Reunification: a Marcomanni AAR (updated chapter 25)

[Hooahguy]

That is the game's doing, I had no part in that.

[Sp4]

That is the game's doing, I had no part in that.

I guess it fits... all that hair :D

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Five


Author’s note: I got a new computer and successfully transferred the savegame file to the new computer. Everything is working fine, but I forgot to activate the new Germanic generals mod, so for this chapter you will see the old ones, sorry about that! They will be back next chapter.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Semnones were all but wiped out. They had one army deep in Quadi territory, trying to seek shelter wherever they could to survive the coming winter. But our agents found them first, and killed off their final commanders. With that, the last whimper of what used to be the great Suebi empire faded into history.





The Helvetii were getting more bold. At first an army of theirs just danced around our border, until finally they invaded, and headed straight for our capital. Panic gripped us. We were fairly certain we could hold them off, but regardless of whether or not we could, people panicked. I tried to remain calm for the good of my people, but deep inside I worried about the fate of my home.





In the end the Helvetii just sat by a river, fortified themselves, and waited. What they waited for I don’t know, but for now we could rest easy and deal with other matters. We had to do something about the Rugii who were hanging around Tulifurdum. While they wouldn’t be a real threat with their single army, combined with other forces they would pose a huge danger. So we had to deal with them now.





Chariovalda moved in, along with the garrison of Tulifurdum to deal with the problem.





We set up across the river from the forming Rugii, while the garrison forded the river a bit further down in order to flank them.






As the garrison force got into position behind their lines, we charged through the river towards the now panicking Rugii lines, which by now saw that they were being surrounded.





We crashed through their lines, destroying any semblance of order in their ranks.





It only took a few more minutes for the garrison army to slam into the rear of the enemy line, quickly routing any unit who was brave enough to stand against us.






Further down the river, we had a smaller force tying up their elite units. We were having a rough go at it, for the few elite units they had were some of the best in the Germanic world.





After routing the right flank of the Rugii force, we rushed to hit the flanks of the elite Rugii force that made up the left flank. But we were stopped by a couple of Rugii elite units who were determined to prevent us hitting the flanks.





But we were stopped for only a short while, and reinforcements came and smashed the Rugii slingers helping stall the fight by the river.





It did not take long before we wiped everyone out. There were only a few survivors on the Rugii side, and they soon fanned out into the forests.





We had taken casualties, but relatively light compared to recent battles. No units were wiped out because of this battle, though there were units in the garrison which had taken heavy losses. They would replace them quickly though, as the citizens of Tulifurdum would be flocking to the banners after this battle.





With the only Rugii army in the area gone, we could rest easy for a little while, at least until the Cherusci arrived.





With one immediate threat gone, we could now deal with the other immediate threat to our lands. And once the Helvetii were dealt with, we could turn north, and the final reunification of our people.

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Six

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After making sure Tulifurdum was secure, two armies, one led by Chariovalda and the other Nevelung, marched to the border to take on the Cherusci.


Strangely, when we approached, the three Cherusci armies seemingly fled north, away from their capital of Treva. So we marched in and took the town with light casualties.





With Treva in our control, the Cherusci had to make a move. If they did not attack and try to get territory, they would slowly starve, especially as winter was rapidly approaching.





They did not make a move against Treva, but one of the larger armies did move south, so we jumped at the chance to take on the other two armies. Our first target was the smaller one. Because it was so small, we launched a night attack, giving them only an hour to form up and no time to call the other army to help them.





There was a moon outside and a light rain, so it was not complete darkness. Not to mention the torches that every unit carried, but regardless, we knew that the enemy was scared out of their minds.





They did have artillery though, so we had to close that gap quickly. Nevelung charged his men forward, under fire, to charge the scared and confused enemy lines






The enemy artillery did not manage to make much of a dent in our forces before we descended upon them, fury in our eyes and courage in our hearts.





Since we outnumbered them so greatly, Nevelung sent men behind the Cherusci lines.





This quickly caused a chain rout for many of their units, and our light cavalry chased down the fleeing Cherusci soldiers.






About then was when an enemy unit of light cavalry came out of the woods to surprise us. Nevelung charged with his bodyguards to intercept them.





In the center of the conflict was the enemy general. They were the last Cherusci infantry unit to hold out against us, but we knew they would not last long.





Then the enemy light cavalry unit somehow managed to slip away from Nevelung and hit our archers (who had replaced the javelin units who were so ineffective in previous battles) hard. Over half of one unit of archers was wiped out. But Nevelung soon came to their rescue, wiping out the enemy light cavalry unit.





The battle was won.





We had lost very few men in this battle, and we wiped out one of the armies which stood against us.





There was another Cherusci army right by our armies, and they fled when offered battle. We soon cornered them by the coast.





The clouds were clearing from the recent rain, making for a glorious day in which to slaughter the enemy. A little rain, but that was very insignificant.





We marched slowly towards them. We were in no rush, as they had no chance for reinforcements, and for a while we just stood near them, taunting and making sure they knew they would die today.





Eventually we charged.





A little bit of maneuvering brought our men behind them, shattering many of their units almost instantly.





Though our units had some tough fights.





Though our light cavalry had their work cut out for them, as they were chasing down routing units without rest during the battle.






When the final units were chased down and killed, we celebrated at the defeat of yet another Cherusci army with light losses.






With one final army left before the Cherusci were wiped out, were were preparing to move against them.





But it seems like the Frisii beat us to it. The Cherusci were gone, and for a couple of days it seemed like we would have a bit of breathing room.






We were proved wrong. The Rugii are approaching Treva in force, but that is not the real worry.





The real problem for us is the Helvetii. They are approaching our capital in force. Im not sure why we were worried about one army; now they brought two armies that are full of heavy infantry and artillery. I can only hope that our Quadi allies can come to our aid before we lose our capital to them.

[Bramborough]

I like the night attack on the Cherusci. Last year, I had mostly used Authority or Zeal trees for my generals. In most recent campaign upon coming back to EE, however, I've been using the Cunning tree more; it's been fun. That night attack ability is almost like carrying around an extra agent.

[Hooahguy]

I like night attacks, but I wish that two generals who have the ability to do night attacks can reinforce each other.

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Seven

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It only took three days for the Helvetii armies to arrive at Bergium. Our Quadi allies had not arrived so we were outnumbered and surrounded.





We deployed our forces. Siegfried, the general in charge of the garrison, deployed our forces to block off every avenue into our capital. Some lines were on the thinner side, and we hoped that they would hold. The wait was unbearable for the defenders. Seeing the Gallic hordes in the distance slowly approaching, knowing that many of them would not see the sun rise the next morning.





Finally they charged, screaming and yelling how they would slice all our heads off. Why the animosity towards us, I don’t know, but our job for the day began then.





We were not without support. Our longbow archers were behind our lines, firing as much as they could into the tightly packed hordes of Gallic warriors. They racked up hundreds of kills that day, to their credit.





To the north of town, the enemy was funneled into narrow roads, and were halted by only a couple of our units, although at great cost.





In another alley we fought hard against some light cavalry, quickly dispatching them. But were then held up by an elite unit of Gallic axemen who came to reinforce their cavalry, who prevented those couple of infantry units we had in that alley from coming around and flanking the huge number of enemies crammed into one street. It was a rather unfortunate thing, as it extended the length of the battle by a good amount of time, resulting in the death of hundreds more of our men.





Of course, our archers were hard at work, skewering enemies by the dozens with their well-placed shots.





On the other side of town, the defenders protecting the western side waited anxiously for the other Helvetii army to show up.





They didn’t have to wait long.





The battle had raged for over two hours now, and the battle on the eastern side was still raging, though the enemy showed signs of breaking.





And soon enough, one side of the Gallic eastern assault broke, and our men quickly took advantage of this, slamming into the flank of the other Gallic soldiers. It would not be long until the whole Helvetii eastern assault would break.





Meanwhile on the western side the battle raged. Siegfried took units defending the southern side to reinforce the huge amount of pressure that was being applied to the thin line defending the western side of town.





Back on the eastern side, the Gallic soldiers broke, and Siegfried chased them down with no mercy.





Around that time a cry went out: we had killed the Helvetii general! Felled by an arrow from our archers, they began to panic. Seizing upon this moment, our men pressed forward, chasing the fleeing enemies over piles of Helvetii bodies.





With all other sides clear of enemies, we threw everything at the flank of the huge number of enemies on the western side.





A chain rout began, and the slaughter began.





The Helvetii were exhausted, and our more than eager warriors hunted them down and gave them no quarter.





Our capital was chocked with dead bodies from both sides.






The cleanup would take days, but we had defended our capital, our sacred home, from the Gallic invaders who wanted to take it from us. But they failed, dying at our hands in the process. They would return to try again, I was sure of it, but for now we could rest easy in the coming weeks and months knowing that our capital was safe.





But one thing was sure: the birds of prey would eat very well tonight.





It was a great victory for us. We were outnumbered and by superior troops and we still came out on top. Our casualties were large, but not nearly the number we were expecting. We captured a large number of their men, and executed every last one of them. A message must be sent to our foes that anyone captured trying to take our homeland will have no quarter given to them.





And of the two large and powerful Helvetii armies which once stood testament to the power of our southern Gallic neighbors, one of them was completely wiped out, and the other went into hiding somewhere in the southern forests, undoubtedly doomed to fall to our Quadi allies.





With the Helvetii threat gone for the time being, we could turn our attention back north, where our Germanic brothers were not cooperating with our attempts to integrate them into our glorious future. And it looks like an opportunity just opened up to strike a blow to their stubbornness…

[Sp4]

I like the night attack on the Cherusci. Last year, I had mostly used Authority or Zeal trees for my generals. In most recent campaign upon coming back to EE, however, I've been using the Cunning tree more; it's been fun. That night attack ability is almost like carrying around an extra agent.

The cunning tree is the best tree for generals in my opinion. Warrior is alright. I don't like the commander one because my generals are almost never in a position to really make use of those things but yeah, cunning is amazing and night attacks are really really powerful.

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Eight

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We saw our chance in the late spring. We invaded the Rugii homeland, and found only one army in our way. We offered battle, and an honorable way for them to capitulate to us. But they fled, leaving their capital, Virunium, relatively undefended. So we took it.





After occupying and securing Virunium, we found a lone Rugii army cowering in a corner near what was once their capital, starving and demoralized. Their defeat came swiftly.





There were a couple more Rugii armies hanging around, most likely trying to make for the border and safer territories, and we made haste to offer battle. With nowhere else to go, the larger of the two accepted our offer. We outnumbered them greatly, so what they hoped to achieve I do not know, but we gladly took to the field.





We marched confidently towards our foe. We were very confident of victory.





Facing off against an enemy this weak almost made this seem like a sport for us.





That illusion was soon shattered when two hundred Rugii cavalrymen crashed into our right flank.





Elite Rugii infantry crashed into our center, killing dozens of our men just with their charge alone.






On our right flank our infantry was having trouble with the Rugii cavalry. Nevelung sent in our cavalry to help our men chase off the enemy.





The battle seemed to stall for a little bit, but then we managed to get around their flanks and charge.





While their cavalry managed to harm us in the right flank, their cavalry on our left flank wasn’t as successful.





After chasing off an unsuccessful cavalry charge, our men went to work on their infantry on the left flank.





Our archers also helped from the rear, raining arrows down on the Rugii.





And soon we managed to encircle the entire Rugii force.





The Rugii quickly folded, and the day was won!






We sustained a few losses, nothing too serious.





There was one last Rugii land army to deal with. They capitulated extremely quickly, with almost no losses for us. After all they were only about 800 men strong, and facing against an army of almost 3,000 angry Marcomanni warriors, I do not blame them for submitting so quickly.





With that, the Rugii threat was basically eliminated, with only one small Rugii fleet out at sea somewhere. So we could rest easy for now, and concentrate on what was going on around us. The Helveconae and the Arii were fighting between themselves, much to our advantage as the Helveconae will probably be our next target for reunification.





We have built a small fleet, our very first one for a very specific reason. Do you remember that Rugii fleet on the run from us? Well, we can’t just have them hanging around forever, can we?





Meanwhile, the Frisii have involved themselves somehow with the Iceni pretty heavily, so I suppose it is only a matter of time until we are dragged into that war.





So as our position in this world grows ever stronger, and as we unite more and more tribes under our banner, our enemies will grow in number. But we will prevail, as we have against the Helvetii (who are still licking their wounds from our last encounter), the Vindelici (gone), the Cherusci (gone), and now the Rugii (soon to be gone). No matter the foe, we will come out on top!