[M2TW AAR] A Byzantine AAR: Return to Former Glories

**AcidJiles** · December 10, 2006, 06:13 PM

Following the horrific defeat at Manzikert and the civil war stemming from this a new Emperor has come to the thrown and a new dynasty is beginning. Alexius I Comnenus is on the throne all Byzantines look to him to restore their fortunes in this era of Total War.

Settings:

• Campaign Difficulty: Hard
• Battle Difficulty : Very Hard
• Manage All Settlements : On
• No time limit on Battles : Off
• Years per turn: 1

The year is 1080 and the Byzantine Empire has only 5 settlements: Constantinople the Capital a minor city, Nicaea a large town just across the Bosphorus, Thessalonica a Large town in northern Greece, Corinth a Castle in the Peloponnese and Nicosia a small castle on Cyprus.

For expansion Alexius looks both east and west; to the east are the Turks who so recently humiliated us and the rich cities of the Holy Land, to the east there are many Catholic nations who in the past have taken what is ours and they will regret choosing the wrong Christian Denomination.

There is only one other male member of the Komnenos line who has reached maturity and this is Prince John but he has two younger brothers who will in time join their father and brother on the battle field. Prince John’s sister the lovely Anna Comnenus will be a useful diplomatic tool to calm those who cause difficulties for the Empire.

The priority for the Empire is to expand its income through expansion so financing the wars that are so likely to occur in these tumultuous times. The troops available in 1080 are however not very well trained or equipped but for the time being the Empire will have to live with them. With the majority of the troops in Asia Minor or in Constantinople the rebel held castle Smyrna will the first to come under attack. Prince John’s army heads for Smyrna along with forces from Nicaea following on. The merchant Demetrios Calaphates is sent to the Middle East to increase income by sending back rare and exotic trade items and his trip will also give a glimpse into the Turkish Empire he passes through.

Princess Anna Comnenus is sent to Hungary to see if trade rights and an alliance can be obtained. I’m sure here skill in negotiating will persuade them to our point of view for the time being. The Emperor leads an army from Constantinople North West towards Sofia and will be joined by Theotokois Olaskos head there from Thessalonica with a small army, while the fleet near Cyprus is disbanded so as to save money as the one fleet near Greece is all the Empire requires at this time for naval protection and transport. A spy is sent towards Durrazo and the Venetians to see the activities there.

The remaning ships move near to Smyrna so as to transport Prince John to Rhodes after defeating the rebels there. Taxes at all settlements are increased by as much as possible without causing rebellion so as to increase the treasury. The one lone Orthodox priest available is converting Muslims in Nicaea and will follow the armies’ progress converting on the way.

Roads and churches are the first build priorities in places without those in addition a Garrison Quarters is built in Corinth and a Brothel in Constantinople.

A new year 1081 and the council seems to follow the Emperor’s thoughts and offers 2500 florins for the capture of Smyrna which will be accomplished soon enough. Construction of new building continues with a grain exchange, port and land clearance being commissioned. The armies continue to move into position to strike at their respective targets in force. The diplomat has been recruited at Constantinople and will head off East so that he and the princess may cover more countries. Byzantine being a place for learning and creation of the new technologies it was no surprise when this was acknowledge with official confirmation that we are the most advanced realm in the world.

The Princess and Merchant continue their journeys in opposite directions and the spy spots the Venetian castle at Ragusa.

In 1082 the Armies of Prince John and his father arrive at their respective destinations, Alexius finds that he is out numbered and lacking in troops for the fight and so purchases some Bulgarian Brigands and two lots of Balkan Archers. They both lay siege and gather wood from the surrounding area and start to make siege towers and ladders for the inevitable assault.

The priority for Constantinople after constructing the Brothel is to increase trade and so paved roads will be constructed to increase this as well as ease movement through this large and important province.

The Princess reaches Hungary in 1083 after a long journey, luckily during this trip she has lost none of her charms and an Alliance is formed with Hungary who pays 500 florins for the privilege along with trade rights and map information exchanges between us. Surely her charms have increased after this most lucrative exchange. She continues on into Europe’s interior looking for similar success.

The Diplomat in Asia Minor has similar success with a Turkish Representative and trade rights and map information are exchanged for 500 florins more into our treasury. He now prepares himself for the long journey through Turkish lands to the Holy Land and beyond.

Prince John assaulted the walls of Smyrna and walked over the enemy with a crushing defeat with the loss of only 18 brave Byzantines.

At the start of the attacked it looked like things wouldn’t go this well when one of the siege towers caught fire leaving only one siege tower and one set of ladders to take the walls which the Byzantine infantry did with skill and speed. Then it was just a matter of mopping up what was left with the infantry and cavalry.

Prince John at Symrna

Byzantine Spearmen head to the battlements with ladders

The Spearmen reach the walls and scale under flaming arrow attack

The Seige Tower on Fire

The castle was sacked before Prince John set the foundations on a church so that the people in Smyrna would come to the see the true faith and then left for Rhodes with most of the army on the fleet that had been waiting just off Smyrna’s fishing village. The Council of Nobles awared 2500 florins for the capture of the settlement and the treasury grows even more.

Emperor Alexius triumphed over the rebels in Sofia in a very similar way with only 50 casualties; the castle was then sacked with the main staying put and helps to build a church.

General Theotokois is sent out to observe the actions of a Hungarian army within Sofia’s borders. The Emperor suspects it is nothing more than the Hungarian army being beaten to Sofia but if not the case this is something he must know. With information from the spy the Emperor knows Durrazo is held by a small force of rebels but leading the army here is only likely to lead to confrontation with Venice over this small village. It is not worth the resources expended to achieve this and the Emperor must be free to focus his attentions further towards the east and Asia Minor.

To Be Continued

EDIT: Added new pictures, altered fonts, typos
EDIT: Resized pictures
EDIT: Combined parts 1 and 2 as both were only couple of years

Man this takes along time to do anyway this took 6 hours to do

but will add more reasonably soon. Any comments welcome.
Also everyone ok with the font?

[/FONT]

**IronMonkey** · December 10, 2006, 06:36 PM

Nice start!

Looking forward to reading more.

"Man this takes along time to do anyway this took 3 hours to do but will add more reasonably soon. Any comments welcome"

Yes they do! Im working on one myself. I find the amount of vartions/style in the post to be daunting. I came back today and want to change everything!

Whats really cool is that by taking time to do the AAR I find myself far more invested in the characters and the what becmes of them in their sad medieval pixelated lives. Ita all about immersion IMO.

**AcidJiles** · December 10, 2006, 07:45 PM

Added to previous post

**Henry v. Keiper** · December 10, 2006, 10:09 PM

Excellent AAR thus far, very picture heavy. (which I like)

Though why do some seem stretched?

**AcidJiles** · December 10, 2006, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by Henry v. Keiper

Excellent AAR thus far, very picture heavy. (which I like)

Though why do some seem stretched?

I dont know why they are streteched so much. I just took them, cropped them, saved as jpgs and uploaded to imageshack. If anyone has any ideas on this please say.

EDIT: Although they are off a widescreen eg my resolution in game is 1650 x 1080
Ok altered imnage sizes for all pics is that better

?

**_TheChevalier_** · December 12, 2006, 08:56 AM

Really nice AAR AcidJiles, now I'm waiting for a good update

**Eien** · December 12, 2006, 09:45 AM

a very good one, i salute your devotion, can't wait for the update

**Janissary** · December 12, 2006, 01:57 PM

Good post.

**SIlver General65** · December 12, 2006, 02:31 PM

ver nice 6 hrs is a long wait for part 2 and you have a orthadox ally russia!well probaly not but thee best ive seen.

**elbasto** · December 13, 2006, 01:25 PM

Great AAR!

**selenius4tsd** · December 13, 2006, 06:04 PM

Nice work mate.

**AcidJiles** · December 13, 2006, 08:04 PM

Across the Empire in 1084 Churches are completed to show the dedication of the Emperor to God, who prays he may lead his people forward to expand Byzantines borders and enlighten non-believers of the true faith. To this end in priests go into training in both the east and west of the Empire so that they may spread the word of the Lord. Alexius himself takes a time off from campaigning to spend a period of starvation and pray to prepare himself for the coming wars he has planned. The Council again following Alexius’ thoughts again suggests Rhodes would be a welcome addition to the Empire and so Prince John already on the island sieges the rebel city and prepares for the assault.

Across the Empire building continues building the infrastructure to fund the war machine Alexios will create. The Hungarian army near Sofia moves further into our territory and one wishes that the princess when speaking to the Hungarians had a way of asking foreign armies to leave. Unfortunately she has only knows a little Hungarian and is unable to put this point across and so continues with her journey towards the Western Europe. Troops are put in place in the hope the Hungarians will turn round and leave our country.

Sliver mines are spotted near Vienna and a Merchant from Constantinople is dispatched to return some of this valuable resource.

Still unmarried Prince John decides to adopt a young noble into the family. A friend from his youth who due to Prince John’s maturity he feels more like a father to even though there is only a 4 years age difference between them.

In 1085 across the Empire the newly trained priests spread the Word of the Lord to the unbelievers and heretics. A priority for the Emperor is that his armies can move swiftly across the Empire as due to its size this will be a regular occurrence and so he was most pleased that so many road building projects have to come to fruition.

Prince John now assaults Rhodes with a far superior army, he decides to attack at night and use his superior knowledge of night tactics give him even more of an advantage.

The Odds are very much in Prince John's favour

Prince John surverys the enemies walls looking for any sign of weakness

Flaming arrows fall of the defenders who dont even take to the walls to defend them

The ladders are raised to the walls

The final enemy spearmen make a desperate last stand

The Victory is crushing and clear, Alexius writes to his son of how proud is of his sons military prowess and the fact he has taken it upon himself to adopt a son and that this pleases him greatly. Prince John almost cries when he reads the letter from his father as in the past they have not been on great terms and this caused them both great pain. The treasury grows with the 2500 florins the nobles have provided from this victory and expansion of the Empire.

Prince John wanting to show himself to be wise as well as a great military leader takes it upon himself to convert Rhodes into a town which will increase his father treasury. He will use the army to complete the work as it may stay here since it is not need elsewhere at the moment.

A rebel fleet has attack the fleet near Rhodes, a ship is lost and the other sustained some casualties, this can not be tolerated and Alexius in 1086 decries a new navy must be created to deal with this seaborne threat.

Relations with the Turks are terrible and their nearest city is not very well defended, the Emperor senses an opportunity and so troops are to be trained to create an army in the east which will combine with Prince John’s which is currently stuck on Rhodes. Sofia with the Hungarian army still close is upgrading the castle to protect the northern border from any attack which may occur.

The new fleet meets at the Bosphorus straits in 1087 and heads south towards Rhodes to extract Prince John from the island. The merchant sent east heard there were some spices available in this province, investigated this and is now sending spices back to the empire at a tidy profit.

Troops leave their training areas and head for the east where the Emperors ambitions lie.

To Be Continued

**_TheChevalier_** · December 13, 2006, 08:12 PM

Great update AcidJiles, nice writing and nice screenshots

**AcidJiles** · December 13, 2006, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by _TheChevalier_

Great update AcidJiles, nice writing and nice screenshots

thx I would do more now but I really need to sleep

**Henry v. Keiper** · December 13, 2006, 11:27 PM

I'm glad they put Rhodes in the game. A recent Military History Quarterly magazine had an article on the siege of Rhodes by the Turks.

**Pelican Man** · December 14, 2006, 07:46 AM

I need MORE!!!!!!!!!! nothing to do at work, so I was hoping that the aar's would help my day go by faster, but now I've already read them, so I need more to read! lol I wish I had the game here to play it at work. haha

THE P-MAN