[APE AAR] Rebirth : Knights of Saint John

[Burnoutfigs]

After years of moving from place to place in Europe the Knights became established in 1530 when Charles V of Spain, as King of Sicily, gave them Malta,Gozo and the North African port of Tripoli in perpetual fiefdom in exchange for an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon. The Hospitallers continued their actions against the Muslims and especially the Barbary pirates. Although they had only a few ships they quickly drew the ire of the Ottomans, who were unhappy to see the order resettled. The Ottomans launched a series of attacks againts the Knights, who had to abandon Tripoli. After years of fighting the Knights of Saint John are still around fighting for God and Order. What will the next Grand Master do? Survive day by day to hold the Order together or will he conquer new lands and bring the Order back to its former Glory? This is where our story begins.

First Years

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Our Grand Master Ramon I isnt the strongest of rulers, but he does have great ambition to bring the Knights back to power in the modern world.

The first thing that must be done is to gain trade so that we can build our armies. Ramon sent diplomats all over the world to gain trading partners, but it was very hard to get someone to trade with us for we did not have much to offer. There were two Countries that where willing. Both were trying to make there mark on the world, so the partnership was a good one. First it was the Protestant nation of Prussia, ruled by Friedrich I and the Second was the Maratha Empire, ruled by Tarabai I.

After that we starting recruiting for our military, but things are slow going, because our manpower on malta is very small. After the first few years we finally hade a military. We didnt have that many numbers, but we are the Knights of Saint John. Our skill at combat is unmatched in the world.

We now have our eyes set on Tunis, home of the Barbary Pirates.

Battle for Tunis.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

While trying to decide what would be the best time to launch an attack on the Barbary States a message comes in from our spies. A Revolution has happened in Tunis. It has become a Republic of sorts. To us its more of a Dictatorship, but this could be our chance. They are not organized and they have lost so many men to the revolt, we must attack now. Our men load on a ship for a land that is very hostile, but these men know they have a job to do and if they win the day, the whole world would rejoice. The General that has been put in charge of the assault is Patrizio Eppolito, he is an aged warrior as he has defended against countless assaults on Malta.




After a short voyage the men land on the shores of Tunis and right away they march on the city. It seems they have taken the pirates by suprise for there are very few defended the city. In fact most of what we see are armed populace. This shall be a swift victory.




The General using hardline tactics launched his attack. His goal was to hit them hard and hit them fast. so he sent his Calvary after one of the units that was off by themselves. The men on horse went in so fast that not on shot was fired at them. They rode in and cut down the riflemen in short order.




Our Foot soldiers went to deal with the armed populace. They marched on them as they charged in full force, we had enough time to take one shot and then it was hand to hand fighting. There people were no match for our trained warriors and we cut them down one by one. Seeing that they had no choice most ran off and others surrendered. The City was ours.




Now we must deal with our own rebelions. No matter what we would keep this city and her resources so that we can bring our influence to the world again.

Years of Peace and Pain

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The next few years had its ups and downs. The people of Tunis are not easily camled as we first thought. We had
Plans to take most of the army away from Tunis and take more lands away from the Barbary Pirates, but we cannot
spare taking anyone away from Tunis. So our leaders had to do the unspeakable, a peace treaty with the Barbary
States. Most men in the Order accepted what there Masters have done, but some where not as happy about the treaty.
There where rumors of revolt around Malta. Then Two major events happened, the death of the great General Patrizio
Eppolito. He was a great man known as the deffender of Malta and the man who added Tunis into the Orders hands.

Then just a few days later our Grand Master died and the whole Order mourned. So we didnt look weak a new Grand
Master was appointed, Antoine I. He is a very educated and wealthy man, but he leadership has never been tested.

His first order was to send a fleet to the Ivory coast to take out the pirates there and establish a trade route.
The pirates there have taken out all trade ships in the area. All other factions could not spare any warships to
protect them, because they where in major wars at the time. So he thought if he did this the Order would gain the
respect of all nations and be the first in a long while to bring ivory to europe. So he sent the best Admiral that
we have, Alfonso Torricelli. He is a aged seaman with many years fighting the pirate ships in the Mediterranean
Sea.

When the fleet showed up at the Ivory Coast, we ran into a pirate fleet right away. the fleet commanded by Jan de
Berry was the largest fleet to operate here and we knew it was going to be a hard battle.
Our ships went in full sail with guns blazing. In the end the one with the skill and God by his side one the day.
We have taken out all of the pirate ships and even captured two galleons to add to our fleet. It was a good day.




For a few years later everything seemed to be going well, we where making tons of money off of ivory trade. Antoine
knew that we didnt not have enough manpower to make our army to compete witht eh rest of europe, so he passed a
bill that if any native african wish to join the army he would be able to claim citizenship in the Order.
Now that the army is getting stronger, soon we may start our conquest of new lands. Let us pray that we do not over
step our bounds.

[Danigol of South America]

good job!

[Seleucos of Olympia]

Yes, keep it up!

[Stildawn]

Nice.. I love AAR's keep it up lol.

[Indus_Valley]

Good faction to do an AAR with . Looking forward to it, then I'm gonna play as them. Manpower's going to be an issue

[Septimius The Bold]

Nice. Starting out well.

[Burnoutfigs]

Good faction to do an AAR with . Looking forward to it, then I'm gonna play as them. Manpower's going to be an issue

Manpower is hard until you capture Tunis or one of the north africa provinces, manpower will be the least of your problems.

[The Donz]

Nice to see more APE:TI AAR's. Looking forward to the part with the pirates of the caribean.

+rep

[Orko]

Nice one! +rep

[Amaz]

lol nice!!!

[Burnoutfigs]

****UPDATED****

[Orko]

Why do the knights have a Danish/Savoy flag?

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

Why do the knights have a Danish/Savoy flag?

Their flag carrier is Danish/Savoyian (Spelling)???

[Edward lV]

The official flag of the knights changed to that one after the crusades when they became a seperate nation i think.

[Burnoutfigs]

This is a flag of the Knights of Saint John...Order of Malta





here is a link to the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fl...r_of_Malta.svg

[Sinjen]

Please continue, enjoying your AAR

[Burnoutfigs]

Please continue, enjoying your AAR

Thanks, Im in the military so today and tommorow i will be very busy, but i go on leave friday so i will be playing alot and write alot on this AAR.

[Indus_Valley]

Nice update Burnout. I like the description of key battles, and the graphics are nice.

[Burnoutfigs]

***UPDATED***

[Sinjen]

Looked like that might have been a real slugfest naval battle. Keep up the good work.