PART II



Chapter Three: Fortes fortuna adiuvat












1155 Anno Domini. Caesarea.


Emperor Ioannis Komnenos, commander of the largest legion, begins the long, slow march toward his destiny after liberating the settlement of Ankara.
His sights are set on the holy lands. But first, there is this poor beggar, upon which he will wipe the grime from his boots.


Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




First we shall make a line of our Archers, that no man stands between them and the enemy. They are more effective when firing in a direct line, rather than an arc.

Next, to ensure that they not be routed, I shall assemble a line of armored spearmen to the left and the right, that they might close the gap between them should there be a frontal cavalry charge or infantry battle.

This will ensure the safety of our Archers, who are the cornerstone of our grand strategy. To kill a man and not die is great; to kill an army and not die is grander still.

Next, we shall have a unit of heavy infantry ready to charge the center of the line, in case heavy fighting requires their strength and force of arms.

Finally, our cavalry shall defend the flanks and chase down skirmishers.

But this is just the beginning.... General Istvan will reinforce our position.









But we shall not allow General Istvan to have all the fun. From here, you see our archers in the distant position, firing flaming arrows upon the silly Turkish cavalry. They consider themselves masters of horse archery, but the fools do not realize that 120 archers on horseback present a very tempting target for 800 archers on foot with flaming arrows. We are able to shoot them down with a minimum of casualty.






The enemy have brought up their heavy cavalry. For these horse to charge our line would be a disaster; for them, not for us. Now they too face the gauntlet of flaming arrows, and are flanked by our missile cavalry.

They will never get a formed charge in against us, even if they slip past our cavalry line.




Difficult to see here, but our enemy advances their main line towards ours, and our missile cavalry slip behind them.

In the melee, all does not go as planned, and some of our archers get exposed to enemy attack. However, we have slain the enemy general who would choose to charge into them.

Our spears make short work of him, as our cavalry pins him against our spears to prevent escape.

When the Saracen General is slain, his men rout, and Emperor Ioannis cuts them down like grass, along with our other cavalry.






General Istvan could not believe his eyes, to see the enemy was utterly annihilated before he could arrive.






Our armies have reached the gates of our enemy's most heavily guarded fortress, and their current capital.

Be not afraid, men. We have a plan.





Our spies have sabotaged the gates. We shall remove as many of their lives as we can with our archers, both on foot, and on horse, and then we shall withdraw those forces and advance with our heavy infantry and spears.





Our archers fire long, over the walls and into the den of snakes.





While the enemy are distracted, we send in our cavalry to crash the gates and fire on them at point-blank range!





The enemy immediately take the bait, sending half their force after our brave cavalrymen.

Our archers now target a distracted, moving target. They cannot be counterattacked as easily.






Their infantry gives chase through the streets of the settlement. We fire mercilessly.





Our archers depleted, having done nearly half the damage we need done, we withdraw them from the battlefield and call in reinforcements.

Our cavalry charge the wounded infantry they have harried, but find that a formed charge is harder to perform in the close quarters of the settlement alleys.

Still they fight onward, like true men!





We send in our spearmen to attack the enemy general. Now we shall overcome them!





Our fresh reinforcements storm the castle, routing their weakened and exhausted forces. The enemy runs and hides at the center of the settlement, where we have them cornered.




The enemy put up a strong fight, we lost more men than we would have liked, particularly our cavalry. A hard battle, but the enemy is no less dead for that, and we still killed two men for every one we lost, when the battle conditions should have strongly favored the defending force, in such a fortress!





Emperor Ioannis has sent the idiots scampering out of their strongest bastions of defense. They retreat into the mountains.

Caesarea is a Fortress which boasts superior facilities. Here, we shall make our defense, and our stand, as we regroup and prepare for the next stage.





The Seljuk realize they've been beaten, and head back to the pile of rocks they would hide under.





With these conquests, our finances look much better. Our taxes and farming alone cover the cost of our armies, which gives us more we can divert to new construction.





After getting whipped so badly, even the most vicious cur will beg for forgiveness.

Give us what remains of your Sultan's treasury for the next 10 years, and perhaps we won't slaughter you all where you stand. If we don't feel like it and have better things to do, you understand.






Turn 54

The Turks gone home to lick their wounds, the cries of desperation from the neighboring Templar Order do not go unlistened to.

Emperor Ioannis begins to stage an invasion.





At Sinop, we will rout the band of rebels and make this province Greek once more.





A fairly straightforward battle wherein our archers disposed of them with little resistance.




Turn 55

Meanwhile on the home front, our reinforcing armies happen upon a band of brigands who are blocking an important supply line. Our freshly trained heavy cavalry charges into battle!





Their missile cavalry poses a true threat. But we are nearly as nimble as they, and more cunning.





The enemy general is slain easily by our heavy cavalry force, pinned by our lighter cavalry, and the infantry rout like children in a swarm of bees.






Would that I not have already many great generals, for this man would otherwise gain a promotion for his brilliant fighting today.





Turn 56

The Caliphate seems to be having some troubles with a plague. Surely this plague wouldn't be caused by one of our own?

There is only one way to test this theory. Perhaps he will go to another settlement and see if the same thing happens there. After all, for the plague to kill the Caliph's men, to weaken them, before we arrive, that would be a sign that God favors us.

You can't argue with the science of God's favor.






Turn 57

Well, it would seem to be the case that the Caliph has plague all throughout many of his settlements. Every single one we visit with our scout.

Coincidence? I think not. This must mean these men are unwashed beggars after all, if they can't learn basic sanitation.

They should bathe in public, like us. Far more sanitary.





A noble son of the Komnenos family comes of age. This one is the grandson of Aleksios, and will serve our Empire well.

Now, he trains under General Theodosios, one of our most experienced veterans.





Turn 59

Our landing party drops in unexpectedly, at the port of Damietta.

Greetings former allies of the Fatmid Caliphate.

You have attacked our new allies the Christian Templar Knights. This is unacceptable to us.

Lower your banners and shields and surrender your settlements.

We are the Romans. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!




Faction Summary, turn 60.





Diplomatic situation, turn 60.





Military summary, turn 60.





Taking the Nile Delta will enable us, a small but faithful band, to cut off Alexandria from resupply and reinforcement, and prevent this region from launching any counterattacks.

Our enemy is engaged with the Templar Knights. Frankly, those Frankish men can handle themselves for now. They will force the Fatmids to divide their forces to meet both threats, or have their settlements conquered unopposed.

Divide and conquer.






The first battle was so overwhelmingly in our favor, it makes little sense to go into detail.

The enemy were never going to even inflict two dozen casualties on our massive invasion force. We have conquered.





Now we must take to the bridges, and fortify our position. Our navy will blockade all their ports, and engage any of their ships. We will not be attacked by sea, and by land, the enemy must go directly through stone, spear, arrow, and over water.

Needless to say, we have the Fatmids in a delicate position. Now they must attack, for if they should fail, they will slowly fall.





Turn 61:

At long last. The enemy have finally called upon their God to save them. The armies of all Islam now march toward Constantinople, while the bulk of our forces are now engaged in hostile, distant lands.

God Preserve us.





Turn 62:

General Istvan leads an all-cavalry force to Alexandria. There he will pillage the lands, and encircle the greatest city in Egypt.

They will wish to come out and fight him. I hope that they take the bait.





The enemy do not fight so well without archers.




Nor do they learn their lessons well.





Our plan here is simple, our missile cavalry will go around to their rear flank while we harass them from the front. The enemy will have nowhere to run, and no safe place to turn their backs.






Our pieces in place, we force the bank rank checkmate.






Little armies do not fare well against a small contingent of cavalry.





We prepare to assault the capital of the Fatmid Caliphate, a mere eleven turns after we did the same to the Seljuk Turks.

Losing three great settlements at the heart of their homeland will be devastating enough, but worse, the riches that we will find in these cities will more than pay for our occupying forces.

As any good accountant knows, that means we can train another massive army, to defend Constantinople from the terrifying armies of Islam.





We did not go light on the heavy infantry this time. And now we have proper equipment to decimate the walls.

So far, everything has been easy. But we have not yet begun to feel the wrath of the Caliph, or the endless armies of Islam.

Soon, we shall taste the vengeance of our adversaries, and lose friends most dear to us.



Continued in Part III