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Thread: Komnenian Restoration - An Eastern Roman AAR

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    Default Komnenian Restoration - An Eastern Roman AAR

    Part 1: Introduction
    My name, is Alexius Komnenus, I am heir to the throne of Constantine and I fear, among the last of the Makedonian dynasty of Rome. Long has my father, Manuel Komnenus, toiled to restore the realm of our forefathers and he looks to me to see his dream of a reunited Roman empire in the East consummated. I refuse to fail him or my people, I will see our Empire strengthened and expanded, and Rome arisen once more.

    But despite my determination, and that of my father, our eastern provinces are largely still suffering under Turkish and Arab occupation. To rectify this the Turks must be removed from Asia Minor entirely, and all Christians in the East must take up arms in unity. The sad thing is that with all the difficulties I am sure I will face removing the Turks from their strongholds and cities in Anatolia, uniting the Christians of the orient will surely pose more of a problem. Half of the Christians here are more focused on destroying one another than the assuredly more dangerous enemies, the Ayyubids or the Turks.

    Only one thing will draw us together, we must demonstrate strength, and draw the weak to our side; altogether, I believe the weak can triumph over the powerful. I have thought long on it and my first move will be to gather the strength of all of Rome with my father’s approval, and move swiftly to overcome the Turks. With the Turks gone, none will stand before me and the re-conquest of all of Anatolia. Then, by holding our core regions there once again, I will be free to muster even greater strength and bring the barbarous crusaders to heel. And finally I will spring forth from this position to regain hold of the lost provinces of Egypt and Taurica, thereby consolidating all Romans together to rebuke the waves of Islam and whatever other barbarians may emerge from the East or North. We shall see though, first, everything must go according to plan, one setback could change everything…

    Part 2: The Situation Specifics
    I have arrived in Trapezous by ship, the year is 1174. I just received word that the city of Amaseia was taken by the Turks several months ago. Already, obstacles are arising it seems, now there is no land route home without crossing “their” territory, which could be dangerous should they attempt to assassinate me, and end the line of Emperors. I must risk it though, because I will need the kataphractoi and trapezitae from Trapezous in order to besiege Dorylaeum and Amorium. I had also chosen to sail to Trapezous in order to inspect our fortifications and defenses along the black sea in preparation for war, and to get a full understanding of our situation, this was perhaps a poor choice, I guess I shall find out though.

    It is more dire than I expected, my full attention will be necessary at all times for years to come if things are to go as I wish. I was informed that Emperor Manuel has taken out loans on behalf of the empire and is now in debt 50,000 gold pieces; this means that I will be unable to fund the recruitment of new soldiers, it seems I will be working with what I already have. I hope my father understands the consequences of these loans…

    Our control is limited, I’ve found, to the coast of Asia Minor, and the Islands off of the coast. Inland, the Turks have asserted themselves and now hold much of the available land. We hold the cities of Seleukeia, Attaleia, Laodikeia, Smyrna, Nikaia, Nicomedia, Herakleia Pontike, Sinope, and Trapezous. The Turks only have access to the sea at Amaseia, finally some good news. Also to the South-East, the Armenians have established a seat of power in Cilicia, bordering us, perhaps these fellow Christians will lend us a hand against the Muslims. In the North-East, in the mountains of the Caucasus, the Kingdom of Georgia has also thrown off the Turkish yolk and asserted its independence, they are another alternative. The Kypchaks to the North though, I’m afraid, will keep Georgia’s attention away from the Islamic threat.

    The Kypchaks could even grow to threaten our European possessions of Varna and Constantinople if we aren’t careful, as the Bulgarian and Avar Khaganates did in centuries past. My attention will remain in the East for now though..

  2. #2
    bigdaddy1204's Avatar Campidoctor
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    Default Re: Komnenian Restoration - An Eastern Roman AAR

    Nice work. This is a good read - I like a decent Byzantine AAR. Would you be able to post some screenshots to go with this? Also, how will you get out of the debt? Is it possible to attack any enemy provinces? Looking forward to your next post

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