Siege of Malta IH- Planning and interest-arousing
Welcome all! This is mostly an interest-garnering thread for an IH based off of the Siege of Malta, that is the 1565 siege, due to the school year just starting, it may end up being a while before this becomes a reality, but if I can get enough interest, I could begin the game ASAP.
Introduction-
At the end of 1522, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had forcibly ejected the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem from their base on Rhodes after a six-month siege. Between 1523 and 1530, the Order lacked a permanent home. They became known as the Knights of Malta when, on 26 October 1530, Philippe Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Grand Master of the Knights, sailed into Malta's Grand Harbour with a number of his followers to lay claim to Malta and Gozo, which had been granted to them by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in return for one falcon sent annually to the Viceroy of Sicily and a solemn mass to be celebrated on All Saints Day.
Charles also required the Knights to garrison Tripoli on the North African coast, which was in territory that the Barbary Corsairs, allies of the Ottomans, controlled. The Knights accepted the offer reluctantly. Malta was a small, desolate island, and for some time, many of the Knights clung to the dream of recapturing Rhodes.
Nevertheless, the Order soon turned Malta into a naval base from which they continued to prey on Islamic shipping. The island's position in the center of the Mediterranean made it a strategically crucial gateway between East and West, especially as the Barbary Corsairs increased their forays into the western Mediterranean throughout the 1540s and 1550s.
After some time, a notorious Barbary Corsair, Turgut Reis, had sacked the Island of Gozo and seized Tripoli from the Knights. Such an attack readied the Knights for the coming of the Ottomans, creating two new fortresses on the island within a time of six months.
Even as the Knights prepared, the Spanish fleet rebuilding and the Ottomans went into a short lull, Romegas, a raider for the Knights, had taken the Governor of Cairo, amongst other high-ranked prisoners from a raid on a merchant ship. The raids had given the Ottoman Empire an appropriate cassus belli, and the Sultan of the Empire had decided to wipe the Order of St. John from the face of the earth.
So here is where our story begins. (Yes, most of that was taken from Wikipedia, I can't think of an epic way to describe the situation while remaining generally neutral.) Now the Ottoman Empire has decided to sail into the Grand Harbor and seize the Island of Malta, and destroy the Knights of St. John absolutely.
Players will first be given the all-important decision of choosing either the Knights of St. John or the Ottoman Empire.
If you choose the Knights of St. John, you will be given the following task, to hold Malta at all costs. You will start at Fort St. Elmo, and as the Ottomans advance, you'd try to stay in the action and defeat the Ottomans. For the sake of involvement, your character will be part of a small, player-run "war council" that when there is no action going on, you will decide on the plan of actions during the siege. That is, if you can change de Vallette's mind.
If you choose the Ottoman Empire, you will be given the following task, to kill every Christian pirate and Knight in your path. You will start slightly north of St. Elmo, and will have to battle down towards the last fortress, of St. Michael. If St. Michael falls, so does Malta.
The lines have been drawn, and both factions with nowhere to run. The Ottomans can not rout or desert, unless they intend to swim back to Constantinople. The Knights cannot run, they have already been forced to flee from Rhodes, this is a matter of honor and of God.
Basically, this is going to be a lot more "stabby stabby" than a lot of IH's, but there will be diplomacy, negotiation and drama involved. The Knightly players and Turkish ones will take place as minor leaders in their respective "War councils", that is, when there is no fighting, you will meet with respective leaders and air your opinions. However, the leadership of both faction, (de Vallette for the Knights, and Mustafa for the Turks) will not tolerate mindless bickering. I will also have to announce that the Council is "open" before you speak. After all, you're in the middle of one of the most brutal battles in history!
Interest list-
Kaiser Eugene
Thracius
Aggamemnon
The Stig
Cooki3
Emperor Batman
Originally Posted by Ancient Aliens
