Deus Lo Vult-Conversion by the blade Teutonic AAR

[Harry Lime]

Good start to your AAR. Interesting premise as you said, with two fronts. Can't wait to see those kick-ass Ritterbruder in action!! KUTGW

[Furin]

very nice! This is the site i used for uploading my pictures, it is german but fast and you can easily create folders and move pictures http://pixpack.net/.

Looking forward to your next installment!

Edit: I can't seem to find the thread anymore in which I gave a step by step tutorial for non english speakers how to use pixpack, but if you want to use it and need help just pm me, ok?

[Imperator of Rome]

Ok the battle screens will come in a few minutes,lemme turn on my teutonic kingdoms music!

[Imperator of Rome]

Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Ierosolimitanorum 1191-1192 A.D

The year of 1191 A.D included these events.Earlier in the year,Duke Conrad of Konigsberg was appointed Duke of Raseiniai by the Hochmeister.After that the Hochmeister went back home to train an elite group of knights,the company of Deutsche Ausleseritter or known to some as the Ritterbruder.He plans to use this force to bring the fear of God into this rebel and any other pagan who threatens Christian land.

Also a agreement in the East is concluded between Prince Heinrich and the Kings of Armenia,it is a mutual defense treaty in case the Muslims prepare to throw their weight on the Outremer.




The Duke of Konigsberg,Archduke of Stettin and the Hochmeister begin to ride out and designate fortified posts,****z finds it harder and harder to raid their lands.

Hartmut is in Italy near the town of Venice when he is stoped by a company of knights with the Imperial eagle on their shields.Hartmut has just ran into an army of the Emperor and his electors.Hartmut is led to a man with a cloak bearing the Emperor's eagle,and the coat of arms of the Duchy of Swabia.The man uncover his helm and a long beard flows from it,Hartmut then bows to Frederick Barbarossa the Great.The two then start to speak.
Frederick Barbarossa:Welcome citizen of the Empire,to the camp of the Emperor,what does Hochmeister Hermann needs,as I have heard of his great victories in the Baltics.
Hartmut:I was going to speak to the Venicians,but it seems they are quite busy,we could benefit from a map agreement.
Frederick Barbarossa:Aye we could,I've heard there is even a Archduchy established there,it's agreed for a payment of one thousand florins,the Italian states are rebelling and we need aid.
Hartmut:Agreed Great Emperor,heir of Charlemagne.I see I must leave,before a pitched battle ensues and I'am mistaken as a Venician and killed.
Frederick Barbarossa:Farewell,I have to rouse the sprit of my knights and take the town of Venice by storm before Genoa and all the enemy states band up against me.
As Hartmut leaves,he is escorted by Imperial Knights to the safety of south Germany.Frederick soon after orders his immense army to advance.

[Imperator of Rome]

Finale:The battle of Marienburg 1193 A.D

The Hochmeister examines his elite crack troops,armed in chainmail and wearing tourney like helms to separate themselves from the rank and file.He has deemed the force good enough and orders a complete mobilization of the order in Marienburg.The numerous banners flow out of the County towards ****z's army which is waiting for battle.

Now here is the background of ****z,actually ****z was a high ranking noble of Lithuania,until he wanted more then to be an noble.Power and authority was his drugs,he desired to slay the Lord of Lithuania and his Duchy rebelled.****z was always a good commander and was able to defeat the King in battle muiltiple times.But eventually more nobles joined in and he was overwhelmed when he tried to take the capital.With no army and no land,he lived a life of raiding and killing and this eventually brought him to Marienburg where he makes money and plans to destroy the King of Lithuania army once and for all.But first this Hochmeister,this so called defender of the faith must fall and this land must become his.He confidently marches his army to battle.



The Hochmeister outnumbers ****z army 15,250 to 10,900,will the Hochmeister's might overwhelm the ****z's army,or will the Hochmeister last charge be in his own land?

The Order kneel down and pray before they go into battle,the Hochmeister puts the infantry in a sweep formation,he plans to break through the enemy line.



Order Marshall Leopold is leading the Ritterbruder forces and supervising the infantry,Hochmeister Hermann gives him the signal to tell the archers to let loose their volleys.A men carrying the bow banner runs to the front of the line and waves the banner.The archers crank up crossbows and pull their bowstrings.The result:the sky is dark with arrows.****z immedietely tells the knights to charge the crossbowmen,Hochmeister Hermann tells his knights to start charging in response,the battle is about to start.



Hochmeister Hermann watches as the archers retreat and rides to the left flank to make sure his newly appointed squires don't get overwhelmed,the knights on the right flank ride recklessly twirling their blades and yelling Deus Lo Vult.



The knights decimate the enemy cavalry but the elite of the ****z's army,the pikemen nicknamed the unyielding wall slowly marches towards the knights,Order Marshall Leopold is in complete control of the right flank and thus orders the knights to retreat,the knights ignore his order until they see the impending wall of spikes coming towards them then they regain their senses.Meanwhile,the Marshall is ready to charge the wall of spikes and break the pike formation,he hopes the knights will charge the back of the pikemen while he is engaged with them.The Hochmeister is still on the left flank,waiting for an opening for a charge.



Both of the armies' lines are in chaos,in order for the Hochmeister to flank the enemy he devotes some idle spearmen to hold off the infantry that are charging the order's line,****z is sallying around in the middle of the line slaying Order troops left and right.****z then does through the gap in the middle of the line and charges the Hochmeister's reserve.The crossbowmen in the reserve reinforce the right flank,the Hochmeister meanwhile has destroyed the enemy's left flank.Marshall Leopold is still heavily engaged with the pikemen,waiting for the knights to charge....all looks well.





Instead of attacking the rest of the line,the Hochmeister charges ****z,on the right flank,one half of the unyielding wall actually yields and the knights are engaging the reserve of the line.





The efforts of the Teutonic Order pays off,the left flank is completely routed,Order Marshall Leopold is seen hacking the pagans left and right and cheering in victory,meanwhile the duel between ****z and Hochmeister continues.****z is drenched in blood,his and the enemy's,the rest of his knights have started running away and he fights the Hochmeister's knights like a lion.He hacks through the knights and yells at his fleeing knights,they return to him and just as they do he runs into the spear of a order troop.He is unhorsed and quickly impales the spearmen with his sword,he then pulls the sword out and blocks another spearmen's thrust,he dispatched him also.Then he sees the Hochmeister dismount and the Hochmeister,despite being around 50years old runs towards ****z.****z runs toward's the Hochmeister and lunges his blade at him,the Hochmeister deflects the blow with his shield and bashes him in the face with his shield.Hochmeister Hermann tells ****z as he waits for ****z to recover,You might have lived as a pagan but you will die like a man!****z then yells and does an horizontal slash at Hochmeister Hermann,Hochmeister Hermann jumps back and runs at ****z and impales him in the chest with his blade,****z slowly closes his eyes and falls down peacefully as the Hochmeister pulls his blade out of his chest.Thus,****z the former Duke born from the wildlands in the Baltic is dead.





The knights and Hochmeister's squires run down some of ****z's army,but eventually they are left alone.The Order is tired,their courage was undeniable,their valor great.The Hochmeister ordered the burial of all the fallen except ****z's troops,meanwhile ****z was buried because of his courage in battle.The Hochmeister and his Order Marshall kneel and pray to God for their victory,then the rest of the order are ordered to march home to the celebration and feast the Hochmeister will surely host.

[Imperator of Rome]

End of Chapter One:Summary

The arrival of Hochmeister Hermann to the northern frontier has changed the political situation in the Baltic.This energetic Grandmaster has made the Teutonic Order a strong force to be reckoned with in a mere 13 years.But there is more trouble in the horizon,the Grandmaster has to choose between allegience to Frederick the Great or to the pope.The pope and the Frederick hatred between each other has risen to new heights,the pope ordered immediete disassociation between the Teutonic Order and the Emperor.This will of course be solved in chapter 2,lets see some of the changes that happened in some of the characters.



Hartmut:The austere diplomat has graced the foreign nations of Magyar Kiralysag and Poland's hearts.His respectful nature and his skill at diplomacy has made relations between others better then ever.



The Duke of Konigsberg,Conrad:He is married to a Danish princess and he rules of course with justice.Noone dares raid his lands or they will find a empty town and a angry Duke soon after!




The Archduke of Stettin,Fritsche Ruppel:Has encounted relatively little trouble and is the most recent of arrivals to the Order.He is happily married to Brigitta and is father to two daughters.




Cardinal Thorsten:He is in good favor in the papacy for converting the lands of Raseiniai and any who wants to meet the Cardinial can visit him,either when he is preaching to the congregation or fasting and praying with his monks.




Prince of Galilee,Heinrich von Salza:Even though being a talented leader of the Acre castle,his inactivity is not his fault,no crusades have been announced or no wars have been waged in this area.He has one daughter and is awaiting a chance to conquer the Arabs.



Diplomacy,family and stats screen.

Family and Stats



Diplomacy



Thats the end of Chapter 1,thank you for witnessing the events of the Teutonic Order!

[AP49]

von Salza looks like a disloyal dog . What are those white units in acre holding crosses?

[Imperator of Rome]

von Salza looks like a disloyal dog . What are those white units in acre holding crosses?

Heinrich is alone with control of all the Teutonic lands in the east,and he wants a kingdom for himself,which would explain his increasing disloyalty.Hopefully he won't become an rebel,or a crusade might becoming there soon.Those white units in Acre are militant monks,they are in the kingdoms campaign for the Teutonic map.I'am going to sleep for now,I might start chapter 2 tomorrow morning or in the evening,gotta think of a good name first though.

[Windtalker]

first of all my congratulations for this AAR - really good story and commentary!

small hint for you - it'd be much easier to you to catch the screens automatically with some software, ex. Catcher. it's free for use and gives you the ability to catch a lot of good shots, browse and finally save the best of them. here you'll find the software I've mentioned above: http://www.maxdelphi.prv.pl/. this is a Polish language site and either the software is, however I believe there must be a lot of similar applications at your favorite language version on the web

I'm writing this because I've noticed that most of battle pictures you've made after pause selecting and by telling this just wanted to help

[Imperator of Rome]

Are there any english versions around the web,and how does this software works?

[Imperator of Rome]

Overview of Europe:The English and the French have begun their wars that will eventually escalate into the Hundred Years War.France is still fragmented and the feudal nobles still defy the French King's rule.



The Danish are at peace with the Empire and the Teutonic Order,it would be foolish for them to attack Germany or the Order,or the powerful leaders of both factions would overwhelm the Capital of the Danes.Besides,going north will probably be their safest bet



The most chaotic realm is the southern part of the Holy Roman Empire.The Milanese and Venice are also at war,battering each other instead of fighting the real threat.Frederick is not that easily beaten,and plans to persuade his electors to take another campaign down south,he secretly wants to destroy the Kingdom of Sicily and claim all of Italy,which is the Holy Roman Emperors right.



Poland has expanded and their borders are in direct contact with the Holy Roman Empire and the Teutonic Order,same situation as the Danes.



Lithuania has been successfully isolated by the Hochmeister,all that is left is for his convention in Rome to start,and his war with them declared a crusade.The lithuanians will soon be wiped from the map.



Magyar Kiralysag has seen an era of expansion and peace with prosperity,their lands are rich and their rulers are competent and known throughout east Europe.



The middle east is relatively quiet,the Eastern Romans have got rid of Andronicus Comnenus and a slow expansion is underway.The outremer is peaceful,a powerful alliance is held there between the christian factions and it would be interested to see what the Fatimids or Seljuks could do if they warred against them.

[Malik of Sindh]

This aar is great!I use very similar style to yours in my Pontos AAR in the org.Your AAR is much better than mine in all ways!

[Imperator of Rome]

Chapter 2:Invasion of the Teutons!

Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Ierosolimitanorum 1194 A.D

The Hochmeister decides to delay the break of the alliance between him and Frederick the Great.The delay can not last forever,and if the pope doesn't die soon,he will have to follow the papacy's orders,politically it could be a disaster.

The Hochmeister is planning to march into the wildlands and cleanse them,he expects this to be his last campaign.He has sent a letter asking for blessings from the pope and a request for an crusade.While he is sitting at a desk in Konigsberg,the page rushes up the castle and hands the letter with the papal insignia for authorization for a crusade.The Baltic Crusade has begun.The bells are rung,the knights begin to equip themselves and the squires run to their Hochmeister,prepared to help him with his armor.The march to Marienburg then Lithuania has started.



At Marienburg,Gerard de Ridefort,the master of the Templer Order joins Hochmeister Hermann's court.Lithuania's situation looks hopeless.

While the army is marching towards Lithuania,more and more reports of Catholic nations taking up the cross arrive,the only local contender is Poland,which will most likely do a joint attack with the Teutonic Order.



The Polish catch up with the Teutonic Order,Hochmeister Hermann force marches his army to stay ahead of Konrad Piast,this is his crusade and he will be supreme commander,not a favored noble of the Krol.

The city is under siege by Hochmeister Hermann,a continual barrage of arrows fly between the town and the camp.Hermann needs help,the Grand Duke has a elite force of shock cavalry and reinforcements ready to attack his camp.He awaits Konrad Piast,he will not try his chances with the Duke

[Imperator of Rome]

First Lithuanian Crusades-Siege of Vilnius 1197 A.D

Konrad Piast sudden disppears,chasing after the Lithuanian reinforcements alone,he destroys them in a pitched battle,Hochmeister doesn't know about this until he sees the banners of Konrad's army again.They are still too far away,and the Lithuanians are getting bloodthristy.Hochmeister,as always,prays to God before he is joined by his knights at the right flank of the camp.



Now we can talk about a major character in this battle,Grand Duke Algimantas of Lithuania:A man born to blood and slaughter,while his father was expanding Lithuanian influence,Algimantas led his father's crack troops,the brothers of the blade.Left and right,Algimantas scored victories agaisnt the Kievens,the city of Novgorod,and Poland.His charges were decisive and his victories seemed as if his enemies were hunted by Velnias and Giltinė.Then his father died and Algimantas was crowned Grand Duke.He became a even more harsh man,executing peasants for trivial reasons and basically alienating some of his nobles,his tax rates were astounding,its a wonder why Lithuania isn't' rich,but he only spends his money on his retinue of cavalry,reinforced mailed elite horsemen armed with steel blades and mail barding.That explains ****z's revolt and why ****z had a numerical superiority in the early stages of the rebellion,Duke Algimantas was a better administrater then ****z would ever be,so eventually the Grand Duke won the war.Now he awaits the Hochmeister,hoping that he will capture this fool and torture him to death slowly but surely while the priests chant their foul curses upon him.

[Imperator of Rome]

This aar is great!I use very similar style to yours in my Pontos AAR in the org.Your AAR is much better than mine in all ways!

Thank you very much,siege of Vilinius coming up soon,I need a break heh.

[Malik of Sindh]

Im also a Lithuanian,but i tell you this:Slaughter all of them!Leave none exept me and and few other decent people in Lithuania!Why am I saying this?Because i hate my homeland

[Imperator of Rome]

Lmao,Hochmeister Hermann allows pillaging but no mass ethic cleansings,he needs catholic subjects not zero subjects.

[Windtalker]

Im also a Lithuanian,but i tell you this:Slaughter all of them!Leave none exept me and and few other decent people in Lithuania!Why am I saying this?Because i hate my homeland

don't be Malik, I'm a Pole and I admire your nation, truly and honestly! your country has great history behind, worth to remember about this

@Imperator: I'll collect some softwares' titles for easy screen catching and send you a PM later on about that, if you don't mind

[Imperator of Rome]

First Lithuanian Crusades-Siege of Vilnius 1197 A.D

The forces of both respective armies are described here

Hochmeister Hermann,Count of Marienburg
16,380 men under two subcommanders and numerous minor knights.
Order Marshall Leopold-Commander of the Ritterbruder shock force
Sir Gerard de Ridefort-Commander of the Crusader Cavalry

Grand Duke Algimantas,Duke of Vilnius
17,170 men under retinue holders and Duke Algimantas brother.
Count Gerimantas-Commander of the Brothers of the Blade shock cavalry company,Grand Duke Algimantas' brother.

Order Marshall watches over the left flank of the line and the siege machines,both Gerard de Ridefort and Hochmeister Hermann await the breach.The Order does not have enough archers to make an effect on the opposing army so the Hochmeister doesn't bother sending them out.



The two siege rams proceed and the crusader footmen wait for the rams to break through the wall,Order Marshall Leopold is anxiously awaiting the breach,he will be the first to go in and face the Brothers of the Blade.Both the wall and the breach break and the Order footmen surge through the gate,while the Ritterbruder do a suicidal charge against cataphracted horsemen.The knights and the Hochmeister wait for their chance,determining when the Lithuanian spearwall will break.





On the right breach,the Brothers of the Blade have started to draw back,Count Gerimantas looks in amazement at the Ritterbruders,even though the battle is quite even,with the yelling,cursing Lithuanians on the attack more then the defense,and the Ritterbruder and crusader infantry holding their ground.



The gate breach side is almost undefended,so much that Gerard de Ridefort informs the Hochmeister and both move to the gate,ready to charge.The situation is the same at the second,the Ritterbruder wave their instruments of death around,awaiting the rout that will be the profit of their labors.



Then the Grand Duke's warcries stop.The Lithuanian forces are in confusion,have their Grand Duke died?Alas the Grand Duke and the leader of the Brothers of the Blade fought off the surge of Order soldiers at the first breach.Count Gerimantas was stabbed in the chest with a spear,he fell while his horse ran away,bleeding out of his chest he killed a few spearmen before the Order troops tripped him and overwhelmed him while he was on the ground.The Grand Duke was on foot,encouraging his men,telling them to honor their fathers and fight with Lithuanian valor.His steel gold gilded helm could be seen from one breach to the other,his unconquerable sprit elating the Lithuanian army,this was their king and he would die or succeed with them.While he was yelling at some routing men,telling them to go back into the fray,he was hit in the back with an arrow,he groaned as he dropped to his knees.another arrow hit him in the neck.The Grand Duke,then fell to the ground,trying to breath but to no avail,one of the most cruel and valiant of the Baltic sovereigns dead.



Apparently,both Grandmasters sense weakness and they give the order to charge.A wave of knights go through the breaches,twirling their blades and yelling the universal crusading cry of Deus lo Vult.



The routed infantry can not hold their ground against the knights.A general slaughter begins.The crusaders then begin looting the town,kicking down doors and burning heathen places of worship.The citizens either stay to feel the punishment of the Crusaders or run away from the Lithuanian capital,to another castles still occuipied by the Grand Duke's forces.

[Imperator of Rome]

Battle screens are done,check them out.