The Conquests of the Holy Roman Empire

[fredrick]

In the beginning...

The story of the Holy Roman Empire begins in the year of our lord one thousand and ninety-nine. Emperor Conrad II has united the petty warlords of Germania and has spent several years building up the Empire.




In the north he's secured iron deposits in the provinces of Franconia and Bohemia. He's fortified the borders shared with France and Italy. He has developed the agriculturally rich lands of Lorraine and Provence and built copper and silver mines in the east. His subjects adore him for the security and plentiful foodstuffs for which he has provided.




For expansion the Emperor looked north to the land of Pomerania. He gathered nearly five hundred soldiers and marched north with his sons Prince Conrad III and Prince Ludwig. When word reached the Pomeranian warlords that the Emperor's forces were a days march away they took flight east to Prussia.



The Crusades

1103 A.D.
With Pomerania annexed, the economy strong, and the borders secure the Emperor, at the ripe age of sixty-two, took to raising a crusade to Antioch for the glory of the Empire, and the glory of God.



1109 A.D.
The Emperor's sixth son, Prince Friedrich is knighted at the age of fifteen. Prince Friedrich's nineteen year old brother Prince Herrmann prepares to lead the German crusaders into the East.




1113 A.D.
With the crusaders planning to depart to the far east within the next year a war breaks out between England and France. The Emperor is forced to choose sides.


With a distaste for the French (shared by many other leaders) and an eye for Flanders the Emperor sides with the King of England.

The thin garrison along the French border looks out nervously across the River Rhine wishing the crusaders good luck but at the same time wishing they were staying in case of a French raid.



1114 A.D.
With Prince Herrmann in the lead, the crusaders set out for the East with over two thousand men.




1115 A.D.
The Great Emperor Conrad II dies in his sleep (likely from too much barley wine) never to see the outcome of his noble endeavor to the East.




He is succeeded by Emperor Conrad III.



Conrad III is left with a stable political situation with numerous allies in the region.






1117 A.D.
After suspicious deaths among clergyman and other nobles the new emperor's first move is to tighten up security along the Empire's border.




1122 A.D.
Five uneventful years pass as the Crusaders march through the Byzantine Empire. Finally the rag tag crusaders arrive at the Egyptian border. They find the garrison at Antioch tucked into their small fort. The crusaders make preparations to siege the fort and are left to wonder when the Sultan's army will greet them.




The Battle for Antioch 1123 A.D.
The following year the army of Sultan al Mustali meets the Crusaders, led by Prince Herrmann, at Antioch. The Sultan's nearly two thousand men out number the crusaders by just a few dozen.







The crusaders wait anxiously as the Sultans forces approach.







The Egyptians attack both sides of the crusader's formation with camel riders. In the middle fierce mounted Egyptian soldiers charge the ranks of the crusaders.







German swordsmen meet the Egyptians in meele.







Sultan al Mustali lies dead at the foot of Prince Herrmann and his honor guard. The crusaders cheer in triumph!







Teutonic knights run down fleeing Egyptian soldiers. The will of the Egyptian forces is broken.







The German archers win the day meeting the advances of enemy calvary with a shower of death.







The battle-weary crusaders watch as the broken Egyptian forces flee.







In the year of our lord one thousand one hundred and twenty-four the Crusaders led by Prince Herrmann free Antioch for the Holy Roman Empire!







It's been nearly a decade since Prince Herrmann was dispatched from the Empire. Along the road he's learned many lessons.







Back in Europe...


fredrick

(inspired by ZainDustin's Ericssons' toil: A Danes story)

[Peasant Phill]

Nice story.

What difficulty are you playing? And how is the French-English war going?

[Ciaran]

Very neat, but how did you manage to crusade that early? Quite daring, I might say, leaving the French border nearly unguarded while not having an alliance with the French.
I´m curious how it goes on.

[fredrick]

I'm just playing on normal. I don't have many informats in the area but it looked like the French had the British on the run.

My goal from the begining was to get the crusade off as early as possible.

[professorspatula]

Everyone always seems to make their campaigns seem exciting, whereas mine tend to feel like a hard slog and a chore at times!

[Martok]

Awesome, frederick. It looks like the HRE is off to a great start, with promises of a glorious future!

Oh, and I agree with Ciaran that launching a Crusade so soon was a very bold move on your part. Looks like the risk paid off, though.

[fredrick]

The Conquest continue...

1126 A.D.
News of Egyptian forces gathering to retake Antioch reaches Prince Herrmann. He can only wait and wonder what the Egyptians will throw at his worn crusaders. Meanwhile men of the cloak pour in to the harbor at Palestine and make the journey north to the re-claimed holy land.







Back at home informants report that the French have pushed the English into the the sea having secured the provinces of Normandy, Brittany, and the Aquitaine.







1127 A.D.
Emperor Conrad III rendezvous with hundreds of swordsmen at Franconia. Then he marches north with them to rejoin the veterans of the Pomeranian campaign. Reunited they strike at the warlords of Prussia.







Out numbered more then three to one the elite soldiers of the Empire march confidently towards the enemy. In the distant they spot the banners of the rebel leader Adolf von Mahren.







The forces of the Empire maneuver and strike at Mahren's unit.







With Mahren slain the rebels loose their will to fight.







Having suffered few casualties the Emperor pardons the prisoners.







1129 A.D.
Word from Poland reaches the Emperor that they are under siege by Lithuanian rebels led by Herrmann von Lothringen. The Emperor immediately marches towards Poland. They are joined by the Brandenburg garrison. At this show of force the rebels take flight and Poland is relieved without a fight.







Meanwhile in the Middle East rebels strike at the Egyptian province of Palestine.







Emperor Conrad III follows in his fathers footsteps as a powerful leader.







1130 A.D.
The sultan chooses to ignore the rebel raids in his southern lands and marches on Antioch.

The Second Battle at Antioch








A small unit of horse archers is dispatched from the main German force to scout the enemy.








The scouts watch as the enemy force, outnumbering them nearly two to one, approaches.








German archers send volley after volley to the ranks of the aggressors. The enemy forces turn out to be largely untrained and poorly equipped. After being cut down by numerous volleys the attackers take flight.








Several months after the battle, word reaches Prince Herrmann that Turkish decedents have rallied troops to the south in Palestine.








1132 A.D.
Emperor Conrad's only son, Prince Otto, is knighted.







War breaks out between the Spanish and the Aragonese. The Emperor chooses to side with the strongly backed Spanish.







The Emperor dispatches his veteran swordsmen from the Prussian campaign to Switzerland to gather for another crusade.

Prince Otto, having looked up to his successful brother Prince Herrmann, put forth much effort into his studies of warfare. He is sent south to protect the rich lands of Provence.






1137 A.D.
The crusade departs for Edessa led by the Emperor's brother Prince Lothair.







1143 A.D.
The Third Battle at Antioch
The keep at Antioch is completed just months before the attack.







Scouts reveal that again the crusaders are outnumbered two to one and that the enemy has brought cavalry this time.







After sequestering the enemy cavalry's attempts to flank. German swordsmen repel the poorly trained enemy foot soldiers.







1144 A.D.
The crusaders march into Edessa without a fight.







The Turkish declare Jihad on the German forces at Edessa.






1145 A.D.
Prince Otto reaches Provence.







1148 A.D.
The Great Emperor Conrad III dies. Prince Otto is coronated at the age of thirty-two. To support his brothers, the Emperor and his honor guard sneak out of the kingdom and sail to Antioch disguised as simple merchants. The following year the new Emperor marries the daughter of one of the Antioch elite.






1149 A.D.
The Emperor takes advantage of hostilities between the Turks and the Egyptians and marches in to Tripoli. The garrison holes up in the castle but the Turkish army quickly marches in to lift the siege.

The Battle for Tripoli








Turkish calvary press the western flank of the Emperor's forces while the Sultan's foot soldiers move on the eastern flank.







Archers keep the Turkish calvary at bay while the veteran German swordsmen engage the Turks in melee. The Turks are no match for the rugged Crusader veterans.







The Sultan falls during the battle of Tripoli. With no heirs, the lands of Syria and Palestine are left ungoverned.







1150 A.D.
Lesser nobles in Bavaria abuse the discovery of the Emperor's absence inciting the peasants to revolt.




Will Lord von Dassel, Imperial Chamberlin of the Empire, be able to quell the peasant dissent in the absence of the Emperor?


Tune in next time!


fredrick

[Martok]

Awesome, frederick! I'm really enjoying this tale describing the sagas of the HRE; you're a good storyteller.

[fredrick]

Thanks, glad you like it!

Hmm, I don't know why but after the Emperor died the heir that was in Provence mysteriously appeared in Antioch.

[Ludens]

Hmm, I don't know why but after the Emperor died the heir that was in Provence mysteriously appeared in Antioch.

New faction leaders always appear in the most developed province: the computer assumes that is you capital. Beware though that loyalty will plummet if your emperor becomes seperated from his empire. Getting him back may not prove easy however.

Great story, BTW .

[Ciaran]

Very neat. But what´s up with your arky display? It seems to show the total number of one troop type, not the individual units (or at least I think so, seeing the 1127 picture, as even on the highest setting I doubt any unit would have 360 soldiers) and their strength.

I´m looking forward to the next update.

[Ludens]

Very neat. But what´s up with your arky display? It seems to show the total number of one troop type, not the individual units (or at least I think so, seeing the 1127 picture, as even on the highest setting I doubt any unit would have 360 soldiers) and their strength.

In S:TW, if you were presented with the options for a battle (fight personally, autocalc, retreat) the army display would show the total numbers of one troops type. I presume it was the same in M:TW before VI introduced the pre-battle screen.

[fredrick]

yea when your given battle options fight, retreat etc. it just shows the total number of each type of troop.

[NodachiSam]

Yea this thread really is awsome! Nice story telling. It makes me want to play a HRE game! :D

[professorspatula]

I actually went back to MTW after reading this. Sadly my campaign tends to crash a bit too much now so it's put me off pursuing it.