"Life within a vice" - A Georgian AAR

[AlphaDelta]

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Authors notes:

* I am in no way an expert on Georgia or medieval Georgian military practises. So take this AAR for what it is - A work of fiction.
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"Life within a vice" - A Georgian AAR

Part 1 - The Kingdom.

It is the year of our lord 1174, and in the center of the world, there lives a nation of Christians among a world of disbelievers.

It has been nearly 50 years since the great King David IV died and 52 years since the battle of Didgori where the great Georgian people reclaimed their capital from the Seljuq hordes. With unknown evils to the North, imperial expansion coming from the west and Turkic hordes from the east, we once again fear conflict is coming. For thousands of years we have lived here and we will never be moved from this land again.

You may call me Eprem, I am a diplomat in the service of our master Mephet Mephe Giorgi and I will attempt to teach and inform you of our Kingdom. The beautiful land of Georgia stretches from Telavi in the east ...

... To Kutaisi in the west.

The great Mephet Mephi Giorgi currently resides in his Royal Palace within our strong capital of Tbilisi. 55 years of age, he is getting to a stage when his command will soon be passed to his son. Giorgi and his wife, Burdukhan have a son and a 13 year old daughter. Demetre, their son, who is the heir to the throne is 25 years old, and currently guards the passes to the south with his army of Georgian warriors. He is a true commander and someone that will make a great king of the future.

Our generals are spread on the edges of our Kingdom. David Bagrationi, a 22 year old, un-tested Georgian general is in camp south east of Telavi. He will be the first to respond to any Seljuq incursions into Georgian territory.

To the west, currently laying in rest within Kutaisi is Ivane Orbeli. 50 years of age, he is a man with great experience. However, within the last few years has proved himself to be a man to be wary of. He will defend our western coastline against Roman expansion.

Financially the Kingdom is in trouble. We have limited funds but a strong army, if we do not act quickly it is feared that the coffers will run empty and rebellion could follow.

Mephet mephi Giorgi is sure to act soon..

[AlphaDelta]

Part 2 - Warning signs from the past.

To combat the negative flow of money, the great Mephet Mephe Giorgi orders the dispanding of our elite Monaspa cavalry. This is met with a deal of shock as these men have been the protectors of our land for many years. Without this elite cavalry the Kingdom becomes ever more vunerable to the hordes of horse archers that have plagued our lands in the past.

Davids army in the east is no longer the mighty force it once was and there is worries about what lurks beyond our door. To strengthen our eastern flank Mephet Mephe Giorgi orders the construction of stockades around Telavi.

To the east our spy Dachi moves. It is his job to monitor the land for any sign of invasion. Just south of Shamakha, a large town to the east of Telavi, he spots a disturbing sight. An army of Seljuq forces heading west.

It could surely not have come at a worse time. With the Monaspa cavalry dispanded we have left ourself facing a greater force. To counter the threat Giorgi orders general David to move east and block the force on the bridge to the east of Ganja. It is hoped that some day Ganja will become a part of Georgia.

A further order is given from the Royal palace to recruit 70 kartlian spearmen. This small force of men will be used to guard the bridge in order to defend against any incursion.

Upon hearing the news, the faction heir Demetre moves swiftly, and without orders, east towards the bridge. The scouts of General David's army soon spot the friendly army moving towards them and report the news of the sighting to a relieved general.

[jermagon]

Very cool AAR Alpha

[The Mongol]

Awesome, thanks for taking the time to do this


P.S. Ganja, tee hee!

[AlphaDelta]

Part 3 - Diplomacy must come first.

It is winter now within the Kingdom and our great King has ordered we westward. He wishes that I engage in diplomacy with our christian neighbours, namely the Eastern Romans. It is believed that alliance and strong trade relations are crucial to our defenses. We must have an alliance with our bretheren.

A quickly as it appeared, the great Seljuk force melted away. Dachi has been searching for several weeks now, but has found nothing and reported no news.

In order to provide a defensive post against the Seljuks, Demetre decides once again without orders, to besiege and if possible, attack Ganja. Concern soon spreads across Tiblisi that the heir to their throne could bring war upon them.

The siege has begun, we shall soon see their reaction...

Meanwhile after a long morning of negotiations, Alexius prince of the the Eastern Roman Empire agrees to form an alliance. At once I send the news home to Tiblisi that peace will be on our western flanks for many years to come.

The reaction of the Ganjans is unexpected. They refuse to enter into negotiations and their stocks are expected to last atleast another 2 years. With the Seljuq army looming somewhere in the east, Demetre decides he must attack. Two battering rams are constructed and battle lines are formed outside the city gates.

[firekiller]

nice very cool faction this is

[nnnm]

Really AD this is the best AAR I ever seen

[AlphaDelta]

Part 4 - Extending the Kingdom

Battle cries are heard through out the Georgian lines as they await the battle of the day. Just 200 meters ahead of them lies a nut that this day shall be cracked. The heavy Monaspa bodyguards stand ready for the fight as they watch their Kartlian bretheren move towards the gates.

The faction heir, gazes over his battle lines and attempts to slow his beating heart. The grip on his sword gets tighter and tighter as he prepares himself for his first battle.

As the Kartlians approach the mighty gates, levied archers line the walls and begin to fire upon the approaching Georgians. In an attempt to set ablaze the battering ram the rebel archers set alight their arrows.

A scream is heard from within the ranks of the Kartlians as they push their rams onwards. Seconds later, as the men move forward, a bloodied, trampled Georgian lies face down in the mud. First blood has been drawn.

Behind the gates lay mainly levies and light infantry, however the town has a garrison of Azerbaijani warriors. Heavily armoured and strongly disciplined infantry, they will prove to be our strongest foe today.

The gates of the town come crashing open and the mighty Kartlians spill forward into the settlement.They are met with brutal sword swings that crush their light armour down onto their very bones. Out numbered the Georgians are heard calling for support.

The Metsikovhne are ordered through the breach and forward they rush. They are barely to the gates when both generals and their bodyguards join the charge into the settlement.

Both Mephe and general David crash through the enemy lines and waste no time in heading for the town square. They are met along the way by a small unit of nomadic horse archers. These men are entirely unsuitable for this kind of war and are quickly destroyed.

The warlord of the settlement is slain and crushed under the heavy hooves of a Georgian warhorse.

Back at the gates the battle continues. The garrison archers charge the enemy lines and with the help of their Kartlian brothers the remaining enemy forces do not fight for long.

The bloody massacre continues as the enemy forces run for cover.

The battle is complete, the settlement is spared from slaughter or pillage. It has been a costly day for the sons of Georgia.

[IrAr]

Love the AAR, AD!

[Rex Armeniae]

Ok AD... I dont know what to say. But this is highly appreciated, thanks for this AAR, it looks awesome.

And yeah by the way...

[Drtad]

Hmm... You have a very unique style, very nice! Hope to see this continued.(if it doesn't inhibit BC's release, that is)

[Ieuano]

awesome stuff AD!

[Miraj]

Loving this AAR!

(if it doesn't inhibit BC's release, that is)

AD's already done 190% of what he originally set out to do, let the man enjoy himself!

[Tadzreuli]

this great AAR, thanks AD !!!! + rep

[Ahiga]

Loving this AAR!



AD's already done 190% of what he originally set out to do, let the man enjoy himself!

Yeah, I'm the guy whose been slacking!

Really great work AD! Very well written.

[Rex Armeniae]

Just one question, whats RB and CB (You can see on the pic where your spy spies on the seljuk army.

[Ahiga]

Regular bow and close bow. It's a unique trait of the Seljuks in order to make them as something other than just a generic horse-archer army.

The summary is that Regular bow is a Regular Horse archer, skirmishing from afar with regular arrows that do light damage. The close bow is a horse archer who focuses on closing in on the enemy, and getting within range in which their bow can pierce armor (Hence, Close bow has closer range, but AP).

The practice seems utilized by more than just the Turks, but in my impression it seems like it's very much a Turkish Specialty, and so we decided to give it to the Seljuks only. We've tested it enough to make sure it won't be too unbalanced, but further tweaks will likely be required given it's an entirely new component to the MTWII battlefield.

In the future, I'd like to try and find a way to incorporate another archery-style for horse archers: Volley fire, or shower shooting, practiced by professional horsemen and Ghulams. This would be a fast-firing, lower accuracy, lower damage attack, originating from the Byzantines and Persians as a counter to the steppe-Horse archers. Ideally, what this would be is a way for your heavy-horse archers to be more of a 'turret' and less of a 'horse archer with armor': They would be there to send a quick series of volleys into an approaching enemy, or to ward off lighter horse archers by doing a quick-firing and low damage attack.

But while I have an idea of how that will work (Tweak arrow properties, tweak stats), we haven't thought to work on it for 1.0, if ever.

[Strelac]

Reading this is the closest I came to playing the BC campaign since past couple of months. Thanks for this adventure AD.

[Kalos]

Great work on this. For a second I thought I was playing it.

[teh.frickin.pope]

Hmm, I wonder where those Seljuks have headed off too.