1021
- 1025: The Age of Turmoil –
Troubles at Sea
For
this turn only (I think) All sea travel is travel at your own risk.
All the seas of the world are convulsing for some reason, call it angry
Gods. There are storms, red
tide and a whole gamut of badness going on.
What is the affect? I am not going to hammer your trade ships because it would be a big pain in the butt. I will lower you trade income on Turn 6. Now if you chose to cross a body of water incl. Rivers with naval or ground units there may be problems. I will roll for each sea zone or river you move through/across. Consider this attrition. Assume a 1 or 2 in 10 chance of losing something. No Mercenaries will go to sea this turn.
Mercenary Pool:
Northern
Europe:
Mediterranean
France,
Spain, Italy & Germany:
Lord Bergen
858
1HEI, 5HI
Independents
15I, 5S
Independent
3C, 5XC
Egypt,
Portugal & Cordoba:
Taureg Clan
833
2XEC, 10XC
Independents
10XC
Hungary,
Serbia, Russia, Poland
Moldavian Lord
689
3C, 5XC
(no REE contracts)
Hungary,
Serbia, Russia, Poland
D’Kolner
914
5HEC, 3EC
Venice,
REE
Independents
3HI, 7I, 15XI
Independents
5C, 10XC
Buhwayids,
Egyptians, Kilwa, Copts
Horgan’s Free Co.
882
3HEI, 6EI, 3S
Yemen
& Shiraz
Independents
(Moslem)
5C, 10XC
Central
Asia
None
Buddhist
& Lamanist Nations
Monk Xain
866
5HEI, 10EI
India
Proper
Deccan Raiders
857
12XEC
Independents
5I, 5XI
Independents
5XC
Asia
(naval)
SE
Asia & China
Chou Yun
888
6EC
Independent
20I, 40XI. 5S
Independent
10C, 20XC
N China, Japan, Korea
Clan Wolf
966
40XC
Clan Smoke Jaguar
833
30XC
Clan Ghost Bear
966
30XC
Independents 60XC
Africa:
Shia: Rested in Jerusalem and decided what to do next.
Egypt: Dongola (T)
Though lots of time and effort was put into working with the Dongolan’s the endeavor bore little fruit. Some of the problems could be related to the difference in religion, a little financial assistance might have helped too. In 1024 as he was returning from making sure the seas were safe Jafar died. Prince Jasmine did little mourning though since she had barely seen her husband since they had gotten married.
Lots of good quality troops were dispatched to deal with the desert nomads, 4000 men at arms were called up this turn ½ were Elite all were Cavalry. Two solid commanders Ibis Faya and Omar brought the cavalry in from Egypt Prime to Jordan; there they linked up with the king and prepared for battle.
Over the Mountains into Hijaz:
Twenty Thousand Egyptians rolled over the mountains and right into the teeth of the Nomads defense. The Egyptians got attacked in the mountain passes, immediately as they came out of the mountains, there were midnight raids it was the Kings worst nightmare and after a month in the province of being harried incessantly the Egyptians withdrew.
The king felt like they had done substantial damage to the Nomad forces but his troops (except for the elites were really suffering from the constant harassment, Commander Ibis perished and that did not sit well.
In 1024 the Egyptian king decided to try again, once the army was reorganized he realized his 30% losses were not to bad so back over the mountains they Egyptians went.
The same damn thing happened, it was nightmarish once again. The defenders were completely fearless and ruthless and apparently had no morale problems at all. This time the straw the broke the proverbial camels back came when the cavalry got lead away from the baggage train and the infantry. Once the Egyptians cavalry force disappeared from sight a large Cavalry force lead by the Son’s of Tiamat showed up and wiped out a good portions of the infantry column and looted some of the baggage train. Only the heroics of Omar who was wounded in this battle saved the day. The Egyptian King was once again forced to withdraw. He could not believe he couldn’t break the Nomads. The one consolation was that he knew he had bleed the nomads and that it would be extremely difficult for them to replace their numbers.
Ghana:
Flooding
along the upper Niger kills thousands of Songhian's. Economic growth elsewhere.
Morocco:
Idjil (FA), City of Fez grows
Volunteers
in North Africa gathered in Morocco in support of the Portuguese.
The Sunni Church among others sponsored the relief efforts.
A Force was sent North by ship to help relieve the Portuguese.
Would they arrive in time? See
Leon/Portugal War
With
the death of the Portuguese nation the Moroccan Prince organized the withdraw of
the allied forces back to Morocco. The
Prince’s Cordovan Grandfather was none to pleased about his favorite grandson
leading troops against the Christians.
Sunni
Church:
Churches – Andalusia, Murcia & Granada
Spreads
into Iberia
Algeria:
Economic Development
Beach
Parties with the Tunisians in Northern Spain.
Tunisia:
In
support of their Portuguese brothers the Tunisian & Algerian raiders struck
hard into Galacia and Asturias looting those relatively poor provinces.
Hausa: Kurfei (F)
Lots
of effort to bring the Kurfei tribes into the nation is was successful.
The Swimming pool craze has apparently carried across the Steppe to the
Hausa states. The King claimed his
pool was built for therapeutic reasons but with the sheer size of the pool leads
many to believe it was an ego thing.
Kanem: Economic development
Kilwa: Mobassa (F)
Centralized Monarchy declared and the people rejoice?! The King names an heir though there was only one choice it is good to have an heir incase something bad happens. In other hard to believe news the kings wife (yes there was only one this turn) she gave birth to a girl and a boy.
Zagwe: Soba (CL6), Lalibela (HS), Alwa (Independent), Gezira (HS)
Life
in Zagwe just got more interesting. The
underachieving Dil dies in 1020as a result of eating some Lalibelan delicacy.
Rather than going to Shoa the Prince goes to Lalibela and picks up the
army. Some desertions occurred but
nothing major. Just as the Prince is starting talks with Shoa (who seems
oddly hostile) the Queen dies. The
Prince quickly marches back to the capital.
His brother Magwe is elevated to Heir status and his sister Zuleikha is
names as a Princess. In 1024
a year after Mera’s death Lalabela is found dead in his pool, it appears he
hit his head on some decorative rocks while diving in for his nightly swim.
Magwe,
King of the Copts! Well for a short
time at least. Right after the
third state funeral of the cycle the siblings Magwe and Zuleikha got into a
spat. Now it should be know that
while Magwe is not a total loser Zuleikha is not one to be trifled with.
Magwe fearing the worst attempted to grab up the army and arrest his
sister but it is too late, apparently Zuleikha was one step ahead of her poor
brother and just as it was looking like a Civil War would erupt the army
declares for the Queen and Magwe has to flee the country.
He flees to the Highlands, which is the Coptic way.
Now this unrest was just what a few folks were waiting for apparently.
The Highlands starts to rumble with this event, apparently the army that
fled Geriza 15 years ago has been sitting up on the plateau.
Suddenly rumors start to fly of a new Coptic Kingdom….The Ethiopians!
Geriza revolts, Alwa throws out it’s agreements and Lalibela declares
for Magwe. The infuriated Zuleikha
examines the situation and decides to wait for next cycle to act.
The Ethiopians make no moves against Zagwe, though there are rumors of
Ethiopian activity in Gezira.
Ethiopia: Wagala, Shoa, Adowa, Lalibela with city of Adefa,
Gezira (?)
Coptics: Monastery Axum, Ilubator
(EA)
Things
went well on the religious side of the Coptic world. All actions met with success except the MW in Kordafan.
The Patriarch was distressed though with the events to close out the
cycle. A new Coptic Realm of
Ethiopia might mean new lands to develop. They
would have to be handled carefully though the new Queen of Zagwe was apparently
not one to be trifled with and it would be interesting to see how she dealt with
the Ethiopians.
Zimbabwe
:
Added the coastal province of Gorongo
Zulu
Nation:
Added the Sotho Province
Europe:
Bolgars: Peaceful
growth, little Horde Diplomacy
Kiev: Sudzal (A)
Good
amount of defenses built in Kiev. Lots
of improvements in Smolensk including a low level provincial fortress.
The King died at a young but it was business as usual in the kingdom.
Novgorod: Rural improvements
Galica: Urban improvements and
they actually have trade vessels now, Yea!
England: Anglia (NE), Mercia (F), York and London increase in size
Aelfric journeyed to Anglia fully expecting them to welcome the opportunity to join the great nation of England, there were some rioting by Danish dissenters causing a ruckus and things just didn’t happen like they should, maybe next cycle. Cities were enlarged and in general the population of the Island was happy.
Wales: Someday a city will be built and it will be
glorious.
Ireland: Connaught to 2GPV, Faeroe’s (T)
Things
on the emerald island continue to go reasonably well. The Queen visited the Faeroe’s and persuaded them to pay
tribute after a brief stay. At home
Kilkenny keep things functioning properly while the Queen was gone.
The colonization of Connaught should be a great help for the future
development of Ireland. On another equally happy note, the French did not come and
kick the people of Irelands butt for their intrusion into Aquitaine last turn.
Norway:
Oslo Grows
The
King ruled and worked on expanding his family.
He died in his sleep in 1022 having served his people well and seeing his
new daughter come into the world. His
wife became the ruler and no one opposed this ascension.
Though not overly skilled in combat she knew everyone and was said to
have moles in all the clan halls, no one dared oppose her.
Harka the Sage attempted to conduct diplomacy with Gotland but they would
not even let him in the country. They
wanted nothing to do with the usurper King or the Celtic Church.
Orkney/Scotland: City of Caloway in the Hebrides
The
king ruled over his empire and sent Horgath out to explore.
He never returned. The King did have some good fortune though, noted Norseman
Vingar the Explorer showed up and agreed to work for Harwulf.
Harwulf accepted. Apparently part of Vingar’s motivation was the King’s
eldest daughter but that may be just hearsay.
Baltic
Trade Coalition: City
of Vijay built on Gotland Island, Saarema colonized (RC’s recruited last turn)
The
Baltic Trade Coalition that was founded last turn. (No this in not a Combine don’t panic)
This cycle they discovered a large cache of treasure left by the former
Danish royal family this was immediately put to use.
Greywulf joined the BTC to help defend it from encroachment from the
powers surrounding it. Many trade
routes were started.
HRE: Lorraine Assimilated, Swabia (P), Genoa (Independent),
Luguria (Independent)
HRE
becomes a true German State as the last Italian possession becomes independent.
While it is true that Tuscany is a Tithe paying Client, Tuscany is very
much a nation that is merely paying homage to its roots.
In
Lorraine: Elizabeth, Conrad II and
V. Belane all journeyed to Lorraine. Diplomatic
overtures over the last 5 years had paved the way for further discussions in
this cycle. Some official courting
needed to be done by Fredrik of Lorraine on Elizabeth for this alliance to be
closed. Elizabeth was very
beautiful, can speak at least 5 languages and is not one to be held in little
regard (probably why her brother Henry had elevated her to Heir).
The courtship went very well Fredrik was a man of great strength and
skill with a sword and he is good looking and a leader men can look up too.
Toward the end of the cycle Fredrik and Elizabeth wed.
After the wedding their were more negotiations as to land allotments for
Lorraine nobles etc etc. In the end
every “i” was dotted and
every “t” crossed and Lorraine became part of the HRE dominions.
Elizabeth
speaking before the Duke and the Noble Houses of Lorraine:
Greetings
one and all,
This
has probably never happened before that a Woman has been allowed to speak before
this council of men, I am nearly certain in this world run by men it will not
likely happen again so thank you, turning toward the duke, gracious Duke
of Lorraine for gathering this host and allowing me my moment in place of my
brother who is currently is Swabia showing them that betrayal will not be
tolerated in the lands of the HRE and is punishable by death.
“murmur murmur murmer”
Elizabeth
picks up her glass of the local ale and drains it, the men in the room are
stunned……Elizabeth slams the mug down and says Let’s
get started!
All
around the Empire chaos is boiling up through the cracks of society.
The Branist movement, Orthodox expansion in Italy, Catholic Venice
plotting to betray the Pope, a holy site was sacked in Leon, Leon resorted to
slavery, Swabia rebelled and my father was slain by an assassin. Suddenly
looking up to the sky Elizabeth begins to pray, “God give him peace in
heaven that he never found on earth, give all of us guidance in the perilous
times in this time of spiritual disunity and show all good Christians the path
to fulfillment in this time of turmoil bows head
Amen, chorus of amen’s from the lords of Lorraine.
All around us society is suffering, The Holy Roman Empire suffers, Rome
is all but in the clutches of the Orthodox, the French nobles are rebellious and
the Catholics have been chased from the North.
Our land and our religion are under siege.
Lords of Lorraine…We are all good Catholics and we must all find our way. Because of this union the people of Lorraine will no longer have to walk the path alone. The HRE will travel with you and together we will over come all calamities, stave off all usurpers and rise above the morass that is trying to engulf Europe. Elizabeth snatches up her refilled mug and lifts it high, Drink gentlemen and welcome to the Empire.
There was a brief pause as the lords were all stunned that a woman could have such conviction and social skills…..they then began cheering and the ale kegs were tapped all night. The Lords were now happy and would not cause trouble as long as things were going fairly well and they weren’t over taxed.
WAR AGAINST SWABIA:
The Swabian King and Lord Bergen gathered in Swabia. New fortifications had been built troops had been mustered it was only a matter of waiting. The Swabian king had been assured of non-interference by the Germans and was anxious to see if the Germans really did intend to leave them alone. A majority of the army was cavalry and so the prepared defensive positions, besides Field Forts, were at a minimum. The Heavy Infantry did get reasonably well prepared in a series of forts near the Swabian capital of Ulm.
At the beginning of 2022 the HRE army rolled in enmasse’ 30000 thousand men, reasonably well-mixed army with good leadership. They headed straight for the capital. Swabia was in a panic. The Swabian king was prepared for what he had assumed would happen at some point and time in this cycle. The King and Lord Bergen conferred and developed a battle plan.
One night the camp of King Henry the Swabians launched a surprise cavalry raid…..Lord Bergen led the charge of 2200 Cavalry mostly Swabian Heavies. The surprise was substantial and the German camp was in disarray. Tents were a blaze, wagons tipped over HRE troops running around with no armor on trying to save the king from the clutches of the Swabian heretics. Henry while not an exceptional leader was solid and the men loved him. He kept his head on this night and rallied the troops around him, the fighting was exceptionally fierce as Lord Bergen was doing everything he could to get to Henry and break the back on the HRE army. Things were getting precarious for Henry, he was very thankful a large contingent of his troops were Infantry (faster to react to surprise attacks). Henry took a blow from behind, he stumbled and planted HRE flag in the ground to prop himself up. Just then a shout went up as Mathias’s troops began arriving. The Swabians got killed almost to a man. Lord Bergen and a small contingent escaped. They fled to Switzerland. Henry had taken a pretty heavy head wound and the doctors began work immediately.
Several weeks later the lands were pacified. News arrived of Elizabeth’s marriage to Fredrik of Lorraine, Henry though not fully recovered was relieved, Lorraine’s alliance would make the pacification of Swabia easier, news also came from Tyrol that the Bavarians had reclaimed their lands. News from across the Rhine was good as well; the French apparently were making sure no Branist or Swabians fled into their country. Henry rested outside of Ulm. A petition came from the Swabian “King”. Henry agreed to see the King and the next morning the Swabian King arrived.
Swabian King: kneeling refusing to look at the king
Henry
Speak
Swabian
King:
PLEEEAAASE don’t kill me! I
couldn’t control my son…… he was power crazed and insane with
religious fervor
Henry
You are the Lord of the people are you not?
Swabian
King:
Otto ordered my son to go with Von Ryan to Switzerland
Henry
Did he really?
Swabian
King
Yes, I swear it
Henry
One moment……whispers to one of his soldier, the soldier leaves
hurriedly
The
Swabian king started sweating profusely……..He leaped up and lunged at Henry
dagger drawn!
Ack!
The remaining soldier in the tent plunged his sword almost immediately
into the Swabian King and he stopped moving as blood gushed profusely from the
wound near the heart. Von Ryan rushed in and the soldiers pulled the
dead Swabian king off Henry. Von
Ryan cursed. Henry looked dead he
was just barely breathing he had a deep wound into the shoulder. Von Ryan immediately broke out his medicine kit
(he was multi-talented) and applied some herbs of some sort to the wound.
Mathias
decided to exact revenge on the Swabians. Ulm
was captured in an assault, it was a little bloody but the numerous German
infantry units swarmed the walls and there was no way the defenders had any
chance. The city was razed.
Mathias felt better.
Von
Ryan and Mathias conferred, Mathias was apparently was concerned about Elizabeth
as a possible ruler (she is a woman!) if Henry didn’t survive.
Von Ryan quelled Mathias’s fears.
The army was split in two and Von Ryan and the King returned to
Franconia, Mathias was sent into Switzerland to end the trouble altogether.
Mathias
and his large infantry army roll into Switzerland and overwhelm the province.
Lord Bergen was nowhere to be found though.
Von
Ryan got Henry back to Franconia, by the end of the cycle Henry was dead and the
Queen had ascended. Queen Elizabeth
and King Fredrik were now the rulers of Germany. The transition was peaceful.
Carinthia: Peace and Harmony
Lorraine: Big Economic Build up. After
25 years of military preparations it is about time.
Bohemia: Peace and Harmony
Bavaria:
Tyrol (P)
Bavarian
House is on the rise. Two princes
come of age and they are noted for their skill in Diplomacy and
Combat. Bavaria mobilizes;
the rise of Branism, revolt in Tyrol and Swabian betrayal have all made the
Lords of Bavaria terribly aware of the possibilities that abound in the HRE.
Army attacks Tyrol while HRE army enters into Swabia.
Swabia: R.I.P.
Branist: Languedoc Converts to Branism
Bran
Jacobson slipped into Languedoc and converted the masses much to the chagrin of
the French who were trying to keep an eye on such things.
France: Paris & Tours increase in size, Postal Road from Paris to
Tours
There
was a big push on the diplomatic front in Provence was reasonably successful.
Some missionary work in Lyonnais was not terribly effective Branist
fervor is still strong in the former Burgundian provinces.
A Postal Road was built from Paris to Tours connecting these two
metropolitan areas. Mercenaries
were hired incase their was spill over from the campaign against the Swabian’s. The HRE was effective in ridding themselves of the Swabians
so there was no spill over.
Gascony: All is quiet
Aquitaine: Nantes Increases in Size
Leon: Portugal (PT), Estramurda
(PT)
In
an effort to stem the tide of anger among some of the Catholics of Europe the
King announced that measures would be taken to redeem Leon once the Portuguese
War was resolved. A letter was sent
to the Pope request the appropriate actions that should be taken to gain the
forgiveness of God.
Leon launched a nearly immediate invasion into Portugal. It was time to rid the world of the annoying Portuguese Kingdom. Thomas led the Cavalry contingent, which received, and infusion of 1400 new Leon Regulars this turn.
The
Prince of Navarre led the infantry contingent.
8000 men in all descended on the Portuguese homeland.
Portugal
started preparations for a Leonese invasion immediately.
Mercenaries were hired all cavalry once again, the Portuguese tried to
hire some of the misc. infantry companies roaming around but apparently the
French got the jump on them (paid more gold).
Al Wats and his Mercenary band showed up, Santobal had never left the
country; The Moroccan Prince H’Alab arrived with 2000 North African
Volunteers. All told the defenders
of Portugal numbered 1200 Infantry, 600 Grizzled Salamancan Heavy Cavalry, 1400
Newly formed Portuguese heavy horse, 1600 mostly mercenary cavalry and 5400
light cavalry from all over the place.
BATTLE
OF CORUCHE:
Numbers
and terrain were definitely in the favor of the Portuguese but Thomas was quite
possibly now the best general in Europe. In
the Targus river valley in the wide-open cultivated pain near Coruche the armies
met. Prince H’alab had
actually been trying to harass the Leonese forces as they marched into the
country but Thomas blunted all the punches of the Prince.
The battlefield was well selected by the defenders with there large light
cavalry advantage all the open ground would be very useful.
Thomas was no fool. The
night before the battle he maneuvered the army so it was along the river in a
backward L formation, the baggage train and the siege engineers were moved to
the far side of the river as daylight broke.
Infantry was on the bottom of the L and dug in a bit the Cavalry was on
the long side with the River at their back.
Thomas was pleased he had managed to get his folks in position; it would
now be very difficult for the Moslem forces to flank him.
In
the Moslem camp there was some confusion. The
Salamancan Lord and the Moroccan prince were actually applauding the seemingly
brilliant move by Thomas, Al Haunts and the Portuguese king was merely pissed.
It was decided the battle plan would be the same…… encircle the enemy
and chop them to pieces. Too
the North the Salamancan Lord and Al’ Hauts went to square off against Thomas
directly in the south the King & Santobal approached Navarre with caution
and H’alab looked for a good place to ford the river with his Cavalry
contingent. The King stopped
well short of Navarre and waited, as did Salamanca, Al Haut’s headed further
north and tried to swing across the river to no avail.
H’alab on the other hand found a spot after a couple of hours 10:00 or
so.
About
11:00 AM; Thomas had been waiting for something to happen and whatever it was
happened because he ordered his cavalry forward suddenly a bit to the surprise
of the Portuguese who apparently thought Thomas would just wait patiently to get
encircled. Thomas
rolled with everything and headers straight toward the Salamancan, the
Salamancan Lord counter-charged. Al’hauts
also rushed to the scene the Melee was pretty serious mess. Seeing the Battle engaged to the north Santobal and the King
Moved in on Navarre in the south. When
close enough Santobal charged into Navarre but Navarre was adept in combat and
his troops reacted well to the onslaught.
Heavy
vicious battling went on for several hours, the leadership on both sides was
really very good over all and many times one side or the other managed make a
morale check and fight on…….across the river H’alab found the supply train
and the engineers his light cavalry lit them up in a big way but that did
nothing to help the forces on the other side of the river which is exactly what
Thomas had hoped for. The
battle was brutal for both sides, but at the end of the day the Portuguese had
been broken. And they withdrew from the field of battle in disarray and beaten
for the last time. H’alab made it
across the river but not in time to help out and so he covered the retreat quite
adeptly.
AFTERMATH:
Al’hauts died in the battle. All the rest of the leaders escaped unscathed. No telling what each side lost in the way of men it was VERY bloody. Portugal has collapsed and the Moroccan Prince made sure that the remaining forces were evacuated. Thomas did not pursue, he only occupied Estremurda only after the withdrawal of the province by Portugal/Morocco was complete. Santobal retired to his home in Cordoba following this war, nearly all his men were dead. Thomas de Valera is now recognized as the greatest military commander in Europe. Leon has finally put an end to the troubles in Portugal.
Cordoba:
There
was some talk about the king stepping down from the throne this turn but those
plans revolved around the Moroccan Prince.
The Moroccan Prince decided he would rather go aid his Sunni brothers in
Portugal than become part of the Cordovan royal family.
Hungary:
Peace
and harmony reign in the realm of Saint Stephen “Savior of the Northern
Catholics”. You know how some one
always gets all the credit for good deeds.
Well even though 4 nations took in Catholics it seems that the King of
Hungary is the one who is getting the credit as he has now attained Sainthood.
Prince Andrew’s wife had triplets in 1022 they are all girls and appear
to be identical (at age 3 when the cycle closes at least).
Serbia:
The
Serbians concentrated on Economic development and began the cultivation project
in Bosnia. They contemplated what
to do with Montenegro.
Montenegro:
Being
Montenegro a 1/7 Mountain region sucks so the government decided it needed an
angle.
Nations
of the Mediteranean:
The
Government of Montenegro is offering .75 Gold per Agro.
Please contact the GM if you have a port on the Med and you have Agro to
sell. They will handle the
shipping.
Respectfully,
Lord
Voislav
Trade
routes were established with the nations of the Mediterranean
Venice: Cyprus and Malta added
Oreselo
went to the prison where the Cypriot buccaneer was being kept.
He had the guard open the cell and he stepped in, the guard stood
outside.
Oreselo
How you doing?
Cypriot
Like you care
Oreselo
Actually I do
Cypriot
Why does it matter to you?
Oreselo
Oreselo steps out for a second and steps back in with two bags.
Cypriot What have you got there Catholic?
Oreselo
Oreselo reaches into the large bag and pulls out a head
Recognize him? The is
your former guard Guiseppe, he was going to help you get out of jail from what I
understand, wanted to let you know that wasn’t going to happen.
Cypriot
Damn that is unfortunate, I liked him
Oreselo
Apparently he thought well enough of you to try to get you out.
Cypriot
What is in the other bag?
Oreselo
Your freedom
Cypriot
Huh? What do you mean my freedom?
Oreselo
In this sack is a document that grants you a title to some estates and a
captaincy in my navy.
Cypriot
Why should you trust me with that?
Oreselo
I know you want to live to see you wife and children again & I know
you have never really liked the Romans you have only worked with them because
they paid well and left you alone.
Cypriot
Well you are right on both counts maybe Basil II does take you too
lightly.
Oreselo
Basil is a fool, he could have destroyed Venice 10 years ago, but rather
than come at me with everything he left plenty of ships in ports throughout the
empire just sitting idle. 5 years
ago he sat in Constantinople with all his heavy warships (or so my spies tell
me) while his lackey’s were sent to deal with me.
I left that battle with half again as many as I went in with.
Basil will come again but it is too late his piecemeal attacks have
spelled doom for the Roman fleet.
Cypriot
You seem pretty sure of yourself.
Oreselo
I have every confidence that one more battle with the Romans will teach
them the shear folly of this war and they will not bother me again.
Venice will rule the waves and no Roman transport will dare ply the
Eastern seas again.
Cypriot
Oreselo, I think everything you have told me is true, I will accept your
offer, I will join you but I have one condition…
Oreselo
survived an assassination attempt or two this cycle due to vigilant security
forces. Oreselo also hired
all the mercenaries he could. The
only thing available was and Infantry force but that would prove critical in the
upcoming battle.
Letter
from Oreselo Doge of Venice:
Leaders
of Europe and Asia Minor do you tire yet of waging war on the state of Venice?
Please consider coming to the negotiation table and settling this matter.
The nation of Venice awaits your responses.
(Chris Von Albrecht has dropped the position so those of you who were waging war because Chris had somehow drawn your ire can now re-evaluate your positions)
Peace
with the REE & Capitanata Cyprus and Malta to Venice and a promised peace of
25 years, Capitanata keeps
Spoleto and Benevito, Serbs keep Zara but relinquish the rights to
Dalmatia.
Peace
with the HRE & Tuscany will require the return of Verona and a promise 25
years of peace. Tuscany keeps
Latium. No looting Verona.
E.
Roman: Constantinople Trade Center Lost, City of Faistos built on
Crete, Royal Road built Aleppo to Cilicia
Apparently
the war with Venice has cost the REE in an unexpected area.
Many Constantinople Merchants have moved operations to other areas of the
Black Sea and Mediterranean. In
other news a vast armada gathered and moved out toward the Ionian and with hopes
of finally finishing off the Venetian fleet and ending the siege of Venice
itself. Even a mercenary force was gathered, as 20 ships (probably
used for pirating when regular work couldn’t be had) joined the fleet.
In a somewhat odd move D’Kohlner, a Cavalry commander, was hired to
lead the mercenary ships. He was very hesitant to leave his troops behind but he did
so. (Don’t send me any emails
about leaders and they are the same on land and sea, I didn’t subtract from
his skill it was merely a comment)
Basil
II, Prince Baris (no relation to Chuck), Captain Bardas, the Kyklades Allied
commander Mark and D’Kohlner all met up in the Aegean 60 Heavy Galleys (many
newly constructed), 150 standard Galleys and 80 light galleys.
It was a sight to behold as the fleet could seemingly blacken the
horizon. They all sailed with
confidence, well except D’Kohlner who would have rather been on horseback.
They sailed into the Ionian passed Sparti, the men were heartened to see
the city being rebuilt and cheered and waved at the workers.
The first year ended with the fleet in port in Crete, Faistos is being
constructed apparently they started with the port facilities. BASIL II dies of old age on Crete and the mood of the troops
turns sour. NO DF DAVE!
The Venetians were hitting the shipping lanes pretty hard in the first year and there was great concern among the merchant classes of Greece and Anatolia.
The
Fleet now under Prince Baris heads north. The mood is somber as the fleet passes near the newly formed
Montenegro state. Sailors try
to joke about how pathetic the Bulgars are fighting over worthless mountains.
Further north they travel past the former Roman Port of Dhyrrakhion.
The Romans move into the Adriatic, rumor has it the Venetians are doing a
rest and refit in Ragasu. The
Prince anxious to make a name for himself ordered full speed ahead for the
fleet, he really wants to catch the Venetian’s unaware.
At
the port of Dhyrrakhion:
That
was a big fleet
Yes,
it was what do you think?
Yep,
Oreselo is going to want to know about this
Off the Coast of Dalmatia:
Spring storms blew in and halted the Prince Baris’s progress northward. He was very angry. The sailors were getting nervous. The coast of Dalmatia was no place to run ashore. The Roman fleet waited out the storm. Just as the REE Fleet was coming off the coast to reorganize and regroup the Venetians hit them. The REE scrambled to pull the fleet together but they were not very effective. The Venetian’s rolled in with 40 Large well armed Heavy galleys with detachments of heavy troops on them, they also had a combination of 60 regular galley’s with soldier contingents included and 60 light galleys. The Venetian’s headed straight for the flagship of Prince Baris, the Venetian’s weren’t apparently playing any games. The wedge was formed with the heavy ships in the lead and the standard galleys and the light galleys on the wings. The Venetians tore deep into the Romans just shredding light and standard galleys of the Romans that got in between Oreselo and his goal. All the leaders involved in this battle were competent so there was no hesitation to jump into the fray by any of the Roman leaders and as soon as they could bring their naval contingents to bear they did. Markus of the Kyklades attacked the tail end of one of the wings, D’Kohlner not terribly knowledgeable in naval combat just threw his boys right into the mix, he may not know a ton about maneuvers but he is very capable of leading men and that is what he did. Bardas arrived a bit late and he had the most trouble getting his folks together. He did manage to arrive in time to keep D’Kohlner and Markus from getting overwhelmed he however was killed saving them, a real hero’s death. Prince Baras had all he could handle, he was extremely happy Basil II had brought all those troops because Oreselo had brought many troops of his own. The Baris was locked in a death duel with several Venetian ships including Oreselo’s flagship. The fighting was fast and furious and in a matter of a couple of hours the Roman center totally collapsed. The elite crews were just more than the Romans could deal with. With the Death of Bardas, who was in charge of a large portion of the regular galleys and the collapse of the Princes Heavy Galley force the Romans turned and ran.
The powerful spine of the Roman fleet the 60 Heavy Galleys were gone the Imperial Flag had fallen and the rout was on. The Venetian’s had taken moderate losses but for the third time in 15 years the Roman fleet was in full retreat. Roman losses where in the vicinity of 40 H. Galley’s, 40 Galley’s and 30 or so Light Galley’s, the Prince was missing, he turned up in Constantinople later in the cycle, Bardas was killed. The Venetians escaped with the loss of very few prize ships and the managed to capture a good number of enemy vessels. The Venetian’s were helped out by the fact that Ragasu was so close so they didn’t have to go terribly far to save damaged ships.
Returning to Constantinople D’Kohlner and the Markus of the Kyklades along with about a third of the fleet that had been gathered for the attack. A large amount of men had been lost too; all those heavy ships had a troop contingent of light Infantry, the flagship had the Kings personal guard on it. Constantinople is in shock over this latest development. The failures at sea lead to a declaration of independence by the Coptic lands of Lazika and Vaspurakan.
A couple of leaders ventured down to Cyprus in hopes of pulling this Feudal ally Friendly. Things were going reasonably well till the Venetians showed up. In 1024 with the Cypriot Casius leading the way Venice captured Cyprus. The populace was elated to see their favorite son returning and so they did not oppose the Venetian occupation. It took a couple of months for those small fortifications on the island to be taken care of but in the end the island became part of Venice. Malta also was attacked and captured by the Venetians as well. The Venetians did insist the captured Romans on Cyprus complete the city project, though this city is currently somewhat hostile for obvious reason the garrison seems capable of keeping things in check.
Construction of Sparta was disrupted as the Venetians dared the Romans to oppose them. Romans did manage to get a Royal Road built and a City on Crete constructed but there is some question now as to how secure that is. One last note the City of Aleppo was reincorporated into the Empire. Basil before his death sent a message to the Islamic leader agreeing to their demands.
Patriarch:
Cathedral Bithnia Monastery
Aleppo, Abbey Rhodes, Church Pechneg
If
we actually get through a turn without some Orthodox missionaries getting killed
for pissing people off I will be shocked. The Turkic Tribesmen of Atelzuko took exception
to a group of missionaries trying to foist off the Orthodox religion; needless
to say they met a bad end. The
end result of this was a pretty poor reception when a couple of Bishops visited
the region later in the cycle.
Bishop Leo was lucky to get out of the province alive.
Bishop Dvorin actually found a tribe that would listen to the teachings
of the Orthodox Church. On
other fronts the Patriarch ordered large amounts of resources sent to Apulia and
the Rus.
Tuscany:
Tuscany
defends the Tyrrhenian vigilantly, which was probably a very good idea though no
“pirates” were encountered. Aside
from that the Tuscans patiently waited for something good to happen so they
could grab control of the city of Venice. Nothing
did so another 5 years passed by.
The
Capitanata (Naples): Spoleto (FA), Benevito (NT) New City in Calabria (Catanzara)
The REE handed over Spoleto and Benevito to the Capitanata at the start of the New Year, Rollo was appointed ruler of the province and the war with Venice was over for the Kingdom. The winter of 1020 was not kind however to Rex’s son Roger. Roger got the fever and died. Rex returned to Naples with his dead son and the army. The city of Naples was grief stricken. Roger’s son Roger II was of age and thus appointed as Heir, he immediately assumed the responsibilities his father was to have taken care of. He traveled with his Grandfather back to Spoleto and began the process of mending the fences with the people of Benevito, who by the way had been ruled by four nations in the last 20 years. The people of Benevito were not overly antagonistic (probably because of the revolving door politics of this province. The winter of 1021 claimed the life of the illustrious Rex. He was a great King who moved his Fiefdom from a single province to a four-province nation in 20 years. He should also be noted as the king who truly opened the door for the Orthodoxy in Southern Italy. After two eventful years the rest of the cycle passed without incident.
Poland: Odobria (EA), Lithuania (F), Bialoweza (NT)
More
diplomacy and further growth in Gdansk. Though
a bit rough and dirty the port of Gdansk is growing at an extremely rapid pace.
It is now one of the larges cities on the Baltic.
There has been a big push for the country to distance itself as much as
possible from the somewhat barbaric ways of the past and those efforts seem to
be bearing fruit under the current ruler ship.
There has not been a war or even a border skirmish in Poland in 20 years
at least and the Catholics of the realm are overjoyed.
The King Boleslaw died in 1025 in Odobria, the transition to the new king
was peaceful.
Middle
East:
Buhwayids:
Urban development and some kids being born.
Persia: Some Defensive structures built.
Yemen:
Hadramaut (F)
The
pool craze has reached not only the Pagan state of Hausa but also the Islamic
state of Yemen. Royal
excesses reach an all time high in Africa.
In the good news department the Heir to the throne who became king
peacefully by the end of the cycle had a couple of children.
Ghazi: Registan, Siahan & Sistan
NT, City of Lumanca CL2
Treaty of the Desert Tribes: In an
effort to reduce the potential for trouble in the desert regions south of his
lands, Mahmud ordered his leaders into the desert to persuade the desert tribes
that the Ghazi have only the best intentions.
Ibriham and Jakargan the Scarred traveled into the desert and organized a
meeting in Mazerjat. The meeting
went well the Desert tribes gave the Ghazi their requirements and left returning
back to their desert homes.
Treaty
of the Indus:
Punjab, Edrosia and Punjab agree to a 20-year peace agreement.
Essentially
it is a non-aggression pact. All
the parties have agreed to not take hostile actions against each other.
All
the generals of the realm passed this turn but it did not disrupt the affairs of
state too much.
Edrosia: Peaceful relations with everyone pave the way for lots of
internal improvement.
Chorasmia: Two sons come of age and it is a very joyous event.
Lots of internal improvement.
Samarkhand: Uzbek (FA), Tashkent (F)
Some
troop build up and economic development.
The kindler gentler Samarkhand king is on the throne.
India:
Tibet:
Nepal (A)
Decree
to the Nations of Northern India:
If
the Indian States insist on violating the sanctity of the of the Buddhist realms
of the Himalayans the Tibetans will take action.
Do not take this threat lightly we are fully capable of striking against
Northern India if you insist on challenging our authority.
We could care less about Hindu’s killing Hindu’s, but stay out of our
mountains. If any Indian
state would like to hold a Buddhist mountain province, you need to send a
diplomat to the Holy City and confer with his supreme Excellency.
If you would like to initiate formal relations with the people of the
Himalayas then it is strongly suggested that you pay a visit to Lhasa.
Only diplomats will be allowed in the Holy City and only a force of 200
or less soldiers will be allowed into the Tibetan territories.
If you insist on bringing a greater number of troops assume that you will
be met with force of arms rather than open arms.
Monk
Xia Xian – Royal Scribe
Lamanist
Tibet:
Holy City improvements aside from that all is quiet in the mountains.
Punjab: Dhera Dun (NT), AO
size 2
Much
to the chagrin of the Tibetans the Raj of Punjab ordered his whole diplomatic
corp. into Dhera Dun to secure only the smallest of agreements.
Leading this mission was Taran Tarin with Princess Jurama in tow.
Naggar
Monk
I see the people of Punjab are hard of hearing
Taran
We hear fine we just don’t understand the word
“NO”
Naggar
Monk
Ah, that would explain a lot, why have you come this time?
Taran
Well, your people are the only ones that didn’t try to kill us on our
last visit to the mountains.
Naggar
Monk
Chun-sen make a note of that, next time Punjab sends people into the
mountains kill them
Taran
We do not hold ill will toward you why would you toward us
Naggar
Monk
You intrude on our lands. You
try to convert us, you want us to owe some obligation to a Hindu
Throne…….need I go on?
Taran
We have actually come to purpose something a little less stringent
Naggar
Monk
Well let’s eat with the council and see how long you get to stay
Eating
with the Buddhist:
Naggar Monk Taran……no one hear will speak to you but I and you are to only speak to me, do not violate this custom
Naggar
Monk
To the Clan These
travelers want to tell us what the Punjab state would like to do for us.
Chuckling
all around
Taran
We wish to aid you in the defense of your region
Naggar
Monk
Relays the message and how will you do that?
Taran
We want to build some fortified villages in the passes
Naggar
Relays the message and who will
live in these “fortified” villages?
Taran
Well our troops will garrison them and your people can live with in them,
trade, seek protection from bandits and the like
Naggar
Relays the message “murmur murmur
murmur” Punjab troops on Dhera Dun soil, Hindu’s living in Dhera Dun?
Taran
Well yes that is the intent, strictly for protection purposes of course
Naggar
Relays the message Ah,
of course, and what will you pay us per cycle to allow such and intrusion?
Taran
something sacred to all people
Naggar
Relays the message
Really I am intrigued, what is this “special” prize?
Taran The Kings daughter, she has even been told to learn your ways so Punjab may better understand your people, she is to be a gift from the Raj to you or someone of your choosing.
Naggar
Relays the message, A big man stand up and straightens his fur lined
coat then promptly gets in a fight with another man
Apparently she has a couple of suitors already.
Taran
What do you think of the offer?
Naggar
I am intrigued we will discuss this, leave the woman here, and take your
followers with you back to your tents. I
promise you she will not be harmed.
Taran
She is a Princess not a piece of MEAT!
Naggar
What will happen if you return from the mountain with daughter in tow,
shamed because she could not even be pawned off to a mountain chief, and you
have no agreement?
Taran
mumble mumble mumble I
think it is a fine idea that I leave her here for a while.
Naggar
Thought you might see it my way
The
council of Naggar haggled long into the night, they were loud and rowdy and
Taran was sweating profusely even though the nighttime temperature was in the
40’s. Morning dawned
and Taran and his entourage were woken up by a bunch of drunken Buddhist they
ushered the troupe back to the meeting area and everyone sat down except Naggar.
Naggar spoke: Here is our terms take them back to your king.
We will be given a yearly tithe (3 Gold) to keep the king’s daughter
from dressing in animal skins (seriously nasty animal skins) and we also require
a yearly food tithe from your plentiful lands (2 Agro) to keep the kings
daughter from going hungry. Lastly
since this is our land we will tell you were the Fortified villages are to be
built and no regular troops may be stationed in our country.
Oh, and do not even try to send a priest into the land, that will assure
your violent removal from the region. Now
get out of my village before I change my mind.
Taran
and his group returned to Punjab successful.
Shiva
Church of Kashmir: Church Und and City of
Peshwar
In
roads in to the city of Peshwar allowed for the construction of a church there
the same was true in Und. There
was some verbal sparring with the Brahmin priest that showed up but no one was
hurt.
Kucha: Tuhnwhang (F) Kashgar
(F)
The King barely able to afford his huge family manages to ship off one of his daughters to Tuhnwhang to help seal the Friendly relations there. The Kucha Heir Kaing manages to secure a wife in the province of Kashgar, more children expected soon. Jungaria experiences populations boom as nomads come off the steppe and settle in the area. Fire struck the tent city in Tuhnwhang during the royal wedding, General Sachin saved the day by rushing into the burning tent many times and saving guest, sadly he did not survive the smoke inhalation and the burns. King only added two children this cycle his wife is getting up in years (nearly 40 maybe it is time to rest on the laurels and enjoy the twilight years together. (40’s in this day and age is pretty old). Well the Kucha Queen has set the benchmark. She has survived birthing 12 Children, 3 Sons and 9 Girls.
Manichaeans: Pretty quiet on the Steppe the Manichaeans assisted the Kucha
in some development work and built a couple of churches.
Paramara
Alliance:
Launches
an attack on Southern Kaunaj……into the wilderness provinces.
Deaths
Galore this turn. The King Dies (No
DF), the Queen Dies, Tarain Prince dies as does the Princess, and one of the
Generals was killed. Wow.
Bengal:
Launches
an attack into Jaunpor.
Kaunaj:
Attacked
on all sides, well almost. The
Kaunaj had been waiting years for this to happen.
April
1020: Kaunaj does what it does every year, builds troops and prepares for the
onslaught.
May
1020: Waiting patiently for evil people to attack them.
The Paramara mobilize and begin moving toward
Anhavarti
border, the Rajaput Army mobilizes and begins to head south.
June
1020: The Bengal Army which was moves out toward Jaunpor, the Rajaput Army peels
off and heads to
Jaunpor, Jaunpor being much more valuable thus makes much more sense to
defend it.
July
1020: Armies moving around, Jaunpor army digging as they were ordered to
do, Bengal’s and Paramara both
make
it to their destination.
August
1020 & September 1020:
Paramara’s begin actual Attack on Anhivarta. 18K worth of troops very balanced and well lead attempt
Pin down the Feudal army the wilderness and the rough terrain and local
Field forts made this task
difficult. The
Paramara king would have to wait until next year to get satisfaction.
Bengal’s begin their
assault on the Jaunpor province. The
Infantry and Ten Thousand Siege Engineers
Make great progress in August on the defensive positions and then the
Rajaput army arrives.
Chunda and King Satish deploy the cavalry forces while Harsha handles the
infantry forces, a
22,000 men mostly Heavy Cavalry force.
The Jaunpor are lead by the Raj, his son and an allied
leader. All
are capable leaders, their force of 15,000 men half of which are Elite Heavy
Infantry, are a very scary group of folks.
First battle of Jaunpor:
STALEMATE
King Satish was very unhappy, he thought for sure he would not have to
face the full force of the
Jaunpor army and here he was facing them down.
The Jaunpor had been preparing for this day for
Nearly 15 years now and the prepared defenses looked tough to overcome,
Satish was happy that
Harsha and his huge force of siege engineers had been
able to get some work done on the fortifications before the main Jaunpor army
arrived.
The opposing forces finally met on the battlefield in late September.
The Bengal’s were stymied
because they couldn’t fully bring their heavy
cavalry forces to bear on the infantry of Kaunaj due to the well prepared
defenses and a decent amount of screening cavalry. When the Bengal Heavies did manage to find an opening the
heavily armored elite infantry of Kaunaj managed to turn them back.
This battle turned out to be a battle to determine the Kaunaj
strength’s and weaknesses, the Kaunaj had effectively defended in the first
encounter though there losses were a bit higher than the Bengal’s due to the
sheer size of the Bengal army.
Winter
Sets In:
Everyone digs in for the winter; in a land without exceptional leaders
this means 6 months with no
Action.
April
1021: Paramara’s finally get to fight a bit.
The Avanti outnumbered and heavily outgunned as well were
Hunted down finally. The
Avanti attempted to defend the last remaining fortifications but it was to
no avail. After a brief but
intense battle of infantry in a heavily wooded area surrounding a manor
house the Avanti defenses were gone.
More maneuvering takes place as
this provincial war goes into overtime.
May
1023: The Paramara leaves a garrison and they head for Jihjhoti
Second battle of Jaunpor.
General Chunda maneuvered into what he suspected would be an advantageous
position facing the
Kaunaj army a second time. The
deployment was essentially the same Chunda would handle the
cavalry, Harsha the infantry and a small group of cavalry would be
handled by the King who
while not adept at combat was pretty popular with the men thus a good guy
to have roaming
around with the reserves in case they were needed and to rally fleeing
troops.
Apparently this time only the Allied general and the King would face the
enemy. The King was
solely responsible for the Royal Guard the Allied general would handle
the rest.
Chunda was a little concerned about the enemy cavalry force being lighter
than he thought it should
be but he assumed that things elsewhere in the Jaunpor kingdom might have
forced redeployment
over the winter.
The battle begins. This
battlefield was relatively near the city of Prayaga.
The Jaunpor leadership
had purposely let the Bengali’s lead them into this
position. It was still an area the siege Engineers hadn't reached so prepared
defenses are still in place (note: they have been waiting 15years for the Bengal
army to invade so while the engineers reduce the effectiveness of the defensive
positions they still give the Kaunaj some protection).
Chunda decides to order an attack across a broad
front expecting his forces and Harsha’s to find a
Week spot and then be able to exploit it with their
numerical superiority. The battle
begins; the initial onslaught is pretty rough for the Bengali’s.
Rather than punching holes in the line the
Bengal forces are getting stood up apparently the
troop placements by the Jaunpor were a bit confusing and coupled with some
rudimentary traps to slow cavalry advances the battle has broken down into a big
melee. Some flanking occurs but
nothing of note.
Not to far from the battle the king watches he is
once again frustrated by his troops inability to make serious progress, the last
thing he wants is another stalemate. Too
his right he sees a decent sized contingent of cavalry heading his way.
He starts getting nervous, the approaching force is a good deal larger
than the small force he was left with, oh oh.
The Jaunpor Prince cackles as his forces bear down on
the helpless Bengal Raj. His forces
slam
hard into Satash’s and they start tearing into
them. The prince had brought the
Heavy Elite Cavalry
in hopes of catching the King by surprise.
It worked and Satash was fighting for his life.
Things seemed to be going very poorly for Satash after a few minutes and
he and his remaining men fled the field, tail tucked between their legs.
The king had light cavalry which made it so he could escape the prince.
The Prince now turned his small contingent toward the battlefield.
He got close to the fighting then he charged into the back of Chunda’s
Heavy Cavalry unit. Panic rippled
down the lines of battle in both directions.
The Prince pressed toward Chunda and though Chunda was a better fighter
he was exhausted from the hours worth of battle he had already fought, the
Jaunpor
Prince got the better of him and ran his blade
through his shoulder blade. Chunda
sounded the retreat and the Bengal army was broken and fled the province.
The Jaunpur pursued the Bengal infantry and Siege
Engineers and exacted a toll though not great because of the large contingent of
Bengal Cavalry that was still intact.
Result: Satash
was demoralized and pulled his army out of the country beaten down but still
capable of defending it’s self if need be probably ½ to a 1/3 the original
size. Chunda survived but
will always have nasty pains in his shoulder when it
is cold out. Harsha managed to do a
reasonable job of getting his boys out of the country
but he died not long after the withdrawal due to some cut that got infected
because it wasn’t taken care of. The
Raj of Jaunpur died heroically sometime late in the battle but the army seeing
what a great leader the Prince is rallied to him.
June
1021: Forces
of Kaunaj regroup. The Paramara’s
army trudges toward Jhijhoti.
July
1021 : Knowing
that the Paramara are operating in the South of the country and so the Imperial
Army is on the
Move
again. Paramara arrive in
Jhijhoti.
August
1021: Paramara begin subduing the
province. Kaunaj army begins to
move across the Ganges into Jhijhoti.
Sept.
1021: Paramara
continue subjugation.
Kaunaj finishes crossing the Ganges.
Camp on the South side of the
the river.
November
– March: A bunch of slacker
leaders hang around drinking tea and telling war stories.
April
1021: The Kanauj
immediately deployed in the province to oppose the Paramara.
Paramara Forces: Raj Mrigai
leading the Cavalry numbering 6000 mostly heavies.
General Jothi with 5000 mostly regular Infantry
Kaunaj Forces: Raj 5000 HEI,
Jhijhoti Ally leads 3400 mixed Cavalry
The battle occurs near the city of Kalanjara since the sweep being run of
the province would
have ended in a siege of the city. The
Paramara leaderships is a bit better than the Kaunaj and they
maneuvered into position where they could actually take advantage of
their cavalry a bit. This
battle was by no means a tactical masterpiece, the opposing forces tried
weak flanking maneuvers
(difficult to do with heavy cavalry in semi-rough terrain).
During one particularly brutal exchange the King and
a group of cavalry got locked up with some of the Royal Guard, the situation was
precarious and so General Johti (who had been avoiding engaging the Royal Guard
threw his troops headlong into the mix). Johti and his forces managed to dislodge the king from
his predicament and forced the Royal Guard to withdraw from the field in good
order. Sadly Johti did not survive
his heroic effort neither did the Jhijhoti allied commander.
The Paramara had won the day but pursuit activity was
negligible due to the terrain and the Paramara’s unfamiliarity with it.
June
1021: Now Raj
Mrigai knew he had to get the damn Kaunaj out of the province if he was going to
remove
the city of Kalanjara. Mrigai decided to try and press his advantage.
He tracked the Kaunaj down
and forced a second battle.
The terrain wasn’t really to his liking but he wanted to try to take
advantage of what disorder in their ranks might exist.
Mrigai fell on his opponents near the Ganges.
Since it was now or never Mrigai took the entire complement of horse an
charged the Royal Guard. The
terrain left a good amount to be desired but Mrigai pressed his men and horses.
The Royal Guard was ready for the assault.
The combat was extremely fierce and went on for several hours, initially
the heavy horse made an impact but the hardened infantry didn’t buckle under
the weight. The Royal Guard
counterattacked a pressed Raj Mrigai hard.
The Kaunaj cavalry engaged the infantry of the Paramara and began to do
some real damage there. Apparently Jothi’s replacement was not up to par with Jothi.
Raj Mrigai seeing that the thrust was crumbling sounded the retreat and
the Paramara withdrew in fairly order but very bloodied.
August
1021: Raj Jaunpur decides to
press the advantage, he knows the Paramara’s have to be really smarting after
the
last battle. The Jaunpur forces
have some small running battles with Mrigai but pulls out of
the
province and back into Avanti so he can pick up his garrison there.
The Kaunaj Raj does
not press the issue.
April
1022: Raj Mrigai
knowing with the garrison under his control he has probably evened up the armies
again
takes another crack at Jhijhoti. Once
more into the breach. Mrigai still
has the Cavalry advantage
though his heavies did take a beating in the last
battle. He finds the Kaunaj army
pretty soon after crossing the border.
In fact the Kaunaj were
lying in wait in a pass that they apparently knew the
Paramara’s would take if they returned.
The ambush was horrible the Kaunaj sprung up from all
sides, the Royal Guard was on the Kings personal guard before he had any
clue what was going on,
he died very painfully being cut to pieces by the
swords of the Royal Guard. The army
was in complete and utter panic now and they scattered in all directions.
The newly appointed general did his best to rally and reorganize but it
was for not. The Paramara army did
not regroup until it made
it back to the homeland.
The
Kaunaj gathered their host and by the end of the cycle they had left garrisons
were needed.
Kashmir: Economic development, Some Defensive build up
W.
Chalukya:
Economic Development
Chola: Vilhila +1CL
Cholans
went about their business oblivious to the storm rising in the North.
Urban and rural improvements were carried out & investments were
made. All in all everything
was very peaceful and happy. The
new Kings wife also bore him 3 sons, it is all good.
Pandya: Well these Cholan folks seem like decent people.
Since the defenses are strong the Pandean’s built up economically.
Sri
Lanka:
The
King shipped one of his sons off to the far away colony of Zanzibar.
Zanzibar’s living conditions were improved somewhat, which made Prince
Timuri a little happier. At home the seas were patrolled and the lands
were a safer place for it.
Tripuri: Kosala NT
Peace and harmony in the kingdom after years of bloodshed a little diplomacy was in the cards apparently and the results were reasonably good for the first round of negotiations. The King watched the events to the North evolve with concern.
Uttar
Pradesh:
The
34-year-old king was in the prime of life or so everyone thought.
In his winter home in 1020 he passed due to complication stemming from
the flu.
The
Vasta had long been servants of the Raj of Uttar Pradesh and this had made the
Vasta Lord bitter. When the
Vasta Lord gained control of the army who he had been working with for many
years he gathered about him his most trusted advisors and acted.
The whole royal family was wiped out in one night.
It was tragic but such is life. The
Vasta Lord busied himself securing his new domain.
S.E.Asia:
Burma: Samata (NE)
LOTS
of Field Fortifications were constructed throughout the land.
Apparently the huge Bengal build up has all it’s neighbors concerned.
A royal road was constructed between Rangoon and Pagan.
All in all thinks will well within the realm.
Champa: Annam (T), Dai Viet (NE)
All
was calm…..army was reorganized a bit and moved into Annam, there was fear
there would be trouble but it passed.
Khmer: Hmong (FA), Preikuk (F)
The
peaceful transition to the king who comes of age occurred.
This happened just in time too as the young princes advisor passed on
this cycle. Some Field forts were
constructed in Surin and on the whole everything was running smoothly.
Vishnu
of SE Asia:
Conversion begins on the former island nation of Srivajaya.
Malay
Confederation:
Little build up and heavy patrolling of sea-lanes incase the Javans are not done
fighting.
Java:
Timor (NT)
The
King rested after his stressful conflict with the Srivajaya he needed a break.
He attempted to expand the family but
was
unsuccessful. The Prince
thought doing some exploration work might be fun, it nearly killed him.
The Prince
lost
most of his ships and returned home. He
arrived in time to see his father pass on and he picked up the reins of
ruler
ship unopposed.
Asia:
Sung:
Disastrous DF
Ma Deinchi Na, the Heir, died in 1020. Teit Lei became heir. In 1021 Cheng-Tsung who had done a huge amount to develop the infrastructure of his nation, passed. Normally when someone does so much good bad things don’t happen to them. That however was not the case this time. Zhou II the General of the armies felt the Sung Dynasty was overbearing and evil and the royal family must be removed, he did so, nearly. Prince Chou Tiberum escaped death with the aid of Tranzor Z. The rise of general Zhou II did cost the Sung Empire a bunch of Southern provinces that were only loosely aligned, everything below the Yangtze that wasn’t owned by the allied Tiger went “independent”.
General Zhou was not very worried those lands they were generally underdeveloped and would probably be easy to subdue when the need arose.Chan Cao and Shou Lung arrived in Kaifeng and declared their loyalty to Zhou and everything was running pretty smoothly. Zhou II kept his generals close so he could keep and eye on them. In 1022 just as things were starting to thaw out Zhou II slipped on the icy stairs coming out of the Palace. First it seemed to only be a concussion then his brain hemorrhaged and he died a week later. Now this truly was a disaster for the Empire. Apparently Chan and Shou hated each other and the battle for the military began immediately. The new commander of the navy fled immediately with most of the fleet in tow. Chan Cao and Shou Lung each had pretty equal shares of the military, a third commander a cousin of Zhou’s managed to grab a third faction and fled to the Yangtze valley and set himself up Shanan-Zhou kingdom. Chan Cao were to busy fighting among each other to stop the Shanan leader from fleeing.
Battle of Honan:
Both sides were evenly matched from top to bottom and the army was all elite. To open, both sides probed each other’s defenses. After a couple of hours of charges and counter charges that had little effect, Shou Lung lost his patience. He launched a big attack in the center to break Chan Cao formation. This assault was repulsed bloodily and so Shou Lung withdrew and the empire was split after some additional fighting with Chan Cao holding the advantage.
Many new nations popped up as a result of the two DF’s.
Bandit Kingdoms of Hunan: Ghang’de, Hunan, Miaol’ing and Kienchou
Loose confederation of bandits. These villains are dangerous on the battlefield and not to be trusted.
Shanan – Zhou: Szechwan, Hubei, Hupei, Jiangxi and Hwai
The Shanan Emperor is a formidable General in a long line of great generals; the Prince is no slacker either. Enter their lands at your own risk.
Jaingnan: Taipang, Kaingu, Fujain, Fukien, Kwangtung and Chekiang
Coastal kingdom just south of the Yangtze. The Sung Admiral fled to this area and so it is suspected that the former Sung fleet can be found here.
Jingji:
(Shou Lung’s Kingdom) Shensi,
Kansu, Houma, Hopei, Shan’sa, Chinling
Shou
Lung is a decent general and has an army of Elite troops to back him.
Clan
Iiachi:
Added Kwangzi and Ghozou
“Tiger
Clan” as they are also called is the guardian of the southern border and they
currently have the actual Sung Prince living with them.
They have been the beneficiaries of much generosity from the Sung but
since there is no longer a Sung Empire they are now on their own.
Buddhist
Primacy: Shentung,
Chang’An (MN), Nanchao, Tai’Li, Chekiang, Hangzhou, Tonkin, Palembang,
Sirivjaya (CH)
Chou
Ding died early in 1020 before he could go out and spread the faith, his son
picked up the reins of authority and completed his fathers tasks.
Ling was sent south to establish many churches, due to some misfortunes
this was not as successful as it could have been.
At the end of Ling’s journey he met with a bad fate disappearing in the
Vishnu Hindu province of Perak. Troubles
at home are a growing concern as Failures of the Government sometime carry over
into a failure of the religious institutions.
Nanchao: Lots of Field Forts.
His
Hsia:
Some economic Improvement and military build up.
Capital City is fortified.
Korea:
Urban
and rural development continued in the realm as the peaceful Koreans went about
their business. The
conversion of Mantap was started it however was totally ineffective.
Apparently the people of the land don’t understand the virtues of the
Buddhist faith.
Japan:
Troops
were built the army was mobilized and the King marched on Kwanto, bands played
girlfriends and wives cried war was serious business and the Japanese were going
to make the Minamato pay.
Into
Kwanto 8000 mostly regular infantry and 3000 Cavalry and
just enough Engineers to counter the forts.
The Minamoto was defending with 6000 Infantry mixed and 2000 Cavalry
mixed.
On
to the battlefield. The land was
pretty wide open and so it was difficult for the Minamato to delay to long the
Minamato Clan leader did delay as long as possible though because he had some
troops on the way from Toyoma province.
In the first battle of Kwanto the armies engaged in a pitched battle.
Emperor Kazi won the day because he managed to break the left flank of
his enemy with a big push by the Clan Fujiwara Samurai.
The Minamato line crumbled but the withdrawal was fairly orderly, neither
side had used their cavalry in the combat so the cavalry, thus the Minamato
cavalry had no problems screening against the Michinaga.
It appears that the Minamato plan was to fight then force Emperor Kazi to
have to regroup his army. Thus buying valuable time for the Toyama garrison to arrive.
This worked but there was a question of whether it would make a
difference.
Second
Battle of Kwanto: Emperor Kazi had
6600 Infantry and 3000 Cavalry. Minamato
and Toyama Clan Lords with 5500 Infantry (many lights) and 2000 Cavalry waited
in their “defensive positions”.
Kazi had his enemy were he wanted, they were within sight of the city of
Edo. They had no real escape route
all Kazi had to do is defeat his enemy and they would have to withdraw into the
city, Kazi knew he could then just wait them out with a passive siege.
Fate would not allow Kazi his certain victory though, while maneuvering
the army into position Kazi’s horses leg buckled and rider and horse took a
spill. Kazi’s horse rolled over
on him killing him. The army was in shock, the second in command ordered the army
from the field and back to the capital.
The
Minamato celebrated and before the end of the Cycle took Aichi which gave them
all of Northern Japan.
Back
in the Imperial Palace the now Emperor Nito was worried.
Would the Minamato move South of the mountains?
Was there a curse on his Clan, the Minamato campaign had already cost him
his father and brother, was he next? At
the end of the cycle Nito gathered his councilors around him and they planned
and plotted the next move. The
mountains would now be both a help and a hindrance.
Shinto: Many churches upgraded to abbeys. Hokkaido church established.
The Shinto were concerned about the events in Japan but the Clans had
always been powerful in Japan and often it is difficult to keep them from
fighting.
Minamato: Everything was thrown into to the defense of Kwanto province.
Field Fortifications, 600 Cavalry and 2000 Inexperienced Infantry were
mustered to go along with the existing forces.
See Japan for results.
Emperor
Nito,
The lands of the south are loyal to your regime and the lands of the
north are loyal to the Minamato. Rather
than continue the war consider drawing the boundaries of our nations were they
are at the end of this cycle. It
will give both of our clans a very defensible border.
The
Honorable Clan Leader,
Mogashi
Minamato
Liao: Wudan (F)
Defenses
and economic development were worked on successfully.
Australia:
Education
became top priority for the tribesmen of Australia. Strange folks on boats also stopped by, they seemed nice and
brought goods to trade. They also
shared some maps so that in the future maybe some Australian vessels could come
visit them.
New
Zealand:
Colony established on the Southern Island.
Contact made with Australia
Available Regular positions:
Hsi-Hsia:
Solid kingdom,
good economy
Nanchao:
Good kingdom well
defended nice economy.
Ghana:
African paradise.
Great African position.
Kanem:
Healthy with a
good upside.
Tibet:
Good nation,
decent economy and nice military.
Lamanist
Primacy: Buddhist
Tibetean based primacy. Good income and
large
domain.
Free
Positions:
Free players get 4 turns for free in these positions. The situation will then be
evaluated to see if it makes sense to move the nation off free status.
Bandit
Kingdoms of Hunan: Ghang'de,
Hunan, Miaol'ing and Kienchou
Loose
confederation of bandits. These villains are dangerous on the
battlefield
and not to be trusted.
Shanan
- Zhou: Szechwan,
Hbei, Hupei, Jiangxi and Hwai
The
Shanan Emperor is a formidable General in a long line of great
generals,
the Prince is no slacker either. Enter their lands at your
own
risk.
Jaingnan:
Taipang, Kaingu,
Fujain, Fukien, Kwangtung and Chekiang
Coastal
kingdom just south of the Yangtze. The Sung Admiral fled to
this
area and so it is suspected that the former Sung fleet can be
found
here.
Jingji:
(Shou Lung's
Kingdom) Shensi, Kansu, Houma, Hopei, Shan'sa,
Chinling
Shou
Lung is a decent general and has an army of Elite troops to back
him.
Clan
Iiachi: Added
Kwangzi and Ghozou
"Tiger
Clan" as they are also called is the guardian of the southern
border
and they currently have the actual Sung Prince living with them.
They
have been the beneficiary of much generosity from the Sung but
since
there is no longer a Sung Empire they are now on their own.
Minamota:
Northern Japan
Land
of good fortune, so far they have survived being destroyed because
they
lucked into killing two Japanese Emperor's. One they actually
killed
the other died of natural causes. They are quickly becoming
powerful.
Maylay
Confederation: Indonesia
Once
the Srivajaya a maritime nation with some potential since
apparently
the Javan's have decided not to kill them.
Chorasmia:
C. Asian nation
with a C2 province and 20 more years of
guaranteed
peace with Samarkhand.
Bolgars:
Small but
developing Steppe nation
Baltic
Trade Coalition: (Not
a Combine)
Small
but growing little island nation
Venice:
Added Malta and
Cyprus
This
nation has become the focus of anger from Catholics and Orthodox
nations.
Their fleet is sizable and they seem to have the ability to
thwart
the vaunted Roman Empire of the East at will.
Ethiopia:
Plateau kingdom.
Poor but pretty capable of defending
itself
against it's neighbors.
Chalukya:
Little Seafarer on
the West Coast of India. These folks
have a
decent economy and a decent defense.