[NTW AAR] Liberation, A British AAR.

[LuckyLewis]

Do you use unrestricted camera? I always wonder how you get good screenshots

Only for naval battles, used it once or twice for land battles, but don't really bother for those battles. I do use the unrestricted camera for those screenshots I take for the Great War Mod though.

[Mythman]

Only for naval battles, used it once or twice for land battles, but don't really bother for those battles. I do use the unrestricted camera for those screenshots I take for the Great War Mod though.

The screenshots you have done for the Great War Mod are very impressive and are great at promoting the mod

[.Mitch.]

Where are they falling off from? Its obviously a fort, but it looks so freaking high up! And the army below looks like something outra Lord of the Rings ! hehe

Definatly a fav, for sure.

[LuckyLewis]

Where are they falling off from? Its obviously a fort, but it looks so freaking high up! And the army below looks like something outra Lord of the Rings ! hehe

Definatly a fav, for sure.

Thanks Mitch, glad you started an AAR here. I just had the camera really high and all the people moving down below was because I was pushing through the breach in the wall as I wrote about.

[Hakomar]

On page 18, most of the photos are bandwidth exceeded.
Been following this aar recently, its excellent.

[Maximinus Thrax]

Congratulations Lewis! A well-deserved victory indeed.

[crossjon]

Congratulations Lewis! A well-deserved victory indeed.

Agreed great job. +rep

['Gunny]

You are, without a doubt, the King of screenshots

[CamilleBonparte]

Congratulations on first place in the MAAR, well-deserved.

[LuckyLewis]

Hello everyone, I would have posted this yesterday but TWcenter was down and everything. I’d just like to thank everyone who voted for me in the monthly AAR competition, and thank you to all of you who have congratulated me on my win, it is very much appreciated! Things are coming along quite nice and smoothly now in the AAR, I can really tell that Napoleon’s Empire is starting to weaken.

Oh, and you may have noticed that most of the time I refer to the French Empire as Napoleon’s Empire now, I just don’t think it can be considered as the French Empire anymore considering it is nowhere near France at all and I don’t want people to get confused with the current Kingdom of France. I also doubt the majority of the men in the Empire’s armies would be of French Nationality anymore, so even though I have always referred to the Napoleon’s forces as French, do you guys think it would be wise to call them something else now? Thoughts?
___________________

In reference to: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=337275

New Update

LIBERATION

Europe near the end of March 1813


March 1813 - Part 82 – A Crumbling Kingdom


It has now been several months since the Franco-Spanish war started by the betrayal of the Spanish and their declaration of war on the Kingdom of France and their British allies due to their eagerness to expand their own borders from their ever present greed. Victories have occurred in Northern Spain and Southern France with regions falling to the Catalonian Kingdom and France due to the aid of Stapleton Cotton and the Duke of Wellington. It is now starting to become apparent that the Spanish Kingdom is failing; their plans to expand their own borders have backfired, and resulted in them losing land they gained in the war against Napoleon’s Empire.

The Spanish Kingdom’s own capital, the prestigious city of Madrid has now been besieged by William Beresford and his men after the long journey north from Gibraltar.



- The Battle of Madrid 1813
The city of Madrid was far less defended than the cities to the north, while it had a strong garrison; the city had no forts to protect it, unlike the cities on the border with France.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A large component of William Beresford’s army was that it included the Royal Marines from Sir Thomas Foley’s ships; they had travelled from the ports of Gibraltar all the way to Madrid to ensure the city is taken. The army also had one of the largest artillery components of the entire British war effort as a result of increased technology and more funds due to the trading the coalitions, which are now very prominent to the British war effort with trade from Italy and Greece providing one of the most significant parts.

Beresford’s army advanced towards the city from the outskirts in a linear fashion, with a thick line across the entire battlefield moving together. However, Beresford’s advancement towards the main Spanish defensive position was disrupted when a regiment of Spanish cavalry appeared on the left flank, crashing into British line regiments while Spanish artillery bombarded them directly to the north.

Spanish Cavalry attack on the left flank of Beresford’s army


However, the Spanish cavalry were quickly disposed of, due to their unawareness of just how large Beresford’s force was and the fact that they became trapped in the thick ranks of a single line regiment, and received a hail of musket fire from surrounding regiments along with a contributing charge from the Horse Guards regiments. This regiment of Horse Guards drove the Spanish cavalry away from the battlefield, and by doing so, it was noticed that the Spanish artillery no longer had the safety as a result of the horsemen’s foolish charge. The British Cavalry turned after driving the Spanish horsemen away, and destroyed the Spanish artillery on the left flank. This allowed all the regiments on the left flank to move where the artillery had been destroyed, which gave Beresford’s a significant advantage as he could now attack from two angles effectively.

Meanwhile, Spanish Infantry had started to advance upon the position of the Royal Marines in the centre to right of Beresford’s line. The Spanish had also begun to receive support from neighbouring armies outside of Madrid, reinforcing the Spanish defensive position. However, the Royal Marines were supported by all of Beresford’s artillery crews and they began to fire upon the advancing Spanish regiments, causing a substantial amount of casualties as the Spanish ranks were softened up.

Cazadores are bombarded by British artillery


By the Spanish force had reached the British line, their regiments were already battered with the barren fields sparsely scattered with the bodies of those who had perished at the hands of the British artillery. The Royal Marines released volley after volley into the Spanish infantry regiments, who had little time to reform into formation after being displaced by the artillery and the thick black smoke is created.

Despite some moderately long musket fights, the Spanish eventually began to break, especially with the constant bombardment of artillery. A regiment of British cavalry began to charge the remaining regiments of light infantry, who remained fighting, however, the sight of Beresford’s horsemen rushing towards them with a rapid speed forced them to retreat as their companions were cut down by the horsemen’s sabres.

The Spanish Defenders flee the capital



The Spanish capital of Madrid was successfully occupied by William Beresford and his men and the Kingdom of Catalonia quickly established. The original betraying Kingdom of Spain only remains in the city of Bordeaux in mainland Europe.



March 1813 – Part 83 – The return to Kassel

Only several months ago, the army of the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel was annihilated by masses of French forces from the eastern German regions and when Bavaria was occupied by Napoleon’s men. The Electorate and city eventually fell despite a successfully ambush on the outskirts of the region, and has remained in Napoleon’s hands yet again.

With the push through Bavaria, Giuseppe Matarazzo, the Italian General who survived the battles through the Alps and at Innsbruck has gathered supplies at Munich and has moved north towards the region of Hesse-Kassel. He eventually made the move to advance into the region itself in late March, only to be intercepted by the French army in Kassel.



- The Battle of Kassel 1813

The battle of Kassel would decide whether or not the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel would be granted freedom yet again after the occupation by the French yet again earlier in the year.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The sun was low in the sky as rolling hills were seen to the north with the French army moving towards the British position. Matarazzo quickly mobilised his army, forming a line, with a small detachment placed on a nearby hill. Matarazzo had no artillery and had to rely on the discipline and experience of his men provided in previous battles. He also had limited cavalry support other than his own staff, placing him in a disadvantageous position.

The first conflict of the battle occurred directly in the centre of the Italian General’s line. British light infantry had been positioned several feet in front of the main line, crouched and ready to attack from range at the approaching Infantry but French Lancers appeared at the front of the French line instead. The British light infantry released a single deadly accurate volley in the brave Lancers, causing significant damage but to no avail as they were smashed and shattered but the French cavalry forcing them to flee. The French Lancers continued on but were eventually killed by the sheer power of the combination of musket fire from several regiments, including the elite Connaught Rangers firing into the right flank of the French horsemen.

French Lancers charge into the British Line




After the French Lancers damage, the French line advanced into the range of Giuseppe Matarazzo’s line infantry regiments. The British army no longer had support from their light infantry after they were slaughtered by the French Cavalry. Meanwhile, on the right flank, the French General, who led Napoleon’s armies into Hesse-Kassel at the start of the year, Charles-Leon Lenotre charged into the British line in order to divert some fire from his line infantry. Lenotre’s Cavalry were slowly falling to the British Bayonets as a result of their exposure, eventually; little of his staff was left which forced the general to retreat from the battlefield, leaving his officers to command the army. British Infantry on the right flank had also moved upon a hill, firing down at Swiss Grenadiers who had formed a line while the King’s German Legion remained locked in combat with French Lightinfantrymen.

French artillery crews had also started to arrive from north; this promoted the Italian General to move to the left flank of his army and destroy them before they could be put into position and bombard the British position. The General succeeded with this, and on his return journey back to the British Line Infantry, he smashed into the rear of a regiment of French Line Infantry, forcing them to retreat and causing many other surrounding infantry regiments to flee alongside them. This allowed the British Infantry, who were all very low on ammunition, to start a charge against the French Infantry forcing many of them to flee.

Eventually it was only the Legendary Old Guard remaining, the British Infantry who had charged into the French Infantry earlier continued to rush towards the Old Guard, but the famed Old Guard managed to successfully defeat three British regiments. Nevertheless, Lenotre’s Old Guard regiment was eventually defeated themselves after units from the higher ground on the right flank attacked them while Guiseppe Matarazzo and his staff attacked from the rear.

Lenotre’s army is broken down with the legendary Old Guard eventually fleeing the field



The battle was won, and the majority of the French army in the region of Hesse-Kassel had been defeated by Matarazzo and his army just south of Kassel. The British Army shortly moved towards the settlement after their victory, in which they managed to defeat the remaining forces of Lenotre, who was killed in the settlement shortly after he had fled from the battlefield earlier.



The Weakening East

There are yet more signs in the eastern regions of Napoleon’s Empire that his armies and power is beginning to diminish. Regions are left sparsely defended by undisciplined forces as Napoleon’s Empire is slowly pushed back further and further. This was shown at Kamenets Podolsky in the region of Volhynia and Podlia, just north of Moldavia, in which John Oswald managed himself an easy victory with the surrendering of the French Garrison to his army.




To be continued.

[JJDXB]

Amazing update By far the best AAR on this site

+rep

[Hakomar]

I think it is a fitting name for the Empire, it reminds me of the collapse of the western roman empire, and the gradual removal of the eastern roman empires' power, until they essentially became the Byzantines, an empire with a new capital and power, but completely different roots to its modern position.

A lot of people praise your screenshots, and I agree they are excellent. Most people don't praise your writing, but I find it to be quite involving, and portraying scenes rather well. I don't know if you exaggerate defeats or not, for the AI is quite easy to defeat, your writing makes it sound so much better. However, your writing can sometimes be somewhat repititive (Repititive AI ), but as I said, I find it usually imaginitive, and well written.
+rep.

[KDK]

Nice AAR!

[.Mitch.]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Sorry, I get a bit carried away.. this happens when your listening to this.. and writing about an epic AAR..

"March 1813 - Part 82 – A Crumbling Kingdom"

Wow..

In all seriousness from someone who has been an avid fan from part 1.. to see how far your empire has come, to see the events that have unfolded; from anticipating the arrival of Wellington onto the mainland, from seeing the emergence of Belguim and the French kingdom allies..
From the dismay at the defeat of Wellington and his injuries and fearing what the Spannish betrail might mean at its start.

This update more than any other has shown me that your AAR is growing, its going to lead to an epic finale, I can now see you sweeping to the east from Coast of Britain.. to the borders of moscow..

The end will be coming, your grand campaign will be getting to its final stages now the french are weakening and so with it will come Napoleons greatest defeat.

I can imagine the last battle now..

Napoloen. The last of his elite guards and 50 different nations soldiers banded as one, against the might and experience that wellington now brings to russia.

I'v now seen for the first time that this AAR is coming to its latter stages, this is for sure the beginning of the end of Napoleon and his once great empire, and I for one am looking forward the future, to seeing the end, to see you come out the victor, to seeing Europe in your hands.

The Liberation of Europe is near.

And Im glad Im along for the ride.

[The Hedge Knight]

Yep, i look forward too it too.

You have remembered to take palma though right? I often forget too!

Actually its spanish. But it does seem those spaniards have more than their fair share of europe!

[LuckyLewis]

Thank you very much everyone, I am really sorry for the lack of updates for the last week, anyone who has been a long time reader knows that I am usually quite good at writing updates at a nice steady rate, but I've been busy for the last week or so, should be slightly busy tomorrow too but I intend to get two updates out in the coming week. Thanks for the continued support and ever present patience.

Lewis.

[myrmedon]

Lewis these are incredible! You and Nanny have set a bar for AARs that I don't see being raised.
Updates as they come, loving it!

[Thokran]

I finally got caught up, and man this is some really great stuff. It's amazing to see Napoleon on the run. I'll definitely be keeping up with this story. Can't wait to see more!

['Gunny]

The NTW AAR board links to the Empire one, so here we go, first attempt at an AAR so don't have too high expectations..

Just noticed the first few words lol, from "first try" to "setting the bar", quite an amazing leap

[The Hedge Knight]

You know its funny, because of the way your rep is it makes your proffesor badge have a halo.