"The Sons of Gaul" An Aedui AAR

**Poulp'** · 07-10-2007, 23:34

hoho ?
a new AAR ?

I like the way it is told. You managed to expose clearly the context and then, the dialogues and screenshots make your narrative vivid.

keep on the good work.

**Wolfman** · 07-10-2007, 23:44

I can't wait for the sacking of Rome!

**Owen the Mighty** · 07-11-2007, 23:54

That was one smooth battle....

Keep up the good work!

**SkaMan402** · 07-14-2007, 04:04

An Interlude: The Heart of Winter

Part 1: By Teutatis, I Hate the Cold

Nammeios draw his cloak up around his shoulders, man was it cold out here. How he wished he was back in camp, around a nice warm fire, but here it was out in the highlands trying to get a count of the Roman forces in the area. From what he had seen so far there were about two Roman legions spread out into camps along Po River. Their numbers were quite impressive but Nammeios wasn’t worried. He had yet to see Riankiadoc or Ollovico face defeat in battle, so he saw no reason that these Romans could be any different. There certainly wouldn’t be any problems if Ollovico could get the Council to send reinforcements, but Nammeios had a feeling that that wasn’t going to be as simple as it sounded. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the Druidic advisors that accompanied generals on any major campaign were suspiciously absent from this particular venture. Now that he thought about it, nothing about this campaign seemed normal. For one thing, none of the regular army generals were here. Sure, Riankiadoc was turning into a fine leader, but he was still far to young to have been entrusted with a major campaign such as this one. Bah, who cares thought Nammeios. I’m cold, tired, hungry, and it’s starting to snow. If I hurry I can make it back to camp in under a week. He had seen all he needed to see out here and the lure of a warm fire and a semi-decent meal was quite strong. Gathering his cloak as high up his shoulders as it could go he disappeared in the white of the falling snow.

Part 2: And They Weren't Even Wearing Pants

“Just what exactly are you saying?” said a hooded figure seated at a table bearing a map of the Po Valley, with various markers representing Roman forces and various barbarian rabble.

“The III Legion has been destroyed, Consul.” said a figure standing before the table, his hands and voice trembling with fear.

“The III Legion, Roma’s finest, destroyed, and by a handful of pantless barbarians no less? Is this what you are saying?” the figure’s voice calm and even, never once changing in volume or tone.

“Y-y-yes, sir, they engaged a group of the barbarians east of Patavium, and were very nearly wiped out.” Said the man, now sweating profusely.

“Hmmm,” mused the figure, “The city still stands I hope?”

“Yes, though our scouts have reported that the barbarians have begun work on siege equipment, so it is likely they will attack soon, when the spring thaws come.”

“Why wait until spring?” wondered the figure, “surely they must realize that they have us severely outnumbered in that area, they would be foolish not to press that advantage.”

“Well,” stared the man, not sure if he was permitted to speak but, since he wasn’t dead yet he figured he might as well go on, “Some of our umm, prisoners have informed us that it has to do with some barbarous religious notion. Apparently now is the only time a barbarian is afraid to die, so therefore they don’t make war.”

“Interesting how these barbarians let religion control their lives so. Well, I believe that will be all, you may go.”

“Yes, Consul.” and with that the man fled the room as fast as his legs would carry him.

Part 3: An (Almost) Premature Ending

All of the sudden, the door burst open and in swept a gust of cold winter air along with seven figures. Ollovico looked up from his maps and carefully surveyed the intruders. Six were heavily armed and armored, their horned helmets marking them as followers of the “horned god”, that could only mean that the cloaked figure in their midst was a druid, and a fairly powerful one at that, to warrant six of the Carnutes as bodyguards. It looked like the Council had finally caught up with the Vergobret.

“Well, its seems the Council has finally decided to bless this campaign with their presence.” said Ollovico amicably.

“You could not be farther from the truth Vergobret,” the cloaked figure said measurably, “Did you really think the Council would let you ignore them for so long?”

“I’m only doing what has to be done,” replied Ollovico, “the Council must see by now that the war with the Romans is necessary for our very survival!”

“The Council does not question your actions Vergobret, only your methods. We are not heretic Arveni swine,” at this remark Riankiadoc who had been seated beside his father looked up sharply, fire in his eyes, held back only by his father’s restraining hand on his shoulder. “You are no god-king Ollovico, you are merely a Vergobret, and you must submit to the will of the Council!” the druid’s voice had risen to a shout, and he now spoke in a softer voice, “and the will of the Council is that you return to Ogmioteriam Odemorix with me to stand trial for the crime of high treason against the Aedui Confederacy.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that Councilman, as I still have unfinished business with the Romans.” With that the Vergobret let out a long howl, like a lone wolf signaling to his comrades, which in fact was exactly what he was doing.

Within seconds ten hulking Gaesatae had flooded in through the side entryways and had surrounded their leader. Ollovico still could not get over the sight of these men actually wearing clothes, but it was very cold out, and they weren’t preparing for battle. The Carnutes drew their weapons but did not attack. Each side stared warily at the other for what seemed like an eternity.

“Come now Vergobret, do you really mean to fight me, a member of the Council?” the cloaked figure chuckled.

“I will fight anybody who gets between me and the Romans.” Ollvico assured him.

“Hmph. Your conviction runs that deep does it? Your hatred of the Romans so strong that you would threaten a member of the Council. That may just be enough to allow you to defeat them, and I will not deny that the Council would love to see the Romans become members of the Confederacy. Perhaps, perhaps the trial can wait. Who knows, I may even be able to convince the Council to send you reinforcements and supplies, but we shall see about that.” With that the druid turned on his heel and walked out into the cold night air. The Carnutes spared one last look at the Gaesatae and then they too departed into the night.

Ollovico sighed in relief, he would be able to continue his fight against the Romans.

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Sorry about the lack of battles this update, but I've been quite busy and have found myself unable to find the time to actually play EB. Hopefully though I will be able to do some playing over the weekend and include those battles in the next update. Thank you for reading and enjoy!