Of savage tribes and glorious empires - An Arverni AAR

[gamegeek2]

NO! READ THE AEDUI AAR! NOOOOOOOO!

[SwissBarbar]

Hehe, the Aedui are being slaughtered in this thread !!!

[Mjolnir]

Epic battle, very nice.

More screenshots of future battles please.

[SwissBarbar]

Thanks. Yes, i will post more screenshots ^^ This battle was fought by a great amount of soldiers, but ended very quickly, so there was no occasion to take many great shots. And after all it was a very long chapter, so i shortened it. Next time there will be more of battle, and less of characters ;-)

[johnhughthom]

Next time there will be more of battle, and less of characters ;-)

I thought you had a nice balance, reading about battles is much more interesting if the characters involved have some sort of backstory.

[HunGeneral]

Wise moves till now. Can't wait to see more Celts slaughtered (preferbly Aedui).

[gamegeek2]

Steppe battles are very long, but the wars are short.

Infantry battles aren't as long, but the wars are much longer.

-gamegeek2

[Olaf Blackeyes]

NO! READ THE AEDUI AAR! NOOOOOOOO!

LOLZ!!!! Now you know how i feel when my Sweboz get pwned.

[Kuningaz]

Crush those (H)Aedui weaklings

[SwissBarbar]

There will be more than one gallic tribe, that will be crushed

[HunGeneral]

There will be more than one gallic tribe, that will be crushed

Sounds even better....As long as the end result is unification

[SwissBarbar]

Of savage tribes and glorious empires

Chapter 2 – Preparations

Bibracte had been taken just before the winter came, the native land of the Haedui was now in the hands of their most odious adversary. The King of the Haedui retreated himself to Cenabum, the greatest village of a tribe, that still was loyal to the Haedui – the Aulerci.

The Aulerci still could confront an army and the King of the Haedui was a quite talented leader. If he would have lead the battle of Bibracte, the result could have been much different. Just hunt down the Haedui would have been no wise choice, Aneirin oi Lugos, leader of the Arverni, knew that. The next step had to be taken carefully and desired preparation.

A further sign, that proved the tactical knowledge of the Aedui’s king was the fact, that he let raise the siege of Gergovia and led their troops in the direction of Cenabum. Obviously the Haedui gathered an army there, to reclaim their lands.

But before they could think of war, all Gauls had to overwinter. Winter traditionally was not a time of war. Too cold and dangerous it would have been to lead an army over the snowcapped countryside. The warriors from the Alps could not even leave their homes, too high the snow fell in the mountains. And most important of all: a great army could simply not be supplied with rations in wintertime. So winter was the time, when politics have been taken care of. The land of the Haedui was taken, but what now. Bibracte had to be prepared to become an ally. So during the whole wintertime, the Arverni did naught but buying over mighty nobles of the Haedui and deliver speeches to convince the populace how cruel the Haedui were, and how much better they do now, after being liberated by the Arverni. At the end of the winter, it was arranged that elections could be held.

Spring was in the air, and in Bibracte preparations for the approaching elections got into top gear. Meanwhile the great victory of the Arverni even reached the peoples in Spain. The mightiest tribe of the Celtic brothers in Iberia, the Lusotannan, even paid their respect to the Arverni and asked for trade rights, which have been granted. Also map information had been exchanged and gave the Arverni more knowledge of European geography.

In the homeland of the Arverni, in Gergovia, Amminos oi Lugos, who was very popular and known to be open handed, lived up to his name, and initiated Touta Feilos – Feast of the Family.

Now his people loved him – if that was possible at all – even more!

When spring ended, also did the preparations for the elections. As long as the arrangement of elections lasted, as short did the elections themselves. It’s been decided, that the land of Mrogaedu had to become an allied tribe of the Arverni. Furthermore a king had to be elected to lead those lands from his throne in Bibracte.

When this was done, Aneirin oi Lugos left the city and pitched camp outside the city, with his bodyguards. The nobles of Bibracte should elect their king themselves. Well, this is, what he wanted them to think, but at the end of the summer, a man loyal to the Arverni had been chosen. He’s been a friend of the Arverni for a long time and was considered to be an Arverni.

Aedui Neitos, who form the bodyguard of the Client Ruler

With this election, the nobles of Bibracte thanked Aneirin for his decision to spare the people of the city, when they opened their gates to him. The name of the new client ruler was Brycham moc Eporedemoros, and his first official act was to put 10’000 warriors from Bibracte at Aneirin’s command.

Now that the land had been pacified, Aneirin started preparations in order to raise an army again and kept his eyes on Cenabum. Of course the Arverni were not the only ones to prepare. An army of the Helvetii had been detected at the border to lands of the Sequani and Treveri. But fortunately, when diplomats contacted them, it turned out, that they were on their way to invade the land of German tribes in the north, in order to steal food for the next winter, and did not mead to harm the Arverni. Invade German territory. One just got to admire their balls.

Fortune was on the Arverni’s side, because when they went to negotiate with he Helvetii, one of their spies detected an army of the Haedui in Lugonesis, between Viennos and Aventicos. The army was on the way to Mediolanum. After the great victories over the Haedui and the capture of their homeland, the people of Mediolanum asked themselves, why they still obeyed Lords, who probably soon will be dead. So the Haedui had to secure their territory in the east, a fact, that could only mean, that they had lesser and lesser forces to defend the land of the Aulerci.

When winter returned, Aneirin was well supplied through his son Amminos, thanks to his good organisation. So his army could be ready just when winter ended, and no long-winded preparations would be necessary.

Many preparations have been done that year. Some for war, some for food and some for revelry. The lesson is clear, the Arverni were well prepared. Were the Haedui?

Known territory in winter 271 BC

[Mjolnir]

Looking forward to the campaign.