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Thread: [IS AAR] Roar of the Lion - A Venetian AAR

  1. #1

    Default [IS AAR] Roar of the Lion - A Venetian AAR

    Roar of the Lion – A Venetian AAR





    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Hey everyone. Ive finally decided to bite the bullet and write my first AAR, using the Imperial Splendour Mod on N/N (as recommended by the developers). Its been a lot of fun to write and hopefully you guys will enjoy it too. Feedback and constructive criticism are always welcome (except for the graphics quality of the in-battle screens which I know arent going to win any contests - im using a fairly old computer, just roll with it ), and chapter updates will appear below.

    Enjoy!


    Prologue: A New World Order

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    Doge Silvestro Valiero stood on the central balcony of the Palazzo Ducale, looking out over the great lagoon that maternally embraced his city - protecting it from harm and nourishing it with maritime trade from exotic lands. Or, so had once been the case. The Islamic incursion into the Balkans had almost completely eliminated Venetian power abroad, and along with it, access to the lucrative trade of the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, the grand nations of Western Europe had formed Trans-Continental Empires, importing wealth and exotic goods from across the great oceans that little Venice could only dream of. Silvestro gazed across the Piazzetta San Marco to the marble column of the great winged lion of San Marco, patron of the city, and sighed. It was the dawn of a new century and the Most Serene Republic of Venice was facing a humbling decline.




    The Doge felt anger rise up from inside of him. The Republic had stood for nine hundred years and he would not now see it brought low by inbred monarchs, religious fanatics or any other force that sought to placate its independence. Turning back into the gilded room where the business of State awaited him, Silvestro calmed himself. He felt the stiffness of age in his knee. Nor could he be foolish. Venice was a minor nation in this new world order, and hot-headed actions and poorly chosen words would only result in the domination he sought to prevent.


    Unfurling the map at the side of his desk (the work of a commissioned Frenchmen whose skill was thankfully better than his attitude), Silvestro studied the nations of Europe.





    What was essential, he concluded, was an alliance with of one of the great Empires.







    Emperor Leopold I of Austria was an obvious choice. Despite seemingly insurmountable ideological differences, relations between the Holy Roman Emperor and The Most Serene Republic were strong due to existing treaties, trade agreements and joint military action against the Ottoman Empire in the recent past. Silvestro knew that while there was peace in the Balkans now, greed would overcome one of the Empires eventually, and by siding with the Austrians, Venice could turn such a war to her advantage and reclaim many of her lost possessions in the East. Whatsmore, Venetian aid in the south would relieve pressure on the fractured Holy Roman Empire, leaving Leopold free to focus on the renegade German states in the north. It was a fine proposal, and one he would ensure the Senate would ratify. And as for Leopold…well, even all of the obstinate pride several generations of intense inbreeding tended to instill in such men would not blind him from its advantages.

    Somewhat satisfied, Silvestro traced his finger to the southern-most boarder of Venetia, which was shared with the vast, Papal-controlled Central Italian Federation.



    Senators had been clamouring for an alliance with Pope Innocent XII since Silvestro’s ascension, and the Doge ensured through his influence that such a move would ever remain a hollow proposal. The alliance may well have merit, but Silvestro knew that the Papacy had a tendency to interfere in matters that didn’t concern them under the guise of giving ‘religious guidance’. This often resulted in such dominance over a city’s proceedings that they suddenly found themselves completely under the thumb of the Cardinals and absorbed into the Pope’s personal Federation without a single sword being drawn. To the Doge, the Papacy was nothing more than a collection of old rogues in the finest livery, who had as much connection to God as the slime that stuck to the sides of canals in the poorer parts of his city. His lack of religious devotion continued to cause friction between Venice and the Papacy, but Silvestro was confident that relations would improve by placating their immense greed with revised trading privileges and the eventual conflict with the Muslims.

    In many ways, that conflict was already underway. The threat of piracy from Barbary Muslims of North Africa was so high that it had encouraged the Knights of St. John and even the Duchy of Savoy to enter protectorate agreements with the Republic.




    The Maltese Grand Master knew that renewed war against the Ottomans was inevitable, and Silvestro had dazzled Fra’ Ramon with words like ‘nuevo reconquista’ and ‘crusade’, where the Knights of Saint John and Saint Mark would unite and drive the Muslim threat from Europe once and for all. From there, it was merely a matter of placing the treaty before the man to sign. Thinking back on the meeting Silvestro chuckled. The minds of religious men were soft and easy to manipulate.






    Placating Duke Victor Amadeus had come as an unexpected but welcome surprise to the Senate. Savoy’s ports were continually raided by Barbary Pirates and for reasons unknown to the Doge, the Duke had not even began a credible ship-building programme. He deduced that the Duke had focused and spent so much on preparing for a potential French invasion from the west that he had completely neglected the defence of his ports. With his treasury diminished, the Duke needed his trade routes secure to ensure his soldiers were paid, but could now not afford to build the ships to protect them. A fool, thought Silvestro. Never the less, for the terms agreed, and the added influence on the peninsula the treaty brought the Republic, the Senate was more than happy to keep Savoy’s trading vessels safe, and the threat of strangling his maritime wealth would be enough to keep the Duke in line.





    Looking East, Silvestro knew all too well that The Ottoman Empire would not tolerate attacks on their own protectorate for long, and the newly-conquered Morean Peninsula would no doubt be their first target in order to unify Greece under Islamic rule once more. As such, the Doge would make a proposal before the Senate to send General Antonio Galvani and the Venetian Garrison to reinforce Colonel Assemani at Patras and keep the newly acquired lands in Venetian control… at least for as long as possible. Silvestro knew full well that even with the addition of the Venetan forces, the garrison in the Morean Peninsula would not last long against the endless hordes of the Ottoman Empire. All that Venice could field was a diminished, rag-tag collection of conscripted peasants lacking in discipline that carried out-dated arms. If Morea was to be defended against the Ottomans and Islamic oppression driven from Europe, Silvestro knew that reform was essential.


    Chapter 1: Drill and the Lash

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    ‘Ninety-Seven.’



    ‘Ninety-Eight.’



    ‘Ninety-Nine.’



    ‘One Hundred.’


    ‘Cut him down,’ barked General Galvani from the top of his warhorse. Two soldiers hacked at the ropes binding the man at the wrists and ankles to the two great poles in the center of the camp. Blood flowed freely from the man’s back and he had to be supported as he made his way before the General, who waited patiently until the man was able to stand in a manner that bore some resemblance to being at attention.

    ‘You have taken your punishment admirably, soldier. Let us hope you remember it.’

    Swaying slightly, the man made his salute before staggering through the nearest side of the square formed by 2nd conscript regiment. Galvani had been on the Morean Peninsula for the majority of the winter, and had spent most of his time flogging the ill discipline out of these gun-wielding peasants. Still, it seemed that with every sliver of flesh that was hewn from their backs they got another step closer to becoming soldiers worthy of carrying ‘Il Leone’, Venice’s war banner, into battle for the glory of the Republic. Whoring had stopped, drunkardness had ceased and the men could now fire two shots a minute. Through drill and the lash Galvani had made these men into fighting units, and with hope, it would be enough to repel the Ottomans.

    Sensing that enough time had passed to allow the punishment to sink into the minds of the rest of the regiment, he glanced down at their Captain who stood stiffly at his side.
    ‘Capitano Rossi. Groups of ten. Firing drill. Any man who fails to fire two shots a minute will clean the latrines. Dismissed.’
    ‘Yes sir!’ replied the Captain. ‘Second Regiment! Platoon Groups to the drill square! Quick ~ MARCH!’
    The regiment moved off in the coarse imitation of line infantry drill Galvani had flogged into them, leaving him alone with the odious Signor Algetorri, the senate-appointed ‘proveditore’ whose job it was to make sure he and his men were behaving like good republicans should.

    ‘You keep these punishments up General and I fear your men will rise up against you and leave Venice defenceless all together.’
    Despite being a civilian who owned a dangerously eloquent tongue, he was powerfully built and had the look of a soldier about him. Had he arrived at the Patras garrison camp under different circumstances Galvani may well have liked him.

    ‘Signor Algetorri,’ the General said with the slightest hint of disdain, ‘My methods have instilled discipline and self-restraint into the souls of these…glass-blowers and grape-pickers. I have given them iron, and it will be that same iron that will keep this sorry excuse for an army in line when the Ottomans spill into the Peninsula in their thousands.’
    Algetorri’s eyes gleamed, but experience kept his expression and tone neutral. ‘Perhaps you think that the Republic’s situation would improve with you as head of the military? You are, after all, in command of the entire Venetian army. Such…influence could no doubt go some way towards realising such an ambition, no?’

    Galvani looked Algetorri directly in the eye. He knew the man was trying to trap him, to get him to say something incriminating and be sent home in disgrace to face a tribunal and allegations of treason. With the history of the Italian States peppered with generals using their armies to usurp power, Galvani knew that the Senate could not afford to dismiss any accusation put before them by a ‘proveditore’ . It was at that moment he realised how much of a threat Algetorri was. The General replied evenly knowing every inflection was being analysed.

    ‘I am a soldier Signor Algetorri. It is not my place to question the judgement of the Senate or my Doge in any respect, merely carry out their orders.’
    Algetorri was about to reply when Galvani’s personal aide Christiano came sprinting towards the men, clutching something in his hand.
    ‘Direct… from Venice…sir,’ Christiano stammered between breaths, handing the General a letter. ‘The messenger… said Admiral…Malfatti…and the fleet…had delivered it…personally…and wait…for you…on the coast.’

    Looking quizzically at the man, but grateful for the break in the exchange with his would-be inquisitor, Galvani took the letter, broke the wax seal and began to read.


    ‘Well? What is it?’ Asked Algetorri.
    ‘War.’ Replied the General.



    Chapter 2: Homecoming

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    May 1703 - The Battle of Bottrighe Bridge


    With a sweeping motion of his sword, Galvani’s cannon battery belched forth fire and smoke, sending cannon balls screaming through the early morning mist into the massed ranks of the Papal soldiers that were hampering the Venetian’s crossing of the bridge over the Po River.



    The Excommunication of Doge Silvestro and declaration of war by the recently-elected Pope Clement XI had come as a complete surprise to the Senate, and had rocked the Republic to the core. While the power of the Papacy had declined in recent centuries, its hold over the low peoples of the Italian Peninsula was still very strong. Torn loyalties between Church and State causes brother to turn against brother across the land. Anti-Silvestro riots had broken out amongst the peasantry in the town of Udine and when the Central Italian fleet had blockaded the Venetan Lagoon, angry citizens, blaming the Doge for their misfortune, had tried to burn down the Palazzo Ducale. General Galvani’s hasty homecoming with the entire Venetian army had marked a return to stability. Riots were put down, vocal priests were cowed into submission and a vast recruitment drive began in the loyal regions of the Republic. Much to the General’s annoyance, Benito Algetorri had been instrumental in finding men for the new marine and cavalry regiments.


    Signor Algetorri indoctrinating a platoon of new Marine recruits

    Knowing that the promise of food and pay would not be enough to entice men to fight against their Holy Leader, Algetorri had told the crowds across Venetia that it was not Pope Clement that the Republic marched against, but Nicolo Matarazzo, the warmongering First Minister of the Central Italian Federation. It was he, Algetorri had told them, who in his insatiable desire for wealth and land, had forced the Pope at sword point to Excommunicate Doge Silvestro, friend and ally of the Papacy, and issue a declaration of war against the Republic of Venice. In order to restore peace to the Peninsular, the Republican army would march into Central Italy and liberate Pope Clement from his imprisonment in Rome. The speeches had brought scores of volunteers and in less than five weeks, the reinforced Venetian army marched into the Po Valley to do battle with their new enemy. As men prepared the cannons for another volley, shouts, distorted and ghostly in the fog, brought Galvani’s focus to the right flank. The Papal cavalry divisions had forded the river and were charging towards the Second Battle Group protecting the road into the village of Bottrighe.



    Captain Rossi drew his sword and steadied himself as he saw the giant grey forms emerging from the river. At best the 2nd conscript regiment would get off a single volley before they would be trampled down. God willing, the Marine and Pike regiments to Rossi’s left and right would wheel round quickly enough to break the cavalry with force of numbers before they could break through his regiment and regain the advantage of mobility.

    ‘Make ready!’ Barked the Captain, feeling the ground beneath him tremble as the cavalry drew ever closer.

    ‘Present!’ His outstretched arm grew tense and his finger restless as it rested on the trigger of his pistol. The seconds between commands drew on for what felt like years. He took a deep breath as the muskets around him leveled.

    ‘FIRE!’

    The screams of horses and men were drowned out by the murderous roar of Rossi’s muskets. The leading horses collapsed only to be jumped by those behind, hardly hampering the momentum of the charge. Holding their muskets like spears, Rossi’s men prepared themselves for the hammer-blow.



    The fighting was brutal, with saber and hoof causing countless mortal wounds to the men of the 2nd conscript. Despite the furiosity of the attack, years spent under Galvani ensured they did not falter. ‘Per Venetia!’ the Captain screamed, parrying a vicious saber cut and pulling the man from his horse before driving his own sword into the rider’s stomach. It was only as he looked up that he saw the pike regiments, their poles lowered, moving in to maim and frighten the horses, and prevent them from encircling. To his left he saw the 4th Marine Regiment picking off unengaged riders with musket fire.

    Before long, the combination of casualties and spooked horses forced the cavalry regiments to withdraw and regroup. With the left of Rossi’s regiment disengaged from combat, their captain seized the advantage.

    ‘Platoon groups! Fire at will!

    In the stress of real battle, the previously smooth drill of the unengaged conscripts had completely unravelled, but there was enough courage amongst them to fire a sporadic volley into the backs of the withdrawing cavalry.



    The impact caused the wavering enemy to break completely, their frightened horses thundering carelessly into the ford, some stumbling on stones and being swept away. Captain Rossi smiled as he called for his men to reform. With the cavalry threat gone, the way was clear to ford the river.

    With the Papal infantry withdrawing on all sides from the river bank, and their forward cannon position abandoned thanks to a furious bombardment, General Galvani ordered his marines to press the advantage by crossing the bridge and create a second point of attack.



    Quickly reforming on the other side, the Marines fired volley after volley into the Papal infantry, slowly forcing them back …



    …into the path of the Second Battle Group.



    Trapped by lines of muskets on two sides, the Po River on another, and severely lacking in cover, the Papal infantry broke under the intense fire and fled through the only exit available to them.


    But Galvani, still dripping from crossing the ford, was waiting for them with the cavalry.
    ‘Cut them down!’ the General roared, drawing his saber. The noise of horses echoed around him as his his men dug their stirrups into the flanks of their mounts, surging them onward to complete the victory.


    Those who surrendered were shown mercy.




    Those who escaped would receive none.


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 





    Last edited by Master and Commander; September 08, 2009 at 04:38 PM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: [IS AAR] Roar of the Lion - A Venetian AAR

    **UPDATE**

    Chapter 2 - Homecoming

  3. #3
    gord96's Avatar Domesticus
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    Default Re: [IS AAR] Roar of the Lion - A Venetian AAR

    great work. i like your writing style. well done!

  4. #4

    Default Re: [IS AAR] Roar of the Lion - A Venetian AAR

    A very interesting AAR, I enjoyed it very much. Please write more soon!

  5. #5

    Default Re: [IS AAR] Roar of the Lion - A Venetian AAR

    Very good. Keep it coming.

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