The Isles of Tin: a Casse AAR

[Roka]

Prelude: The Leading Men of the Casse

High King (Bren) Barae



Heir Apparent (Tybren) Sentata



Margorix



I'll probably have the first 'real' chapter up tomorrow

[SwissBarbar]

*curious is*

[the man with no name]

Another Casse AAR

[Roka]

Another Casse AAR

Indeed, although i have planned this for over a month as it was decided in a poll that casse would be the AAR i chose. Unfortunately however my R:TW disc ended up damaged after an "incident" with my little cousin who i was baby-sitting.

[Roka]

Chapter 1: The Years of Peace

Spring 272 - Winter 268

On ascending to the throne of the Casse Barae, the youngest son of his father, faced an immediate crisis. His eldest brother Margorix was widely regarded as the finest warrior-general of the tribes and (as was his right) was expected to challenge his younger brother's right to rule. However most people did not take into account Margorix's utter loyalty to his father and so in the Spring of 272, much to the relief of Barae, Margorix pledged his loyalty to the new Bren. Many people speculated that the two brothers had struck a deal in private because mere weeks later, Margorix was named as Tybren.

The young king set about a period of great building works starting with the construction of a proper road system:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The new Road system (Rothos) commissioned by Barae in Spring 272 BC

To finance this he did two things. First he raised taxes in the chief settlement of the Casse, Camulosadae. Then much to the surprise of the majority of the people he disbanded the navy. His reasoning being that he would not need a standing navy until he had secured the entirety of Britannia. Upon completion of the new road system in the Autumn of 272 BC, Barae commissioned an expansion of the trading port at Camulosadae. This prompted another rise in taxes much to the disgruntlement of the people.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Barae realised that by expanding the trading port he could increase the wealth of the tribe

Upon completion of the new building works in the winter of 270 BC, Barae decided to install his eldest brother and heir, Margorix, to administrative duties in the capital. There are conflicting views as to why he made this decision. Some historians believe that he did not fully trust his brother and so wanted him away from the army, however the majority believe that he merely wanted to be a famed conqueror.

Margorix took to his new duties well and became known as a good governor. He also seemed to have a concern for the happiness of the people and so in the Spring of 268 BC he established an annual festival to be held at Cairncalladryrdan.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

During the years of peace, Barae had been building the military might of the Casse tribe and had established a semi-regular army. There were professional soldiers and the usual Celtic levy troops. He initially intended to invade the chief settlement of the Dumnones tribe, Ictis. But in the winter of 268 BC the northern-most border of the Casse lands were raided by the Coritanes. This infuriated the young king and so he immediately started planning to march north. The expedition was to take place in the Spring of 267 BC and there would be no mercy shown to any warrior of the Coritanes.

[Roka]

Chapter 2: War Against the Coritanes

Spring-Summer 267 BC

As mentioned earlier, in the winter of 268 BC, the Coritanes raided the northern borders of Casse lands, all evidence points to this being due to a particularly bad winter in the land of the Coritanes as there had been peace between the two tribes since the time of Barae's father's father.

So in the spring of 267 BC Barae marched his army north. When the army got to within sight of the walls of Ratae, the chieftain of the Coritanes, Maudamoros sent an envoy to the Casse camp. Barae had him thrashed and ejected from the camp stating: "the time for words is over, now we fight!" The army that marched north outnumbered the defenders of Ratae by about a third. It consisted of around 600 swordsmen (Botroas) 200 skirmishers (Imannae) 120 slingers (Iaosatae) 200 short-swordsmen (Kluddobro) 200 spearmen (Gaeroas) and 350 naked spearmen (Uirodusios).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The settlement of Ratae was besieged in may 267 BC and Barae, not content to starve the enemy out, immediately ordered his men to build rams.

Meanwhile in Camulosadae, Margorix left behind to look after the homeland during the expedition against the Coritanes. Began constructing basic sanitation which would help to encourage the growth of the settlement.



As soon as the rams were completed Barae ordered the attack on Ratae to begin.


Barae watches as his army advances towards the enemy

First the slingers were ordered forward to cover the advance of the two rams.



Then the order for the advance of the rams was given. The slingers proved their worth in this engagement by completely driving all defenders away from the vicinity of the wall, allowing the rams to advance unopposed.


The two rams reach the wall and start to break into Ratae

The Coritane warriors ran forward to brace the wall and try to repel the invaders when they heard the crash of the ram upon the timber walls. However, there was only one unit of skirmishers guarding the area were the second ram had began to batter down the defences. Before long the Casse warriors were inside the perimeter of the settlement and battle was joined. The men that had been manning the first ram, some 200 Botroas, rushed forward to meet the enemy in the open space between the perimeter wall and the settlement proper.


The air is filled with the clash of weapons and the cries of the dying as the two armies meet

On the left realising the folly of the enemy, Barae began to pour men into the second breach whilst sending over half of his army through the primary to support the embattled Botroas. The skirmishers despite being outnumbered and apparently outclassed managed to hold their own against the Kluddobro, it took the intervention of the Gaeroas to prevent embarrassment for the Casse army. With the skirmishers defeated and retreating the Kluddobro, Gaeroas and a unit of Uirodusios crashed into the exposed flank of the main body of the enemy force. The warriors of Ratae were close to breaking point when their chieftain committed his bodyguard to the fray driving the Casse back slowly. However the momentum could not be kept up and slowly but surely the Coritanes were once again being pushed further into the settlement. All of a sudden a rumour passed through the Coritane army,
Maudamoros had been slain!


The Chief of the Coritanes died fighting like a warrior

With the death of their leader it wasn't long before the entire Coritane army broke, fleeing back to the centre of the town where the son of Maudamoros was marshalling the defenders for one last stand.


Following the death of their leader the defenders of Ratae retreated to the central plaza of the town

The warriors of the Casse pursued those of the Coritanes cutting down many. Before long both armies had clashed again in the centre of the town, the Coritanes this time bolstered by more spearmen and some champions. The champions of the midland region of Britannia were famed for their courage and skill and this was the reason Barae had planned to subjugate the Dumnones before moving north and tackling the Coritanes.


Maudamoros had kept some of his best men in reserve

The now depleted army of the Coritanes could not hold long against the might of the superior Casse army and it wasn't long before Maudamoros' son was also killed when he was run through by a Casse warrior. With their army completely leaderless the remaining defenders were split into small groups and slaughtered. Ratae now belonged to the Casse, but at what price? Over 500 warriors would not be returning to their homes.


Barae had managed to subjugate the warlike Coritanes

[Chirurgeon]

a good start! The Casse have such beautiful warriors. I look forward to this.

[the man with no name]

Indeed, although i have planned this for over a month as it was decided in a poll that casse would be the AAR i chose. Unfortunately however my R:TW disc ended up damaged after an "incident" with my little cousin who i was baby-sitting.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
That sucks. My little cousin is 4 and he is soooooooooooooooooo annoying.
Nice chapter 2.

[Roka]

a good start! The Casse have such beautiful warriors. I look forward to this.

thanks, yeah they do, don't they?

anyway, i'll most likely have chapter 3 up on wednesday, it's a day off and i'm usually doing other stuff at the weekends

[the man with no name]

a good start! The Casse have such beautiful warriors. I look forward to this.

No wonder there called the handsome ones.

[Dutchhoplite]

At the moment i'm playing them too so it's interesting to see a Casse AAR :)

A good start and i'm looking forward to the next chapter!

[Roka]

At the moment i'm playing them too so it's interesting to see a Casse AAR :)

A good start and i'm looking forward to the next chapter!

thanks, the next chapter will be up either tonight or tomorrow, have nearly played as far as i plan to for chapter 3

also stole the picture from your sig

hope you don't mind

[Theodotos I]

Looks good.

[Roka]

Chapter 3:Back to the Original Plan

267- 263 BC

Exercising victor's judgement in Ratae, Barae named his brother Sentata as chief of the Coritanes



Leaving a small force of levy spearmen in Ratae he took the remainder of his army south to strengthen it for his next move, which was to be execute his original plan of attack on the Dumnones settlement of Ictis. He sent envoys to the main continent to the south of Britannia in order to recruit any men willing to risk their lives for plunder and the thrill of battle.

Meanwhile in Camulosadae, Margorix set about improving the agriculture of the region, striving to make it the principle region of the island.


Margorix wanted to leave a legacy of great civic and agricultural improvements

In the spring of 265 BC, Barae's envoy returned to him at the head of a column of spearmen of the Belgae tribe, known as Batacorii. Barae was disappointed in the lack of men that came to him, however his envoy had witnessed a battle whilst in gaul. During this battle he was impressed by men that rode on horseback, so he suggested to Barae that he could maybe raise a unit of such men and test them against the Dumnones.


Barae saw the usefulness in a unit of warriors on horseback

In the Autumn of 265, Barae marched his refitted and replenished army west to attack the men of the Dumnones tribe under their chief Drustan. The army was able to cover much ground in a short space of time due to a lack of opposition from the natives, in fact there were many people in the region that counted themselves among the Casse.

Towards the end of Autumn, the Casse army laid siege to Ictis, hoping to add it to the lands they control.


The chief of the Dumnones tribe was trapped inside his capital

Barae offered surrender to the warriors inside, stating that he would let them live if they recognised him as their leader. He gave them 24 hours to surrender or he would commence building siege engines. The next day, the settlement of Ictis sat as though deserted.

Throughout the winter the Casse army camped outside the gates of Ictis, not letting a single grain of food enter. However, everything was not as simple as it would appear, food was also hard to come by for the besiegers. Barae made the decision to take the town by force, hoping that he could feed his army on any supplies inside.


Hoping to capture the supplies in the town, Barae gave the order to advance

Seeing no reason to change the tactics that captured Ratae, Barae once again had two rams constructed, one to attack the main gate and another to create a breach in the wall to the south of the gate. A deathly hush fell over the battlefield as the rams reached their targets.


The Casse army looks on as the rams start battering a way into the town

The enemy inside the town offered little in the way of resistance to the rams as only a few men were hit by missiles from behind the wall. Eventually the gates crashed open and warriors began to storm the breach. The heavy swordsmen who manned the ram were tasked with holding the breach until reinforcements arrived.


For a few dreadful minutes the Botroas were isolated inside Ictis


The second breach was very lightly defended, with only one unit of skirmishers trying to hold back the tide of warriors pouring into Ictis. After mere moments of fighting these men retreated further into the settlement, however the enemy chief Drustan charged the Casse at the breach with his chariots.


Drustan attempted to halt the Casse advance

After the initial shock of the chariot charged wore off, the Casse started cutting the men in the chariots down, one by one. Eventually Drustan was swarmed and killed by many warriors. He died fighting with a ferocity born of desperation as he valliantly tried to defend his homeland.


The Dumnone chief was surrounded and slain


After the battle Barae honoured Drustan with a feast

With the death of their war leader the Dumnone army was like a boat without a rudder and the battle for Ictis degenerated into many small fights. With victory almost in his grasp, Barae sent his horseback warriors into the breach to pursue any fleeing enemies. They immediately began cutting down the fleeing skirmishers who originally defended the secondary breach.


Barae was impressed by the effectiveness of cavlary in pursuing fleeing foes

At the gate, the Botroas held the breach effectively and with reinforcements started to push the defenders into the town.


The Botroas manning the first ram came up against some Uirodusios, but not even naked foes could hold them back

Whilst the warriors at the gate had to fight for every inch they moved forward, the men attacking the second breach were able to reach the town centre practically unopposed. Seeing an enemy behind them, the remaining Dumnone warriors retreated to make one final stand at the town centre.


The Casse attacking the breach in the wall were able to cover the ground between the wall and the town centre fairly quickly

With the defenders surrounded in the town square, Barae offered another chance to surrender. The proud warriors would not accept defeat however and so once again the Casse army advanced on their enemies.


The Dumnone slingers were able to cause relatively large casualties to the advancing Casse

Surrounded and outnumber all resistance was swiftly eliminated and the attacking army was victorious.


Barae was once again victorious

Barae was so impressed by the courage of the men of Ictis that he allowed them a greater deal of independence, setting them up as an allied tribe, as opposed to integrating them into the Casse.


Barae admired the courage of the Dumnone people

However, Barae was not stupid. He fixed it so that a man loyal to him was selected as the next chief. The chosen man, Cadyrn moc Vellocatos, was originally from the lands of the Coritanes, but after a dispute with another family in which his father and brothers were killed his mother took him to Ictis when he was 5. Growing up amongst the Dumnones he proved himself as a capable warrior on many occasions. However years earlier he had met Barae whilst on a errand to Camulosadae and quickly found himself admiring the young king of the Casse.


Barae selected a Coritane man as chief of the Dumnones, supposedly to symbolise the union between the three tribes

In the spring of 264, Barae's eldest son, Mowg, became a man. Joining his father outside Ictis he brought news of trouble in the area of Ratae. The former chief of the Coritanes, Maudamoros', son had returned from the lands of the brigantes at the head of a small but skilled army. Fearing that the son of his enemy would be able to drum up support amongst the local people, Barae sent Mowg northwards at the head of a small army. Whilst Mowg went north, Barae set his men to creating a proper road network between Ictis and Camulosadae.

In the Autumn of 264 BC Mowg completely crushed the army of Ryddon (Maudamoros' son). However, he suffered a wound which became infected and he spent the rest of the year confined to bed in Ratae.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

completely forgot to take screenshots of the battle against the rebels

The known world at the end of 264 BC

[luke_liddle]

I wonder whether Barae will exercize the same tactics over the rest of Britain. Ruling a Hegemony of tribes is much more realistic than conquering them all and ruling as King.

[Roka]

to be quite honest with you i don't have any definate plans for the future of britain, the only reason that i have a type 4 govt. in Ictis is because there was already one in place there and I decided to make it appear as though he was impressed by the valour of the Dumnones, I was actually intending in making this chapter longer, but I had to go to a football match this evening and I was running out of time.

the next chapter will probably not take as long to come out.

[the man with no name]

Nice update man.

[Roka]

this is on hold for a couple weeks, its the weekend right now, then i have exams next week and i'll be devoting my time to them.

it's not just any weekend either, its an old firm, weekend!

so I don't intend to be sober until monday and if i'm drunk playing EB then updating my AAR are the last things on my mind

[Roka]

due to a mishap with my little cousin again who played this campaign for over 40 game years, this is cancelled....

he sucks and hes managed to beggar the nation also losing the south of britain to rebellion

think i might start an AAR about a certain Caius Iulius Caesar that I recently adopted into my Romani family in another campaign, a sort of narrative with him as the protagonist

[the man with no name]

Stupid little cousins, you r not alone Roka.