[M2TW AAR] Byzantium: The Roman Empire Revived

**Kalis** · January 01, 2007, 07:03 PM

Notes:
- Ultimate AI 0.7 Installed. I just installed it so I had no idea what to expect. In fact, by turn 6-7, already began to regret some of the building choices I made (wayyy too many econ buildings, and not enough troop buildings)!
- I'm playing with medium sized companies which are much easier to use in sieges. Also, I'm going to multiply the number of troops by 10 to make it seem a bit more realistic (s0 instead of 75 spearmen, it's 750)

Background:
In the year 1080, Byzantium has been much reduced in strength. The Battle of Manzikert on August 26th, 1071 had lost the Empire it's heartland Anatolia to the Turks, and left the Empire unable to put an effective army into the field for years to come.
But in 1081, Byzantium would come under the rule of Alexios I Komnenos, would begin the military, financial and territorial recovery of the Byzantine Empire known as Komnenian restoration...

The Beginning:
Alexios looked at the report in his hands and sighed.

With Anatolia in the hands of the Turks, Byzantium was in an economic crisis.
Although an annual income of 7765 hyperpyrons was respectable, it was far lower than the gold the Empire once produced.
Even worse, maintaining the army cost 4366 hyperpyrons per year, and paying wages and other expenses drained a further 1533 hyperpyrons.
With the Empire's economy so severely reduced, it was clear that he could not gather the forces necessary to wrest control of Anatolia from the Turks.

Still... there must be a way to strengthen my empire... increasing trade and promoting farming alone is not enough. There must be more!
Thoughtful, Alexios looked at the map, and smiled grimly. Although expanding eastwards against the Turks was not yet possible, there were certain isolated groups he could take care of... Byzantium's armies would march once more.

edit:
(several of my battles are already set up, I'm just waiting for permission because I copied the style of the Ottoman AAR. If I'm not given permission to use pics of that style, I'll just go back to writing

)

**DEMETRIOUS II** · January 02, 2007, 09:16 PM

Go ahead Kalis I am looking forward to your AAR. I don't mind if you do it like my Turkish AAR. On the contrary I can't wait as we might give eachother more ideas.

Cheers

**Scorch** · January 04, 2007, 08:23 PM

Pretty good stuff, waiting to see more I hope. =D

**Kalis** · January 13, 2007, 10:55 PM

Sorry all. Haven't been on my PC much lately

Just haven't had the time to play much MTW.

1082-1084
Alexios empties the garrison of Nicaea, and reduces Constantinople's garrison to 2 companies of spear militia. Taking personal command of this new army, he marches north upon the rebel castle of Sofia. Alexio's army marches from 1081 to 1082 to besiege Sofia, and the assault begins in 1084.

To the southeast, Prince John takes his command to Smyrna.
And to the west, the garrisons of Thessalonica and Corinth are reduced to attack Durazzo.

With the garrisons emptied, he orders several governors to begin the construction of frontier outposts to provide a warning system against invasion.

Finally, understanding that the war he plans against the Turks will require a secure northern front, Alexios sends his daughter, the Imperial princess Anna Comnenus to speak with the Hungarians. A brilliant diplomat, Anna would successfully conclude an alliance with the Hungarians.

Battle of Durazzo: 1082
Durazzo's 2 companies of town militia and single peasant archer are easily defeated by the ranged assault of Trebizond archers, followed by an encircling attack by byzantium spearmen.

The combination of better troops and superior tactics lead to an easy victory with minimal losses.

Battle of Smyrna: 1082
Smyrna, although better defended than Durazzo by 2 town milita, 1 spear militia, and 2 peasant archers, falls to troops under the leadership of Prince John. The battle for the gates was particularly vicious, resulting in the mutual slaughter of byzantium's spearmen and the rebel spear militia.
However, Prince John's personal guard, and the Trebizond archers carried the day.

**TheSayyid** · January 15, 2007, 04:50 AM

anyways sorry to break into your Fun...but what's an AAR?.....

i was kind of interested in your post because well....i started playing the Byzantine Empire on the day the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas..I had both the campaign and battle difficulty on Hard. For some reason the Turks didnt attack me for a while...which allowed me to take control of the southern balkans, and move into venice destroying the Venetians. i have control of all the Islands in the Levant except for Corsica and sicily. when the Turks DID declare war ...the mongolians came into the game soon afterwards...they had to worry about them. While they did that....i had control of all of Anatolia and current day turkey. I can't seem to take control of Italy because Sicily, Milan and the Papacy keep declaring war on me. I'll tell you right now....if this was real life....Northern Italy would have been behind the rest of Europe for most of it's history, the amount of times the cities have changed hands and Exterminations have taken place in my game. i already lost control of Venice after like 100 years...but have Milan and Bologne left. My Units seem to be getting weaker as time goes on. and it seems My goal of reacreating the Roman empire through Byzantium isnt going to happen. i reached as far north as Bucharest and Zagreb...but cant seem to go farther....year is 1340

So how are you playing the Byzantines?

**iudas** · January 15, 2007, 11:17 AM

AAR = After Action Report.

**Kalis** · January 15, 2007, 01:17 PM

1084-1088
Completely forgot to take pictures of the battles

So I'll write up a few quick summaries.

Battle of Sofia: 1084

Friendly forces: 2250 spearmen, 760 peasants, 1800 trebizond archers, and 310 emperor's bodyguard
Enemy forces: 600 Slav Mercenaries, 750 Peasants, 600 Bulgarian Brigands, 1200 Peasant Archers, 800 Magyar Cavalry (Fast moving armoured horse archers).

The battle begins in a very traditional manner. Alexio orders the peasants to destroy the gate with the battering ram, and they quickly succeed in the task.
This done, the first Komnenos Emperor personally charges through the gate with his bodyguards. The skill of Alexio's personal guard is shown as they quickly kill the peasant archers and rout the slav mercenaries, with 250 members of his bodyguard still alive.

It is at this point a dangerous decision is made: Rather than waiting for infantry support, the Emperor decides to brashly charge forward. They are quickly attacked in the melee by the 2 companies of magyar horse archers and company of Bulgarian brigands. Outnumbered 4:1, the situation ecomes deadly and his bodyguards are quickly reduced from 250 men to 110.
These are desperate straits, and while the emperor withdraws, 50 members of Alexio's bodyguard sacrifice their lives to protect his retreat, reducing his guard to 60.
But the Magyar cavalry sense blood. Unwilling to let their prey escape, they chase the emperor through the streets of Sofia. 50...40...30... bodyguard remain as the desperate escape continues. The emperor continues to flee with desperation mounting, but the bodyguard have succeeded in their task. The emperor has reached the friendly forces who just entered the gates! Seeing the plight of the emperor, the 3 companies of byzantium spearmen give a warcry and charge, slaughtering the Magyar cavalry who dared to attack their Emperor.

The battle is nearly over now, as the rebels have been reduced to 3 rebel companies still in fighting condition: slav mercenaries, bulgarian brigands, and peasant archers. Momentum firmly on their side, the spearmen rush towards the center square where 3 rebels companies are prepared to fight to the death. Supported by archer fire by the trebizonds, victory is achieved, but nearly all the spearmen are killed.

The region of Sofia has been subdued, but at great cost. Of the original army, all that remains is 270 spearmen, 590 peasants, 1480 archers, and 30 bodyguard.

Although still a deadly force, the costly battle left Alexio's army with barely any infantry, and made further advances into the northern front dangerous. Alexio will spend the next 4 years establishing a line of frontier outposts. Although allied with Hungary, one can never be too careful.

Anatolia
To Byzantium-controlled Anatolia in the east, outpost construction is performed, by a new general by the name of Eleutherios Botaneiates. This would provide a warning system against the Turks if they ever attempt an invasion.

Battle of Rhodes: 1088
Prince John sails for Rhodes in 1086 with 1 company of spears and 2 of trebizond archers. He easily subdues the island by 1088AD. Although a successful conquest, this battle was more like a skirmish than a true fight.

The armies of Byzantium have been exhausted and reduced at this point. However, the emperor has succeeded in his goal. Within 8 years, the annual income of Byzantium has increased from 7950 to 12677 gold solidus (picture). With a flourishing economy and a secure north, the reconquest of Anatolia could now be considered.

**Magnus The Good** · January 16, 2007, 10:49 AM

The Byzantic conquest is only slightly starting it seems

**Scorch** · January 17, 2007, 11:14 PM

Awesome AAR mate, looking forward to seeing more. This deserves some rep! =D

**Kalis** · January 19, 2007, 02:25 PM

Thanks for the comments Scorch & Magnus

I appreciate it!
Question: Should I use thumbnails, or full images? I'm worried about loading speed of the page. Because if I write say... 10 posts all of which have images, loading speed will be very very long.
Also, I finally switched to using Adobe Photoshop elements from paint, so the image quality should jump. I'll be experimenting a bit with how I make the images from now on (For Corinth, I had fun editing the captain names out of the "battle summary")

1089: Unexpected troubles
By 1089, Byzantium was a weakened state. Although a large empire, it's military was small as the reserves had all been committed to costly battles.
Sensing this weakness like sharks drawn by the scent of blood, the Catholic factions of Venice and Sicily launched unprovoked strikes at the western side of the empire.

1089: The Second Battle of Durazzo
Durazzo was defended by the army which had conquered it 9 years ago: 1590 men, of whom 530 were Trebizond Archers and 1060 were spearmen.

The invading Venetian force was 4360 men, outnumbering the defenders 3:1.
Even worse, the invaders had a large cavalry element to support their Italian Spearmen: 800 knights and 800 mounted sergeants.

With no way to escape, the small Byzantium force grimly prepared to fight to the last man. On every warrior's mind was the question: Would their deaths be in vain?
It was a stroke of luck that the commander of the Venetian force was a fool, and sent the cavalry charging in alone. They were butchered by the defending spearmen. Nearly all the knights were wiped out, along with most of the mounted sergeants. The bodies of horse and knight formed piles on the streets.
Although Durazzo had fallen, the defenders did manage to eliminate the cavalry arm of the enemy army.

1089-1091: The Siege of Corinth
At the same time, the Sicilians landed an army at Cornith and besieged it. By a sheer stroke of luck, an army was being trained in Corinth, which meant it actually had defenders. This siege, which pit an army of 3030 defenders against 4660 attackers, would begin in 1091.

Enemy forces: 800 Knights, 400 Mounted Sergeants, 2250 Italian spearmen, 1200 peasant archers

Fought mainly by the gate, hundreds of bodies piled up on the streets as the Byzantines refused to give ground. Byzantine cavalry shot volley after volley of arrows into the Sicilian ranks, and launched charge after charge, even into the enemy Spearmen. Although the Byzantine army was decimated, they combination of constant cavalry charges and arrow fire eventually proved too much for the Sicilian's, and they were routed.
It was a heroic victory for Byzantium!

**Magnus The Good** · January 19, 2007, 03:01 PM

I like full images because it looks better that way

, on the other hand thumbnails are better for people with a low speed connection

**ElDomeAhs** · January 27, 2007, 09:19 AM

I played as the Byzantines once...just like in real life the Komenian dynasty recaptured plenty of territory and even destroyed the venetians, then around 1300 my game goes to **** when the hungarians, turks, milnese, papal states, egyptians, mongols all become my enemies. just like in real life.....

**Scorch** · January 27, 2007, 05:00 PM

Good stuff still. I actually prefer the way you do it now, even though my internet can handle the full images, I think you should keep doing it this way.

Anyway, brilliant as always. =D

**The Good** · February 01, 2007, 06:52 PM

Nice AAR, Kalis! I like the fact you are trying to restore the Roman Empire to it's former glory!

**Hex Khan** · February 07, 2007, 07:27 PM

I'm watching this with interest, since in my AARs byzantium always take a villainous roll, i'm pondering paying tribute to them as my third, quite imformative plus your pix are somewhat inspired i have to say.