[ETW AAR] The Orange Occupation

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

An AAR using the United Provinces in vanilla ETW. It's all in easy mode: I'm not a great player and I don't want my empire to collapse. My first post describes my (so far unnamed, inspire me) character's first battle, the siege of Brussels. It does not describe the city's capture, as a few enemy troops survived to defend the place, but here it is anyway (and an apology for all the pictures being at the end):
Part 1: The 1st Regiment of Militia

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Many years ago I joined into the first regiment of militia. I was a young man, and looking to make a living. We’d trained most of the time and slept in our gutters: most of us had nowhere to live, we’d joined the militia for housing, but we’d had no such luck. Still, it passed the time and we were getting income. A fair number of us, I included, kept to stealing anyway: we’d keep the money for bribing officers to be favourable (though we soon learned that our meagre wealth wasn’t enough for them to so much as give a hopeful glance).
Then came the day when the Stadtholder sent out the news that the Spanish navy had raided our trade routes in the Indian Ocean. We all knew the Spanish navy did not even nearly reach as far, but the government were desperate for an excuse to take back Belgium. They ordered all regiments, including militia, to march south. And so, early in the Summer of 1700, we marched south into Belgium. And we marched on. And on. And on.
And finally, at least three months later, we found ourselves outside Brussels. Our tiny army didn’t come close to being able to surround the city, but that didn’t matter, because the Spaniards would refuse to sacrifice their cavalry in mere raids.
It was August when they finally decided to attack. We were ready for them and our pike regiment was the first to charge. Our provincial cavalry then charged into what was now the flank of the buckled enemy line. Our line infantry pressed farther. And then it was our turn. I couldn’t bring myself to move. Who was it I was going to kill? Would I survive to kill anyone in the first place? How would I survive? I forced myself to march with everyone else. Our regimental sergeant major turned and looked at me, a concerned look on his face.
“This your first, son?”
“Yes.” I replied hesitantly.
“It was mine only a year ago, a small attack on a bandit camp.” I suddenly saw he himself seemed unsettled by the battle. “In fact, that was my only battle until today. What I recommend is this: try and stay to the back and watch the other soldiers do the fighting.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
And so I was in the rearmost rank of our unit when the rout began. First it was the armed citizens, then the pikemen and cavalry followed suit as their numbers disintegrated around them.

We now had only the general to deal with, for he and his bodyguard were the only men still in their positions. They essentially just turned tail and ran at the sight of us. We pursued our enemy east, into Brussels and out the other side.

The enemies who were still within sight were chased down and killed. It had been a blood filled day but, after six score men dead on our side and many more on the enemy’s, the city of Brussels was as good as captured.

Just one more battle. But one more battle to what end?

[Arto]

A quick start! But not much... for now then. I'll stay tuned.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[IMG]http://api.ning.com/files/vy2SZs0r*U2QUkFpnbycQpez2x-8Ko6Cg339HZHsMl9XhFa04w9ghuVou2fC1LYrBVieH8mYyfGmv9BjkgxuHYqwuSkwDSn1/up_the_irons.jpg[/IMG]

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

Thank you, and you've got to agree with Eddie.

[Arto]

Thank you, and you've got to agree with Eddie.

Used to be my old username.

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

First thing's first, sorry my sections are so short.
I finished this late last night, after QI , so I couldn't put it up then. As you may work out, each section is one battle and maybe a bit of introduction before it.
Both of these are quite short and at the end there are few screenshots because I was using Print Screen. I'll use Fraps next time. When I say "they" randomly, I probably mean the officers, and it's spelt out at one point
Part 2: The City's Capture

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I woke to the sound of gunfire. They claimed to be destroying any possible cover for the enemy, but we knew what they were doing: trying to flush out the enemy. It wasn’t working. Every shot was in vain, and the guns belched out smoke in nobody’s direction.

Our positions were as they had been every day since we’d arrived: us militia at the front, and the line infantry, pikemen and cavalry guarding the flanks. Eventually the gunners gave up and we, the militia, were sent forward to attack the enemy. There were maybe 140 of us, of the enemy 31 were left. We were in high spirits as we marched forth.

We gave the 17 cavalry three volleys and sent them running. We then stormed the farmhouse which had been garrisoned by the enemy light infantry.


We’d made a name for ourselves. I’d personally killed three men. Three men. And I saw the look on each of their faces as I beat them down. But still, life goes on... for some of us. There’s a rumour in the regiment that we’re getting reinforcements. Some people said they were going to transfer those of us who fought well to the new units. It wouldn’t include me though, will it? Surely not, knowing my luck. Until then, there was a small French army to the east, and there was a chance of a revolt here in Brussels.

Part 3: The Shove

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We got reinforcements in the form of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th regiments of foot and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th regiments of horse. The cavalry proved invaluable later on. The officers said they had a surprise for us; it’d be ready in a couple of months. I looked forward to that, but presently, the French army was raiding the countryside surrounding Brussels. We were marching east. And I was doing it in a nice new uniform: I wasn’t transferred to the newly recruited units, but to the 1st, our most experienced regiment. They were with us during the siege of Brussels. We eventually reached the French army to find that, luckily, they were only a small force: four regiments and a supporting army of one.
The battle began with the French supporting army attacking our flank. Our Southernmost regiments, one infantry and one cavalry, were able to rout them with minimal losses. They returned to their positions and our artillery began to bombard the enemy line.

They were too far out of range, and we couldn't bounce the shot, so eventually we sent our provincial cavalry to lure out the enemy. The enemy pursued them with their own Gendarmerie who were quickly routed by a regiment of horse.

The cavalry were followed by infantry who made a few tentative moves within our artillery’s range, then removed themselves. They were replaced by another regiment who marched steadily towards us. Eventually the 1st and 4th regiments charged them, and they were routed and killed by our cavalry. We (the infantry) continued on to attack the enemy field guns and militia. The cavalry then routed the remaining enemies. We were rewarded for our victory with a view of a handful of Frenchmen running. Soon we’d march on France itself. I was starting to enjoy this job.

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

Yet another new part today, yay.
Part 4: The Surprise

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We were called out on parade a few months after our battle with the French armies and were issued, where we stood, daggers! There were a few murmurs among the other men of the Republic’s 1st of the Line. Our General, Hendrick van Nassau-Ouwerkerk, stood on a hill overlooking our parade ground (which was really just a plain outside the city).
“This, my friends, is, as like as not, your saviour in battle: the plug bayonet.” He held up one of the daggers. “You will see that I also hold a musket, the reason being that this fine contraption is designed to fit into a musket barrel.” He pushed the handle of the dagger into his musket. “Obviously, this device presents multiple problems and, we are currently working on an improved version to allow firing with the bayonet fixed. Until, however, that becomes possible, be glad you’ve got this when you meet any Gendarmerie. For this is an anti-cavalry weapon, though it has other uses. You will be trained in the use of this device during the next few months and now.” He paused, drawing a breath, then ordered. “FIX BAYONETS!!!” And we did so as if we’d been trained to.
We were indeed trained to use the bayonets, and an (obviously slightly drunk) angry sergeant glared at us as we filed into the training grounds.
“Men, at long distance, a musket is your friend.” Obviously he couldn’t think of his own speech.
“No it’s not,” a young private muttered, “that’s what cannon are for.”
“WHO SAID THAT?! You again Dodd? One more insolent word and it’ll be a nice flogging for you. I’ll personally choose both the men and the whips. NOW! PRESENT!!!”
That month, a French army marched north into Flanders. So it was our job to stop it. We found that it was the remaining men of the last army’s cavalry regiments. We all fixed bayonets, glad for a chance to try our new weapons.

The cannon, as usual, started the battle, firing enough shot to destroy one cavalry regiment, but it was our regiments of horse that finished the enemy.



The few men who remained scattered and there was no more chance of them ever serving France.

[Arto]

My own creation:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Narrator: Here we see a Dutch cavalry charge against the French who are actually boy scouts try to get their baptême du feu...
Dutch soldier: Aanvallen!
French general: Alright, mes amis! Remember the following: first we charge, then we pull our swords and then we att...
French soldier 2 (interrupting): Sacre Bleu! What zé hell is Jacques doing there?!
French general: He's gone. Now, mes amis! For Fra...
(beheading sound)

Narrator: Now as you see, after this crushing defeat you would realize that the king would stop using boy scouts as their cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Narrator: Please think twice, the king loves the unit since he was the one to design their clothes and this is an expeditionary force (or as we may hope or the king really lost his mind). A few months later the same force find themselves on the same battlefield.
French general: Mes amis! Let's seek revenge for our fallen brothers! Glory to France! Let the enemy come to us!
Dutch soldier 1: Alweer padvinders?! Wanneer komen de Fransen met iets echt sterks?!
Dutch soldier 2 (singing): Jij neemt mijn leven maar ik neem die van jouw ook...
Dutch soldier 3: Net zoals vorige keer, éh? Dutch soldier 1: Aanvallen!
French soldier 2: Didn't really go like you said ''Let the enemy come to us'' We're doomed.
French general: Mes amis! Remember the tactic: First grab your...
French soldier 2: That was the ing same as last time! Retreat!
French general: FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Narrator: Since the expeditionary forces weren't quite doing their thing, the French king had to come up with something new.

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

Lol. 'Fraid he didn't. Sorry.

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

WARNING: ENOUGH PICTURES TO FLAY A HEN!!!
Part 5: Slaughter

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A French army threatened from the North and our great army marched to eliminate them. We deployed, as usual, in a flat-topped, bottomless triangle, with our artillery at the point. As was normal when we had reinforcements from the city, they formed our reserves. The battle started, as they usually did, with an artillery duel, our guns trying to outdo the enemy’s and vice-versa.

This refused to come to an obvious conclusion, as half the enemy guns were out of range and couldn’t be moved. We sent our provincial cavalry, the Republic’s 1st Regiment of Horse, but they were destroyed by volley fire.


I watched as the 2nd Regiment of Horse, an altogether better regiment, ran down the routing enemy artillerymen.





The regiment then wheeled about and swerved to attack a lancer regiment, who attacked too suddenly and caused many casualties before our horsemen reached the main body of the army, turned once more and charged with all the horse we had left.


The lancers were eliminated.

We lined up with the 4th, 6th and 12th for an attack on the remaining enemy.

We marched up to a forest near the remaining enemy artillery, where we hid and fixed bayonets. The Republic’s 1st was the first to charge, and they hit the enemy infantry hard.


The other three regiments followed.


The enemy artillery tore our ranks to shreds, destroying whole files at times, but we kept on fighting.

We routed and killed the infantry then smashed gunners, slashing and stabbing vengefully.

We then charged halfway across the battlefield to attack the final enemy infantry regiment and the general.




But we were losing.

We were lucky.

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th regiments of horse charged into the enemy, saving those of us who still lived.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Then the enemy general fell and the infantry regiment routed.

The general’s bodyguard had been eliminated. We chased down and killed the remaining enemy infantry, but it had been slaughter.

Utter slaughter. Over 400 of the 640 infantry who had originally attacked the enemy now lay dead. 400 out of the 1600 who were present at the battle. Around 100 of our cavalry were also killed. But soon we’ll be marching south on France, and finally this war will be over. BUT! It will open up the doors to another, one with Spain. And we couldn’t do anything about it, but fight, and fight well, to win the war.

[Seleucid king]

I don't get it(the thing at the end of the newest post).....


Good AAR, though!

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

The grass fire picture? You can see gunsmoke AND the explosion, but the guns are "hidden" from sight by that tree. It's not that funny.

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

I did have a LOT of pictures of Gendarmerie getting charged and killed by my cavalry, but unfortunately, fraps decided to play up and I've lost all of them.Anywho:
Part 6: South

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After a few minor skirmishes, our army was ready to march south on Paris. The first thing we did was capture an abandoned artillery fortress in Northern France that we’d have somewhere to retreat to should we be defeated. It was probably also where the cowardly senior officers would stay with their “business”. Private Perkins thought so. We marched south to Paris the day after. We finally had the city besieged. This was of course the most important city in our campaign, but there was another: Strasburg, I think. Once they were taken, France would have no European territories, and would collapse from the core outwards. We waited a few months outside Paris and, inevitably, the enemy sallied forth. We formed up in our usual battle positions: the 1st and 4th of foot at the point of the triangle behind the guns, the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th forming the left flank, the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th on the right and the cavalry left of the line. As usual our guns attempted to disorganise the enemy while they formed up. Our shot hammered at the enemy lines, but caused few casualties, bouncing over most of the time. I suddenly noticed one of our gunners was holding a can.
“Hey! Slattery!” I called to one of my comrades. “What’s that gunner holding?” Slattery usually knew what was being planned by our “superiors”.
“Something special for when the enemy get nice and close. You’ll see.” By now the enemy were at the foot of the hill on which we stood and the can was rammed down the barrel. The gunners lit the fuse and lots of tiny musket balls flew from the barrel, tearing through the enemy ranks. “They call it canister shot. Neat, eh?”
The enemy line was marching for our left and our cavalry all charged, decimating the enemy gendarmerie. Our left flank infantry charged and so did we (the 1st and 4th). The right flank infantry fixed bayonets and ran to support us. It was a quick, chaotic battle and, though the enemy outnumbered us, we routed them and then we were just shooting (or rather stabbing) fish in a barrel. Our cavalry pulverised the enemy gendarmerie and militia to the end that, by the end of the battle, fewer than 200 of the enemy remained, while fewer than 200 of us were killed. Paris was almost taken.

[Seleucid king]

Nice.

[trueshadow21]

Our regimental sergeant major turned his horse and looked at me, a concerned look on his face.
“This your first, son?”
“Yes, sir.” I replied hesitantly.
“It was mine only a year ago, a small attack on a bandit camp.” I suddenly saw he himself seemed unsettled by the battle. “In fact, that was my only battle until today. What I recommend is this: try and stay to the back and watch the other soldiers do the fighting.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

I hate it that I always notice these things while reading otherwise great AARs, but... a soldier would never call the RSM sir, or any other NCO for that matter.

Great work otherwise!

PS. From one Sharpe fan to another, I like the username

EDIT: He probably would not be on a horse either.

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

sorry

EDIT: I'll probably have another update by this evening.

EDIT AGAIN: About the username thing, when I get to the rank (or whatever you call it) to whatever the lowest sergeant is, I'll stop posting shall I?

[Seleucid king]

Swet! Can't wait, dude!

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

This is quite short as I've already (in the previous part) virtually eliminated the French army.

Part 7: Paris

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It had been a year since the siege of Paris began, and finally we were attacking.

We lined up as usual, except we had a broader front because we had received two new batteries of artillery.

The new batteries were mobile, unlike our first cannon, having horses to pull them into position. Apparently, there’d soon be more of the type (and there were even rumours of guns which could gallop as fast as cavalry, though that seemed unlikely). We were, Slattery said, going to receive improved “ring” bayonets in a few months, and it would be possible to fire with them attached. For now, however, we were stuck with the plugs.
The battle itself was a quick one, beginning with what seemed to be becoming a tradition: our regiments of horse charged the French Gendarmerie, utterly mauling the unit.




They then cut down the small number of attacking infantry before returning to their positions. The rest of the enemy were garrisoned in a farmhouse and, by the time they realised the cannons were firing on them, the building had collapsed on top of them.

The men who still lived obviously realised it was hopeless and ran. It had been over before it began. We had captured Paris so easily. Ten dead on our side and the full 160 on the enemy’s. I suddenly realised I had become almost accustomed to death, I referred to the dead merely as numbers, and that scared me.

[trueshadow21]

Great work!

I suddenly realised I had become almost accustomed to death, I referred to the dead merely as numbers, and that scared me.

I really liked that little bit at the end.

[Seleucid king]

Lol, you had 2 Part 5's

[Obadiah Hakeswill]

I'll just correct that