Druhtinoz: Ainan Mannz Swebiskōz Tō [1.1]

[gamegeek2]

Druhtinoz
Ainan Mannz Swebiskōz Tō

Chapter 1: A New World

We never even saw it coming. We heard from some that a small tribe had been conquered in the east. "Big whoop," we thought, as that often happened. After this, several more tribes joined this group, and yet we saw no reason to fear; we had thousands of warriors ready at a moment's notice.

I never knew there could be such large armies.



I saw that their forces were too big for our own to handle, but our Druhtinoz ordered us to fight. I complained of arm-sickness and that my sword-arm was out of commission. It worked.





Hours and hours of bloody fighting could not stop the enemy from overwhelming us. It turned out that our numbers were equal, they just used their far better than we did: half their troops fought near the gates while the other half went for the town square. Many of our infantrymen were fighting them near gates, but they threw javelins over the walls to win the fight there, too. It was a slaughter, and the place stank of bodies for three days.

Afterwards, the Druhtinoz of the other tribe, who we now know are the Swebōzez, treated us as equals and allowed us to join his confederacy. We would be allowed to keep our own culture, and our tribes could mix freely. We'd just have to provide troops when he needed them. My life was back to normal for some years. Until one day, the recruiter came by our town. He took out a scroll of runes and read off of it:



(I actually know what that says. I spent the "excused" leave on battle learning the alphabet :) )

The Druhtinoz wants more soldiers? Well, I figured, I'm not married, am childless, have no real commitments, and am your average fulkōz jugunthōz (a literate one at that ) eager for glory, gore, and plunder. I'd better start practicing, then.

[Reality=Chaos]

Looks very good, but can't you upload yourpictures to the thread? It would make looking at the pictures and reading the text a lot easier. BTW what does your AAR title mean?

[Ayce]

Use [IMG] https://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hutsrm9.png [/IMG], but without the spaces for the images to show up (or just select the link and press the add image tag button from the toolbar)

[gamegeek2]

I did (in the IMG tags, with the [] ) but it didn't work. Srsly.

Ainan Mannz Swebiskoz To = One Man Sweboz-ish Of = One man of the Sweboz/Suebi

[Korlon]

Did you remember to stick the / at the ending img tag?

[gamegeek2]

yup

[Korlon]

I see your problem. It's because you're using .png. You'll have to change it to .jpg for the image tags to work.

Edit: Nevermind

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

The problem is that you are not linking to pictures. You are linking to a webpage that happens to end in ".png". Link to a page that is ".../picturename.png" and not one that contains things like the "?" & "=".

[MerlinusCDXX]

when you click the link that appears on this forum, there is a chart with several url's in it below the image. what you want to use to get the pic up on the forum is the link in the "direct" spot. also, set thumbnail mode to no. you could also use "spoiler" tags to have pity on dial-up users [SPOIL} image url+tags {/SPOIL] (using straight brackets in place of the curved)

[gamegeek2]

Chapter II: An Opportunity

I gladly took the offer, and went to Swebotraustastamnoz (we all call it "Gawjam") to see the king and recruit in his army. However, many of us Heriskōzez were disgruntled about our subjugation, nearly a year after its occurence. So I was the lone Heruskōz present at the recruiting center there. The Druhtinoz was examining all present there, including many eager (though even more recently conquered) Belgae. Finally, he passed by me, and stopped to whisper to me, "See me after the meeting." Who was I to deny him?

After a rousing speech of approval, the Druhtinoz disbanded us and took me to his hold. "Habukaz, of the Heriskōzez?" he asked. "Yes, sir," I replied, reminding myself of who I was. The king summoned his 12-year old daughter. "I have never heard of you much before, but she certainly has. They say you are a skilled warrior, and a cunning one at that. They also say you skipped out on the battle to defend your people!"

My head slumped in agreement. "It is true."

The king patted me on the back, changing from a solemn tone to a cheerful one in an almost comical way. "Well, then, I'm glad to see that your not an idiot!" I collapsed in relief. "Not only are you a well-reputed warrior, but you are also a wise one, too. For the greatest of warriors know which battles they can win and which ones they cannot," he said.

"Most definetly," I agreed. Why was this guy so interested in my brains and not my brawn?

"So, after conulting with my daughter and her mother (who both fervently agreed, I might add), I would ask you to be betrothed to my daughter." The girl blushed, giggling a bit, and attempted to run out of the room, but her father pulled her back. "How old are you, son?"

"I-I'm sixteen," I replied, not knowing whether it was a joke. So I had to ask, "Is this some sort of hoax?"

"Of course not," came an enthhusiastic reply from father and daughter. My teeth were chattering. "It's just a betrothal, you won't be married until she's sixteen or so..." he continued on. The flood coming out of my skin stopped, though I was still stunned as a stone. It felt SO uncomfortable being asked to marry a 12-year-old. At least now there was a delay...

"Uh, sure..." I said timidly, blushing as red as the girl I was now betrothed to. "Excellent!" said the king. "I will go announce it to..." but I interrupted him. "Please...don't. Not yet anyways. Not until..." and he nodded, knowing how uncomfortable I felt.



I excused myself, running out of the door, but the king appeared in front of me with about 60 men. Just like the ones I saw... "Who are they?" my impetuous mouth asked. "Oh, them? They're your new Thegnōzez!" said the king. They all hailed me, chain clinking as they did so, and I could only do so back.



That 50-mile trip was only the beginning of the ride along the Jorgmund, as I was now a general and royal family member. I didn't know where this was going, but I certainly wasn't unhappy about it at all.

[gamegeek2]

Chapter III: Into the Fire

Merely three months after my appointment, I learned that there was a siege at Bagacos, the recently conquered capital of the Nervii. The Arveni from the South, in Gaul, were besieging it. I found this strange because I thought the Aedui would be far more interested in that territory, as I knew they were much closer. I guess they just HAVE to try and outdo each other. As our facilities were undergoing reconstruction to allow recruitment of better troops, I had to hire out some Iosatae mercenaries. Hey, I heard they were long-ranged and deadly against most soldiers, just not very good in combat.



The Gauls formed up in a warband and ran forward, as we pelted them with sling-bullets, taking many out or killing them with a stone to the head. Then, the fools stopped and formed in a neat, linear order. They seemed to be waiting. What the heck?

However, the slingmen eventually ran out of bullets, and I went with my Thegnōzez to hold off the enemy until the reinforcements arrived. We charged in, they with spears raised, I with sword at the ready. At the last moment, they loosed a devastating volley of javelins, as we had pulled back our shields to maximize our charge's power. 12 of our men dropped dead.



We were quickly surrounded by ten times our number. I slashed through enemy after enemy, but always a new one appeared. Every so often, I would hear the cleaving of chain and know we were one fewer. All was lost. Or was it?



The reinforcements crashed into the rear of the enemy, preceded by a hail of arrows, and the Bataroas there were quickly occupied with one unit of Thegnōzez, leaving the other to cleave a path through some spearmen. My own unit's numbers deteriorated to 3 before we made a break for it. My two companions died, but I made it to safety, with the Iosatae.



Some Gauls broke off to regroup and charge again, but just as they re-entered the thick of things, a volley caught them in the back and they turned towards the hills. I sent the Iosatae around to the rear of the remaining swordsmen. They routed before the slingmen could even charge, and the Iosatae, fresh and eager, caught and slew the tired and hopeless Gallic shock troops. After the Thegnōzez mopped up some Lugoae, the day was ours.

[Chirurgeon]

What a great story! I wish your young general the best. Haven't seen a Sweboz AAR in a while. Keep it up!

[gamegeek2]

Chapter IV: Jugunthiz Dugunthizux (The Young and The Experienced)

I have not been campaigning for nearly a year and a half, as our armies needed to retrain and concentrate. Yet finally they have let me out of Bagacos, with a decent army, to join up with Harjawulfaz. Now we are over 1,000 strong and intend to add the Hathinez to the Swebōzez, and to make war on the Arverni from there.

As the rams went forward, we woke up the peasant levies in the front with a hail of arrows, and they began to move to safer ground. The Thegnōzez ran to catch up, after their safety from slings was confirmed.



After the gates broke open, much fell still. Both I and the enemy commander knew that whoever made the first move was putting the battle at risk. However, he was positioning himself, and his archers & levies were vulnerable. So in went many Dugunthiz, to take care of these fools.





As expected, the enemy deployed a couple of warbands to deal with this new threat. As they moved in, my second unit of Dugunthiz entered the front gate, trapping them. Some of our Batacorii advanced to pick up the ram and make another gap in the wall, to add options and provide a reserve unit inside the city. I heard many horses whinnying as loud as the fighting men yelled and screamed; the enemy general had entered the fray. Perfect...the Batacorii could get them, too...

The gate Dugunthiz, though still strong in numbers, had been nearly pushed out by enemy Dugunthiz and Ridonez, but the Batacorii made it in time! The Belgae smashed into the flank of the Hathinez at the gate, causing many casualties. They were well-conditioned, tough, rugged warriors, used to fighting off Aeduic/Arvernian attacks, and many of their brethren had invaded Bretholandam and Dumnolandam, across the sea. They exhibited this proud heritage by executing the most ideal of charges, full of confidence, and unwavering in their step, as they marched towards the killing zone, ignoring the sling bullets falling into their side.





Although they managed to push away the general and nullify the spearmen, the Batacorii rapidly fell to sling bullets at their flank. While our slingers worked hard to lower the number of enemy Iaosatae, they still took nearly 80 losses to these bullets, though eliminating more enemies. Down to below 80 men, they stabilized and turned the tables on the enemy, with a little help...



With the enemy slingmen and the remaining 3 horsemen joining the brawl, we were clearly outnumbered there, but had them like this: \E/, enveloped in a "V". I myself went in to complete the triangle, after getting to meet the foe's general. Before I could fully make it there, the enemy were running for the town square.





I spoke with a Batacorios (I was now fluent in Belgic, after a year and a half in Bagacos). He seemed out of breath, his spear resting on his lap as he sat, leaning on a fence for support. Blood was dripping from a sword-gash on his side, though it was not very bad. He had picked up an enemy's shirt to use it as a bandage. I stooped and told him, "Rest, brave Belgicos. You deserve every second of it." He stood up, shrugging off the wound. "What's next?" he asked. I slapped him lightly on the back, and we ran on towards the town square. "That's the attitude..." I said.

[Reality=Chaos]

Really really cool AAR. Keep on it.

[Ayce]

Agreed! Very nice writing style, good backstory too.

[gamegeek2]

Hey, thanks. Always wanna hear suggestions, if you can.

[ziegenpeter]

Can't help, but please continue.

[gamegeek2]

Chapter V: Horjonōz andi Horjōzelz Wolhoi (General and The Celtic Wars)

Well past 20 years of age, the king's daughter and I are now married. However, my campaigning has made me unable to have children right now, as she is staying with the Kuningōz. For 10 years have I campaigned against Celts, with a half-year stop in one of the cities I conquered over this time.






Then, I narrowly dodged around Arverni in the great mountains and escaped back north to Vindelicoppidos, where I stayed for a half-year; the king then alerted us of a large allied army in our lands. Our allies the Aedui were at the time, but they wished to "liberate" the now fully-loyal Belgae, who willingly supply us with warriors, as we are not the "civilized" Gauls they shun, though we are not Celtic ourselves. The army I found there was absolutely enourmous, several thousand Aeduic tribesmen. How powerful they were, I did not really know until then; I thought the 1200-so men in Sequallra was an impressive number. We mustered half the Aedui in numbers, but we had allies that would arrive. The only hope we had was to use skill and thegnōzez well, as they were led by a mere captain, hired from amongst the tribesmen, and, though a well enough warrior, was far from a constant campaigner like myself. When we met for diplomacy before battle, I saw it on his face; he seemed almost frightened at my look, red-blonde hair, and the scars on my cheeks and brow. His demands seemed half-hearted.



"P-please surrender. We do not wish to kill you all; we wish to liberate our fellow Celts from..."

"...what tyrant?" I interrupted. "If you want peace and conquering, get ready to fight. And my army features hundreds of those men you "wish to liberate," half of which I know by name and have know for the 8 years they have marched the path of war with me. If you don't wish to kill us all, then that sucks for you. You will have to take the city from our cold, dead hands." I spat and beckoned my retainers out with me.

"Sounds like a 'No'," said one of the fool's advisors.

We marched onto the battlefield, fully aware that most of us would soon lie dead. I just hoped I wasn't one of them. And yet...would it not be glorious to die on the field for the kingdom? But better still to live and tell my grandchildren of our great victory. And so it was to be, even before the reinforcements arrived.



Our volleys rained on them like a storm of death, many missiles finding their mark and dropping enemies from the ranks. Every life was to be valued, when the enemy have the spare ones. Every opportunity that there was to flank them was to be taken, as theirs will be large and easy targets. Every man for himself, at least if he can't work with another.



Outnumbered nearly two two one at one part of the battle, attacks on three different parts of the Gallic line drove them into a cross, and some Thegnōzez crashed into the back of the center, as their line was like a fattish X. The formation was divided and conquered in short order. Within minutes, the line was routing. On the other side, an envelopment had occured and they were running away, too! How sad. We slaughtered the fools. It was like a waste; the victory was nearly effortless on our part; the chase was harder.





A later army attempted to fight us with alongside the survivors. There were 30 elite "Soldurōzez" or Solduros as the Belgae called them, elite soldiers, even better than my own retainer or any mercenary thegnōzez. Not that it mattered in the battle; it was 30 Solduros alongside some trash against our army, hardly battered (comparatively) by the last battle.

Soon, we united with the two nearby armies, bring us to over 2500 men. Though it was our original target, I am skipping Bratosporios. We're going right for the jugular.

Bibracte.

[Reality=Chaos]

Hav you unified the german tribes yet? that would be a good part of the story as well (after your war with the aedui of course. I like this AAR a lot BTW.

[gamegeek2]

Just a little current info: I almost half to hit bibracte because Bratosporios is almost as well defended, and is a far less valuable city despite its proximity to the sea. I could probably sack a large MIC for some $, and it's the main income source for the Aedui, despite their sea towns. Those can't really produce Solduros, and I'm scared that the Solduros will eliminate my Thegnōzez' edge.

After that, I will probably go for Sequallra, as the Romani are threatening Viennos with constant activity in the area. They seem to be allied w. the Arverni.

Honestly, the AI thinks I won't notice them moving a fullstack into the source of my amazing Belgae Spearmen? That town is worth it for JUST the belgae, iosatae, and sea trade. Cheap, and really cost-effective, hard to rout (morale), and versatile. Reminds me of scutarii, except not as resistant to missiles and a fair bit cheaper.

[gamegeek2]

Chapter VI: Tō Horjōzez andi Mannōz (Of Wars and Men)

(Apologies; school trip and projects slowed this a lot.)



At last, at peace, marching through the most beautiful forests I have ever laid eyes on, hardly like the cold, dark ones back home. Daily, after marching and setting camp, we hunt, providing ourselves with good food and meat to go with our usual rations of grain stolen from the countryside. It seemed like those heroes' stories, where they march towards their destination, journeying through fascinating lands, but always knowing what was on the horizon; we never forgot where we were going.
Over years, one will get tired of a war. I certainly did. And I thought it was almost over, as we marched towards Bibracte...

Ambush. The more "civilized" folk to the south and east regard it as dishonorable, but honor is not the point of war, as I have come to realize. It is a profession, and should be carried out with pride and honor as well, but that does not mean that the tactics need to match their execution. I was a fool to not realize it; I thought we had just crushed most of their forces. Little did I know; my soul must already be weary.





For 10 hours did that battle rage, and all our troops were destroyed, while they had some left. But my hardy thegnōzez held out, and routed 5 units. The Belgae once again proved invaluable, one unit alone dispatching almost twice their number of Belgae (experience pays off) and a general after, while the other destroyed some of the king's horses and some of the king's men, and I myself slew the king. Such heroic deeds earned me and all the survivors the title of hero, and the day was honored with a holiday, that survives on the fourth Munadiz of the fifth month of the Romiska calendar.
Within a year, the army was restored to full size and slew another Druhtinōz Aeduiskōz and his equal-sized band of fools. Bratosporios fell, and a couple of large armies came to take it, falling with minimal casualties on our part. Perhaps, I thought, the Aedui might be a bit depopulated at this point. Or were their peasantry mindless breeding machines? Bratosporios was mainly Belgic, so I wouldn't know. At least now we had a monopoly on the Belgae, who were pretty happy about the fact that their brethren weren't fighting a hopeless cause. Though some Soldurōzez continued to come and fight well, they fell with their comrades in the end.

[gamegeek2]

Chapter VII: ende Livōn Horjōneso Ainan Dagiz (A day in the life of a general)

Another day, another battle. We rise in the morning, to crush a simple force of levies, from nearby Cenabum. In ten seconds, they are fleeing from the hills, and our horsemen ride them down.



These horsemen have been with me for a couple years now. I've begun to get the feel of cavalry, how to work it into the infantry's role. They've proved far more useful than foot-soldiers for circling the enemy lines, as well as skirmishing and charging duties. Mounted on fine ponies like those of our enemies, they hire themselves out to us for good wages, for they must feed their mounts, too. However, the steeds can mostly live off the land quite easily, so that's not as much of a problem; the true problem is the enemy. Who the horsemen were quite happy to crush, along with my footmen.



Meanwhile, myself and my loyal Thegnōzez, or Soldurōzez as I have begun to call them, had felt rather bored. Or rather eager. Or rather just feeling like it. For any (or all) of these reasons, we slammed into the entourage of knights that followed their royal pain in the butt around. Peh...pretty helmet means retty easy to find. Not very smart, I'd say...





When do I get my turn?



The sounds of dying horses and cleaving Gallic mail brought sick music to my ears, and I had the great honor of dispatching the royal fool who led his knights into my foot equivalents. True to their oath, the Thegnōzez stood their ground while my other men handily enveloped the main force and crushed it. Now, the path to Cenabum was clear.

Another pestilent army of only swordsmen arrives later that day, but they pose no challenge. I don't even want to describe the slaughter.

[gamegeek2]

Chapter VIII: Twōz Thengōzez Mekiloi (Two Great Things)

Menōthz Femthōz tō Jar, Jar tō Senabōm tō Horjōz Wolhiskōz

I do seem to have caught up on my journal, and am able to write of present or recent times and memories, and in far more detail.

Illy does the seer speak of fortunes to come. I never have trusted those fools, and this one no better. The men, however, seem to believe her wisdom. However, we still head into battle, and intend to succeed.





While some of our swordsmen found them stuck between charging Bree-hen-ten (as they call the knights) and swordsmen. It was the first time I ever saw the true power of charging horsemen, armed with spears. I wonder what our own versions of these troops could do? Not to mention the swordsmen at their back. Now I knew what kind of hell I pulled with my tactics, as I felt for those poor men, surrounded by hordes of foes, eager to impale one of our valuable veterans on a sword and carry the man's head home for a trophy. I would have none of that.



The Dugunthiz Gaizobrukōnez came in, just as the knights withdrew to set up another charge, and another wave of swordsmen slammed into our own, proud Germanic ones. These were set upon by the knights, which was not a very wise move on the horsemen's part, as my guard was standing by.



[Once again], our veterans crushed the usual Aedui fresh recruits. They field good quality swordsmen, used to war games, but games are nothing like the battlefield; there is no mercy, there are no rules. There is only what you and your foe can muster, and how both of you use it. We mustered more experience, and used it to succeed in combat and annihilate our foes.



Oh, and I gave the Kuningaz a little "present"...



And he sends me better news...





While no great horse-thanes are available yet, nor their foot counterparts, indeed it is a great accomplishment. The Kuningaz says that he will try his best to foster trade so great iron-smiths can come and outfit such a force. By Taranis (excuse me, Thunrōz), I hope he can, because we need some real armour for others than myself and guards. However, after I have settled in to regrow this town, the Wolhiskōzez have the nerve to besiege me again. Go figure, those endless vermin...and the third Vergobret an army under my control will have killed. However, their Magistrate did escape, with a gash across his helmet and a frown across his face; it wasn't likely he would be returning. I wouldn't.

[gamegeek2]

ende Felthōz Geg (In the Field Again)

As I leave the hall to meet the foe in battle again, after so many months of the city, I feel a rush of energy like I have not experience, an age-old memory coming back to me. The cool air of the peaceful country, unaware of what terrible things will soon take place, and the excitement and satisfaction of battle.





To the west lies the weakest Wolheso settlement nearby, Darioritum. After conquering that, I intend to head back and unite the tribes, like my father dreamed I would. Perhaps I will stop and visit my hometown to see if he is still alive for him to see his dream come true...and his son become the great conqueror he was destined to be. I never knew if he was killed in that great battle; the Swebōzez took him prisoner, so I have no clue. But my greatest lament is that I will be leaving my beloved Belgae behind in the conquered lands, though I will take back my Germanic soldiers to be retrained in the Gawjam. But all will be well in these lands when I am gone, as long as they remain, as long as my spirit remains with them...

[the man with no name]

You never got there did you?(not to be rude)Now you play the oppisite end of the sword.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Dude plz stop necro-posting stuff