[ETW AAR] The British Empire - A Multi-Perspective AAR (Updated: March 29th)

[BlueMoon]

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The British Empire
An Empire: Total War After Action Report

Introduction
Although the British Empire did not reach its largest size until the so-called “Imperial Century”, a period of British dominance from roughly 1815-1914, the 18th century did see much in the way of British expansion and growth. Although a relative latecomer to the New World, the British had gained a strong foothold in North America – though they would need to fight with the French to retain it. Yet while war with France is likely inevitable, the most important goal right now is British expansion and colonization, and to that end the British have their eyes set on a rich prize – India. This AAR will document the expansion of the British Empire in this century, through the perspectives of many different characters – from the lowly footsoldier, to the highest levels of the government.

Notes

• The campaign will be played on VH/H
• I know there are a lot of GB AAR's already, hopefully the different stlye of this one will make it unique. It's going to have several different characters, some of whom won't survive the storyline. By jumping back and forth between these character's perspectives, hopefully you can get a good idea of what is going on in the campaign as a whole.
• While it obviously won't be historically accurate, I do have a good idea of where I want to go with the story. If I have to give money to my enemies to make them stronger - I won't hesitate to do so if it will make the story better. This isn't my main campaign so I won't feel too bad about this.
• Finally, it might be several days between updates. I'll try to make each update as good as it can be, however, so hopefully you'll find it worth the wait.
• I'm been lurking here for a bit, but I decided to make an account and jump into the action, I hope you enjoy my first AAR.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - The War Begins
James Whitston - March 15th, 1700
John Churchill - December 18th, 1705
Martin Williams - December 18th, 1705

Chapter 2 - Expansion
Alex Wilson - July 23rd, 1712

[Oman2nd]

With the Multi-Person perspective, do you mean, One or two people from Europe, India and America?

[BlueMoon]

With the Multi-Person perspective, do you mean, One or two people from Europe, India and America?

Yes, sort of. There will be several characters - some in Europe, India, and America. Some may travel from Europe to America and then back to Europe, and so on. Basically it's just a story told from the perspective of many different characters.

[BlueMoon]

Chapter 1 - The War Begins
James Whitston - March 15th, 1700
The British and French were fighting again. Sure, they might say they were at peace, for the time being, but James knew that they were at war. And that war wasn’t being fought by generals and foot soldiers, at least not yet; it was being fought by people like James – rogues and spies who provided intelligence and helped create problems for the French. Often enough, that involved a quick dagger to the throat for some unfortunate Frenchmen. Today, that man was a French researcher; the British had realized he was working on developing military technology for the French. So, James had been sent to do the dirty work.
James quietly sharpened his blade. Damn French, he thought, all useless, really. He hated France, and he hated the French. This wouldn’t be too hard; James had killed before, more times than he could remember. He remembered his first time, like sex – quick and awkward. But it was all apart of growing up for him, by the time he was 15 he was more or less killing for a living. It was one of these hits that got him into a new business – killing for his country.
He had been hired to kill someone – and like most jobs he had expected it to be as easy as catching them in a dark alley and sticking a dagger in their chest. He had been hiding in the alley when he found himself with a knife around his own throat. The choice had been pretty simple – he preferred to live and do the king’s dirty work. In some ways the job wasn’t much different, and he didn’t have to worry about money. So, when it was needed, he would deal with an unfortunate researcher.

He stifled a cough as he heard footsteps coming around the corner. The clumsy researcher was fumbling with his keys at the door. James stepped out from behind the corner – “Monsieur, could you help me? I’m lost.”, he walked towards the man, reaching into his pocket as if to pull out a map. “I’m looking for the Chateau –,” he slashed forward with the dagger, digging it deep into the man’s chest. He twisted the dagger, and waited only long enough to make certain that the man was dead. Then he ran back the way he had come.
He marveled at how easy his job had become; of course occasionally he was sent to deal with French agents, and that often proved tougher. But a researcher with no training in combat – well that was child’s play for James. He was still smiling when the bullet exploded in the back of his head. One of those French agents had been waiting for him – he hadn’t missed.

…And the war had begun.

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I know this isn't a huge update, but it's just to give a flavor of what's to come. Soon the war between France and Great Britain will begin in earnest, and you can hear about it from other perspectives. That part will also have many more screenshots and what not so this isn't just a block of text, but you also see how E:TW plays into it. Hope you enjoyed, more to come later.

[hull19]

alwats been a fan of England. Count me in as a follower

[IronBrig4]

Keep it up. I grew up reading the Hornblower and Sharpe series, so it never felt right to play against Britain.

[Britannia Born]

Good stuff, I like (or liked...) the character, very gritty and roguish without all this honour and glory crap.

I look forward to your next update, keep up the good work.

Edit: Keep it up to this level and theres a rep in it for you!

[Gwyn ap Nud]

Very good writing! You have skill. Keep it up, and you will receive thine rep!

[Mickas the Great]

Wow that was pretty awesome, reminded me of the action you find in novels. Keep it up.

[BlueMoon]

I haven't given up on this. Expect an update soon - it'll have 2 characters, describing one battle (already completed one section).

Was very busy this week so never managed to finish it up, but I'll have it done by tonight or tomorrow I think.

Just an update in case anyone was following this.

[BlueMoon]

John Churchill – December 18, 1705
The war had indeed begun, John though to himself as he waited. He casually fidgeted in his saddle as he waited for the messenger to return. He doubted if the bastard French would accept their offer to surrender, but the courtesy must nonetheless be extended. John, of course, was not thinking of surrender, but of the enemy’s defenses – which he must now penetrate.
John knew he couldn’t afford to lose much more than a handful of men today. While some soldiers could be brought up from the colonies, those troops would be little more than skilled militiamen, and wouldn’t last a minute against well-trained French opposition. Indeed, attacking New France from the north, after arriving by sea, had been a much sounder strategy than attacking from the colonies. Arriving at Quebec the French were able to prepare little more than a handful of armed citizens – the city had fallen quickly. Yet, with the element of surprise gone, Montreal would be much harder to take.
From what he could see of the defenses, any attack directly from the front of the city – where the French were expecting it – would lead to heavy casualties. John aimed to direct his forces around the city; They would be spread thin as they worked their way around, and an easy target for the French – but if they made it around to the back of the city the attack would be much easier. It was one of many gambles John expected he’d have to make during this campaign.
The horseman had returned –
“Commandant Chauvin’s regards sir, but he refuses to surrender”
“Very well. My compliments to Major Williamson, if he would move his men forward – lets get this over with…”

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Martin Williams – December 18, 1705
Martin trudged forward, as the lines began to move towards the city. His feet hurt, the soles of his shoes were torn open; they had lasted for a few weeks, but marching for days through the snow and sludge had quickly worn them away. Although, at the moment, he wasn’t too worried about his feet; instead he was worrying about the soldiers he knew would be waiting for him.
Martin had joined the army for the same reason as all of the others – the daily ration of alcohol. And food of course, but that was less important. Now, however, it was time to earn his pay.
The artillery had begun to fire – their position inside the city, however, prevented many of their rounds from hitting the leading section of the battalion – where the East Kent Regiment to which Martin belonged was. The regiment had begun to thin out now, as they tried to squeeze around the side of the city – the idea was to reform behind the city, and behind the defenses. Of course, that would make them much more exposed as they ran along the sides.
Running past a building, Martin saw the cities’ defenses. As the man in front of him dropped to the snow, dying it red, he realized that an attack from the front would have been disastrous. The French Colonials, however, seemed to be unsure how to react – still expecting an attack from that side of the city.

Although several rounds flew past Martin, he reached the rear of the city, where the regiment took shelter behind a building. Looking through a window, he saw the French rotating their artillery to face the flood of British soldiers still pouring along the sides of the city. Their infantry, too, was quickly being turned towards the British. Martin backed away from the window as a bullet smacked into the wall beside it.
“Form up, you bastards!” – the order given, the sergeants were reforming the lines, and Martin was quickly pushed back into the formation. They began to march out from behind the building – and were greeted with a volley from the French. A few men fell to the ground, but the French had fired from too far – their inaccurate muskets had done little harm. The formation was quickly pressed forward, where – now from the back of the city – they began to fire on the French.
Martin fired, and began to reload his musket. The process was natural to him; he had fired enough rounds in drill that he could reload and fire without even thinking. The other soldiers were just as efficient – it made the British force deadly when firing in line. They were quickly decimating the untrained colonials.

They were not fleeing, yet though. While the shaken French infantry line continued to fire back at them, the pikemen were beginning to charge forward. Although they were quickly becoming obsolete, they still threatened Martin’s regiment – if they didn’t hold, the whole attack could easily be repulsed.
Martin fired a final shot and prepared for the incoming charge. He dived out of the way as a pikeman charged at him. Screaming, he raised his musket and slashed forward with the bayonet. The musket made contact with the man’s chest, and he fell to the snow. He didn’t have time to celebrate, however, as another soldier threw away the long spear, and pulled out a short sword. It shined in the sun as it flew towards Martin’s face. He raised his musket, and managed to push the sword back with it’s long stock. The man stumbled backwards, before a bayonet was stabbed into his throat.
Martin turned to slash at another colonial, the bayonet glancing of his shoulder. He raised the musket to attack another soldier. Instead, a daring enemy darted forward and stabbed him in his belly. Martin, crying out in pain, brought the weapon down on the man’s spine – shattering it. The last of the pikemen were fleeing, and he clutched his stomach as the blood began to flow out of it. He saw the hazy outline of another British regiment charging to flush the last enemy out of a building.
Two hours later, he was dead. Another soldier stooped down to dig in his pockets, cutting the lining of the jacket. He collected the few coins which fell into his hand, and moved on to the next body – whistling. Montreal had fallen.

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Well, it took longer than I would have liked but at least I finally got this part done. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll try to stop killing off all my characters, but I decided I didn't like this one. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Also - I resized the screenshots a bit - do you guys think a higher res would look better? Or is this easier for those of you who don't have super high resolution monitors?

[Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh]

Wow. Lovely writing style. +rep.

[Roloc]

Very good indeed

[Britannia Born]

Excellent update, and I think the screens look better now, particualy nice one showing Martin's death.

Another one like that before Friday and I shall grace you with my rep.

[Gwyn ap Nud]

You're very good! Nice writing, I feel the characters. I like seeing the battle from the troopers perspective, much more interesting.

[Lord Romanus III]

I'll be following. Good work by the way.

[tuore]

I'll follow this one.

[BlueMoon]

Thanks for the comments guys. I've already begun playing the next few years of the campaign, and I'll try and get the next part of the AAR out sometime this week. Like CA though, it's always possible that will get postponed

[Spartaaaa]

good arr. plus rep

[Paravin.]

Awesome AAR. +Rep