M2TW AAR: Vignette II -France

[AussieGiant]

Wow, that's so funny. I've been thinking these exact same thoughts lately and didn't know how exactly to word them. Anyhoo, that'll probably lead to an AAR of your own which is always nice, so it's a win-win .

Good to hear other people thinking the same thing Wonderland.

I'll certainly start writing notes to structure my game play. Maybe i'll get around to writing some up.

Cheers

[Beefeater]

BOOK IV, CHAPTER II


“After King Philip had bested the Normans, he took new counsellors, the wisest and best beloved by his people. Then, when all the barons and tenants of the crown had done him fealty and homage, the king of France, by the advice of his council, called these counselors to him and asked how he should govern his kingdom. And some talked or building churches, to the Lord’s greater glory; and others of expanding France’s fields, and others still of raising high stone walls around France’s cities. But a wild man, named Geoffrey, said to the King, ‘Take no thought now of peace, but still of war, for the time for peace is not yet come. See, in the Alps there is coiled a serpent, ready to strike, and its coat is as emerald, and its fangs are as ivory.’ This happened in the Year of our Lord 1118, four months before the siege of Marseille.”

Philip’s Italian Wars

Normally when I’m playing a TW game, I like to flood my borders with spies, as a good way of keeping an eye on what my neighbours are up to. Alas, spies don’t come for free, and so the impoverished French monarchy has not been able to afford a decent spy service.

The disadvantages of this have become terribly obvious as a decent-sized Milanese army has been able to sneak through the mountains and besiege Marseille: a turn on, they storm the city. The defenders, led by Duke Perrin Gassou, fight back manfully, but it is not enough and, after a brief moment of success when the Italian general is killed by a stray spear-thrust as the Italians burst through the gates, French resistance is overwhelmed, and the garrison put to the sword.


The fall of Marseille


Italian Wars: strategy

It is hard to know what to do with the Milanese. I have two moderate-sized armies in the field, namely King Philip’s army in the north, and Prince Louis’ army in the southwest. The plan is to meet the Milanese incursion in Marseille with Prince Louis, and force them back from there, whilst in the north using the remaining forces to roll back the Milanese from Metz and Bern. I don’t want to risk King Philip at this stage so I move his army, under the control of a captain, toward the border: they are to rendezvous with Duke Raoulet Poitevin, the Marshal of the Upper Rhine, who marches out from Dijon to met up with them.

Blood Royale

As General Raoulet pauses in his journey, he spots a series of horsemen on the horizon: it is the Duke of Milan, traveling with only his bodyguard, who has spotted Raoulet and is marching forward to challenge him. Being the chivalrous sort, Raoulet accepts the challenge - despite being badly outnumbered.


The Duel

The fight goes down to the wire, but the Milanese prevail. With only two to three knights still alive on each side, Raoulet takes a sword thrust through his shoulder, and, slumping in his saddle, is despatched with an overhand swing from a Milanese bodyguard. The last two French knights are cut down, and the Duke of Milan continues his journey.

However, he has as a result of this battle left himself within striking range of the vanguard of the French relief force, which surges forward and attacks. The Italian Duke is surrounded and killed.

Which leads on to a question: why on earth would the Milanese AI, which currently has several stacks in the field, send its faction leader out on his own? It wasn’t strapped for soldiers, which was why my chappie was out without his minders. Peculiar.

Back and forth

The war drags on, with French soldiers besieging the Italian forces at Metz and Bern, and the Italians striking deeper into France to besiege Dijon. To my surprise, the Germans offer an alliance: France accepts, with alacrity. Only afterwards do King Philip’s counselors remind him, tactfully, that the HRE has been excommunicated and that His Holiness may not smile upon an alliance with Germany. Oh well, too late now.

Further south, Prince Louis himself is called to govern Rennes to keep dissent down. Command of his army passes to a young captain called Thomas Mersault, who is able to recapture Marseille. Back north, all three besieged cities fall to their respective attackers – but Dijon is cut off from the rest of Milanese territory, and it is hard to see the Italians escaping.


France in 1102

The most serious future problem is that the Pope is no longer that well disposed towards France. It will be necessary to return to diplomacy, and soon, if the war against Milan is to be brought to a successful close.

[Faenaris]

It looks like the Italians are giving you a run for your money. Good thing that the HRE is off your back, but the Pope is a bigger issue: facing excommunication would be a fatal blow, I think.

Good luck with your campaign, the French will need a good leader to pull them out of that hornet's nest.

[Dooz]

Man oh man, you keep pulling out of difficult spots nicely, loving this one. That duel was awesome, never seen anthing like that, great idea roleplaying the chivalrous character. I suppose it's mainly the tigh economy that's making for a difficult game, not being able to keep a spy network, enough men in the field, very nice. What will be the next step after Dijon I wonder...

[The Teacher]

great stuff ive read the first chapter a while back and now ive discovered all these chapters - you have made my day ! keep this up

vive la france!

[Wizzie]

Fantastic stuff. As others have said, I would have restarted after such a false start, but your perseverance is commendable, and makes for a damn good read

[Beefeater]

BOOK V, CHAPTER XXIII

“…then Saint Philip and his closest companions, the Count of Marseille and the Duke of Rhone, were left to face the host. Though many brave men had fled, yet the Saint did not flinch from deeds of arms, and setting his face to the Milanese, threw himself again into the fray. Such noble feats were done by his companions and he, that though his hair was now grey and his hands palsied, the Italian captains saw that he fought as though ten men, and despite their greater numbers, fear rose up in their throats, and many fled then and there. This was in the winter of 1120, around the feast of Advent.”

(Some decent pics in this one I think, so do take the time to open them up and have a shufti!)

Conclusion of the Italian Wars

Metz and Bern fall to the French, and although the Italians capture Dijon, they are cut off from reinforcement and unable to hold it for more than a couple of years. Finally, the French have an opportunity to strike back at the upstart Duchy of Milan, and they seize it with both hands. King Philip leads a medium sized force across the Alps from Switzerland, and a general called Gilles does the same from Marseille. The news from the diplomats keeping watch inside Milanese territory is disheartening, but not massively so: the Milanese have managed to field three large armies against France’s two medium ones, and the twin cities of Milan and Genoa are both lightly defended – although that may change before long.

The first engagement on Italian soil is instigated by the Milanese. Their faction heir, Count Noddo, leads one of the large armies against King Philip’s smaller stack. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valour, Philip retreats slightly through an alpine pass – right onto a bridge. This is both surprising and pleasing: the AI has done right by me.



The Battle at the Bridge

There will be no withdrawal from this battle: though massively outnumbered, King Philip must win, or suffer the annihilation of his army. Le Roi draws up his forces on the near side of the pass, with a view to making repeated cavalry charges against the Italians as they cross. Meanwhile the few infantry and archers in the French army are drawn up at one side, to make charges into the Italians as they attack the Knights.

The battle is almost certain to end in the total slaughter of the French, and their mood is grim. The Italians surge across the bridge in dense formation, and many are cut down by the arrows of the French peasants, yet it is like stemming a flood with a needle, and the Milanese soon gain the opposite bank.

The French knights charged, and charged again, each time leaving scores of Milanese dead on the ground, but the Italians were too many. Desparate to avoid a pitched battle, the French knights scatter, hoping to draw out and crush the mainly infantry forces unit-by-unit.



Divida et Vincera

The plan is a qualified success. One by one, the Italian infantry units are tempted out of formation, surrounded, and annihilated. But the last few units, who had stayed together to butcher the French foot soldiers, refused to be drawn.

Despite their early success, Philip’s knights have suffered heavy casualties, and flee to the east side of the map to regroup. Meanwhile, the only infantry remaining to the French are a single intrepid unit of mercenary Crossbowmen. They fight on gamely, taking such cover as they can…


Day of Defeat?

..but for all their valour, cannot withstand the Italian onslaught.

The battle then entered its final phase: only the King and his bodyguard of picked men remained, but the Italians too had suffered terrible losses and were down to one unit of town militia, one of spear militia, and one of Genoan crossbow militia. His majesty prepared to go down fighting, and launches a suicidal full-frontal charge against the crossbowmen (the nearest unit).


Nor yet a man dismayed

The King’s men were few – but the Milanese forces had become dangerously strung out, and the crossbowmen were shattered by the force of King Philip’s insane charge (the lances were out this time, alright). The town militia unit suffer a similar fate as the King’s horses outmaneuver them and crash into their flank, but the spear militia are made of sterner stuff and the King’s last, most faithful servants are impaled on a thicket of Italian metal and wood.

Uttering a silent prayer, Philip turns away from the Militia, who eagerly give chase – straining out of formation in the meantime. Choosing his moment carefully, he wheels his charger around and, bowing to the inevitable, lowers his lance one final time.


Warrior King

Against all odds, his charge slays the Milanese captain, and the final Italian unit is routed. The King, alone, has won, and enough of his men fled or healed to make a decent party (once bulked out with mercenaries) that can continue on to besiege Milan. This was, without a doubt, the toughest fight that I have ever won in a TW game.


Beyond belief

Le Roi Philip releases every last one of the brave Milanese that had been captured, and earns himself the title of ‘The Saint’. Meanwhile in the south, the second French army scores an equally convincing victory over the Italians in their path, who retreat in confusion to Genoa. Being less chivalrous than Philip, the victorious general demands a ransom, and the 2400 or so florins that the Milanese stump up for the return of their men are promptly sent as tribute to the Papacy, which is subsequently minded to overlook France’s actions in Italy. Milan and Genoa are besieged the following turn. In a final cruel twist, the Milanese are excommunicated for their belligerence against the Pope’s favourite faction.

Trouble up North

While all this has been going on, the news from the North is less satisfying. The Danes, who have by this point occupied the Low Countries, assemble a moderate army and strike out at Paris. A turn or so later, King Philip dies (and is presumably canonized), leaving his bloodthirsty son Louis to take charge. In a lightning ride from Rennes, picking up family members on the way, Louis smashes the Danes outside Paris and leads a vengeful force against their lightly-garrisoned possessions in the Netherlands. Bruges falls to assault soon after, and after beating off an attempted counter-attack from the Jutlanders, King Louis settles in, eyeing nervously the scattered Danishmen over the riiver near Antwerp.

Dividing the Spoils

Shortly after this, Genoa falls to the invading French, and the turn after that, Milan. The Duchy of Milan now passes from memory. What’s more, as France is now ruled by somewhat less saintly men than the pious King Philip, both cities are immediately sacked, yielding a fortune of nearly 50,000 florins when all is done.

Much of this is immediately distributed as tribute to the Spanish and the Papacy, to ensure their continued co-operation. The rest goes on a massive programme of upgrades to France’s cities and castles, many of which have been feeling the squalor hit as a result of not increasing the size of their walls, and on the recruitment of strong garrisons on the German and Spanish borders.

Now that the last Milanese pretensions to independence are crushed and France has been saved from a war on two or more fronts, and now also that a new, harsher King sits on the throne in Paris, it is time to conduct a complete review of the state of Le Royaume de France. This is a large topic that will deserve a post to itself – and that it shall have, in due course. For now, it’s time for bed, and Beefeater’s Girlfriend will be distinctly displeased if he’s up late posting. Needless to say, he wouldn't dare…

Adieu – for now.