Vanilla Venice Victor: Strong Spears Succeed (III-1)

[Alwyn]

The ability to ransom captured soldiers is an interesting feature of Medieval II. I didn't know that players can intercept ransomed men and engage them in battle before they can reach their own territory. Even if that action had enraged Venice's enemies, it does not look as if either Sicily or the Duchy of Milan/Castle Bern are a significant threat to Venice, now that Venice governs those five critical cities.

I noticed the alliance between Milan and France - and also the alliance of France and Britain - and wonder these alliances will lead to war with more nations.

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-2: North and South



(Bartolomeo)

Castle Innsbruck was one of the important fortifications defending the south of the Roman Empire, the other being Castle Bern currently held by the Bernese. While only in early stages of Phase 2 mobilization, I was dispatched to surprise the Romans and occupy this strategic point.

For this task, a number of enthusiastic crossbowmen and some experimentally equipped spearmen were assigned to my command. The spearmen were wearing new light mail similar to that preferred by the crossbowmen.




While this would be a momentous battle, demonstrating Venetian commitment to breaking out of Roman containment, we approached with stealth.

Strategically, that is. You see...




An army is not very stealthy. However by the time the Romans spotted our force it was too late to call for aid. Otto von Kassel and the other defenders of Innsbruck would have to face us alone.

And we had chosen to come there to attack them, obviously the odds were not in their favor.




For various reasons, the Romans simply had not built their defenses to last against determined artillery bombardment. Sheltering beyond the range of their defensive archery, all of us watched as the engineers brought down Roman stonework.

It seemed sure that the future of siege assaults would no longer feature primitive engines like rams or ladders.




The Roman defenders were picked Armored Sergeants who doubtless were expected to perform well with their light mail. Our own spearmen, similarly equipped, gave an excellent account of themselves.

Which is to say the Romans struggled somewhat before being put to rest by our crossbows. Of course we wouldn't degenerate into a spear-to-spear brawl.






The Roman general would not survive to see all the Venetians that would pass by the now Venetian castle on their way to conquer the Roman lands.

Indeed, it became an important waypoint on all such journeys through the mountainous area.




But for now, we would rest in the (repaired) stone walls. Phase 2 would hopefully be completed before the real push into Roman territory.

===================================================================

Spoiler for Hungary takes Zagreb: 

Unfortunately, as all this was going on, the Hungarians sought regime change and the pro-Venice leadership in Town Zagreb was overthrown. Hungary lost no time in annexing this bit of land into the kingdom. This was not considered particularly troubling to Our Lady.

I actually liked the rebels we supported earlier, so I suppose it's a good thing they returned to us safely. Unlike with Ragusa, there was no need to transport prototype strategic weapons.

===================================================================



(Cristiano)

After defending Bologna from the Sicilians, we immediately set out southwards, following in reverse the same path they had taken. With the excommunication of the Sicilian administration, we could expect few problems taking revenge, and some land, with our catapults in tow of course.

This was all while Phase 2 was only beginning, but we made good time in hopes of catching the defense of City Naples off guard, a worthwhile effort indeed.






There wasn't much to say, other than to note the presence of King Roger, and of course his death in the assault.

Naples was ours, completing the unification of Italy. Hurrah!






We also remembered to get our revenge. None can stand before our fury.






With the death of King Rogers, the Sicilians were reconciled. However, the pope still did not appreciate their continued existence, as can be seen by his lack of interest in any sort of ceasefire. So the fires of war will continue to burn brightly.

Also, the Hungarians' land grab was not much appreciated by the pope either. Perhaps we might take advantage of that one day.

===================================================================

Spoiler for Byzantines takes Iraklion: 

The island of Crete which we had largely abandoned was eventually annexed by the Byzantines. This small trading port had earlier been a stopover for merchant shipping heading even further east, but was not relevant to Venice today.

But we will remember, and get revenge some day. Just not today.

[Flinn]

once more, an exciting and excellent new chapter!

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-3: The Future



(Domenico)

In my old age, I have been able to see the resurgence of an older order than the one I was born into. Though in a way, I was born into this one as well.

Careful examination and contemplation of the old Roman records, passed down by old Roman ancestors, at the point where they married into even older Greek families (revised in the texts to merely "Italian") have provided new evidence to support what Our Lady said to me so long ago.




Future generations of the Selvo family will enter and indeed inherit a world very different from ones which would have arisen from the trajectories before this great regenerative moment. The Romans, to their credit, were completely correct in predicting the end of their order with the rise of whatever was constructed by Our Lady. The inevitability of this fall-rise pairing might be disputed by later generations, though for us today, what matters is that we are in the rise, not the fall.

Kingdoms of this age are certainly right to fear the rise of the Venician-led union of north Italy, if their goal is to remain separate from Our Lady's instruction. Unfortunately for those they lead in their "resistance", they occupy fertile land and sit on finite resources which are useful to both our ends and theirs. And thus, war.




Our Lady has noted to me that the life or death of those of this generation is not the critical issue, neither are the deaths of the next generation (for "everyone dies sometime" as they say). However, it is the ones yet to be born, and the lives they have (while they have it) which are critical. Far better just for us, but especially for them, to enter this plane under the Venetian banner.

This, she revealed to me, is the grand essence - the aim of total war is peace. A peace that the Romans must see as a complete end to all their many "values" for it will be one in which they, unlike Our Lady will never be able to return, there being none to follow them, indeed no one to follow. A complete end, victory in totality.




There are other powers, even looking outside our neighbors, who will in due time rise up to challenge my children, or more likely my children's children, seeking to ensure the future is one of their design. When I inquired about these people, however, I received no definite reply.

In the question of those not yet here fighting others not yet here, an answer is perhaps not useful, though perhaps it would have been comforting.


(Oh yeah, in this campaign I am actually going after all the factions which show up in the pope meter first though primarily because I can simply walk to them. It's also because any attempt to "eat" them will be inevitably slowed by numerous pope ceasefires, so starting earlier rather than later makes sense. In addition, it's safer since those same pope ceasefires make it hard for all of them to really gang up on me, since some will be ceasefired, giving me breathing room, etc)





In this day, there are still rebels who support the Roman order. Eventually, eventually, this will cease. For now though, they are not as dangerous as the organized kingdoms with their armies, though capable of mischief in their own ways.

For the ultimate unification of the land, we must achieve the goals set out in Our Lady's Phase 2 mobilization plans!

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-4: What is Phase 2 Mobilization?

(This is from a future class on ancient Venetian military history)



In his old age and retirement, Doge Domenico was even more feared than when he led Venice's precursor "Banner Army" in the open field. Taking up the twin challenges of "total war" and "complete mobilization" on the home front, he spearheaded the Phase 2 Mobilization era of the Venetian rise.

Total War encompassed the free use of state or individual power to advance the agenda of Our Lady. From the Roman ideal of honorable battle to the opposite of a stealthy targeted killing, the full range was allowed.




It has never been made known what the full extent of the Doge's program was in his day, though it is almost certainly overstated. Later accounts by Romans describing a "brutal campaign of terror" are almost certainly anachronistic with respect to "The Guild" while under Domenico's control simply due to its infancy.

Spoiler for Not All Are Competent: 

The Roman fear of hired killers was not altogether without substance, however by and large actual killings were carried out on Venetian soil, which is to say purges of individuals within Venetian society. Some suggestions that this was a necessary part of centralizing power in the Selvo family may be backed by facts on the ground.

However, it is also probable that many of the suspected assassinations were simply the executions of Roman sympathizers or infiltrators, potentially even carried out directly by Our Lady who has always had a short way with rebels. Many former rivals of the Selvo family would, in later generations, become important parts of Venetian society, which would not be expected in a simple "eliminating rivals" theory.




One thing which is known, however is that once the Large Town of Bologna became a city, it rapidly became the center of the Venetian special operations forces. After training in Bologna, these operators would be assigned tasks internally to hone their skills, before deployment to the frontiers to damage enemy interests with coordinated sabotages.

Many accounts credit The Guild with sabotaging critical enemy infrastructure. For example, setting fire to a single archery range in a castle prevents any archers in a wide region from being trained in any notable way!


Note that some details of missions are necessarily recorded only in a coded manner, so "archery range" might indicate a range of relevant targets. Actual buildings are less likely than, say, prominent archery instructors.




Manufacturing technologies pre-Phase 2 were mature, but did not fully embrace the possibilities allowed under known science at the time. The standard Padded Armor (and "metal cap", the term is not exact) was, as noted, a substantial improvement over no armor at all (estimated at an improvement of Armor from 0 to 4).

However, with an increase of labor and metal resources applied to the "infantry protection" problem, Venetian blacksmiths were called upon to work their craft on a scale never before seen.




The initial deployment of Light Mail (long favored by the crossbowmen who had means to equip themselves) was disappointing when examined closely. Despite the cost, such armor only provided an improvement of Armor from 4 to 5.




Most Blacksmith-hours were employed in the making of armor, rather than weapons. As a result, the concentration and specialization of Armourers should not be surprising, though many other kingdoms did not employ such a strategy.

Armorers in the Phase 2 era were most well known for the production of "Heavy Mail", an excellent form of protection compared to the earlier Light Mail.




Close attention to the needs of the infantryman (as opposed to the cavalry) resulted in mail defenses that balanced protection with weight and heat concerns, and of course cost.

The right arm was protected with a long sleeve, and similarly the right hand gauntleted, however the left side was covered by the shield and did not need so much care. However, the left leg which is in front while in formation is protected by a greave, primarily for the first few ranks.

Needless to say the helmet was of simple but definitely strong construction.




This balanced set became known as the "Venice standard" Heavy Mail and was frequently added to by veteran infantrymen. It took a while, but once all infantry were thus equipped, the uniform excellence of our heavy spearmen would break many a charge be it infantry or cavalry.

As the face of a Venetian force, perhaps it was oddly appropriate to be the most stubborn. An estimated rating of Armor 7 was calculated for the infantry's Heavy Mail.




The crossbowmen quickly took up this fashion as well. The main difference is they preferred a helmet with a steel brim (kettle hat) and most of them went for full sets rather than the infantry's varied protection.

Potentially because their shield did not protect them when facing the enemy, but more because for those wanting to display their means by ways of armor, a "full set bonus" can sound quite attractive.




Of course, between the spearmen in front, their pavise shield and this new armor, the pavise crossbowman was excellently protected from the many dangers of the battlefield, from lances to arrows.

[♔atthias♔]

keep it up I like it
especially the our lady parts

[Alwyn]

Nicely done, the close-up shots of your infantry complement your commentary on the improvements in the armour of Venetian troops.

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-5: Berned by a Bad Decision



(Antonio)

The men and I are hurrying toward Castle Innsbruck ahead of schedule. How odd, we were supposed to join up before the next push against the Romans, but it just turns out that the Bernese are attacking before the Roman ceasefire ends.

It would seem that Our Lady must have known about this, otherwise the soldiers with me would only be ready for combat a year from now...




Though I expect my cousin Barbus would be able to hold off the Bernese, now that we've arrived the tables turn in our favor. It's time to prove our righteous strength through feats of arms! Specifically the arms of spearmen, crossbowmen and lancers, that is.

As the Romans would want to retake the castle for themselves, this move by the Bernese suggests they are being backed if not directed by the French.




After making contact with Barbus, our forces join up in a sally. He even had their catapults assembled earlier and dragged out in order to provide impressive artillery support.




The enemy's first cavalry charge is not very effective. Their "mailed" knights are only wearing light mail, even our foot soldiers are equipped in infantry heavy mail (though not everyone, sadly - production proceeds at top speed in Venice).




Their second attempt did not fare any better. While Barbus and I were watching closely, if the enemy is about to run right into our spears, they have won the battle for us. We'll take it!

Spoiler for Shooting Bernese: 

The Bernese were unwilling to fight, and the reason was that this was only the forward half, expecting to prepare the siege camp for a later and heavier Bernese force. Unfortunately for them, we reached Innsbruck first.

As for the reinforcements, they made the same mistake they had earlier, which we shall see...

===================================================================



(Bartolomeo)

The suddenness with which a force was put together was doubled when it was made my first command. An army of firsts, my own son Benasuto would be joining us, with a bodyguard of Selvan retainers, of course.

While we made our way to Castle Bern, news reached the army of my father Domenico's death.




Would I be as powerfully "Malevolent"? Time would tell...




The Bernese were not ready for us. As later meetings showed, they had sent the equivalent of a Grand Banner army and reinforcements to the east in two parts, of which

1. Defeated by Barbus and Antonio at the battle of Innsbruck
2. Were returning, but did not make it to Bern in time

Advancing into the breached castle walls, we discovered a massive buildup of elite bodyguard cavalry waiting for us, a very formidable enemy on the open field, to be sure.

But as they were in a castle, they could only fight the spearmen who entered, allowing our crossbowmen to leisurely stand just outside the walls and shoot them up.




Our heavy spearmen were not intimidated when the enemy tried to fight them with swords. Lances might be dangerous, but swords less so. Furthermore, as spearmen, if they couldn't take on cavalry in a pure melee, that would be quite a disappointment.

They did not disappoint.






Count Cristoforo, a Genoese, was the first to fall. In a touch of irony, the crossbowmen who shot him to death were from a unit raised in Genoa. Genoese crossbowmen took up the pavise crossbowman concept and developed it to where it is today.

He probably regretted not being able to fall in the defence of Genoa, but at least he could fall in the defense of Bern.

Spoiler for More fighting: 

Duke Puccio, a leading Milanese had hoped to gain power by leading the army out to take Castle Bern. He succeeded, but the whole basis of the Milan-Genoa alliance was removed when the two cities were incorporated into Venice's Pentagon.

Castle Bern would similarly be incorporated into Venice's growing power base, after his death.






Agostino, a known leader of men, in this case Genoese mercenaries hired to assist in the Bern expedition. The French had taken over the responsibility for his payments, hoping that he could redirect the Bernese to French-approved aims.

He should probably have retired instead.




The Bernese cardinal Evio had a heart attack while watching the fall of the castle. He himself fell from a balcony in the castle to his death in the castle square below.

It was quite a mess, especially because he fell on some of our men. However, they said that he was quite light so fortunately his corpse did not kill anyone.





And so Castle Bern fell.




And so the Milan-Genoese alliance, who became the Bernese, fell.

[Alwyn]

'They did not disappoint' - indeed! It looks like the skill and dedication of Venetian armourers are useful on the battlefield. I enjoyed the ironic detail about what happened to Count Cristoforo.

[♔atthias♔]

I love the small details your put in

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-6: Island Sicily Sinks



Cristiano here. We were enjoying the sights in Naples when a small group of Sicilian knights marched up and demanded we return the city to their king. Obviously we refused.

Their leader Enrico then decided to lay siege to us, a much greater force. Obviously we sallied forth.




The Sicilo-Norman Knights are an improvement from the standard Mailed Knights (for some reason we have an actual unit of these, from Castle Innsbruck). For one, the Sicilians wear heavy mail.

However, their "lances" are so inelegant they look like flag poles or something else. Simply horrid texturing (same goes for our Mailed Knights, by the way).






In the usual manner of knights, they charged into our spearmen. If only we had been able to equip our spearmen as they do up north, but time was lacking. However, the Naplese did sign up to be spearmen, so we have plenty of men under arms.

They proved their grit and steadfastness on the field, defending their city and our growing alliance. Naples should be proud of them!

===================================================================



"Horses are great when you want to flee", as the infantry say. Enrico proved this, running south swiftly to find more Sicilians with which to fight us.

However, marching steadily and making good time, we crossed over into the island of Sicily only to meet Enrico again, with more knights under his command.






When we attacked Captain Guido's reinforcing men, Enrico rushed to take us in the rear. However, as his force was the larger of the two, we were actually looking out for him specifically. It was a trap!

Just as he thought to charge home, the Venetian army wheeled about and soon the Sicilians found themselves surrounded...






Horses are great when you want to flee...

===================================================================







Marching on Fortress Palermo, we did not encounter Enrico again. Perhaps he realized the Sicilian time was over. Or perhaps he ran his horse dead after that last battle and was very slowly walking to the fortress.

However, both Sicilian King Simon and Prince Azzerello were present in the defense, with (again) a large number of knights.






Breaching the outer wall easily, we took control of the outer section of the fortress. In so doing, we encountered a unit of knights which had not withdrawn to the inner portion of the fortress. The spearmen attacked immediately.

King Simon who was among them, was killed. However, initially the men thought that the dead man was Prince Azzerello, still a worthwhile victory.


(When the faction leader is present in a battle but somehow not the general, things bug out in kill reports.)




Though we did not know it, the Sicilians knew their king had fallen, and panicked. What this meant is our spearmen "captured" many knights with their strong and lethal spears.

In fact oddly enough, the moment the unit "routed" they were all taken down at once, which goes to show that routers are indeed the easiest of prey.






The foot knights responded vigorously when we breached the inner walls of the fortress. Charging out under their prince's command, they engaged our spearmen with swords and fury.






Our crossbowmen engaged them with ranged armor-piercing lethality.






And that broke their resistance. Prince Azzerello and the survivors retreated to the innermost section of the fortress, but the long arm of our crossbowmen put down all their last attempts at resisting.

Knight or no, the crossbow bolt will find you. One of them, anyway.




===================================================================



Niccolo Amocacci, for example, was watching the Prince's death from the fortress keep, but a stray bolt flew through his open window and killed him.




And that was the end of Sicily as an organized faction.

The island remained of course, and was Palermo was now a stronghold of Venice's alliance.

[♔atthias♔]

I like how RP the dead of the scilian cardinal
it is details like this that make your AARs great

[Axis Sunsoar]

I really enjoy how you put effort into incorporating parts of the game mechanics into the story telling (armor rating, death of cardinals, poor textures for lances etc) in a way that doesn't detract from the narrative. Your work remains excellent! Good update as always

also...

I like it
especially the our lady parts

phrasing

[♔atthias♔]

I really enjoy how you put effort into incorporating parts of the game mechanics into the story telling (armor rating, death of cardinals, poor textures for lances etc) in a way that doesn't detract from the narrative. Your work remains excellent! Good update as always

also...


phrasing

what do you mean with the the phrasing?
english isn't my mother language you see so if you could explain it I would be very happy

[Alwyn]

Nicely done, I like the way that you explain the bug in the report about the enemy general as confusion among the soldiers over which of the generals had died.

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-7: Choking Out Some Romans



The pope was pleased with the success of his temporary peace initiative. So were we, now it was time for us to attack!




But the Romans attacked first, and surprisingly not at Innsbruck as we had expected, but directly for Venice itself. Marching south through the mountains, they were soon raising their flag over Venice's defensive fort.

A bold move, but foolish...

===================================================================



Emperor Henry was doing something in Castle Staufen with only his bodyguard present.






We honestly couldn't figure out what his idea was, but if it was "hold the west flank single-handedly" it definitely failed.




===================================================================



Castles Bern and Staufen were the frontlines of a border with France. We might need to worry about this at some point.

Note that the roads from Staufen go directly east, further into Roman lands. Try as we might, it was not possible to make a north-south road to Bern. Though we can regularly send massive forces marching along the route.

===================================================================



(Barbus)

Andreas was now Prince Andreas (after the previous prince became emperor following Henry's death). Good for him.

When I told Our Lady about the Roman army just west of Venice, she just looked at me with a clear "you do something about it then" expression. When I added that the garrisons of Venice and Milan along with some men from Antonio's garrison at Innsbruck were being mobilized to siege the (now-Roman) fort, she just replied with "that's what they're there for" and left me to it.


Since the Romans are here and not in the north, I suppose that means the critical battle will be taking place here. That's convenient for us, actually.




The pope seems to be favoring the Romans though, trying to call for another peace. But he forgot something - since the Romans are on our land, we can siege them in this fort with no issues at all.

I order the men to settle in for a "long and exhausting" siege, which caused many laughs. We are comfortably at home, strengthened with the support of our local villages and elements of the regular military and city garrisons. The Romans are trapped with only the supplies they brought with them.




(Antonio)

While I was marching south to assist in the odd "reverse siege" of Venice, news arrived that my brother General Barbus had to go into hiding because a band of vicious extremists were trying to kill him. As a result, on my arrival I took command of the siege.

Fortunately I was well acquainted with Venice's new Quartermaster-General, the so-called Barbarous General, who assured me that he had thoroughly planned for the containment and elimination of the Romans.


He seemed to have a good head for military matters as well as logistics. It's a little odd though, since most of the landed Quartermasters (as opposed to ones on-the-march) are women. Huh.




Oddly enough, a spy suggested that the leader of the extremists, one Vitalis Coiaris, was not very Pious.

This deserved further attention, so naturally I asked Our Lady about it, since she seems to be the actual leader of the intelligence groups.




It's not clear what was up with this person, though they did have some fancy red robes and was talking about the Dark Side.

I don't know what was going through his head.






I do know that now, nothing is going through his head.




For the Roman invaders, the small bit of land on which their seized fort stands is all they will see of the world.




But for us, there is a whole lot of the world, and that means a lot of farming.

[♔atthias♔]

great writing I especially like how you explained the execution for barbus selvo

[Alwyn]

It looks like what Emperor Henry was doing in Castle Staufen was 'making a terrible strategic error'. I enjoyed these developments, including the interventions by Our Lady.

[Alavaria]

Phalanx Projects Power
II-8: Enemies From Afar



To our west, the French are making nice with an army of the Pope. We're fine with this, since the Romans are, after all, our main enemy of the day.

However, we need to keep in mind that bordering the French means we need to be prepared for aggression on their part. Anything less would mean our carelessness might be fatal.




An interesting situation in Palermo. After training to produce swords for the Dismounted Sicilo-Norman Knights, many specialist swordsmiths found themselves in a difficult situation, as our most important weapons are spears and crossbows.

As a result of this pressure, they formed a Swordsmiths' Guild in order to make better spears and lances. Our crossbowmen, who nominally carry swords cannot get them upgraded though.




This critical upgrade is estimated to be worth +6 attack to upgraded units. Considering how many spearmen are likely to engage the enemy over the course of unification, that's something that would be very important.

Our Lady also said something about spears being important to fight invaders from the east. Not sure what she means by that...






Conversely, the proposed Venetian Heavy Infantry was not received so well. Spearmen and crossbow are a great combination, warhammer infantry don't really do anything that the two working together can.

Still, they will have a role in specific "assault scenarios" as we will see...



The entire world is again erupting in war. Wait a moment, France attacked us? To arms!




Oh wait, it seems they decided to join the Roman initiative to counter us by sanctions and blockade. Still, the Pope considered this a legitimate war, and as France was the aggressor, broke their alliance.

However, the Pope's army is still near that French city, which opens some opportunities...





The Moorish Sultan Miswar decided to show off his wealth by hiring a very large number of mercenaries right in the middle of the Pentagon Formation settlements. This was unacceptable, especially when he actually sieged Genoa.

Mustering a full Grand Banner from all the nearby garrisons and for-reinforcement units, we marched to meet him.






After a long drawn out speech, the battle commenced. The Moors had an impressive force of mercenaries, however their lack of familiarity with the land betrayed them.






The Sultan tried to attack us while we comfortably shot them down from the heights.

A very unimpressive first showing. The Romans put up more of a fight... well actually no, since the Roman army trapped in the Venice strategic defense fort starved to death without a battle.

[♔atthias♔]

love it keep it coming