A Dutch Resurgence: Empire Total War AAR

[NCR]

I like the pirate chapter very much .Though i am much more ruthless and never show mercy!!About the character personality .Thats why we write aar's .To create our own enhancements to already well made games .Keep writing .Great stuff .

Thank you very much!

[NCR]

Hello everyone! I encourage you to vote for this month's MAARC competition. Some awesome stories are there! Vote here!

[Alwyn]

I enjoyed your new chapters, as Joost van Durzen took his little army to face the pirates - he seems like a brave and effective leader. Good luck to you and everyone in the MAARC!

[NCR]

I enjoyed your new chapters, as Joost van Durzen took his little army to face the pirates - he seems like a brave and effective leader. Good luck to you and everyone in the MAARC!

Thank you very much!

[NCR]

Chapter VI: Where Now?

I took some time to decompress from the battle. Dozens of my men had been killed, along with the hundreds of the pirate militias. My men spent weeks hunting down the stragglers, bringing them in and disarming them before placing them in prison. Killing them if they resisted. It was risky business, but we couldn’t afford thieves running around the isles.

The Governor-General sent me a letter of congratulations, while also warning me that I was going to be going somewhere else besides the Caribbean with my small force. Where else? The Caribbean was awash with potential enemies, even if the pirates were gone. TheSpanish controlled Cuba to the north and their ‘New Spain’ allies controlled much of Mexico and other places. France was nearby, threatening Dutch Guyana. Where else?

My answer came in a packet of letters and dispatches from the central government in the Netherlands. I was pleased to learn that I was being mentioned in these dispatches, with the Stadtholder himself writing me a letter of gratitude! I was humbled that the leader of our glorious nation would humble with such an honor. But the greatest was a series of letters from my wife. Let’s just say I’m glad the priest wasn’t around to read them otherwise I would get worse than a couple of Hail Mary’s!

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Another was a letter from a close friend detailing that a painting had been adorned in the House of Representatives building, commemorating the victory against the pirates. It appears that the government commissioned it as soon as word of the victory had arrived by fast ship a couple of months after the battle. It was painted by the portrait painter Arnold Boonen, who had painted in painstakingly detailed matters following my report. Included in the letter was a sketch of the painting. After a bit of thought and look, I approved. It was a fine painting.



But the answer was waiting for me with the last letter. It was a simple letter from the government telling me that I was heading for the most dangerous place on Earth. Where a war being raged by two nations over what their subcontinent would become. Where religions clashed and Protestantism hasn’t reached yet (let alone my own Catholic faith besides a couple of missionaries established on Portuguese and French colonies there.)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

India. I was ordered to head to Ceylon, our port in the storm.with all due haste with four regiments of my army, leaving the rest here in order to garrison our newly acquired possessions. Where I was to aid our Maratha Confederacy allies under the command of another general, who hadn’t been in battle before and was rumored to be a coward.

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And the worse part?

My wife and children were moving to Ceylon.

God help me.

Part of Letter From Stadtholder to General Joost Van Durzen (Not For Publication!)[I

Dear General van Durzen, It has been some time since we have spoken in the capital. I understand that your victories have brought us some breathing room, but I must warn you that things are heating up here. The middle class clamors for reform and lower taxes. The lower classes want more representation in government despite most of them not knowing how to read or the understanding to run a government. Keep winning. These victories are necessary in order to keep our country together while we work out how to fix these problems our country faces. Continue to win and we will continue to thrive. Lose and this country will fall apart.

[NCR]

Chapter VII: Are We the Bad Guys?

The sloop Pera had been given the honor of escorting my army to Ceylon. We couldn’t afford to provide more transports, so we had to avoid any Mughal Empire navy patrols that may have slipped past the Indian Squadron. The transports carrying the four regiments were armed with cannon, but were slow and burdensome. If a well-armed fleet caught us, we were dead in the water.

The journey was rough for the men of the Caribbean. They were used to the gentle waves of the beaches of their native islands, islands where they had spent their entire lives on. It wasn’t an easy life, but it was much calmer than this. Storm after storm raged against us and we buckled down. I lost almost a dozen men to these storms, men who would never see their wives and children ever again.

The Pera drove off a couple of Mughal privateers, small ships tasked with raiding our trade routes, that tried to take advantage of our armament. The Pera’s captain was a very smart man who happened to know about the legend of Captain Kidd, which we spoke at some length about.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Finally, after almost three months at sea, we arrived in Ceylon. The island never looked more beautiful, even though this was the first time I had ever seen it. The port, Colombo, was home to the Indian Squadron, which was commanded by Rear Admiral Graves. He greeted me with a salute and a firm handshake.

“Welcome to India!” he said happily, as his sailors and my soldiers began to unload the ships. “The Mughals have blockaded the only Maratha port where our trade goes to, the Mysore is being a pain in my arse, and the Maratha Confederacy apparently doesn’t know how to fight a war.”

“Has it really been that bad?” I asked.

“No, but we have had orders from General Coster not to move until reinforcements arrived. A single sloop and four regiments? Ain’t bad, ain’t bad at all. We need all the help we can get and it looks like you’re it!” he almost yelled into my ear. “Besides, you all need a tan anyway! You look white as rice!”

“Are you mad?” I asked, not realizing what I just said. He laughed and so did a couple of nearby sailors.

“They don’t call him Brave Graves for no reason sir!” a dark-skinned Indian sailor said to me proudly. I blinked, not realizing that this was India. Sure we used native troops in the Caribbean, but they weren’t in the Navy nor were they in our main armies. They were scouts and that was pretty much it. But in India, we used sepoys, men who fought in line and besides our men, who were loyal to the Dutch flag.

It was different. That’s all I had to say. I had yet to see their mettle in battle and that’s where I would let my judgment rest.

“He’s barking mad...and we love him for it!” said the captain of one of the sloops. The Pera’s captain and I exchanged glances, not knowing what in God’s name we got into.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As we walked further into the port, regiments of Indians and white Dutch soldiers marched past us. Some of them were dressed in different uniforms and strangely shaped hats. A few of them were on horseback, riding tall above the rest. Sabers were plainly seen and they wore the strange hats like some of the other ones.

Graves looked at my puzzled expression and quickly surmised why I was looking like that.

“VOC mercenaries. They sent a couple of regiments here to ‘look after their interests.’ Bloody expensive to pay, but they’re the only cavalry and hard-hitting infantry we got. Sepoys are good and all, but nobody fights like a VOC mercenary,” Graves gleefully explained to me, laughing all the way.

God, please send me back to the Caribbean, I prayed, hoping he would hear my prayers. He probably wouldn’t, as he had more important things to do than listen to some general who had won one victory over a pirate militia. Why Amsterdam thought sending me was a good idea was beyond my comprehension.

General Joord Coster was a rather portly man in his forties, his wig out of shape, and his uniform not pressed correctly. His bodyguard was immaculate, unlike my own, who were still recovering from the long sea ordeal and their horses still braying over being stuck in the cargo hold for two months.

“General Van Durzen!” he greeted and I snapped a salute, which he returned lazily. “It is good to see you finally here. How was the journey?”

“Fine sir. When do we depart for India proper?” I asked.

“Soon. One week, to allow your men proper rest and care. The Mughals have been beaten back from the Maratha capital, but we need to remove their navy maintaining a blockade around their port, to allow trade to flow back in. That’s where Admiral Graves comes into play. The Persians tried to destroy our fleet, but we beat them back. So rest for now, until the fleet has done the job we need it to do.”

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“Yes, sir.”

“I can sense your apprehension, Joost. Relax, for now. The war will come. You must allow it.”

As I left with my men, I was uneasy. I turned to see Admiral Graves waiting for me right outside of the inn I was staying in until our departure to a place known as Ahmadnagar, a town north of the Maratha capital of Satana.

“So I guess this is where we depart from each other!” he said madly and he slapped me on the back. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back just in time to escort your sorry arse to India.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Of course you can!”

He left with another laugh. I went into the inn and went to the desk where I started composing a letter to my wife.

“God help me.”

“God won’t help you.”

I turned.

Oh, you’re right about that. Standing there was the only person who could put the fear of God in me besides the priest when he started to preach at Sunday Mass.

My wife of five years stood in the doorway, tapping her foot.

“Francisca.”

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[♔atthias♔]

keep it up
I don't like empire TW but your AAR makes it great
have some rep for that

[NCR]

keep it up
I don't like empire TW but your AAR makes it great
have some rep for that

Thank you very much!

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I like Rear-Admiral Graves - he's a great character! And van Durzen's relationship with his wife looks interesting...

[The Best of Luck]

I'm not a fan of Empire, but I do like Graves and Van Durzen. Looking forward to more!

[Alwyn]

Great updates! I am a fan of Empire Total War - I thought I would mention that, in case you were wondering whether any of your readers likes this game!

I'm enjoying the movement of the story from the Caribbean to Ceylon, the descriptions of your characters (like Joord Coster) and the way that you tell us about the units as well as wider events. Looking forward to more!

[NCR]

First, I want to thank everyone for voting for my AAR in MAARC LXX! Thanks to you guys, The Dutch Resurgence won and I received a bronze Writer's Study Competition Medal! I have several updates that will be coming in the next month or so, but I just wanted to convey how much this means to me, especially considering that was the first time I entered the MAARC.

Next chapter will deal with Graves and the beginnings of the invasion! Thank you once again.

[Alwyn]

Congratulations on your first-place win in the MAARC LXX and on your bronze Writers' Study Competition Medal! (Winning the MAARC the first time you enter is particularly impressive - I wasn't one of the winners in the first couple of MAARCs which I entered.) I am looking forward to the next chapter.

[NCR]

Hi everyone! I just want to say sorry for not updating for several months; work and school has caught to me. I just want to say I have good news and bad news. Bad news; I lost everything when my laptop crashed. So I cannot go back and update this AAR as I had several chapters outlined and written up before the crash and I couldn't save it. Worse; my muse was gone. Couldn't keep it up with this story and so I decided to not redo it.

Good news? I've been playing Medieval 2 Total War Stainless steel and I've been doing the Hungarian campaign. I decided to start a campaign though I'm twenty turns in. So stay tuned!