Volga Bulgaria itself, a balanced force featuring tribal Vois, heavier Rus spearmen, as well mounted crossbowmen and a few Cherny Kobluki. The Khan, who led troops in Ryazan, attempted to retreat from the Kievan force that came to relieve the siege. However, he, like his Islamic bretheren in the west, met an unpleasant surprise.
Battle of Wales
The Battle of Wales would be revered as a turning point in the timespan of Europe. The forces were relatively evenly matched, with just under 1,000 Almoravid troops defending against around 1,100 Kievan soldiers. The Kievan force included at least five regiments of Rus spearmen, two regiments of Steppe Heavy Cavalry, a regiment of mounted crossbows, a regiment of Cherny Kobluki, a regiment of horse archers, two regiments of Huscarles from Sweden, as well as a conglomoration of other troops, in addition, of course, to Prince Sviatopolk and his unit of Boyars. The Almoravid army consisted of a few regiments of archers and desert archers, as well as many Muwahid Foot Soldiers and Almoravid Urban Militia, among others. However, the Almoravids had little in the way of mounted forces.
The battle began with Almoravid forces repositioning themselves, whilst the unit of Kievan horse archers harrassed their soldiers all the way as they manuevered themselves to a small hill. With the Almoravids now entrenched, Sviatopolk pulled the horse archers back, and marched his entire army in earnest. He divided his forces into two overall segments. The Steppe Heavy Cavalry joined the horse archers, as well as the two regiments of Huscarles, and marched through a small forest which had presented itself obtrusivly upon the battlefield. Meanwhile the other segment, which comprised of a solid line of Rus spears, fronted by mounted crossbows, and backed by Sviatopolk and the Cherny Kobluki, until they found a position on a small hill which overlooked a ridge that formed between the Almoravids and Kievans. The western forces, led by the Steppe heavies, marched on the eastern flank of the Almoravid army, and poured arrows onto the Almoravid foot soldiers. The Almoravid commander had foolishly placed his archers behind his foot soldiers, thus rendering them unable to respond properly. Seeing this, Sviatopolk sent his mounted crossbows from the other segment ahead, to pour crossbow fire into the Almoravid front line. The Almoravids, unable to properly return fire, thus marched their foot soldiers out to meet the challenge. Several units marched to the mounted crossbows, who drew back, and let the heavier Rus spears take the frontal charge of the Almoravid infantry. Meanwhile, two units of Almoravid Urban Militia had marched out to attack the Steppe heavies. However, unbeknownst to them, the Viking Huscarles had remained hidden at the edge of the forest, rather than following the cavalry further. The Steppe Heavies fell back to the forest, and the Almoravid Urban Militia gave chase. However, as soon as they came to the forest edge, they were ambushed by the axe-armed Huscarles. The Huscalres proved their fearsome reputation by slaughtering many Almoravids, destroying the units nearly entirely. Meanwhile, to the east, the Rus spears had engaged the majority of the Almoravid front line, and the eastern side turned into a bog of spears and swords, neither side able to push the other back. Sviatopolk now sent the order to the Cherny Kobluki, and they began march. The Cherny's marched clear around the pit of battle, manuevered clear around a unit of Muwahid foot soldiers which had been hanging to the rear, and let loose a spectacular display. They took the hill which the Almoravids had abandoned, and charged down it to the archers who were attempting to fire into the mass of Rus spears. Coming down the hill, the Cherny's ripped the archers apart, shattering the unit in a single charge. The Cherny's then ran through yet another unit of archers, once again nearly annihiliating the entire unit through its charge. Now, the entire rear of the Almoravid front line was exposed. The Cherny's picked up speed once again, and practically squered the Almoravid frontline. Now, the entire Almoravid frontline panicked and fled, and the units which had attempted to hang back began withdrawing. Now, Sviatopolk ordered every single one of his mounted units to run down the Almoravid army. They did so with great success, capturing over 400 enemy soldiers. The day was Sviatopolk's, with a great and resounding victory.
Battle of Volga Bulgaria
The Battle of Volga Bulgaria proved to be much less eventful than the Battle of Wales. The Volga Bulgars were heavily outnumbered, fighting only because there was no option of retreat. However, they did possess superior cavarly to the Kievans. Unfortunately, on the River Kalka, this advantage proved to be nill. The Kievan army began by marching a unit of Rus spears accross the river, whilst being covered by two units of mounted crossbows. The Rus spears proved far to strong to dislodge, despite the best efforts of the Volga Bulgarian cavalry. The spears slowly mulched their way accross the edge of the bridge, with aid from the mounted crossbows. Once the path accross was clear, the battle turned into a rout, as the far outnumbered Volga Bulgars became surrounded and run off the field.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Vladimir recieved word of the victories, and became greatly pleased. His last threat to his flank had been eliminated, and he had established a foothold with which to use against the Islamic threat in Britain. However, his joy was short lived. He received word that the Almoravids had replaced their navies in the English channel and the coast of western France. Meanwhile, he received shocking word from the diplomats of his neigbors. England and Denmark both allies of Kiev, canceld their alliance with Vladimir in favor of, of all people, the Muslims of the Almoravids. This Vladimir had not planned for. England could ruin his foothold on the Isles, and Denmark's navy could severely hamper his efforts in staving off the Almoravids. The next 30 years would be the most stressful times of Vladimir's life. He constantly beseeched both Knud II of Denmark, and William III of England to listen to reason, and to join in his efforts of saving Europe from the Islamic tide. However, both Denmark and England at the least did not declare war on Kiev. Meanwhile, an epic naval war emerged between Kiev and the Caliphate. Both sides were producing navies at optimum speed, and neither was able to make consistent headway against the other. On the Isles, Sviatopolk became stranded, as his army was not large enough to displace the Almoravid army in Wessex, yet was strong enough that he himself could not be displaced. Thus, for 30 years, the Almoravid Caliphate and Kievan Kingdom warred, with neither side making any progress against the other. However, France continued to deteriorate in the mainland, as Kiev was unable to assist beyond the shoreline. During this time, the Caliphate made small progress against France, as well as warring against the Genoans. However, it was being shown that it was indeed possible to resist the Caliphate.
After 30 years of stalemate, Vladimir finally broke through. He finally convinved the Kingdom of Denmark to ally with him rather than the Almoravids. A year later, he garnered a similar committment from England. Furthermore, the aging Caliph Yusuf II, who had achieved nearly legendary status for his conquests, died two years following England's decision. As Yusuf died, the Danish finally committed. Their navy and armies joined in the war against the Caliphate, and Danish armies soon ran down the coast of western Europe, liberating the people from their Islamic ruler. The Almoravid navy was now contending with both Danish and Kievan competition, and soon was becoming overwhelmed. In central Europe, the Kingdom of France had finally stabilized, and was beginning to counter attack in earnest. The Caliphate was still immensely powerful, but the tide of war had now turned. It seemed that Christians had finally united against their Islamic foes.
On the home front, Vladimir put forth programs to modernize the provinces under Kievan rule. Building was put forth an an impressive clip, especially considering the funds going to the war against the Caliphate. Additionally, a large navy was taking place in the eastern mediterrenean, in an attempt to increase the Kievan range of influence. Somewhat conveniently, the island of Rhodes had recently established independance from the Byzantine empire, and was taken over so as to serve as a naval base for Vladimir's ships. However, modernization and naval power came at a hefty price. The Kievan reserves, which upon his coronation had been estimated at 24,000 florins, was soon rendered to a paltry 4,000, on average. Not often had the kingdom been so close to bankruptcy, but, in the eyes of Vladimir, it was worth every florin to keep Kiev up to date on weaponry and training facilities.
Now approaching his elder years, Vladimir was looked upon with awe and respect throuhout the known world. Many considered him a near equal to the Byzantine Emperor himself, though Vladimir rejected such claims, stating that he was nowhere near as powerful as Emperor Andronicus, who, like Vladimir, had taken up action against the muslims, and now ruled all of the middle east and Cairo as a result. Thus, the east now presided as a calm state of Orthodoxy, with the Andronicus and Vladimir ruling over nearly all of eastern Europe combined.
In 1176, at a wisened age, Vladimir the Righteous, son of Yuri the vengeful, died peacefully in his sleep. He had left Kiev in a state far different than what he left it in. It was stronger, more influential, and modern without question. However, he had left a near quagmire of a war against the Almoravids, in addition to a small treasury, which had been depleted by years of war, naval expansion, and modernization. His eldest son, Andrei II, took over the throne in his stead. There was a modicum of worry amonst the nobles, as some felt Andrei was not as worthy a candidate as his younger brother, Yaroslav. However, it was muted some due to the relative successes of nearly every Grand Prince since Mstislav the Great.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Tales of the Kievan Kingdom
Chapter one- Ysevolod the Great
Chapter two- Ysevelod the Unfortunate
Chapter three- Yuri the Vengeful
Very nice write-up, kamikhaan! A great way to start 2008. :2thumbsup:
Seconded, Martok. Good to see the Kievans prospering (at least military-wise)!
The Reign of Ludwig V, The Victorious: 1341 - 1365 A.D.
In the year 1341 of our Lord, the 33 year old son of Emperor Ludwig IV, was elected as the Holy Roman Emperor. Yet, his domains were far from what could be called an empire. Most of his lands were underdeveloped and poor; his armies small, few and badly equipped and trained for most part; his rather small navy was severely limited, and on top of all this, he inherited no less than four wars from his father!
His father, Emperor Ludwig IV, who so bravely and nobly had set out to reunite the scattered provinces of the Holy Roman Empire, had met with great resistance and difficulties towards the end of his reign, as few kingdoms of the Catholic world wished to see the empire restored to its former splendour. Had it not been for the constant wars between them, the English, Burgundians and the Aragonese, the French would surely have joined the alliance of kingdoms which had set to utterly defeat the re-emerging empire. Perhaps it was only this that saved the Empire from total destruction. Thus, Ludwig V inherited a most delicate situation, with war on four fronts and with too few men to defend even one or two of them. He knew full well that a single mistake, one lost battle, one failed campaign, could - and probably would - mean the end of his empire.
Despite the odds, Ludwig did not seek for peace, and would rather fight his
enemies to the death, no matter how grim the situation. His first year as emperor was rather calm, but pleasant news arrived at court in July, as it was reported that a Venetian fleet, which had travelled all the way up to the North Sea, had been sunk by the imperial fleet. The entire year was spent preparing for the onslaught which Ludwig was sure would come, but the strained economy allowed hardly anything to be constructed, and all the money available to the Empire went to the recruiting and equipping of new soldiers. Indeed, during most of Emperor Ludwig's reign, the economy was extremely tight.
The Battle of Königshein
In 1342 A.D, Prince Wladyslaw of Poland marched with a great army into Brandenburg, the same province away from which he had been chased by Prince Rudolf in 1333. Now, he sought revenge, and Prince Rudolf marched with his outnumbered force to meet the Poles. The two armies clashed at Königshein.
Rudolf positioned his men atop a slight ridge, with some woods protecting his left flank. His army stood in three lines, with the polearm-armed infantry up front, arbalesters and crossbowmen behind and mounted crossbowmen in the third line. The lesser infantry, some men-at-arms and two regiments of militia sergeants, hid in the woods, protecting the left flank. His right flank was protected by two more regiments of mounted crossbowmen, and ultimately by himself and the rest of the cavalry.
Prince Wladyslaw marched his forces head on, while steering some cavalry - one unit of chivalric knights and one of Polish retainers - to the left, threatening Rudolf's right flank. The fire duel which opened the battle was largely to the favour of the Germans, though, as their advantageous position and superior firepower soon came to bare. Realising that the risk of being out-flanked by the Polish cavalry was great, Rudolf then decided to act first, and charged his cavalry into the Polish retainers, who had foolishly ridden ahead of their knights. The struggle was brief, and the retainers soon routed. The German cavalry didn’t give chase however, and regrouped, just in time to charge home at the now outnumbered Polish knights, who were also beaten, although at a greater cost than the retainers. Rudolf and his men now regrouped a second time, only to realise they were being attacked by Wladyslaw and his retinue. The foolish Polish prince charged against three times his own number, and was soon surrounded, dragged off his horse, and killed. The news of his death soon spread throughout the Polish army, which began to waver. Now, Rudolf ordered his troops to attack. His own cavalry smashed into the left flank of the enemy, and his men-at-arms revealed themselves and came out of the woods, attacking the Polish right flank. With the enemy advancing everywhere and their commander dead, the Polish army crumbled and collapsed, and they ran so fast that it was later said that not even horses could chase them down. Nonetheless, many were caught by the German mounted crossbowmen, and all prisoners were put to the sword, in order to show the Poles what happened to those who so ungallantly fought their Christian brethren. The victory that day was complete.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The year 1342 was not all victories however, as Emperor Ludwig himself marched in full force into Bohemia, again leaving Bavaria nearly undefended. He thus repeated the same mistake which had cost his father his life, and was forced to retreat back into Bavaria early the next spring, as great armies assembled at Bohemia's borders.
The tide finally turns
With the defeat at Königshein in 1342, Poland's effective participation in the war ended, and a truce was signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland in 1347. In 1344, the German fleet in the North Sea defeated yet another Venetian one, and the empire gained naval supremacy over the Swedes in the Baltic in the same year, as the Swedish fleet was effectively destroyed, never to recover. In 1345, Prince Rudolf conducted a raid into the Bohemian lands of Silesia, burning and pillaging his way through the land. The imperial treasury was in a desperate need of Florins by this point as the costly wars raged on, but the raid thankfully prevented complete bankruptcy. In the year 1346 of our Lord, Prince Jon of Sweden invaded Saxony with a massive army, perhaps in an attempt to lift the German naval blockade, which had isolated him and his troops in Pomerania, as most German ships were built in Saxony. His attempt was thwarted however, as John of Bohemia decisively defeated the Swedes, and managed to kill Jon himself, in the Battle of Wittenburg.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The effects of the victory were somewhat lessened by the disastrous plague that swept through the Empire, and all of Europe that year. People died in the thousands, and only a few were spared. Farms, villages, towns even, were emptied and one could travel for miles, even through the densely populated lands of Bavaria, without meeting or finding a living soul. The ruling elite of the Empire luckily escaped this horrible plague, but some were not as lucky, as the King of Bohemia fell ill and died shortly after in 1346. All across Europe, people - from the most paltry of peasants to the wisest of clerics - asked themselves what they could have done to anger God so? To Emperor Ludwig it was very clear however: This was indeed God's punishment for the disunity of his people, who fought among themselves for power and riches, while the pagan Mongols threatened Europe from the east, and the Muslim Mameluks from the south. Even so, no Catholic lords took reason, and thus it was up to the Holy Roman Emperor to teach his neighbours not to fight their brethren.
Although the economy struggled, the empire managed to launch an invasion of the now leaderless and weakened Swedes in Pomerania in 1347. Prince Rudolf commanded the army, and destroyed what was left of the Swedish army at the Battle of Marlow. Rudolf used his mounted crossbowmen to flank and distract the Swedes, while his arbalesters poured volley after volley of lethal and accurate bolts upon the from the front. For the first time in the 14th century, it was the Germans who enjoyed the numerical superiority, and Rudolf used this to his advantage as his line stretched far longer and wider than the Swedish one. After having been decimated by the German arbalests and crossbows, the Swedes then found themselves completely outflanked, and they fled the field, retreating back to their castles and towns. Prince Rudolf continued to campaign in Pomerania for nearly a year, until the next summer when he was finally able to storm and capture Mikilinborg, the last Swedish stronghold, effectively putting and end to Swedish rule in Pomerania, and to the war between the empire and Sweden.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
In the same year as the great victory at Marlow was fought, the Bohemians broke their own back as they invaded Bavaria, the heart of the empire, in December 1347. They were met by Winrich von Kniprode on a bridge across a small, nameless, river. The struggle was brief, and ended in disaster for the Bohemians, as not only did they lose the battle, but also their king. Thus, two kings of Bohemia and perished in as many years.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Thereafter followed a few calm year, the first in a long time, and the economy of the empire slowly recovered, even though Venetian fleets kept disrupting trade in the North Sea. In 1351, the young Prince Lothair, the Emperor's oldest son, conquered the rebellious Piasts in Silesia. A minor battle was fought, of which no detailed account exists today, but it is certain that the Germans were victorious, and easily slaughtered the outnumbered Silesians.
Prince Friedrich, Lothair's younger brother, came of age in 1351 as well, and during the year the German fleet in Skaerrak twice fought their Venetian enemies. During the first battle they were victorious, but were later in the year defeated and driven away from Skagerrak. The war at sea continued in 1353 as German fleets destroyed Venetian ones in both the North and the Baltic Sea. For this act however, Emperor Ludwig was excommunicated by the Pope. This affected neither him nor his neighbouring kingdoms much though, as the Pope had little influence, and was well known to be nothing but a puppet in the hands of the Venetian Doge. The war at sea eventually came to an end in 1355 as the last Venetian fleet still present outside the Adriatic Ocean was defeated in Skagerrak.
In 1354, the Emperor achieved what he himself considered his greatest victory, as he personally led and army into Austria, which fell without a fight. The cowardly Bohemians ran like the true dogs they were, leaving an impoverished Austria behind them for the Emperor to rebuild. Years of relative peace now followed, with minor border raids being the only actions between the Empire and its remaining enemies.
The Battle of Kolovec
By 1359, King Borivoj I of Bohemia had been reduced to a minor player in the politics of Europe. His forefathers’ conquests at the expense of the Holy Roman Empire were all lost, and he had fled like a hound when his own castle in Vienna was threatened in 1354. Now, he remained content in Bohemia with what was left of his armies, not daring to strike against the mighty Emperor. It was that year, 1359, that Emperor Ludwig finally deemed that Bohemia's time had come. Massive troops were mustered, and under the command of the young Prince Otto, they marched into Bohemia in the summer. The invasion would seem rather foolish, even with their great numbers, as the Germans were still heavily outnumbered, and the Bohemians fielded plenty of their infamous Bohemian bowmen, whom, with the added range of the hills of Bohemia, could tear any invading force to pieces. Nonetheless, the Germans marched, and drew King Borivoj to meet them in the hills near the village of Kolovec.
Borivoj placed his army atop a great hill to the right of the valley were Otto and his troops stood. His army consisted of little regular infantry, and most of his men were bowmen, crossbowmen or javelinmen. Realising that it would be foolish to attack straight up the hill, Otto sent most of his infantry into the woods that were supposed to protect the Bohemian left flank. Thus, many Germans stood in the cover of the trees, on level ground with the Bohemians. The Bohemian bowmen tried to lure the Germans out of the woods by firing at them, but the forest protected the Germans, and the few arrows that were not caught by the trees actually bounced off of the armour of the German halberdiers. Meanwhile, the German arbalesters marched up the valley, with the cavalry close behind and a regiment of handgunners on their right flank. An archery duel soon commenced, in which the Bohemians were far superior as their numbers were greater and their range also, due to the hill on which they were positioned. Then, the imperial infantry charged into their flank. The attack was slow, and somewhat uncoordinated, which bought the Bohemians some time, and Bohemian sergeants and armoured spearmen attacked down the hill against the German arbalesters. Realising the threat, Otto rode himself to meet the enemy, but was nearly slain in doing so as his retinue clashed with the enemy before the rest of the cavalry could arrive. He was surrounded, but fought bravely and managed to keep the enemy at bay until reinforcements came upon the Bohemians in their rear. The entire battlefield was a mess by now, as some Bohemians had already routed and fled, while reinforcements were arriving from the woods to the left of the battle, where they had been waiting until a critical moment. Many Bohemians remained on the hill, fighting the German infantry however, but the German superiority in arms and armour soon paid off, and the Bohemians were slaughtered. Then, as the situation was dire for the Bohemians, a cry echoed among their ranks: "The King is dead! The King has fallen!". Yes, the foolish Borivoj, in his last and only act of bravery - or stupidity - had charged home into the German infantry. He was quickly surrounded and the imperial nobility on foot soon slew him with their poleaxes and halberds. Now, the remains of the Bohemian army routed, and the exhausted Germans reformed and regrouped atop the hill which they had now conquered.
The battle was not yet over however, as a second wave of Bohemian troops arrived from the forests. They were not very inclined to fight uphill, and instead marched into position atop the other side of the valley. Otto now had to resituate his entire army, and the Germans marched back into their initial position. From here, it was easy to weaken the already demoralized Bohemians with crossbow fire and constant harassment by the mounted crossbowmen. As the Bohemians began to waver, Otto charged his infantry head-on. A somewhat clumsy move, but the severely weakened Bohemians offered little resistance and were routed. They were chased for some while, but many managed to escape into the woods. Even so, the battle was over, and the German victory was complete.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
With the death of Borivoj I, the Bohemian line of kings ended, and the Kingdom of Bohemia was no more. Some Bohemians still fought for independancy against the Germans however, but eventually in 1361 Prague fell to Prince Otto, and with it all of Bohemia.
Trying to exploit the absence of troops in Bavaria, Doge Giovanni IV, the last of the Catholic leaders to oppose the Holy Roman Empire, invaded the said province in 1362 with a minor force. The Germans knew better than to take him on in the open field, and the few troops in Bavaria instead hid in a wood overlooking the road on which the Doge travelled. As the Italians passed, they were ambushed and driven away. Unfortunately however, the Germans were unable to capture or kill the Doge as they had done at Lindau in 1338. In 1363, a Mongol fleet in the Baltic dared to attack the imperial ships there, but were rewarded for their stupidity with utter defeat. Only a year later however, they defeated the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, bringing their border next to that of the Empire. They remained neutral for the time being however, which was fortunate for the Empire as it lacked the resources to commence yet another war at the time.
In 1364, Doge Giovanni passed away in an illness. He was succeeded by his brother, Lorenzo. Lorenzo was not to rule for long however, as the Germans finally took offensive against the Venetians and invaded Tyrolia in 1364, and Lorenzo was slain in the fierce Battle of Reutte that summer.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Emperor Ludwig V did not live to see the final outcome of the war in Tyrolia however, as he passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 5, 1365, before all of Tyrolia had been subdued. Nonetheless, he died a happy man. He had completed what his father had begun, as he had regained what the empire had lost during the latter half of the 13th century. He left it to his successors to stabilize his claims.
Years before his death however, Ludwig had been named the Victorius by his contemporaries, since he, against all odds, had time and again defeated his enemies, and had eventually shattered the coalition against the Empire. Despite war on four fronts, despite terrible finances and despite the Black Death that swept through Germany, the Empire had survived and was now on its way to prosperity. Indeed, Ludwig V would be remembered with great pride among his descendants. He was, however, not succeeded by any of his sons, as the Electors found his brother, Rudolf, the champion of Königshein and Marlow, to make a better Emperor. At the age of 53, he was crowned as Emperor Rudolf II in early 1366.
The Holy Roman Empire in 1366:
https://img514.imageshack.us/img514/...any1366sg2.png
Emperor Rudolf II:
https://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2736/rudolfni5.th.png
Thanks, guys. I can promise you, the Kievans are far from being out of the woods, as there is still the matter of the big nasty coming in 1231, not to mention a couple of other nifty surprises the game is throwing my way.:sweatdrop:
And great campaign there, Innocentius! Rather interesting map, looks like Portugal is really taking it to town over in the west! Not to mention the Horde putting a beat down on the Russian factions.
A superb AAR, Innocentius! I actually lost track of time reading that. ~:cheers:
Boy do I have some catching up to do! I have been travelling for the past month - I look forward to reading this mountain of accounts that have been posted in my absence!
for what it is worth, I managed to put together the second chapter of my Serbian campaign whilst travelling, so here we go....
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 2 – Carving an Empire
Tzar Vukan II paced impatiently, his mind awhirl with a myriad of conflicting ideas. His people were secure, and happy. The annexation of Hungary, Austria, and Venice had made his kingdom a very prosperous one indeed. He did not need to take any action…and yet….the opportunity to strike was there. The Cumans in the east were weakened from their long and bitter wars with Hungary, Poland, and Kiev. Now was the time to strike, before they could rebuild their forces. It was a chance to show his people – and in particular, his generals, that he was as able a strategist and military leader as his father.
As the thought of his generals flickered across his mind, Vukan frowned. He had been troubled by increasing rumours of disloyalty on the part of his military leaders. He stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment. Another argument “for” military action – send the least loyal generals. If they are successful, the fame and booty that they win will increase their loyalty. If they were to fail….well, little lost…yes, that plan had some merit. Vukan did not like the feeling that he was being “rushed” into a decision, but he knew that quick action was in this case necessary. He did not know how long the Cumans would leave their border provinces so lightly garrisoned, nor did he know how long the hard drive on which his virtual world existed would last. There had been ominous portents and error messages for some time now, after all.
At that point, his trusted Chamberlain, Ognjeslaw Curuvija, entered the room. “Your Highness” he bowed.
“You have news?” queried the Tzar.
“Indeed, Majesty. Our agents in the east report a rebellion in Carpathia. The locals wish to shake off the Cuman yoke.”
“Rebellion you say? Carpathia?” Tzar Vukan strode purposefully to his map table. As his fingers traced the likely entry paths into the province in question, he continued “How many have taken up arms? Are they well equipped? Most important – are they well led? Who stands at the head of this rebel force?”
“It would appear that they are lead by a group of disaffected western knights my Lord. Most likely Hungarians. There are known to be professional soldiers amongst their number - armoured spearmen, backed by a good many archers. As to their leader, that we do not know.”
“Desa is already here in Hungary, is he not?”
A nod from his Chamberlain answered the Tzar’s question. Desa was Vukan’s younger brother, and had already established himself as a very capable military leader.
“Good. Send for him at once. We must act with all haste.”
And so it was that early in 1116, the Cuman garrison of Carpathia found itself facing a dual threat. Not only were there Carpathian rebels seeking to regain control of their homeland, but now Prince Desa of Serbia had brought a considerable army eastward into the troubled province. Many of the garrison’s number had already travelled east to defend other Cuman territories from the armies of Kiev, and with only a threadbare force to fend off a dual assault, the Cuman commander chose discretion over valour, and withdrew.
The Carpathians rejoiced, believing their independence had been won without the clash of swords. Their joy was short lived in the extreme, as it soon became apparent that the Serbs were in Carpathia as would-be conquerors, not as allies. The Serbian army, initially greeted as liberators, was now to be turned upon as invaders.
The local army positioned itself atop a hill near the township of Bistrita, and the ensuing battle was to take the name of this village.
The Battle of Bistrita
Prince Desa scanned the enemy force carefully and swore. In the centre of the enemy army was a troop of no less than 40 feudal knights. Such heavy cavalry was an ominous threat indeed to his force.
“Curuvija, Anastasijevic.” He called the two commanders of his mounted crossbows. “See there – knights. You are our best counter to such units. Draw them out, wear them down. Once you have lured them away from the main force we will deal with the rest. When the hill is ours, bring what is left of them back to us. A larger force is a danger, but a smaller, tired force we can deal with.”
Ognjeslaw Curuvija and Velko Anastasijevic nodded grimly. They knew the tried and tested Serbian method of dealing with heavy cavalry all too well. It had been very successful throughout the war with Hungary, but the mounted crossbowmen would be at considerable peril in implementing the plan. Curivija, the more senior of the two, turned to Anastasijevic “You take the right, we will go left. Whichever bait they take, the other must follow quickly.”
The battle, as it transpired, proved a textbook example of the Serbian tactical handbook. The enemy knights came under fire from the two units of crossbows, and it was not long at all before they impetuously charged Curuvija’s men. The Serbians wheeled away, outpacing the heavier knights. Anastasijevic’s men pursued, so that every time the knights charge came to an end, another volley of crossbow bolts would rip through their ranks from either side. They were too far away from the main force for the armoured spearmen, urban militia, or archers to be able to intervene, and they were not quite fast enough to catch their antagonists.
Meanwhile, atop the hill, Desa’s Carska Garda had routed the enemy archers by charging into their rear. The enemy spears and militia were tied down in a frontal assault by the Serbian spearmen, and when the full fury of two units of Voynuk swordsmen hit their flanks, they too, lost the stomach for a fight.
The battle was over surprisingly quickly. 246 Carpathians had perished in their vain bid for freedom. At least the 41 prisoners would live to see another Carpathian dawn, but they would do so as subjects of Serbia. 112 Serbians had died in the battle.
Word of Desa’s latest triumph spread across Europe, with King William III of England so impressed that he offered Desa the hand in marriage of his daughter Matilde. Tzar Vukan II accepted on behalf of his brother, but the nuptials would have to wait….because Desa still had work to do in the east.
In 1117, the Cumans attempted to reclaim Carpathia. It was a half hearted attempt, and the Khan had clearly grossly underestimated the Serbian strength in the province. One troop of Steppe cavalry was never going to carry the day. Still, these horsemen valiantly pressed home their charge. 27 saddles were emptied before the Cumans had covered half of the distance to the Serbian line. 6 more men were to die as the survivors turned to flee the field. Not a single Serbian life was lost.
Prince Desa’s success in Carpathia had lent his eastern push momentum, and as summer reached its height, he led his army into Wallachia. The Cuman defenders were over-run, but gave a good account of themselves. 108 Serbians and 121 Cumans died in the ensuing battle, as yet another province fell to Serbian control.
Moldavian Conquest
The Cumans had signalled their intention to remain a thorn in the side of Serbian interests in the newly conquered provinces of Carpathia and Wallachia. From their stronghold in Moldavia, they could continue to raid at their leisure. The Tzar was also well aware of the potential riches to be offered by Moldavia – fertile agricultural lands, and access to the trade routes of the Black Sea. With these factors in mind, an army was raised and placed under the leadership of Prince Stefan, the brother of Tzar Vukan II.
Stefan’s army marched into Moldavia in the Spring of 1119. Leaving nothing to chance, the serbs had advised their allies, the Kievans, of their intentions, and this nation had sent a supporting force of some 750 men to assist the Serbian army in the coming battle.
Khan Batu II finds his armies outnumbered by almost 2 to 1, but elects to stand and fight nonetheless. He has (quite understandably) great faith in the ability of his heavy cavalry to carry the day, even against such odds.
Prince Stefan is also acutely aware of the threat posed by the Cuman heavy horse. He orders his mounted crossbowmen to focus their fire on these units and these alone.
The slopes of Mt Cilianos are soon awash with blood and littered with the dead and dying. The Cumans put up stiff resistance under the able leadership of their Khan, and the Kievan force bears the brunt of their fury. The much feared Cuman heavy cavalry are soon enough swept from the field by volley after volley of Serbian crossbow bolts, and this opens the way for the allied force to claim the field.
Khan Batu II knows that the day is lost, and flees north to Volhynia, leaving Argu Mänäs to lead the defence of Jassy Castle.
News of the victory at Mt Cilianos reaches the Tzar amidst the celebrations associated with the coming of age of Prince Belos, and the kingdom’s joy is redoubled.
Argu Mänäs is a competent general, but his garrison is comprised of survivors from Mt Cilianos. A great many bear wounds suffered on that terrible day. The castle is ill prepared to withstand a siege, nor is it well provisioned enough to support such a large garrison as now fills its walls. Disease and fever claim many lives, and a great many more succumb to their wounds. Jassy Castle falls in 1120.
That same year, Prince Primislav reaches adulthood, and the celebrations throughout Serbia are truly something to behold.
Tzar Vukan II was destined to rule for a further 6 years. These years would pass with little incident, save for news from the western border provinces of the ongoing war between the Bohemians and the Holy Roman Empire. For Serbia, however, this period is one of peace, with the Tzar devoting his energies to building trade routes.
In 1126, with the death of Vukan II, Belos I is crowned in a lavish ceremony. Belos proves to be almost completely disinterested in military matters, and is content to focus all of his attentions on a campaign of building, the likes of which has never before been seen in Serbia. Four princes come of age during this period – Stefan in 1135, Uros in 1142, Vukan in 1144, and Stafan in 1145.
Serbia is well served by its leading emissaries. Zivota Maricic and Hurem Subasic between them have secured alliances with most of the major houses of Europe, and with kingdoms as far east as that of the Volga Bulgars and the Byzantines.
For many years, Poland has been at war with the peoples of Novgorod. This war has severely weakened both realms, both financially, and in terms of the numbers of soldiers sacrificed to the gods of war. Lesser Poland is lightly defended in 1145, with what remains of the Polish army engaged further north in the defence of Greater Poland. The temptation proves to much for Belos, and he sends an army north under the leadership of his eldest son, Stafan. The Poles retreat in disarray at the sight of the Serbian army. King Mieszko of Poland is acutely aware that he cannot afford to fight a war on two fronts, and immediately seeks to establish a ceasefire with Serbia. Indeed, so concerned is Mieszko at the prospect of the Serbian threat, that barely 5 years later, he offers the hand of his daughter, Princess Maria, to Prince Stafan, the conqueror of Lesser Poland. Tzar Belos accepts on behalf of his son. The wedding is celebrated throughout Serbia and Poland in 1150.
Treachery in the West
By 1150, the Bohemians are victorious in their war with the Holy Roman Empire. With that enemy vanquished, and a large army still available to him, their King’s gaze has shifted south to Austria. Ignoring the long standing alliance that has bound Serbia and Bohemia, he orders his son Prince Vladivoj to march. This army arrives in Austria in the summer of 1151.
Jovica Tadic, the commander of the Serbian forces in Austria is determined to hold the province. He is at a severe disadvantage, however – his army numbers no more than 840 men. Prince Vladivoj commands a force in excess of 1,900.
Tadic’s men fight bravely, but in the end are overwhelmed, as wave after wave of Bohemians crash upon the Serbian line. As that dreadful day drew to a close, 749 Bohemians and 612 Serbs lay dead on the field, bearing mute witness to the ferocity of the battle.
The fury of Tzar Belos at this outrage was terrible to behold, and it was matched throughout Serbia by the populace at large. The Tzar himself led a Serbian army north to reclaim Austria from the vile snake Vladivoj. At the same time, the army of Prince Stafan marched on Bohemia. The Bohemians would pay dearly for their treacherous act of betrayal.
The Bohemian army of Prince Vladivoj found itself trapped by Belos’ army near the town of Hieflau. The Serbs fell upon their foes from all sides, eager to exact vengeance for the unprovoked attacked of the previous year. No avenue of retreat was left for the Bohemians. 727 perished on the field, with a further 310 prisoners taken. 416 Serbs are lost in Belos’ victory at Hieflau. A ransom of 4,403 florins is received to spare the life of Prince Vladivoj, and the wretched Prince is sent back to his people.
Stafan’s army in Bohemia are also spectacularly successful, and the province is soon subdued. A handful of captured nobles amongst the 207 prisoners brings a ransom of some 3,108 florins to the Serbian treasury.
In two short years, the Bohemians had lost almost 2,000 troops, their treasury had been reduced by some 7,500 florins in ransom payments, and they had lost their home province of Bohemia. Their treachery had indeed cost them dearly, and the misery was to continue as the Venitians sought to capitalise, launching a series of raids from the south on the province of Bavaria.
By 1154, the Bohemians’ collective problems were so great that the nation was forced to accept the Serbian terms of a ceasefire agreement.
King Louis VI of France was so impressed with the Serbian response to Bohemian aggression that he offered the hand of his daughter, Princess Matilda, to Prince Uros in 1156, in order to seal an alliance between France and Serbia. A number of Catholic nations in the west had severed ties with Serbia following the Serbian invasion of Lesser Poland in 1145, and Tzar Belos was consequently most anxious to secure allies in the west to rebuild trade and secure his borders. As a result, the French proposal was duly accepted, and bells throughout the kingdom were soon tolling to spread the joyous news of a royal wedding.
Turmoil in the Mediterranean
The following year, riders bring news of a most unexpected development. Tensions between the two major powers in the Mediterranean, Sicily and Byzantium, had long been simmering, and in 1157 these tensions erupted into outright war. As might be expected, such a conflict was to have dire consequences on trade in the region. It was as well for Serbia that her Tzar had seen fit to devote such time and energy into developing the nation’s agricultural and mining resources.
The war between Sicily and Byzantium had other consequences as well. The people of Rhodes saw it as an opportunity to overthrow their Byzantine rulers. In 1159, they claimed their independence. Tzar Belos, ever the opportunist, issued orders to assemble a small invading army. Sreten Ogrijenovic was the general selected to lead this force, landing on Rhodes in 1161.
The invading Serbian army met the small local force to the south east of the coastal village of Cremasti that same year. After a short, violent struggle, 62 men lay dead, 28 of them Serbs. The island was now in Serbian hands, and Ogrijenovic was appointed the overlord of the island.
Barely 4 years later, Tzar Belos I dies peacefully in his sleep. His reign has spanned almost 40 years, an astounding feat for the time. His son Uros is crowned at the age of 39 years.
Previous Chapters of This Campaign
Chapter 1 - https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...postcount=1223
Welcome back, bamff! Clearly, your absense hasn't diminished your story-telling abilities one bit. Another outstanding entry, my friend. :medievalcheers:Quote:
Originally Posted by bamff
That part made me laugh out loud -- so much so, in fact, that I'm worried I might've woken up my roommate in the process. :laugh4:Quote:
Vukan did not like the feeling that he was being “rushed” into a decision, but he knew that quick action was in this case necessary. He did not know how long the Cumans would leave their border provinces so lightly garrisoned, nor did he know how long the hard drive on which his virtual world existed would last. There had been ominous portents and error messages for some time now, after all.
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 3 – Treachery & Triumph
The reign of Tzar Uros I had initially been peaceful, allowing the new ruler of Serbia precious time to settle into his position. It was as well, for in the year 1168 a series of events was to unfold which would truly test both his mettle as Tzar, and the strength of the Serbian kingdom.
As the winter snows of 1167-68 thawed, an army was gathering in the Papal States. In the spring this army marched north, with the intention of seizing the rich province of Venice. Fortunately for Tzar Uros, an Orthodox priest by the name of Cedomil Kordic had been travelling through the Papal territories in late 1167, and upon arriving in Croatia he had alerted the local authorities of the “Most unusually large encampment of troops” that he had witnessed. Uros had directed much of the Croatian and Austrian garrisons to Venice, although he found it hard to believe that the Pope would so readily cast aside the long-standing alliance which had bound the Papacy and Serbia.
As it transpired, the lure of Venice’s wealth was far greater incentive for the Pope Benedict IX than any notions of loyalty or honour – particularly when it involved a non-Catholic nation. Unfortunately for the Pope, when his army arrived in Venice and found the defending Serbian army to be at least three times the strength reported by Papal agents, they wheeled about and marched back into the Papal States. In a fury, Pope Benedict ordered his sea captains to clear the seas of Serbian vessels – only to watch his entire fleet destroyed in a serious of disastrous naval actions in the battle of the Straits of Sicily in 1169 and the battle of the Tyrrhenian Sea in 1170.
Meanwhile, in 1169 came the news from the eastern province of Moldavia that an enormous Kievan army had marched on those territories. At the head of this force was none other than Grand Prince Sviatapolk III, the Kievan monarch. Kiev, whilst nominally an Orthodox state, had forged very close ties with the Papacy. It was later to emerge that the two nations had indeed colluded in their invasion plans. Sadly for the Kievans, news of the Papal defeats had not reached Levidea in time to halt the invading army...and the Serbian forces were not in anything like the state of disarray and confusion that the Kievan council of war had anticipated that they would be.
Even so, the Serbian army charged with defending Moldavia was far smaller than the Kievan force that they faced. Lord Bajic, commander of the Serbian force was painfully aware that not only would his men need to fight well to succeed, but they would need a healthy slice of good fortune as well. Even then, he knew that a great many of them would never live to see another dawn. With these grim thoughts pervading, he once again surveyed his chosen position. In the distance, to the left of his line, he could see the faint wisps of chimney smoke that signalled the position of the village of Vradievka. No doubt some would stay in the village no matter the outcome of this battle. Others he knew, had already departed, cramming the roads heading westward, fearing what the Kievans may do. It would be much the same in the township of Ananev to the rear of his position, he mused. He scanned the clear blue morning sky. A flock of birds suddenly took flight from the forest that stretched across the valley floor, quickly followed by another...and then Bajic could hear the drums...the Kievans were approaching.
The Battle of Berezovka Valley
Grand Prince Sviatopolk halted at the edge of the forest, and surveyed the Serbian position. He turned to his assembled generals.
“Barely half our number. I warrant most will flee in terror when they gaze at the size of our force emerging from these trees. Sweep them from our path!”
The great Kievan army lurched forwards, into a hail of arrows and crossbow bolts. A great number of Kievan troops never stepped further than the forest’s edge, but still the army pressed on doggedly. As the distance between the two forces closed, the Kievan archers began to return fire on their antagonists, and casualties on both sides rose. At this crucial juncture, Momsilo Komljenovic and his Voynuk Swordsmen fell upon the Kievan right flank with a fury that was terrible to behold. Meanwhile, on the opposing flank, the mounted crossbowmen of Zivojin Zuzoric, having expended all of their bolts, charged into the enemy’s horse archers, scattering all before them.
Recognising that the moment had arrived, Lord Bajic charged down the hill into the Kievan line. His Carska Garda had soon punched straight through the Kievan ranks, and they wheeled to attack the surviving Boyars of the Grand Prince’s personal guard. The Boyars were fighting a losing battle against the Serbian armoured spears, and the charge of the Carska Garda spelled their doom.
As Sviatopolk was pulled from his saddle, the Kievan force wilted, and the fled the field, racing in confusion for the sanctuary of the forest. Victory belonged to Lord Bajic!
The victory had been won, but at a terrible cost. 503 Serbs lay dead or dying. Bajic’s own regiment of Carska Garda now numbered only three men. A fourth horse followed the trio, apparently unaware that its rider was now lying dead on the field.
The Kievans had lost some 645 men, and a further 290 had surrendered, including the Grand Prince himself. He sat a broken man, muttering “Barely half our number...” over and over.
Sviatopolk was only to live a few months more. Serbian ransom demands were refused by the Kievans, and the former Kievan monarch was sentenced to be hanged in 1170. Following his death, the Kievans accepted the terms of the Serbian ceasefire, and peace was once again restored to the eastern borders of Serbia.
Some had criticised Uros for offering a ceasefire, but the Serbian monarch was unmoved, noting that the Moldavian garrison had been severely weakened by the actions of 1169, and that “other threats may soon enough emerge”.
A World at War
The world was indeed in a state of some turmoil. The long running war between Bohemia and Venice continued to rage in the west. In 1171, news arrived of the apparent re-emergence of the Peoples of Novgorod in a region known as Finland. The war between Sicily and the Byzantines had seen the Sicilian navy sink a large part of the Byzantine fleet, and in 1172, the people of Cyprus used their isolation to their advantage, rising up against the Byzantine garrison. With no reinforcement possible, the beleaguered troops withdrew to their stronghold.
The following year, Pope Benedict IX was also forced to accept Serbian ceasefire terms. Uros was a happy man indeed – his kingdom was once again enveloped in a blanket of peace, and he was free to indulge himself one more in his program of building and public works.
By the year 1175, the Cypriots had rid themselves completely of the Byzantines. Prince Vukan had been monitoring developments on the island carefully, and he now petitioned his father, presenting the argument that the access to further ports in the Mediterranean was most desirable, particularly those so agreeably positioned astride a major trade route. Uros eventually acquiesced, and in 1178 Prince Vukan landed in Cyprus. The Cypriots, under Theodore Cerularius, defended their homeland bravely, but were ultimately no match for the Serbian force. At the end of the small action, 41 Cypriots were dead and 17 captured. Only 6 Serb lives were sacrificed to the gods of war.
Treachery begets Trouble
For many years now, the Byzantines had been amassing their forces in Bulgaria, and in the year 1183, Lord Calaphates led an army of 2,160 men westwards into Serbia itself – notwithstanding the fact that Serbia had long been an ally of Byzantium!
The Serbian force under Stafan Djorovic fought determinedly in the defence of their homeland. The slopes of Mt Maganik soon were red with the blood of the invaders. Djorovic knew that the enemy Kataphraktoi posed the greatest threat to his army, and so he ordered all of his archers to concentrate their fire on these heavily armoured cavalry as they struggled up the slope. With the feared Byzantine cavalry thus neutralised, Djorovic ordered his archers to shift their fire to the Byzantine infantry and armoured spearmen.
The Vlastela cavalry of Cedomil Adzovic and Misa Obradovic had by this time fired all of their arrows, and they were now free to engage the enemy’s Trebizond archers more directly. This they did with a relish, riding down row after row of the hapless archers.
With their general dead, and their heavy cavalry and infantry units destroyed, the surviving Byzantine soldiers decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and they fled. They left behind 836 dead comrades, and 797 who had surrendered to the Serbs. The Serbian defenders had lost only 344 men. The Byzantine captives included a number of nobles, and a ransom of 4,671 florins was secured for their release. Djorovic had pulled off an outstanding victory – and one which was to have severe repercussions for the treacherous Byzantine aggressors.
The Byzantine army in Bulgaria had been severely weakened by their losses in Serbia, and the morale of the force had also been notably reduced. In 1186, Stafan Djorovic marched into the province, reinforced by a two more Serbian armies that marched south from the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia respectively. The Byzantine forces retreated without offering battle. Bulgaria was now in Serbian hands.
With two stunningly successful campaigns behind him, Djorovic was appointed governor of Bulgaria, and afforded the title Lord Djorovic. The redoubtable Serbian general was by no means finished yet, however.
As the Serbian assault gained momentum, Sicily had renewed its war with Byzantium with a new vigour. In 1187, The Sicilians launched a siege on Tripoli, and seized Palestine. Emperor John of Byzantium responded by directing part of the garrison of Greece to sail across the Mediterranean to raise the siege on Tripoli. It was a move he would come to regret. With the garrison of Greece reduced, the door was opened for Djorovic to continue his drive south, and in 1188 he seized Greece in the name of Tzar Uros I.
The capture of Greece was to prove the last hurrah for Tzar Uros. The ageing Tzar was found on the morning after the celebratory feast. Tzar Primislav I was crowned in 1188, and immediately sent word to Djorovic. Constantinople itself was soon to face the wrath of Serbia. The province itself fell quickly. Once again, the Byzantine troops proved to be more in danger of being trampled underfoot by their own panic-struck generals and comrades than from the advancing Serbs. The city of Constantinople came under siege from Djorovic’s army in 1189. The garrison would hold out for a further two years before finally succumbing in 1191.
The loss of Constantinople in the same year as the loss of Tripoli to a Castille-Leonese led Crusade proved too much for the Byzantine people. In 1192, Byzantium was rent asunder by civil war. In just under 10 years, the greatest power in the Mediterranean had been brought to her knees. It was a terrible price indeed to pay for that treacherous attack on an ally in 1183 – but one which many in Serbia thought was truly “justice done”.
In 1203, the new ruler of Byzantium petitioned Serbia for a ceasefire. This request was met favourably by Tzar Primislav, who wished nothing more than a peaceful existence for his realm. His wish was granted, with the Tzar enjoying a peaceful existence until suffering a hunting accident in 1212. Many had warned him against allowing “Myopic Milislav” Glaucomovic to join the party that day. He would have done well to heed his advisors on that point – or perhaps to wear something other than his favourite bearskin cape.
And so it was that in the year 1212, Tzar Stafan I was crowned at the tender age of 19 years of age. Serbia was in a far healthier position than it had been for many a year. The people were happy, the treasury was full to overflowing...but the rapid growth of the Castille-Leonese to the west, the Danes to the north, and Sicily to the south had many in Serbia concerned. How long would the peace last?
Military restructuring
Stafan may have been young, but the new Tzar was no fool. With the Serbian economy as strong as it had ever been, Stafan looked to augment the strength of his armies. The Serbian armies had long been deficient in the crucial area of heavy cavalry units. Long had Serbian rulers looked with envious eyes upon the Catholic armies of the west with their knights. The Kataphractoi of Byzantium and the heavy cavalry of the old Cuman empire had also drawn the envy of Serbian monarchs. Cost had always been an issue – but no more.
Drawing inspiration from the knights of his Catholic neighbours, Stafan now openly encouraged the training of Vlastela Heavy Cavalry units, and he ordered a complete overhaul of the various Carska Garda regiments. No longer would these troops be the most dangerous of mounted archers – they were now to become the most feared heavy cavalry in all of Europe!
The advances in the cavalry units of potential enemies had exposed a further area of concern for the Serbian armies. For many years, the staple unit of the defensive line had been regiments of armoured spearmen. Stafan’s father Uros had noted the Catholic trend towards a new type of footsoldier, called a “Halberdier”. He was impressed with the potential of such troops, and had ordered the development of an all-Serbian counterpart, to be known as a Voynuk Bladesman.
Finally, advances in archery and armour had resulted in two further new units undergoing training for deployment in Stafan’s new model army – shielded bowmen, and arbalesters.
The Serbian military would soon be a force of significant power indeed!
An Unexpected Windfall
Stafan’s building and military programmes had not gone unnoticed in the west. In 1216, word arrived at Stafan’s court that the King of Castile-Leon had offered the hand of his only daughter, Catherine, to the young Serbian monarch. Stafan could see the political advantages that such a union would afford. The armies of Spain were rampaging across western Europe – clearly this would make the Castile-Leonese formidable allies.
Stafan and Catherine were married later that year, and happily for both parties the union was one which proved to be far more than “mutually convenient”. In Catherine, Stafan believed that he had found a true soul-mate, and the Spanish princess was equally entranced with her dashing Serbian husband. Each learned the native tongue of the other, and Stafan even took the unusual step of visiting Catherine’s homeland with her on a number of occasions over the next few years. As a result, the royal couple were soon almost as popular with the people of Castile-Leon as they were with their Serbian subjects.
In the latter part of 1222, news arrived from Granada that King Pedro II of Castile-Leon was gravely ill. Catherine, with Stafan’s blessing, returned to her homeland to be at her father’s side. Upon her arrival in Castile in 1223, King Pedro was already on his death bed. His physicians had declared themselves helpless to save their beloved monarch. This was a troubling time for the Spanish nobility. Prince Phillip, the sole heir to the throne, had been killed in battle in Flanders barely two years previously, leaving the realm in a very precarious position indeed.
It was Catherine who offered the solution to King Pedro’s Chamberlain, Lord Sanchez, Duke of Algarve, a man who she had known as “Uncle Fernando” in her youth. Fernando Sanchez had long been a friend and confidant of King Pedro.
“The blood of my father flows through my veins as it did my dear brother Phillip’s. It also flows through the veins of my son. Stafan is a good man and a good King, and he is well loved by his own people and ours. If the monarchy were to pass to Stafan, both the royal line and the kingdom are secured.”
The Chamberlain listened intently.
Bishop Velazquez voiced his own concerns “My Lady, pardon my raising such a question, but would your husband be prepared to be baptised as Catholic?”
Catherine’s face flushed with anger “He is a Christian, not a pagan.”
Lord Sanchez intervened calmly “Quite so. I appreciate your concerns, Bishop, but better the kingdom remain united under a Christian ruler than fragment into rebellion, anarchy, and godlessness.”
The Bishop was not so easily dissuaded “Of course my Lord, but Orthodoxy is not Catholicism, and…”
“As I said, Bishop, I appreciate your concern.” Sanchez tone was notably firmer. “I will convene a meeting of the …” his voice trailed off as King Pedro raised his right hand.
When the king spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper, but his resolve was clear. “Stafan is a good king and a just king….and a Christian King. He is also the husband of my daughter, and father of my grandson. He will hold our kingdom together. I anoint him as my ….. my rightful heir.”
King Pedro coughed. He turned to his daughter, and smiled. His lips moved as if to speak, and then he sighed loudly and his eyes fluttered closed.
The King’s surgeon examined the great man briefly before glancing towards Lord Sanchez and grimly shaking his head. Sanchez turned to Lord de la Cerda “You heard?”
De la Cerda nodded.
“Good. Call the heralds, we must spread word of the succession.”
Sanchez glance shifted to the quietly departing figure of Bishop Velazquez, and he motioned his aide, Don Enrique de Estrella.
“Enrique, I believe that Bishop Velazquez means to cause mischief in the matter of this succession. Arrange for our ‘friend’, d’Anghiera to see that he does not.”
“As you wish, my Lord.”
Bishop Velazquez’ body was found a week later by a Murcian fisherman.
And so it came to pass that in the year 1223, the nobility of Castile-Leon, and the peoples of the provinces of Algarve, Cordoba, Portucale, Leon, Castile, Granada, Valencia, Murcia, Aragon, Navarre, Tripoli, and Savoy all swore loyalty to their new monarch….Tzar Stafan of Serbia. There was much rejoicing throughout Serbia at this sudden unexpected increase in the kingdom.
Further good news was received by Tzar Stafan that very same year, and he announced to his subjects that after a series of successful trials, he was relocating his entire kingdom to the far more stable platform of a new laptop. Serbia should be in no further danger of the dreaded spectre of hard drive failure!
On the fringes of the kingdom, however, dark clouds brewed, as the Bohemians gathered their armies in secrecy....
Previous Chapters of This Campaign
Chapter 1 - A Place to Live
Chapter 2 - Carving an Empire
:laugh4: That was good.Quote:
Originally Posted by bamff
As always, an excellent chapter, Bamff!
Another outstanding entry, bamff! :medeivalcheers:
:laugh4: :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by bamff
Glad your computer woes are being dealt with, though. ~:)
Don't be hasty though...
I'm going to quote Sun Tzu again here: "Processor speed alone confers no advantage in MTW. Do not advance relying on sheer computer power".
:yes:
Hahahaha! Well said sir! :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by ArtistofWarfare
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and announce that I will attempt a Portugal/Expert/Early/GA/XL 3.0 campaign, trying to survive all the way through to 1453 (without steamrollering or anything). Especially no mercenaries for me (I'd only build an Inn if it was required to build special units, such as Latin Auxillaries, depending on faction, of course - but not to get mercs...the computer can't get mercs, so I won't). I know this might sound like a suicidal campaign, but I will try to balance conquest and turtling the best I can.
I was playing a Venetian/Hard/Early/GA/XL 3.0 campaign, but by 1145, I had upwards of 13 provinces, was filthy stinking rich, and thought it'd only be a matter of time before I trounced the Almoravids, whether or not they were a superpower (I mean, I had the boats to do that, and I had access to plenty of good units, such as Feudal Knights and Feudal Foot Knights - and could build good Feudal, armoured, morale-boosted units in most provinces...it just seemed like if I went on to conquering other factions, I'd trounce them, and end up with a pointless cold war with the Almoravids and Byzantines, ending in me destabilising them - it just felt too easy, like I'd gone too far so early). Genoa, Sicily, the Serbs and the Germans all trounced by me in any conflicts...(Sicily besieged Perugia for ONE turn, then I took it back from them, and took Naples and Sicily, destroying their fleet...and consigning them to Corsica).
I won't try to bribe El Cid at the start...it feels so much more a Castile-Leon or Aragon move, too arcady for Portugal. Plus I'd have to find a way to connect Valencia to Portugal... I'm also thinking armies along the lines of M2TW - not professional, but boosted with various troops, including Militia Sergeants (sp?) and Besterios (sp?). Not sure about my garrison armies, though...
EDIT: Well, it's either this, or Aragon (or Denmark - or Poland...can't decide...LOL!).
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Started an Early/Normal Almo campaign on XL
Began building up. Allied with almost everybody except Portugal. Bribed Algeria and Tunisia. Recruited some. Tried my luck with the Portuguese but screwed up and reloaded. :embarassed: Repelled a couple rebellions in Algeria but retreated from Tunisia.
Then the Portuguese king decided that the ruling business was too boring and life sucked anyway and invaded Qurtuba. Khalife Yusuf I responded by not defending the province, leaving that job to his competent sons, but charging home. Portugal eliminated.
Castilla-Léon removed Aragón with a blitz. I kept recruiting what I could, knowing that they would sooner or later betray the alliance. They did. I'm without a navy now.
Gave a break.
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Ouch, Mouza! You're definitely in for a fight then. :sweatdrop: Which lands do you and Castille-Leon hold, respectively?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouzafphaerre
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I started from scratch. :oops: The war had come earlier than I was planning. :shrug:
Avoided provoking battle except surrendering to the charm of bribing El Cid. ~D Portugal did it again and paid for it again, but I withdrew from Portucale and let rebels enjoy independence for a while, until Castilla swallowed it.
Aragon and Castilla are buddies now and ganging up on me. :smash: I'm a fearsome enemy for them if only numerically; spamming AUM, UM and Murabitin, add a couple Ghazi and Archers here and there. The war is going on in the sea, except a quickly resolved skirmish in Qurtuba.
I have all starting provinces (Algarve, Qurtuba, Granada, Morocco) plus Valencia (avoided expanding towards Egypt); Castilla own their starting provinces and Portucale; and Aragon expanded into Aquitaine.
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I wish you luck, mate. Show those Spanish barbarians what for! :whip:
Okay, that's just funny. :laugh4: Out of curiosity, how much did it cost to procure his services?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouzafphaerre
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Around 8,000 :deal:
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Love this thread, building up to posting my own.
Any nations that would be good to grace these hallowed pages? Let me know and i'll post the campaign to it's glorious or horrific conclusions. BTW I always start in early and have VI vanilla...
Well I don't think we've seen a Byzantine or HRE campaign in awhile. That said, we always enjoy campaign stories here, regardless of the faction it's about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironsword
So play as whoever you wish. I suspect you'll have an audience either way. ~:)
I will echo Martok here. The beauty of the game is that each one unfolds differently, so whichever one you go with, you will have readers along for the ride. Having said that, if you really wanted to "go unique" I don't believe that there have been a great many VI campaigns recounted.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironsword
I look forward to reading of your adventures! :2thumbsup:
Hehe...people will read of my adventures too, for I stepped forward and claimed my divine right to lead Bohemia to Glorious Achievements - the campaign is in it's Early days, and only an individual Expert in the ways of warfare can bring victory to this XL 3.0 campaign.
See how I weaved in my campaign settings? :laugh4:
I must be crazy trying Bohemia on Expert...but then again, hopefully it will lead somewhere and I won't be too poor a faction. Not that I want an easy ride. My Venetian/Early/GA/Hard/XL 3.0 campaign ended up disappointing...heck, if I'd fought the Almoravids then and there in 1146, I would have probably come out even stronger and created several smaller enemies through re-emergences in the Almoravid lands - seemed rather like an anticlimax, with few rivals my strength. Bohemia on the other hand, on Expert...there should be some pretty epic battles to fight. And both Poland and Hungary have turned down the offer of an alliance...:sweatdrop:
Anyway, I'm thinking of making Austria my first conquest. Copper Mines, and if I put a 4 acumen governor (when I have another one...) in charge, it'd make upwards of 400 florins per turn, so not too bad. The Polish seem to be a bad attack choice, as their troops are more numerous on their front compared to the Germans. But I won't underestimate the ability of the Germans to amass a large army, so I'll have to be ready. I'm assuming the best tactic would be to engage in small but decisive battles, so that's what I'll do at the moment. Need a few solid homelands before I begin building up and consolidating my position, although a ceasefire with the Germans probably won't last (it didn't when I played as the Danes the other week...darn German fleet, took me entirely by surprise!).
Well if you're playing as the Bohemians, then I definitely wish you luck -- regardless of the difficulty level! (If you were to look back through this thread to 2006, you would see that all of my Bohemian campaigns ended....poorly. :laugh4: )
As for myself, I actually went and started a new HRE campaign a couple days ago. We'll see if I manage to survive past the first couple decades. ~:rolleyes:
I'll post some screenshots later, but I got through to turn 11 last night - 1090AD. So far so good. I decided that Bavaria was the ideal first target in the First Bohemian-German War (hehe...haven't called for a ceasefire yet, and since as it's a GA game, it'd probably be useless at the moment, seeing as how the HRE have Bavaria as a GA Homelands goal). Bavaria, economically speaking, was between Franconia and Austria. Austria produced 430 florins per turn, but Lord von Holstein (think that's the guy's name) has 5 acumen (including the Imperial Chamberlain office), while Franconia produced 469 florins per turn with a 4 acumen governor. Bavaria produced 445 florins per turn - can't remember the original governor, though (and don't think I could find him, either, by right-clicking to see the stats of the leading generals of various HRE stacks - either that, or it was Franconia's governor I couldn't find). Bavaria is also more central, so I've 'baited' the province, in a sense. If the HRE attack, I'm hoping I can entice them there. Franconia may have been too risky a target, with Saxony and Brandenburg bordering it. Austria was out of the way, a bit too dis-jointed from Bohemia, as my forces might not have been sufficient to discourage a counter-offensive against Bohemia.
Currently, with both Bohemia and Bavaria on Very High Taxes, I can make 712 florins per turn. I have above 4,000 florins, roughly 4,715 or so. Not too bad, considering. I built a Trader in Bohemia, and that nets me about 182 florins per turn for the Gems and Sugar trade. Just wish I could trade it with other provinces. I can now afford a slightly larger army, and to perhaps take one or two more lands from the Germans - but that is still uncertain. King Vratislav II needs to consolidate his position and consider the next move carefully. There's no point in over-extending, whether for political, economical or military-oriented aims.
I think I'll use Bavaria for ranged units, primarily Archers. Bohemian Bowmen will only be recruited from Bohemia (a personal restriction I'm putting on myself). That'll free me up to build swords and spears from Bohemia (I'm settling for Armoured Spearmen at the moment...50 florins extra to recruit than Feudal Sergeants (sp?), but 12 florins less in upkeep per turn).
I have two heirs, Prince Vratislav and Prince Jan. Although not exactly diamonds in the rough, Prince Vratislav would be okay to rule in economic terms, while Prince Jan would make a fine general. I tend to use my best generals in battle, not necessarily my King. But seeing as how King Vratislav II isn't an old codger at the moment, he has a fair number of years left in him, and he has 4 command, I'll be using him in the meantime (but Prince Jan would definitely stand in for Prince Vratislav, especially against the Germans).
EDIT: The correct term for my current situation would most likely be censored, but the Hungarians have handed me my butt on a platter as part of the main course in a three-course meal. It annoys me, and I am very angry, because I have *NEVER* seen Hungary take an interest in Bohemia, on any setting, until I played this campaign...
Well, its been a while, folks, but the Kievans are back in action. :thumbsup:
Chapter 5- The Tale of Andrei the Pragmatic
In the year 1176 of our Lord, Andrei II, eldest son of Vladimir the Righteous, ascended to the rank of Grand Prince of all of Kiev. Andrei was a valourous man, proud, and rightly so, of his military and family heritage. Andrei was also skilled in the realms of diplomacy and coercion. Despite his many strengths, Andrei had a single major flaw. He was, like his father, none to bright in the handling of economic matters. Secretly, behind his back, many of nobles of the court mocked and scorned his seeminly lack of intellect regarding the economy. The mock and scorn continued and grew in strenghth, until, according to legend, Andrei came in upon a small mock play being put on by several nobles to a private audience, whereupon in the play, Andrei is portrayed acting in much like a jester when confronted by economic advisors. Andrei's wrath is said to have woken the Pontiff in Rome and the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. None of the nobles partaking were seen again.
However, Andrei had much greater issues to attend to than just idiotic court nobles. The kingdom was bereft of finances due to the halt in trade following war with the Almoravid Caliphate. Infrastructure was growing at a grinding pace, and troops were becoming more and more spread out. Furthermore, the international community, which Vladimir had managed to string together in a degree of unity, did not revere him with the same respect, which became quickly evident. As a matter of fact, just ten days following his coronation to Grand Prince, Andrei received word that the Bela IV, King of Hungary, had launched a crusade in an attempt to retake Sweden for Catholic hands. Bela was by no means a weak ruler, but it appeared he had made a very foolish mistake. Primarily, he had picked a fight with one of the world's super powers, while his own kingdom could not muster nearly the troops or finances in one on one war. Additionally, he lost many frontline troops who signed up in fervor for the crusade, leaving his homelands moderately vulnerale. However, Bela was not one to be understimated, as events would turn out.
As an aside, before the exploration of Kievan events, it should be noted that the Almoravid Caliphate suffered a major civil war which saw the indepenance of many Iberian counties and provinces, and sever logistical and military problems seemed imminent for the Caliph.
The Great Treachery
In the year 1177, the year following Andrei's coronation, Andrei made the decision to retaliate against Bela with a direct invasion. He mustered troops from Levidia, Volyhinia, and Kiev, and marched on the region of Moldavia. His large force of over 1,000 was so imposing that the meager defenses in the region quickly retreating some to garrison the Keep, while all others retreated to Lesser Poland. However, not all was well. Bela still has large reserves of troops in Lesser Poland and Hungary, and soon, it became evident what Bela's plot was. From his palace in Kiev, Andrei received a visit from a Byzantine diplomat, as he had expected. He figured that Nicephorus III, Emperor, would make the obvious choice between his former allies, and side with Andrei. However, he recieved quite a shock. The diplomat informed him that Nicephorus offered deep condolenses, but had no choice but to side with Bela. Andrei was shocked and outraged, and only quick thinking and a fast horse enabled the diplomat to escape the city of Kiev with his head still attached. But the coup de grace of the Hungarian plan was just coming to fruition, which Andrei received word of just three days after chasing the Byzantine diplomat from his territory. Scouts raced into the palace, deprived of breath.
"What is it?!" Andrei demanded. Scouts coming to his palace out of breath in late August meant nothing good.
"My Lord! All hell has broken loose! Denmark has betrayed us! Danish armies from Estonia and Finland invaded Novgorod. Alexitov, the general, withdrew to the castle, while the rest withdrew to Lithuania!"
It is said that Andrei's response went something along the lines of :tnt: :furious3:
Upon cooling down, Andrei thought upon the situation in his bed chamber. His armies in Lithuania, Livonia, Muscovy, and Cherginov should be able to defeat the Danish army in Novgorod, with the sally of Alexitov. The catch would be that his navy must defeat the Danish navy thoroughly, and paralyze their army's movement. Furthermore, the Danish homeland was open to invasion, due to the fact that most of their troops were in Flanders and Western France, to attempt to combat the Almoravids. "If the navy holds out," Andrei pondered, "We should be able to ransack them on land. If, if, if..."
The year 1177 proved to be at least a modicum less 'eventful' for Andrei. His generals in the Baltics rallied together and came to blows with the Danish army besieging the castle. The Danes were outnumbered, but had large numbers of fierce and energetic vikings, along with archers and a few light spear armed infantry. The battle proved to be decided by the superior Kievan cavalry, which on many occasions, were able to flank and route the viking defenders with small pitched battles. Kievan forces lost just over 200 in the battle, while Danish forces lost roughly 500. Meanwhile, a small task force from Livonia invades Estonia, which had been left nearly defenseless in the Dane's zealous efforts to gain Novogorod. Danish forces withdrew to the fort, avoiding blows with the larger Kievan force. Meanwhile, in the south, Bela's army assembled and marched to Moldavia, to rescue their comrades and retake the province for catholic hands. The battle would prove to be terrible and bloody.
The Battle for Moldavia
Kievan forces alligned themselves next to a small wooded area, with rus and armoured spearmen making up the frontline, with heavy Varangian swordsmen filling the gaps, while Druzhina cavalry waited on the eastern wing, and General Chort Alekseev in the rear, accompanied by a couple units of tribal Voi swordsmen. However, unknown to the Hungarian army, in the small wooded area lurked one unit of Druzhina cavalry and one unit of Voi. The Hungarian armies initial surge consisted of many lower class troops such as joggaby javilineers and bowmen, acccompanied by a few sturdier feudal swordsmen and spearmen, with the rear brought up by many Szekely horse archers.
The Hungarian commander was apparently not by any stretches of the imagination a brilliant man. He completly ignored the wooded area to the west of the Kievan army, and instead marched his troops straight forwards to meet the Kievans face to face. The Hungarians marched in straight order, continually getting closer and closer to the Kievan army. As the archer drew their bow strings, Alekseev motioned to a unit of Druzhina cavalry on the western rear to begin swinging around the main battle line. The Hungarian arrows failed to break the Kievan battle line, which was well protected by armor which blunted the volleys. The joggaby continued their march forwards, while the Szekely began also to draw their bow strings. At that moment, Aleckseev blew a loud wistle. A flag bearer raised his flag, and waved it high and proud, a signal to the hidden Druzhina cavalry in the woods. The Druzhina's easily perceived the signal, and immediately put the plan into action. Meanwhile, the Druzina's on the other flank began as well. At a 90 degree angle to the Hungarian army, the Druzhina's powered thier way through the trees, bursting from the treeline, screaming loud and fiercely. The Hungarian joggaby and archers were their targe. The skirmisher began to march quickly eastwards, to flee from the trap. However, they soon only met the axes of the Druzhina's sent from the other flank. Meanwhile, Druzhina and Varangian infantry began a march forwards, to totally collapse the Hungarian line. A unit of Hungarian armoured spears had managed to turn themselves to face the ambushing cavalry, and slowed the advance. However, now the Hungarian battle line had been thrown into chaos. Despite this, however, Hungarian troops proved their great valor on the field that day. The Szekely soon joined the brawl, and many Hungarian troops, minus skirmishers, fought to the death that day. It was only the great skill and tactical manuevering by Kievan forces which won the day. Eventually, the intial wave of Hungarians were either routed from the field or destroyed to the man. The second wave consisted of a few medium horsemen, as well as milita units. Once again, Hungarian forces ignored the woods to march straight on the Kievan forces, and this time, were ambushed by Voi who had remained hidden in the battle up to then. However, once again, Hungarian forces remained valours, with many fighting, and being slaughtered to, a man. The last wave of Hungarian troops consisted of a slavic conscripts as well as mounted crossbows and yet more medium horsemen. However, once again, the Hungarian forces ignored the wooded area, and were once again ambushed by Voi swordsmen who had rehidden themselves in the trees. However, with the exception of the slavic conscripts, the Hungarian forces once again fought with immense bravery, and consequently, were slaughtered to a man. Kiev had won the battle, but the Hungariand had won their admiration. Follwing the battle, Alekseev ordere his troops to construct a small memorial on the battlefield, to commemorate the bravery and valor of not only the deceased Kievan soldiers, but to the deceased Hungarians as well.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Their was yet still one more land battle yet to be resolved in the year 1177. Andrei ordered his large force of over 1,600 troops in Prussia to attempt an invasion of Danish held Pomerania. The prevoius spying reports had estimated the Danish army at roughly 1,200 troops, with a merely decent commander. However, the Danes had anticipated the move, and had, during the spring of 1177, before the invasion, moved another 400 troops to defend, as well as King Knud himself, to defend the province. Prince Alexander, Andrei's younger brother, did not much like his odds of a true and brutal defeat of the Danish forces, and withdrew back to Prussia.
As the battles waged on land, similar battle raged at sea. Kievan fleets engated Danish fleets at every chance, and in every sea battle that year, the Kievan fleets won the day, though at times with losses. Ultimately, Danish fleets suffered major setbacks, and Kievan access to the Baltics was once again free, while the North Sea was now bereft of Danish fleets. This proved especially critical, as the Hungarian crusade, which had worked its way to Friesland, could no longer use the Danish have to directly attack Sweden from its vantage point, and had to change to the direct(and predictable) land route.
In 1178, hearing that his fleet had cleared the way, Andrei ordered his large army that had previously been in charge of the defense of Sweden, under the leadership of yet another brother, Prince Yaroslav, to launch an invasion of Scania. The Danish army withdrew to their keep, being outnumbered over ten to one and in quality of troops as well. Meanwhile, the force which had previously won back Novgorod now went on the offensive to Finland, and quickly routed the far outnumbered Danish army that was stranded their with ease. In the south, the Hungarians refused ransom for the over 300 soldiers who had been captured in their attempts to retake Moldavia. Consequenlty, Hungary's eastern border was all but neutered, as over 85% of the army sent to Moldavia either died on the field or was executed after the refused ransom. Relations remained tenous with Nicephorous of Byzantium, but it seemed that Nicephorous had at least been discouraged from an invasion of Kievan lands by the stalwart efforts thus far against the Danes and Hungarians.
Over the next few years, military campaigns slowed, as stronghold in Estonia, Finland, Moldavia, and Scania all were slowly starved out. The only action came in 1179, when Andrei ordered a renewed attempt to take Pomerania. With many troops freed up from having to defend the northern regions, Andrei was able to send an additional 500 troops to assist Alexander. Much to their surprise, that year, Knud transferred many troops westerwards, apparently to better engage the Almoravids in the west. The result was that only a meager garrison awaited Alexander when he invaded, which offered no immediate resistance, falling back to the stronghold. The result was two fold. Andrei was able to expand his realm, but it also brought about a realization. He needed to make peace with the Almoravids. The situation in England was something of a small arms race, but other than that, there was little actual conflice between the two anymore. Additionally, peace would mean renewed trade, which would add needed florins to Kievan coffers. This petty religious conflict was doing him and his kingdom no good. In late 1179, he sent diplomats to pursue to the Almoravid Caliph to persuade him for peace.
In 1181, the Hungarian crusade, launched five years ago, finally met hostile lands, when his army marched into Scania, which was now, finally, under the complete control of Kiev. The cruade had garnered many followers, and now numbered over 1,400 soldiers. However, many of these soldiers were ill trained, and were led by groups of fanatics who had little military expertise. The battle of Scania would rock the Catholic world.
The Battle of Scania
Prince Yaroslav arranged his troops in a traditional order. Archers worked the front, with heavier Rus spearmen, two units of mercenary Saracen spearmen, and Viking Huscarles backing them. Two Naptha catapult mercenaries were situated in gaps in the rear. Meawhile, an assortment of cavalry, from Yaroslav's bodyguard, to mercenary Alan cavalry and Faris, to Cherny Klobuki, who ringed the flanks of the army. The Hungarians army consisted of many fanatics, archers, light spear armed infantry, with one or two units of armoured spears and fuedal swordsmen.
The Hungarian army, like its predecessors at Moldavia, lacked true military expertise, and instead marched their outmatched troops directly towards the powerful Kievan infantry. Kievan archers rained arrows on the approaching crusader troops. Many lacked any semblance of armor or shields, and Kievan archery killed many men. The catapults launched pots of Naptha into the ranks of the more heavily armored spearmen, and in combination with the archers, further incensed the crusaders to speed their march forward up. Leading the charge was the Hungarian general, a fanatic who had risen to power through his religous devotion and zeal, but lacked true military skill. As the Hungarian troops marched forward, the Kievan archers fell back, while the main infantry line marched forwards. Across the boards, the Kievan troops heavily outclassed the crusaders, and just 25 seconds into the brawl, the Crusader general lay dead, slewn by a mighty huscarle axe. Then, something astounding happened. Word somehow traveld quickly through the Hungarian ranks, and many panicked. The fanatics began fleeing, which further panicked nearby units. The nearby troops saw their general laying dead, and began fleeing as well. Within eight seconds, the entire Hungarian army, let alone front line, was in full route. Yaroslav couldn't believe his eyes. He had expected a hard fought battle after hearing of Hungarian bravery in Moldavia, yet here was the entire Hungarian army, fleeing before his eyes. Shaking himelf out of his reverie, Yaroslav ordered his cavalry to run down the fleeing troops, even joining the fray himself a bit. The battle soon became ridiculous, as every time Hungarian troops began to rally, their confidence was soon crushed by a cavalry charge. Kievan cavalry ran the Hungarian army off the field, including all reinforcements who attempted to take the field as well. With the general dead and an absurd number of troops captured, the battle all but ended the Hungarian crusade to retake Sweden.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
In 1182, Andrei sent his youngest sister, Anna, to court the Byzantine court for a potential husband and, of course, cementing an alliance. Word back proved joyous, as Nicephorous gladly accepted the proposal, bringing to the two eastern orthodox power back together once again. It seemed that Nicephorous had been so impressed by Keivan victories over the Hungarians, and realized the true value of having Andrei and the Kievan line as an ally.
In 1183, a most peculiar event happened. Andrei's diplomats finally arrived to the court of the Almoravid Caliph, having had much difficulty in tracking him down. However, in the court of Kiev, Andrei recieved a most unexpected guest; an Almoravid diplomat, who came claiming the Caliph wished to end the war with Andrei. In Valencia, the Caliph proposed that, since it appeared that both sides wanted the conflict ended and both were at war with Denmark, that they ally. At the same time, Andrei was proposing the exact same thing to the Almoravid diplomat. When both diplomats returned to their home, they both felt quite eager to break the news to their respective ruler, only to find out they'd been circumvented by each other. However, regardless of the mechanics of the operation, the Almoravids were now allied to Kiev.
The next few years saw little eventful happen on the Kievan side. Yaroslav continued almost unimpeded into Denmark, with the majority of Danish troops still on the Almoravid frontlines. The province was surrendered without contest by the Danes. The next year, to the south, the Kievan army marched from Pomerania to Saxony, to hopefully once and for all destroy the Hungarian crusade nad take the province from the outnumbered Danish troops. Unexpectedly, Prince Alexander received aid from the Bohemians from the south, who joined the battle and aided in destroying much of the Hungarian resistance on the field. While the meager Hungarian force was being dispacted, their Danish allies used the time bought by it to withdraw from the field orderly, and fell back to Friesland. The province was ultimately surrendered completely to Kievan hands. In 1187, the Almoravids finally established a navy in the English channel, and took nearly every troop from Wessex to help combat their enemies on the mainland. The Danes lost Flanders, and, in desperate attempt to retake it, lost a large portion of the army which had resided in Friesland. With, once again, little resistance to block him, Prince Alexander continued the westward push, and obliterated the small Danish resistance with little effort. The Danes had now been reduced to desolate Scotland and Normandy. Yaroslav, with little to do with his army in Denmark in the meantime, launched an invasion of Norway, to subdue it and its valuable trade goods, for Kiev. Magnus IV, the Norse King, surrendered completely in the face of an army which fare outpowered his own, and no blood was lost on either side. Additionally, and somewhat ironically, after calling their troops away from Wessex, the English launched an invasion of the province, and successfully captured it with little loss. However, the Caliph did not seem to mind much, and peace was soon restablished between the two.
The Hungarians saw as similar fate to the Danes ensuing, as the Byzantine Empire declared war on the Hungarians and began large scale invasions of Carpathia and the province of Hungary itself. However, just as the invasions were beginning to crush Hungarian resistance, trouble began brewing in the far flung regions of the empire. In Syria, Palestine, and Antioch, a Seljuk man by the name of Osman led a large scale revolt against the Byzantine empire and established the Seljuk kingdom once more. They retook the provinces they once held long ago, as well as Mesopotamia, before Byzantine retaliation could begin. Meanwhile, revolts became commonplace in Byzantine Africa, with Cyrenacia declaring independance, and continuing revolts having to be put down in Egypt. Additionally, the island of Cyprus also successfully declared independance, breaking from Byzantine rule, aided by the fact that there wer no Byzantine troops patrolling the province, having been called to the frontline with Hungary.
The Kievan kingdom was finally at a point of peace, having mostly destroyed the Danes, having neutered the Hungarian military, and allies once again on all sides. The economy was finally recovering with trade once again flowing to the ports of western Europe. The military was clearly strong, as was the navy. It would be in this time of short repose that Andrei, age 56, in 1194, passed away from an illness. The nobles who had long since come to admire his resiliance and common sense(as well as fear his pride), felt a general sense of accomplishment that radiated from the funeral. Andrei, they felt, had served his purpose hear on earth, crippling those who would do the Kingdom harm, by reestablishing his allies, and putting the economy back on track. He would not, unfortunately, get to see the final result, but he had guided the kingdom through tumultous times, and through that guidance, Kiev had emerged stronger than ever. The only dissappointment, many felt, was that his eldest son was not yet mature enough to take the throne and continue the direct line. Rather, the throne fell to Yaroslav, whos armies had fared so well in the norse regions. However, Yaroslav had no children yet, and at 40+ years of age, its seemed quite likely that Yaroslav could father an heir in time. However, more remarkable things had happened in the last 100 years for the Kievan kingdom. Only time would tell where the royal line would lead.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Tales of the Kievan Kingdom
Chapter One- Ysevolod the Great
Chapter Two- Ysevelod the Unfortunate
Chapter Three- Yuri the Vengeful
Chapter Four- Vladimir the Righteous
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 4 – An Unexpected Threat
Whilst the amazing events of 1223 did indeed lead to much rejoicing throughout the kingdom at large, they also led to a fair degree of anxiety and concern in the royal household.
Tzar Stafan was all too aware that there were still those amongst the nobility of the former kingdom of Castile-Leon that were less than pleased to swear loyalty to their new monarch. He was fortunate in that the Serbian treasury was full to overflowing, and this allowed the young Tzar to embark upon a campaign of public works the likes of which had never been seen on the Iberian peninsula.
This campaign soon proved to be spectacularly successful. The prosperity that flowed from this activity saw Hispano-Serbians from all levels of society singing the praises of their newly adopted ruler. Even if this had not been the case, Stafan had a second weapon to hand in winning over the hearts and minds of any wavering Castile-Leonese. Among those who had pledged their allegiance to the Serbian throne were the two most prominent bishops of Castile-Leon.
Don Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada and Don Gonzalo de Berceo had both been pragmatic enough to realise that whilst the principle faith of the kingdom would be Orthodox Christianity, there were still advantages to be had by aligning themselves closely with the crown. Tzar Stafan was also a pragmatist, and he knew all too well that having two such senior Catholic clergymen in his pocket could be most useful indeed – and not only in pacifying his new subjects.
“These two will be of significant assistance in our diplomatic endeavours in the west,” he noted to his Chamberlain.
This statement was to be proven true as early as the following year, with de Berceo securing an alliance with the mighty Sicilian empire, and Don Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada similarly successful in his negotiations with the French monarch.
Indeed, all was well in the state of Serbia. Sadly this was not the case for Serbia’s powerful northern ally. There was something rotten in the state of Denmark. The long and bloody conflict between the Danes and Lithuania raged on throughout the decade, and as the year 1230 dawned across Europe, there were no signs that this decade would prove any more peaceful for the steppes. There had long been tensions simmering between the two Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, and in 1231 these tensions bubbled up into open warfare, with the Danes seizing the rich province of Friesland. A number of smaller conflicts had also been reported along the borders that separated Denmark and the kingdom of Bohemia.
In 1232, word arrived at court in Serbia, and no doubt also in Denmark, that a great army of unknown origin had arrived from the east, and was poised to sweep across the steppes carrying all before it like a great wave. The so-called “Golden Horde” had arrived, and with staggering numbers of men and horses.
As if this were not enough turmoil for the Danish king to deal with, his agents brought him the rumours that his own brother intended to poison him by the unusual method of pouring poison in his ear, so as to steal his kingdom and his wife….or so the story goes….
France on the March
The same year that Tzar Stafan learned of the arrival in eastern Europe of the Golden Horde, he also learned of the French assaults on the Venitians in Milan and on the English in Flanders. The French invasion of Milan progressed quite well. The army of the Venitian Doge was significantly outnumbered, and could offer little resistance. In the north, however, the French found the English to be far tougher opponents. The French army was beaten back after a bloody encounter. Worse news was to come for France. The English navy was far stronger than its French counterpart, and in very short order, the French were swept from the seas.
Not to be so easily deterred, the French regathered their forces and launched further assaults on the English held province in 1233 and 1234. By 1234, the English garrison had been sufficiently worn down, and the French army was victorious. The ensuing victory celebrations fanned French territorial ambitions, and a royal decree saw a burgeoning of the numbers of Frenchmen in military service.
Meanwhile in the east, the armies of the Golden Horde descended on the Danish province of Levidia in 1234. The Danish army in that province was routed, further adding to the woes of King Olaf III. On the brighter side of things for the Danish Monarch, the Horde were cutting a swathe through the armies of Denmark’s old enemy Lithuania in the north. The stress was sufficient to bring about Olaf’s demise, and in late 1234, he was succeeded by his son, who was crowned Hardeknud II.
The combination of cost and attrition of forces saw the Horde’s great westward advance temporarily halted in 1235, with the conquest of the Danish held province of Crimea. In 1239, however, a large force of fierce Mongol warriors swept into the Serbian protectorate of Moldavia. Upon seeing the size of the Serbian force blocking their advance, Kaizuk, the Mongol general, uncharacteristically ordered his army to wheel about and return to Levidia. This was to prove a brave (or perhaps foolhardy) move, for upon hearing of this ignominious retreat, the Khan called for the head of his general, and the unfortunate Kaizuk was duly executed.
Ally becomes Adversary
The war between France and England had continued to rage unabated throughout the decade, with neither side gaining any clear advantage. Flanders changed hands several times during this period, and the French king, Louis VII, grew ever more impatient with his lack of success in the north.
In the year 1240, King Louis reached the decision that if he could not expand further in the north, he would strike south. This news came as something of a shock to the nobles of the French court, for all of the lands immediately to the south were held by France’s long time allies, Serbia and Sicily. The King’s decision was simple. Sicily was a Catholic nation. Serbia was not. The die was cast. Louis ordered his general in Aquitaine, Sir Gilbert de Vesc, to march on Aragon.
The Battle of Huesca
The French army was a sight to behold. 3,453 men strong, the column had taken an age to snake its way through the mountainous passes from Aquitaine into the heartland of Aragon. The force had taken some time indeed to reach its present location northwest of the town of Huesca. Sir Gilbert de Vesc looked out across his massive force with pride. The myriad flickering campfires showed the magnitude of the army beautifully as evening drew its dark cloak across the landscape. He turned to his adjutant, Sir Louis de Brabant.
“Louis, tomorrow we will write a great and glorious chapter in the history of France. Our spies tell us that we outnumber Buturovic’s men by almost 3 to 1. They are but Serbs, not Frenchmen. Like as not, they are ill-equipped and poorly disciplined….and they are, after all, not true Christians. We can not fail….and yet, my friend you look worried.”
“Buturovic is a skilled general, my lord. His men will not sell their lives cheaply.”
De Vesc laughed “That is as may be, Louis, but what can 1,300 men do against 3,400?”
The information provided by the French spies was indeed good. Lord Buturovic had but 1,272 men with which to defend Aragon. They were, however, well equipped, well trained, and well led. Morale was high indeed in the Serbian encampment.
For his part, Lord Buturovic knew that for his Serbian army to be successful on this day, it would be through patience and discipline. He had ordered his Vlastela Heavy Cavalry to dismount and fight on foot. This would reduce their natural inclination to charge the enemy – today Buturovic needed them to hold the line, not break the enemy line. In addition, it was far easier for the Serbian arbalesters to fire over the heads of a line of men rather than over the additional height of a line of men on horseback. He ran his eye thoughtfully over his dispositions once again, stopping when his eyes fell on the regiment of the unfortunately named Semi Panic. A wry smile crossed Buturovic’s face. He had known Panic for many years.
“He is one commander who does not wish to live up to his name,” he commented to his lieutenant “And he will not. He has lived with the jokes for many years. Today is his chance to rise above them once and for all.”
The French trumpets and drums grew ever louder as de Vesc’s army came into view.
“My God, look at the size of that army….” Muttered a young arbalester near Buturovic’s troop. The Serbian general countered “No excuses for missing a target that size, boys!”
De Vesc’s army included a number of Spanish jinetes. At the time of the death of the King of Castille-Leon, a number of his former subjects had preferred to journey north to swear allegiance to France rather than to swear loyalty to a non-Catholic Monarch. Now they were returning to Aragon as a skirmishing screen in front of the French army. As it transpired, most of them were returning never to leave again. Wave upon wave of arbalest bolts slashed through their ranks, cutting down horses and riders alike. The carnage was horrific to behold, and the screams of injured and dying men and the terrified whinnying of horses could not be drowned out by the blaring horns and drums.
Even as the jinetes died, the second wave of Frenchmen moved slowly forwards. Many of the Chivalric Sergeants, Feudal Footknights, Feudal men-at-arms, and Order Foot did not have to concern themselves with picking a path through the dead jinetes. The continuing hail of arbalest bolts meant that many did not have another concern in this world. It was much the same for two troops of feudal knights and two of mounted Sergeants. De Vesc himself was one of many who did not live to reach the Serbian line.
Of those that did, a terrible fate awaited. The Vlastela Heavy Infantry cut a swathe through the ranks of any Frenchmen that came within reach. The main body of the French army now found itself stuck in a valley under heavy arbalest fire, and with Serbian jinetes now raining down their deadly javelins from either flank, before the Serbian cavalry swept in to despatch any survivors. As each French wave faltered, broke and ran, a new wave surged forward, only to meet the same terrible fate. Each time the French broke and ran, the Serbs remained stoically resisting the temptation to pursue.
At the end of the battle, one-third of the entire French army was either dead or captured. 922 French bodies littered the field, 276 were prisoners. Serbian casualties totalled only 39 dead. Buturovic had indeed won a glorious victory for Serbia!
https://i140.photobucket.com/albums/...uesca-1241.jpg
Adding insult to injury, a ransom of 1348 florins was paid by the French for the release of Sir Louis de Brabant and his fellow prisoners.
The Serbian response to the French aggression was swift and decisive. In 1242, Stefan Jovanovic led a large Serbian army into Toulouse. The French garrison, largely comprised of survivors from Huesca, offered no resistance, fleeing north and thereby handing the province to the Serbs.
1243 brought far better news for King Louis. Finally his generals brought him news of a victory, with the English army having been driven from Champagne. With one enemy driven back, he ordered his generals to redouble their efforts and win a decisive victory in the south. With this in mind, orders were despatched to gather an army in Aquitaine under the leadership of Lord Mauclerc.
By the following year, Mauclerc’s force had swollen to an impressive force of some 3,545 men, and the French general marched south to Aragon.
The Battle of Jaca
Simon Mauclerc, the current Lord Mauclerc, was a veteran of the French invasion of Milan in 1232. He had established a reputation on that campaign as a man who “got the job done”. This is why King Louis had selected for this current mission….and he was determined to repay the faith that his Monarch had shown in him by winning a victory here in Aragon.
Once again, the “Lion of Tripoli” (as Buturovic was known throughout the Serbian Kingdom) found his forces sorely outnumbered. The Serbian army was only some 1,310 men strong, but Buturovic was confidant that his men would once more rise to the occasion.
Mauclerc adopted a different approach to that taken by de Vesc. He ordered his line such that a screen of feudal sergeants and chivalric sergeants led the way, forming a screen for wave after wave of Spanish javelinmen and French crossbowmen. As had been the case in 1241, the Serbian arbalesters exacted a dreadful toll on the French army. Every metre gained was paid for in blood. Mauclerc himself led his own troop of knights close enough to launch a charge on the Serbian lines. Despite their tenacity, the French knights were no match for the Vlastela Heavy Infantry (once again Buturovic had ordered his cavalry to dismount), and they were hacked from their saddles. Only two survived the onslaught of the Serbs. One was Mauclerc himself. In a state of blind panic (not to be confused with the Serbian Semi Panic, who was engaged elsewhere on the field), Mauclerc fled, leaving his army to fend for itself.
The Serbs ruthlessly followed the same pattern as had been laid out at Huesca three years earlier, smashing each wave of Frenchmen as it appeared. The Frenchmen paid a heavy toll indeed. As the battle ended, 1,050 of their number lay lifeless alongside 227 brave Serbs. A further 704 Frenchmen surrendered. It was another devastating defeat for the French.
https://i140.photobucket.com/albums/.../Jaca-1244.jpg
With the southernmost French armies now in tatters after this series of humiliating defeats, the populace of Aquitaine rose up in rebellion in 1245. This was welcome news indeed for Tzar Stafan, but it was not to be the end of King Louis’ torment. Stafan was not finished with the French. Not by a long way. They would pay for their treacherous actions – and pay dearly indeed.
https://i140.photobucket.com/albums/...245-Europe.jpg
Previous Chapters of This Campaign
Chapter 1 – A Place to Live
Chapter 2 - Carving an Empire
Chapter 3 – Treachery & Triumph
And many thanks to Kamikhaan for helping me to tidy up my "Previous Chapters" bit....
:bow:
Another fine entry, bamff! I especially liked how you worked the Catholic Bishops into the story. :medievalcheers:
I don't look in on this thread nearly as often as I should, but I see that bamff is still on form.
:bow:
Well i Got a 60% victory with the sicilians this weekend at my moms house lol after eing yelled at for hours to get off the "stupid game." Pretty much it started out slow but i invaded the upper aftican reigon as my first move.
Then i started to circle both sides and stopped in the west at the bottom of the Spanish empire. To the east though i swept aside the defences of the Egyptians after a few major battles.
I started to make my way up into the Turkish controlled areas and everyone decided to to go war with me :furious3: So i was at war with the French fries , the Turks, the Novos, and the Papacy all at once. Eventually i took down the Turkish and moved as far as Constantinople to the west.
Finally i got forced up with 3 of my 5 jedi generals and attacked the Novos from the bottom east of the map. (cant remember which provence that was)
They were pretty much a push over. I got as far as where the Hungarians were and i stopped to regroup. Thenm the Egyptians decided to be smart and reappear. It was a good thing i left a jedi and a lot fo troops theres so i got them eradicated in about 3 years.
Finally i pushed throught hungary in one huge blitz :smg: of about 3 years time. At about this time thought i had 3 or 4 crusades launched against me by my allies the spanish, the germans, and the english. :wall: I held them all off :smash: and kepth on going. Eventually the Spanish collapsed and i bought all their armies as rebels and won. :sweatdrop: :2thumbsup:
I would post my victory picture but i rly dont know how. If sum one tells me ill post it.
Nice game, Kamakazi! :medievalcheers:
Welcome to the Org, by the way. ~:wave:
Just press F2 while playing. Screenshots are stored in "TGAs" folder (to view a file in TGA format, get Photoshop or IrfanView or some other good program)Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamakazi
And wellcome to org ~:cheers:
ty lol yea i started another game with the spanish last night till like 4 this mornin (i couldnt sleep) ill keep you posted
Looking forward to reading all about your Spanish campaign, Kamakazi! :2thumbsup:
Well my Spanish campain is pretty good soo far. I went down the top of Africa (again) and took out both the almohads and the egyptians. Ive also taken out the byzantines and the russians. Lol ive fallen in love with the steppe cavalry and feudal cavalry. Im the biggest country but ive attacked hungary but if you look at my other thread im rly in trouble because of my excommunication. :lam:
Apologies - this is a bit of a "rush job", but I felt that I had prevaricated long enough, and then I noted that it has been over a month since we had a post in this thread...so for what it is worth, here is a little update....
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 5 – The Storm Breaks
The French garrison of Aquitaine was clearly in trouble. Not only were their numbers sorely depleted by the successive unsuccessful assaults on the Serbian province of Aragon, but now they faced a problem from within.
Word had begun to spread in 1244 that the local populace, the Guiennes, were rallying under the banner of Rene de Poitiers. What had been but rumour and supposition 12 months previously was to become only too real for the French in the summer of 1245. The Guienne army of de Poitiers had formed at La Rochelle, and had gathered further numbers as it marched south through Rochefort & Saintes. When de Poitiers gave the word for his army to rest in this latter town, his force totalled some 1,980 men.
Meanwhile in the south of Aquitaine, Lord Buturovic’s Serbian army had crossed the border unopposed, and now marched north, halting at the gates of Bordeaux. The Serbian force comprised some 2,462. A good number of these men had fought under Buturovic at Huesca and Jaca.
Lord Mauclerc had assumed command of the French garrison in Aquitaine, and he too had been present at Huesca. He knew only too well that the Serbian army posed a significant threat.
With 2,000 men to his north, and a further 2,400 at his doorstep, Lord Mauclerc adopted the same tactic that he had employed on the field at Huesca. He decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and he once again took flight, with as many of his men as could march. French control of Aquitaine was ended – but who would now assume control of the province – Guiennes or Serbians? The armies of de Poitiers and Lord Buturovic would decide that very issue in a field to the south of the town of Cognac.
The Battle of Cognac
Rene de Poitiers had positioned his army atop a small hillock, with a small wood securing his left flank. He surveyed his line once again. Yes, he thought, if the Serbs approach (as he thought they would) directly from the south, his men would be well positioned…but if they should enter the field from the south west….his gaze shifted to the open ground that exposed his right flank.
“No,” he thought, “I cannot take such a risk.”
He issued the orders for the army to take position on the higher ground to the north.
“But my lord, to move now, with the Serbians approaching…” began Olivier Marais, the commander of a unit of Chivalric Sergeants.
“The Serbs will still be some hours away,” Retorted de Poitiers “It is a long march from Bordeaux. They will still be waking after camping for the night at Barbezieux.”
This was to prove a disastrous miscalculation by the Guienne leader. Lord Buturovic and his men had marched through the night. The two armies were in fact far closer than either had realised, separated only by a hill that ran across the field from east to west. Four troops of Jinetes were the first Serbian troops to be sighted by the Guiennes.
It was the Jinetes who reacted the fastest. With most of the Guienne army now in the valley that separated their initial position and their intended position, Rene de Poitiers and his Militia Sergeants found themselves isolated. Marais and the other Guienne commanders were slow to react, allowing the Serbian Jinetes to race in and surround de Poitiers’ men. The Serbian horsemen rained javelins down from all sides. It was a massacre.
The Guienne commanders now issued the order to advance, and with a defiant roar, the Guiennes surged forwards, eager to avenge their fallen leader. Sadly for these brave men, a new horror awaited them as they reached the crest of the hill. Row upon row of Serbian arbalests and shielded bowmen stood patiently, their weapons loaded and ready. The advancing rows Guiennes were ripped apart as volley after volley tore through them. The defiant roar gave way to the screams of the wounded, cries of anguish and panic, and ultimately to the clatter of dropped weapons as those who survived turned and ran.
The Serbian Jinetes had wheeled around to the flanks, and now surged back into the fray to complete the rout by riding down the Guienne crossbowmen and arbalests. Only the Guienne feudal men at arms held their ground, and some even reached the Serbian line, where the dismounted Vlastela Heavy Cavalry and Voynuk Bladesmen made short work of them. Soon all of the Guiennes were in full retreat. Several waves of fresh troops bravely tried to turn the tide, but each was repelled by the Serbian force. Over half of the 1,980 Guiennes who took the field that day were dead or captured by the day’s end. 657 paid the ultimate price, a staggering number when compared to the 52 Serbs who perished. Lord Buturovic had secured another astounding victory for Serbia.
A Unified Serbia
Tzar Stafan had long been troubled by the fact that his kingdom was split into two distinct regions, and even more so now that the Western Kingdom had come under French attack. True, those provinces could still be supplied by sea, and could still engage in trade by sea….but if the Sicilians or Danes were to turn on Serbia, their naval power could effectively isolate the two parts of his realm. With this in mind, he surveyed the map. Serbia was already at War with France, so he had no hesitation whatsoever in ordering the invasion of Burgundy. It was with mixed feelings, however, that he ordered Lord Cubrilovic to annexe the Bohemian held province of Tyrolia. In recent times, the Bohemians had proven to be good neighbours and trading partners. Stafan bore neither the Bohemian people nor their king any ill will, but, he reasoned, the unification of Serbia was a cause worthy of opening a second front.
The meeting of Lord Cubrilovic’s army and that of the Bohemians under Sir Mikulas Simon in the Battle of Schrankogel was a bitter and bloody affair. 217 Bohemians and 200 Serbians died that day, and 265 Bohemian surrendered as the superior Serbian numbers eventually prevailed.
By contrast, the invasion of Burgundy proved to be completely bloodless, with the French fleeing before the army of Stefan Jovanovic.
The following year, the Serbian advance continued, with Lord Cubrilovic pushing on into Switzerland, and Don Hernando Sanchez invading the now isolated French province of Milan. The garrison of Milan had been sorely depleted by the French invasion of Tyrolia, with only 60 men left to face Sanchez’s force. All were killed or captured for the loss of a single Serbian.
Those Frenchmen captured in Milan may well have wished that they were part of the army that had marched north into Tyrolia under Lord de Bonifaz. The Frenchmen with de Bonifaz, however, were largely wishing that they were back in Milan – or at the very least somewhere with a roaring fire, for it was mid-winter, and the mountains of Austria while breath-takingly pretty, were bitterly cold. The freezing temperatures gnawed at the Frenchmen’s very bones as they trudged north to meet the Serbs at Bielerhöhe Pass.
The Battle of Bielerhöhe Pass
Don Garc Mendoza could hear the French trumpets and drums above the howling wind. He craned his neck once more in a vain attempt to peer through the snow flurries that obscured his foes. A smile drifted across his face as he considered how different this scene was to the lands in which he had spent his early years. Mendoza’s father had been a crusader, and had eventually settled in Tripoli, establishing a lucrative business trading in cloth. As had many of their neighbours, the house of Mendoza had sworn loyalty to Serbia in 1223. Upon the outbreak of war with the French, Don Garc had gathered his Turcopoles and set sail for Venice, a port he knew well through the family business. This day would make or break him as a military commander, of that he was only too well aware. Many had scoffed at the son of a cloth merchant who fancied himself as a leader of men, but his father had been a soldier before he became a merchant, and Mendoza was nothing if not self confident.
He had chosen to make his stand at Bielerhöhe Pass. The pass itself wound its way uphill, and was bordered by an almost sheer cliff on either side. Mendoza had positioned the bulk of his force at the north-eastern or higher end of the pass. He had sent out his Jinetes and Mounted Crossbowmen to hold the high ground on either side of the pass. Hopefully they would channel the Frenchmen into the pass.
Mendoza swore again, cursing the snow which still obscured the far end of the pass. A new sound reached his straining ears. The enemy must have come within range of the Jinetes and Mounted Crossbows. Mendoza gripped his reins tighter, and then came the sound he had been waiting for – a series of trumpet blasts told him that the plan was working – the Frenchmen were entering the pass! The Mounted Crossbowmen and Jinetes on the left ridge were being forced back by determined attacks from French Jinetes and Royal Knights, but they had done their job.
As the front ranks of the French army came within range, Mendoza gave the order to fire, and watched with some measure of satisfaction as scores of Frenchmen fell. A second volley ripped through the French ranks, then a third. The Frenchmen were tired already from their uphill struggle through the snow, and as their ranks thinned, their morale began to waver. Lord de Bonifaz knew that something special was needed to rally his troops. He drew his sword, spurred his destrier, and charged forwards. His troop of knights followed his example, and a cheer went up from the French army. The Serbian arbalests and crossbows emptied nine saddles. The Slav Javelinmen that waited behind the Serbian spear wall emptied eight more. Lord de Bonifaz found himself pinned beneath his stricken mount, himself mortally wounded by an arbalest bolt. The French cheers fell silent as the three surviving knights raced back to the safety of the French line. One knight barely made it that far before he succumbed to his wounds and fell lifeless from his saddle.
Three more times the French line stuttered forwards, three more times they were driven back with heavy casualties. The day was won!
“Not bad for the son of a cloth merchant!” Mendoza thought to himself with some satisfaction, as he surveyed the carnage across the field. Many of the 933 French bodies were already being covered by the snow that had continued falling throughout the battle. A disconsolate group of 235 French prisoners huddled together for warmth just below the tree line. Only 199 Serbs had fallen. Not bad indeed!
1246 was indeed a tumultuous year, for Bielerhöhe Pass was not to be the final military action of the year. Further to the north, Tomislav Zuzoric seized the French province of Swabia. As had been the case in Burgundy the year before, the Frenchmen here had no stomach for a fight, and all fled rather than giving battle.
The Bohemians attempted to reclaim the province of Bohemia in 1246. King Vratislav’s invasion proves to be disastrous for the Bohemian monarch. In a black day for the Bohemians, 250 are lost and 185 captured, whilst the Serbian losses are only 9 men. Worse still for Bohemia, King Vratislav is amongst the dead.
Sicily Awakes
Prince Jan of Bohemia sought to reclaim some lost pride and some lost territory for his nation in 1247, and led a large army into Swabia. With Tomislav Zuzoric having returned to Austria to re-equip and re-train his company, Ljuba Chacic assumed command of the Serbian garrison. Chacic’s garrison marched out to meet the invading Bohemians, and the two armies came face to face at Weissensee. In the ensuing battle, Chacic’s army defeated the Bohemians, but it was a close run thing. 327 Bohemians and 202 Serbians died in the engagement, and 175 Bohemian prisoners were taken.
This action was seen as something of a minor engagement by Tzar Stafan, however. His attention was drawn far more closely to the actions of the Sicilians in the south.
Sicily had long been an ally of France, and King Robert I of Sicily had long been envious of the Serbian expansion across Europe. With the war between France and Serbia, he felt that he had at last been presented with the opportunity to act.
His Chamberlain was more reticent, however.
“My Lord, it is all well and good to cite the war with France as reason to attack Serbia, but why would we go to the aid of King Louis when the Pope himself has turned his back?”
King Louis had been excommunicated some years previously for his repeated aggression against the English.
King Robert did not shift his gaze from the map before him as he spoke “It is true that Louis has been excommunicated, but France is still a Catholic nation, and Serbia is not. It is our duty as good Catholics to drive these heretics from Europe, to reclaim these lands for the one true God, and for Sicily.”
And so it was that in the summer of 1247, Don Giacinto Albergati led an army of some 4,087 men into Milan, and Don Hubert Orsini led an even larger force of 6,384 into Venice. Serbian forces in both provinces were sorely outnumbered. Lord Jovanovic had but 1,668 men in Milan, and Prince Stefan in Venice had an army of 2,828 at his disposal. Notwithstanding that both Serbian armies were outnumbered by more than 2 to 1, no ground was to be given to the Sicilian invaders, and the two outnumbered Serbian garrisons readied themselves to meet the invaders.
Lord Jovanovic’s defence of Milan was to take place to the east of the town of Novara, and it was to prove a most effective defence indeed. The Sicilian army is routed. 1,482 Sicilians perished that day, and a further 674 were captured. Serbian casualties numbered 317.
https://i140.photobucket.com/albums/.../1247Milan.jpg
Similarly in Venice, the Serbians under Prince Stefan record a remarkable victory. 1,160 Sicilians are slain, and 478 are captured for the loss of but 121 men. Almost 5,000 Sicilians are put to flight, withdrawing to the safe haven of Tuscany.
https://i140.photobucket.com/albums/...1247Venice.jpg
These victories are celebrated throughout Serbia, however the celebrations are cut short by the death of Tzar Stafan. Prince Stefan, the hero of Venice, ascends to the throne.
The defeats of 1247 weigh heavily on Sicily, and it is to be two years before King Robert is able to once again raise an army against the Serbs. In 1249, the Sicilian King rides at the head of a mighty army of 5,222 men drawn from his eastern provinces. His aim is to wrest control of Tripoli from Serbia. Lord Blagojevic’s garrison in Tripoli number just over half of the Sicilian host, with 2,989 men. The ensuing battle is long and bloody, and at days end over 3,000 men lie dead. 2,570 of these are Sicilians, 777 are Serbians. A measure of the ferocity of the contest is that only 2 captured Sicilians are spared by Blagojevic’s men. King Robert I is among the legions of the dead.
https://i140.photobucket.com/albums/...249Tripoli.jpg
The ongoing war between these two mighty powers, and the resultant disruption to trade routes causes both Serbia and Sicily to face increasing threats of rebellion from isolated provinces. In 1250, news arrives at the court of the young Tzar that Cyprus has been reclaimed by Byzantine loyalists, and that Murcia has fallen to an army rallying under the banner of King Alfonso VIII. Alfonso claims lineage to the Castille-Leonese throne, and his supporters also seize the provinces of Wales and Northumbria. This latter mentioned province is where Alfonso establishes his court.
“This news could not come at a more inopportune time,” notes the Tzar. “The treasury is under extreme duress. Sicilian pirates dog every trade route, and the French are no doubt planning to launch a new offensive in the north in the coming Spring.”
He paused a moment before addressing his assembled generals. “The time for caution is past. We must take bold and decisive action….on ALL FRONTS.”
Previous Chapters of This Campaign
Chapter 1 – A Place to Live
Chapter 2 - Carving an Empire
Chapter 3 – Treachery & Triumph
Chapter 4 – An Unexpected Threat
Nice! It's been a good campaign Bamff.
Wow, bamff! Things have definitely become interesting for the Serbians. Here's hoping that Tzar Stefan is up to the task. :sweatdrop:
Thanks Ironsword and Martok!
Tell me about it! Whilst the Sicilians have so far been 'dealt with' on the field each time they have attacked, they are causing major grief to the treasury, given (a) the vast number of provinces that they held, and (b) their naval embargo strangling Serbian trade....both in terms of attacks on shipping, and in causing Serbia to take steps such as reducing taxes to maintain the loyalty of far-flung outposts.... :furious3:Quote:
Originally Posted by Martok
I fear that another cloud looms on the Serbian horizon. The Danes control virtually all of Northern Europe, and are busily snatching up any former Sicilian provinces in North Africa that rebel....and boy do they have massive numbers of troops! As a result, I fear that the Serbs will need to deal with the Sicilians and French quickly so as to be ready for the emerging threat from the north. Hence Stefan's decision that it is time for action....:charge:
Well, this isn't going to be anything formal or such, this is just a rather odd campaign I'm currently experiencing as the English in XL mod 3.0 w/ Tyberius patch.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
So lets see... we've got the Volga Bulgars conquering a swath of territory from Muscovy to Volhynia, Novgorod has begun colonization of Scandinavia and parts of western Europe, though some of those possession have been since lost. The Byzantines lost Nicaea to the Seljuks, then promptly turned around and got an alliance with them! The Seljuks, on the other hand, have everything from Nicaea to Cyrenacia, and have begun efforts to colonize Iberia. The Almoravids steamed through the Castillans, allied with Aragon, snatched Aragon from the French when they took it, and began storming western Europe, only to falter under the pressure of multiple nations, and finally succumbing. But perhaps the strangest of all is that the Hungarians lost Hungary and Carpathia after taking Serbia, which seemed like a death blow, only to then somehow seize Sicily and Malta and wiping out the Sicilians. Once accomplishing this, they then promptly began imperializing the Medetirrenean, including taking on the might Almos almost single handedly at one point. :dizzy2:
My favorite though, has to be the current state of Spain; split between a resurgent Castillans, the Seljuks, the Almoravids, the Aragonese, the Hungarians, the English(me), and rebels.
Interesting. I noticed that Iberia had a crazy patchwork look to it -- it appears rather chaotic at the moment!
That is an interesting map alright, makaikhaan. You would think that a few kingdoms are leaving themselves open to loyalty issues, with provinces sprayed all over the map like that!
Looking forward to reading how it plays out....so keep those posts coming!
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 6 – Conquest & Expansion
Tzar Stefan’s planned offensive was to commence in the Spring of 1251, but it was to commence with subterfuge rather than open battle. The Serbian emissary in Murcia, Arso Subasic, knew that not all of those who had rallied to the banner of King Alfonso VIII were comfortable with their decision. One noble who had been notably slower than the others to join the rebellion was Don Rodrigo Claris.
The house of Claris had prospered under Serbian rule, and Don Rodrigo himself certainly bore no ill feelings towards Serbia or the Tzar. His father, Don Antonio, however, was a staunch Catholic, and firm in the belief that the Orthodox Church was but one step away from a pagan faith. In his mind, there was but one “true” faith…and with Castille-Leon, Don Rodrigo would be one of a small number of nobles, rather than being lost among the great number of the Serbian nobility, so the house of Claris had a greater probability of advancement.
Subasic knew that Don Rodrigo was a reluctant rebel, and he also was well aware of Don Antonio’s reasons for pushing his son towards Castille-Leon. For such a skilled agent as Subasic, it was child’s play. For but a few bags of gold and the promise of lands and titles, the house of Claris was once again to change allegiances. Similarly in Naples, Don Romano della Rovere was soon to renounce the Sicilian crown and pledge his loyalty to the Serbian throne.
Whilst Naples was to pass to Serbian hands with not a drop of blood spilled, the same was not true in Murcia. Don Alvaro Sanchez was determined to push on with the rebellion, even after the defection of Claris and his army. The two armies were to meet at the Battle of Cieza Bridge on the Segura River. After fierce fighting, the Serbian army forced its way across the river, and the Castille-Leonese were routed. 176 of their number were slain, including Sanchez himself. 326 surrender rather than perish. 67 Serbians were killed in the fighting, but Murcia is once again under Serbian rule.
In a curious footnote to this campaign, the house of Claris is to be heard of no more after 1251. Arso Subasic, upon reporting that his job was done, had also advised the Tzar that in his opinion, the loyalties of the Claris family would remain somewhat “flexible”. As a direct consequence, Tzar Stefan had ordered a detachment of troops to proceed with haste to the household of Claris. Under the watchful eyes of Subasic, all members of the household were put to the sword, and all buildings razed to the ground. Tzar Stefan had been chillingly clear in his orders. Any noble who changes allegiance so readily, and so frequently, as Claris had done is not to be trusted, and must be “dealt with”..…and with Murcia now secure, Don Rodrigo and his line had now served their purpose…and not one member of the household was spared.
The loss of Murcia did not slow the growth of King Alfonso’s kingdom. In 1253, Castille-Leonese troops marched on Mercia, seizing the province from the English.
1253 also brings news of the declaration of war between Sicily and Denmark, and it is also in this year that the Serbian storm breaks upon the hapless French. Serbian forces had long been amassing ready for this sledgehammer blow. The French forces are overwhelmed as Serbian armies surge into Anjou, Flanders, Isle de France, and Champagne. As sand before a crashing wave the French forces are washed away in Flanders, Isle de France, and Champagne. In Anjou too, there is scant resistance offered. The only difference in this province is that the French forces retreat to their stronghold rather than withdrawing altogether.
Meanwhile, to the south, Dejan Hanavan leads another Serbian force, landing on the Sicilian island of Sardinia. Don Orso Borgia is in command of the Sicilian garrison on the island, and the Serbian threat is not the only one that he has to face. The local Sardinians have risen up in defiance of Sicily. In the ensuing battle, the Serbian forces prove far too strong and too numerous for their foes. At the end of the day, 97 Sardinians and Sicilians lie dead upon the field. 70 are captured, and 9 Serbians are lost in the fighting.
The steady stream of Serbian victories causes ever greater desperation in the French and Sicilian courts. King Louis of France in particular feels compelled to act. In all, 13 years had passed since his fateful decision to turn on his Serbian allies. Those 13 years had seen France suffer many terrible defeats on both land and sea. His kingdom, which had once occupied much of western Europe, had by 1253 been reduced to nothing more than the solitary province of Normandy.
The French “strategy” of withdrawal rather than facing the Serbs in open combat has had one definite benefit. Louis now has at his disposal a substantial army, and in 1255, he rides into Anjou at the head of an army of 5,863 men. The French monarch’s gamble is truly all or nothing. Riding at his side are his two sons, the Princes Henri and Louis. Louis’ third son, Phillipe is but 15 years of age, and despite his pleadings, is left behind in Normandy. Facing this French onslaught is the redoubtable Lord Buturovic, with 2,641 men.
The Battle of Chat du Loir
The French army at the Battle of Chat du Loir was truly a sight to behold. With almost 6,000 men, they stretched as far as the eye could see across the small plain. King Louis looked upon his assembled force with some pride. Surely today would be the day on which France’s fortunes would be reversed. How could any army withstand such a mighty force?
His gaze shifted to examine the field. The plain was divided by a small lake, and Louis had chosen to divide his force into two in order to advance around both sides of the lake and therefore arrive at the flanks of the Serbian army. He could see their banners fluttering in the distance. He estimated their number to be about half of his own.
King Louis himself led the French right, and he incautiously placed himself and his company of royal knights at the van of this formation. At the southern end of the lake was a small wood. Small though it was, it was large enough to conceal two troops of Jinettes. As Louis and his knights arrived at the edge of the forest, they were well ahead of the rest of the French force. As the first volleys of javelins rained down on them, they were alone and isolated. King Louis was one of only 3 of the knights to survive the ensuing two volleys, and in a state of blind terror, he and his two cohorts fled the field. Word of the king’s flight quickly spread throughout the French army. Prince Henri spurred his steed forward. He could see his countrymen wavering, and knew that he had to inspire them. His knights charged at the Serbian Jinettes, who immediately withdrew. A cheer went up from the French army, and the mighty force lurched forward once more.
Little did the Frenchmen realise that the Jinettes had simply withdrawn because their job was to strike and then draw the French within range of the deadly arbalests that lay in wait across the next field.
Prince Henri was among the first to fall as the arbalests set about their deadly task. His entire company of knights fell beside him, in a mess of screaming men and horses. As death continued to rain down upon the hapless Frenchmen, several companies of Vlastela Heavy cavalry worked their way around both flanks of the French force, then struck from the French rear. Prince Louis, who had assumed command upon the demise of his brother, panicked and fled, leaving his army surrounded and in a state of confusion. He did not flee far before he was run down by the Serbian heavy cavalry. In the carnage that followed, 2,630 Frenchmen were killed for the loss of only 354 Serbs. 1,617 Frenchmen chose to surrender rather than perish.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As the sun set on the bloody field at Chat du Loir, France was still restricted to the province of Normandy – but now she had an army of less than 1,500 men with which to defend that territory. The following year Normandy was seized by Serbia. The French army, so cruelly demoralised after Chat du Loir, did not offer any resistance. Instead, a number of French knights captured King Louis VIII, Prince Phillipe, Sir Richard de Chateaubriant, and Sir Geoffrey de Bethune and handed them over to the Serbian army. All four were executed to ensure that there remained no rallying point for further French resistance. Upon hearing of the French defeat, Tzar Stefan quips “Thank goodness that war is over – my armies were growing tired from chasing fleeing Frenchmen!”
That same year, a Serbian army under Ilija Gavrilovic invaded Malta, overwhelming the tiny garrison. With the Serbian navy having cleared a path, Radoje Zivkovic invaded Sicily itself. King Geoffrey of Sicily has long been isolated from the remainder of his kingdom on this island, and his meagre garrison cannot withstand the Serbian army. All 42 Sicilian defenders are slain, including the Sicilian King hmself. He has died without an heir, and the kingdom of Sicily promptly dissolves into a series of independent states. The war with Sicily was over.
Previous Chapters of This Campaign
Chapter 1 – A Place to Live
Chapter 2 - Carving an Empire
Chapter 3 – Treachery & Triumph
Chapter 4 – An Unexpected Threat
Chapter 5 – The Storm Breaks
My favourite is the fact that Il de France has appeared to throw its lot in with the Almohads, whilst surrounded by Catholic nations! Very interesting map!Quote:
Originally Posted by makaikhaan
Also, another choice entry Bammf! Where will Stefan's victorious eyes be drawn to next?
Marvelous, bamff! Good to see that the dastardly French have been dealt with. ~D
Only a few years covered in this instalment...it seemed to take ages to get through, and a while to recount what actually happened as well...and I believe that there will be some issues to face when I next get to don the Tzar's armour....talk about troublesome neighbours!
The Chronicles of Bamff of the Serbs
~ A Campaign in XL ver 3.0 – Hard – GA ~
Chapter 7 – Peace Proves a Fleeting & Illusory Thing
With France and Sicily defeated, Tzar Stefan had brought his kingdom back to peace. He feared that this peace was something that could not be maintained. To Serbia’s north was the expansive Danish kingdom. With the Sicilian collapse, the Danes had also claimed several territories in northern Africa, and soon Stefan reasoned, they would attempt to claim all of the lands that lay between their northern and southern territories – and all that lay between the northern and southern territories of the Danes was the expansive Serbian empire.
Stefan decided to take advantage of the peace, and did so by ordering the invasion of the extremely well garrisoned independent province of Genoa. A number of the Genoese generals chose to join the Serbian forces, those that remained chose to flee south to Tuscany. Genoa was now part of Greater Serbia.
As it transpired, Stefan was right – the peace was indeed soon enough to be broken, but it was not the Danes who were responsible.
Following the Sicilian collapse, the Byzantine Empire had re-emerged in the east. The Byzantines had rallied around the flag of one John Andronicus, who claimed to a direct lineage to the Byzantine royal line. He had claimed the title of Emperor John III, and territories from Nicaea to Egypt were quick to declare their loyalty to the new Emperor. The fervour in the east for the “reborn” Byzantine Empire was such that in 1263, the Serbian garrison of Cyprus found themselves facing an uprising of no small proportions.
The local garrison commander was one Mijalko Subasic, a competent though not outstanding commander. There was little option but to stand and fight, for despite the fact that the Byzantines had only just re-emerged, it seems that their naval forces had been preparing for some years now, with a fleet of two galleys blocking any possibility of retreat for Subasic’s men. For that matter, Subasic wondered, how could the loyalty of the province go from 200% in the preceding year to 0%? Just how long had the Byzantines been secretly plotting their re-emergence? Ever the pragmatist, Subasic wasted no time cursing the grossly unfair advantages that are on occasion conferred on AI factions. Instead, he consoled himself in the knowledge that if necessary, he could always choose a map edge position to even that score, and he quickly gathered his forces to meet the Byzantine threat.
The Byzantine commander was one Nicephorus Angelus, a man who had until recently been in the service of Sicily. Angelus had distinguished himself in the Sicilian defence of Egypt against the Danes. He was indeed a leader of some ability. His army, however, was another matter. True, the Byzantines could field more men than the Serbs, with a strength of almost 1,700, but a good many of this number were local Cypriots, untested in combat. His army had landed at Cape Greco, and he had been quite surprised by the number of Cypriots that had joined his force as marched northwest towards Nicosia. As Angelus considered these men, a wry smile crossed his weathered face. Their greatest strength was their desire for independence, to reclaim their homeland….and yet, he mused, if they succeeded in overthrowing the Serbs on this day, they would find themselves under Byzantine rule.
The two armies came face to face to the east of the town of Athienou
The Battle of Athienou
Mijalko Subasic had drawn his men up into four ranks on a hill which commanded the surrounding field. At the front was a wall of dismounted Vlastela Heavy Cavalry, Latin Auxilliaries, and Voynuk Bladesmen. Further up the slope stood several companies of arbalests. Their height on the slope would allow then to fire over the wall of footsoldiers. Next stood two units of Jinetes. Their deadly javelins would rain down on any Byzantines just before they reached the spear wall, breaking their ranks up. The fourth and final rank were shielded bowmen. These troops would fire over the heads of those in front, and once their arrows were expended, they would be ready to surge down the slope to join the hand to hand fighting. Subasic had held his cavalry in reserve. Both the light units (in the form of Wallachian Mercenary Cavalry) and the heavy units (Vlastela Heavy Cavalry) stood ready to administer the coup de gras….but first the line had to hold.
Angelus nodded his approval as he surveyed the Serbian positions from across the field. “Much as I might have done myself, had our positions been reversed,” he mused. “But they will not withstand my Klibanophroi and Kataphractoi.” He turned to face his lieutenant. “We will let our Cypriot friends have the honour of first contact. Send the Dejma forward.” As Basilicus Stratiocus’ face wrinkled into an expression of puzzlement, Angelus leaned closer and continued “Better they take the first sting of the arbalests than our own men.”
And take the sting they did. The arbalests, with their greater range wrought havoc on the hapless Cypriots. The Dejma faltered, and melted back behind the advancing waves of Byzantine troops. These men also found their ranks rapidly thinned by the deadly Serb fire. They were more disciplined than their Cypriot comrades, however, and they gamely pressed on. It was the cavalry that reached the Serb line first, and the ranks of the Klibanophroi and Kataphractoi, already thinned by the deadly arbalest fire, now found javelins smashing through their ranks. Nicephorus Angelus himself was one of the casualties. A Serb javelin smashed into his right leg, pinning him to his steed. The beast whinnied as the javelin pierced its ribs, and it collapsed to its knees. A series of slashing blows from the Vlastela Heavy footknights despatched both horse and rider.
Meanwhile on the Serbian right flank, the surviving Byzantine infantry closed in on their foes, only to be driven back by determined Serb resistance. The first Byzantine wave was broken, and the survivors fled in panic. Mijalko Subasic wasted little time. Arbalests who had loosed all of their bolts were hurriedly sent to the rear, as were those units of foot that had suffered most heavily in the fighting. Their places were taken by the Serb cavalry, who fanned out wide ready to meet the next wave.
Mijalko Subasic could not suppress a wicked smile as he surveyed the advancing Byzantine second wave. Trebizond archers, Dejma, pavise arbalests, and crossbowmen! The Serbs patiently waited as the Byzantines advanced, and then Subasic closed his trap. The cavalry swept in from both flanks, smashing into the Byzantines from the sides and rear. They were swept from the field. Subasic’s men had held Cyprus. 645 Byzantines and Cypriot rebels were dead, 573 had surrendered. Only 118 of Subasic’s men perished.
Despite Subasic’s victory in Cyprus, the uprising greatly disturbed Tzar Stefan, and later that year, he chose to abandon two of his more “troublesome” Mediterranean provinces. The garrisons on Crete and Cyprus sailed east to reinforce the garrison of Tripoli, leaving the two island provinces to their own respective brands of anarchy and chaos. Better to use his troops for conquest, reasoned Stefan, than to tie them down keeping order amongst those who did not wish an orderly existence.
As it transpired, the period of anarchy and chaos on Crete was to be very short lived indeed. In 1266, the Sicilian flag was unfurled. King Roger III claimed lineage to the Sicilian throne. Apparently Geoffrey, the last Sicilian king had been his nephew. This connection was enough to convince the people of Crete and Tuscany, and they were quick to adopt his standard. The sudden unification of the enormous garrison of Tuscany under the Sicilian flag was most disconcerting development to Tzar Stefan, and one which would need to be closely monitored.
Emperor John III, had in the meantime turned his attentions to the east, and in 1266 came news that his armies had driven the Danes from Georgia. An earlier victory over the Danes at Marmeuli had been followed by a decisive triumph at T’bilisi.
With these victories giving him a new found confidence and optimism, the Byzantine Emperor assembled a great army, and marched on Tripoli. With almost 6,900 under his command, Emperor John III felt confident that the Serbian army of just over 2,300 men would be swept into the sea. Alas for Emperor John, it was not to be. The Serbian army under Lord Grol fought magnificently, and while perilously close to exhaustion, they held on to win the day. 1,803 Byzantines and 579 Serbs perished in a day of bitter fighting. Among the dead are Emperor John and his son Constantine. Constantine was John’s sole heir, and with both dead, so is Byzantium, as each provincial governor refuses the claim of each of the other aspirants to the throne.
The power vacuum in the east is an opportunity far too tempting for Tzar Stefan to resist. In the summer of 1268, Serbian forces are on the march once again. Lord Adzovic leads one Serbian army into Nicaea, Radovan Djokovic leads another into Anatolia, and Lord Vukasinov leads a third into Lesser Armenia. All of the local garrisons have been sorely depleted from months of internal power struggles, and none are able to offer any credible resistance. The three provinces fall under Serb control.
News of these victorious travels swiftly, and the Georgian leader Don Paolo Granziano decides that it is preferable to stand with Serbia than against it. He asks but a few bags of gold to cover the “administrative expenses” associated with changing the colour of his men’s tunics, flags and so forth….
Another Unexpected Adversary Arises
Tzar Stefan has precious little time to celebrate these victories, however. The Papacy had long been an ally of Serbia. In recent times, the Papacy had been the sole ally of Serbia. This did not sit well with many Catholic factions. Serbia was, after all, not Catholic. A number of these factions, in particular the powerful Danes, had secretly mounted increasing pressure on the Papacy to renounce the alliance.
Pope John XXI was not a man known for his strong moral fibre, rather his reputation was that he enjoyed the finer things in life. The feasts so regularly held by Pope John were legendary for both their opulence and splendour. There was a darker side to this character as well, with the young pontiff said to regularly indulge in a number of activities that were reportedly aberrant and debauched even by the standards of the medieval clergy. The “Party Pope” (as he was often labelled in the “News of Ye Olde World”) had to finance his various indulgences. He also had to find sufficient amounts of gold to buy the silence of those privy to his less public activities.
As a direct consequence of these needs, the Pope hatched a plan that he was sure would win favour with the other Catholic factions, while at the same time allowing him the opportunity to further fill his own purse. He issued Letters of Marque to two of his naval captains, Don Alberto Bonomi and Don Matteo Albergati. The two set sail immediately for the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea respectively. Their instructions were clear – they were to prey on any and all non-Catholic vessels that they should come across – especially those that flew the colours of Serbia.
Sadly for Albergati, his first attempted action ends in disaster. While clumsily attempting to board a Serbian merchant ship, his Dromon is surprised by two Serbian Caravels. Upon sighting the rapidly closing Serbian vessels, Albergati desperately attempts to break and run, but he is unable to outpace the two Caravels. Those of his crew that survive the brief battle are hastily tried and executed as pirates. The capture of Albergati’s Dromon has far greater repercussions, however. The letter of marque is discovered amongst the captain’s belongings, clearly linking Pope John to this treacherous act of piracy. Tzar Stefan’s fury was terrible to behold. He swears that Serbia shall have vengeance, and orders are issued to the Serbian garrisons of Venice, Naples, and Rome.
Meanwhile in the east, the Serbian armies continued their advance, marching on the independent provinces of Antioch and Rum. As the year 1269 dawned, it would seem that Serbia was again to find herself fighting on two fronts.
Previous Chapters of This Campaign
Chapter 1 – A Place to Live
Chapter 2 - Carving an Empire
Chapter 3 – Treachery & Triumph
Chapter 4 – An Unexpected Threat
Chapter 5 – The Storm Breaks
Chapter 6 – Conquest & Expansion
Another great write-up as usual, bamff! I especially enjoyed your description of Pope John XXI, the "Party Pope" -- I got a good chuckle from that one. ~D
This passage cracked me up as well:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
:laugh4:
I've also been meaning to tell you for a long time now that I also particularly like how you often tell battles from the perspective of the enemy commander (such as the Byzantine general Nicephorus Angelus in his attack on Cyprus). That's fairly unique among the AAR's I've read, and a nice touch as well. Most ingenious. ~:cheers:
