[M2TW AAR] HRE - Sacrum Romanum Imperium

[Ryoken]

This AAR uses the KISS Mod that I developed and recently released. This AAR will showcase what I feel are the best aspects of the mod. I will be incorporating some of the tone and style of the Milanese AAR that I recently aborted due to a corrupt savegame. I will be much more descriptive, however, since I am showing you my mod. On a selfish note, this AAR will also provide me with a rich amount of source screenshots for future loading screens (my loading screen mod is incorporated in KISS).

I chose to play the HRE because they are in the center of the action. I can show you guys how the Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Danes, French, and maybe even English, Sicilian, and Byzantine armies are fielded in the mod. The AI puts up a helluva fight. I am playing on Medium difficulty because I dont want my showcase AAR to be me going down in flaming defeat. As you will see in the very first posting, I took ENORMOUS casualties compared to normal gameplay. That is supposed to happen and my mod is balanced for that, but you can really see how much harder a battle is when the troops dont turn around and run whenever they hear a mouse farting.

Lets get started, shall we?

[Ryoken]

The Battle of Bern



Men were scrambling everywhere. The sight of the Swiss emerging from their castle outside Bern had sounded the general alarm. German horns blared loudly, calling the men to prepare for battle. A hastily formed line took shape at the bottom of the hill. Fortunately for Otto von Kassel, the Emperor's son had delegated him the task of preparing for this very moment and he was prepared. As his men assembled along the lower slope, he could see the Swiss cavalry screening the deployment of their infantry through the gate.



Suddenly the cavalry swept down the hill into the German lines. Otto's men on the left flank withstood the charge with great determination but suffered horribly. Meanwhile, the right flank managed to push back the Swiss infantry arm despite heavy crossbow bombardment from the Swiss stationed near the gateway. However, to Otto's dismay, the right flank overextended and the Swiss cavalry broke off from the left flank engagement to smash into the overextended right.



"Get more men up there!" Otto bellowed. But there were no men to spare for the moment. The right flank absorbed the powerful cavalry charge, but held their ground... for now.....



Capitalizing on the opportunity opening to him, the Swiss general ordered his crossbowmen to draw their swords and descend on the overextended German forces. Hemmed in and suffering casualties, Otto knew he would need to act fast to save the right flank from being turned!



Otto ordered the left flank to push forward hard against the few Swiss infantry that were pinning them in place. Like an ancient phalynx, they pushed forward and forced an opening!



Otto immediately ordered more troops up the hill to reinforce the right flank. They arrived just in time to prevent disaster!



Although his men had the advantage, Otto needed one more push to break this stalemate on the hill. At just that moment, he turned to see Duke Henry, son of the Emperor, finally arrive on the battlefield.

"Sir, you have arrived just in time. We must move up the hill and flank the enemy with our cavalry!"

They quickly moved into position on the left of the hill....



Just as the left flank was crushing the final Swiss resistance below them, the German knights charged the Swiss crossbowmen from behind!



The Swiss lines buckled and gave way. Men ran for the gates and the Germans pursued them.



Otto and Henry retired to the camp as the German infantry pushed into the city. Already smoke could be seen rising from the interior.

"It will be a long night," Otto thought aloud.

"Indeed it will be, Otto. You are a fine general. I will send my father a letter expressing my gratitude for having attached you to my army."

"Thank you for your kind words, sir. I shall serve you faithfully for as long as I am needed."

"Then you must begin studying the fortifications in Metz, my friend....."

[Ryoken]

OOC Commentary

The Swiss AI was actually REALLY good in this battle. They poured cavalry down into my left flank and then when my right advanced, they turned right into them and hit me hard. They held back their crossbowmen until their ammunition was depleted (which is relatively fast in this mod because they only have 20 shots and normal combat takes longer than vanilla). Then they flanked me again with the crossbowmen.

As you can see, I took enormous casualties. The Sergeant Spearmen are sufficient to stop the cavalry charge but they take a beating to do it. The Swiss Knights racked up the kills here; they deployed 300 Mailed Knights in this battle and it shows. I only had a little over 100 bodyguard cavalry myself and I was afraid to deploy them until after I was sure they couldnt be overwhelmed by the Swiss knights. If I had lost my general, this battle would have probably been lost. And 100 bodyguards vs 300 mailed knights would have meant the end of my general. Almost every infantry unit sustained 66% casualties in this battle.

So there it is gentlemen, the first battle. Against rebels... And I barely survived. Now you see why I am playing on Medium difficulty? God I love this mod!

[~Beren~]

Yet another well written story Ryoken.
But is it possible to make the screenshots a bit bigger?

Other than that, I liked it

[Ryoken]

Yes. I actually cut them to 650 width when I was doing my editing because standard forum width is 700 and 650 is usually a good size.

From this point on, I am going to be cutting to 750. If I need to boost that to 800, I will. But I think 750 should fix nice.

[Selifator]

Both the AAR and the mod look great! Hope that this will live up to the expectations that you have made

[bomberboy]

This is a good start to a good AAR Ryoken.

[Ryoken]

Thanks guys,

I got drug into house shopping with my wife last night, so no updates, but I should be able to get an update or two out tonight.

[Ryoken]

Empire Reunited



Benedictine Monastery of Novara
1115 A.D
Secret Meeting called by Duke of Milan

Duke of Milan:
I am sure you are all aware of why we are here. We face a grave and growing danger; the Holy Roman Emperor. I would like to begin this meeting by going around and getting your feelings on how things are going. Guiliano?

Foriegn Minister Giuliano:
The Emperor is a conservative ruler. After he grovelled for forgiveness from the Pope, we foolishly trapped him in Bologna. This gave his son free reign to raise large armies in the North and aggressively consolidate direct control over the cities that broke free during the troubled period two generations ago. Had we given the Emperor guarantees on the safety of Bologna and the surrounding towns, he would never have given power to his son and we would not be in this situation today.

Grand Marshall Catelano:
I could not disagree more, Guiliano. The Emperor's son is not some rogue brigand running roughshod while his poor father is trapped in Bologna. He acts with the Emperor's tacit instruction! The entrapment of the Emperor is the very reason the Duchy is independent today. If we had allowed the Emperor to return to Germany he would be beyond our grasp. If his son moves against us now, we can tighten our grip on Bologna and threaten the Emperor's safety.

No, I find the situation most dire. But for different reasons than Guiliano. Over the past 2 decades, we have stood idlely by while the Emperor's son has reunited most of Germany under his control. Bern, Metz, and Prague were restored. Even after they marched on Danish Hamburg, we did nothing. Now the Danish army is scattered to the four winds and still we do nothing. We have even been so foolish as to allow the Emperor to form alliances with Poland, Venice, France, Hungary, and the Byzantines. We have our own alliance with France, but I do not put the faith of my nation in the hands of French chivalry.

Now poor Guiliano laments our position and looks down upon the one thing that has saved us from destruction thus far. I do not doubt that the reports of a German army forming in the Swiss mountains are true. The Emperor's son prepares to match against us. And why shouldnt he? He has allied with all his neighbors save for us and the Danes, who he has crushed with his mighty fist.

I fear that our only hope is to draw upon our deepest reserves and form as strong an army as possible. If we can defeat the Germans on open ground, we can save ourselves. The world must see that the Germans are weak and then we can slowly turn the tables.....


The door swings wildly open and a messenger runs through

Messenger:
Forgive me, my liege. I bring dreadful news. The Germans have descended from the Alps and are marching swiftly for Milan.

Duke of Milan:
DAMN! Guiliano, take your finest men and go to Bologna. Attempt to broker some kind of deal with the Emperor. I must leave to command the army. Catelano, we must go now.

Messenger:
But sire, the Emperor is not in Bologna. He marches at the head of his army!

Duke of Milan:
Impossible.......

[Ryoken]

The Battle of Milan

Foreign Minister Guiliano looked down upon the two armies on the plain below. "Damn", he muttered. "We are late."



"Sir, the German cavalry has spotted us!"

Guiliano turned to see the German cavalry emerge from the shadows of the nearby wood and break into a full gallop.

"Prepare to take the charge! Form up! Form up!





Catelano watched in horror as Guiliano's forces were slaughtered. His men were locked in the engagement with the main German army. His crossbowmen had dealt a vicious blow in a few moments while the Germans had crossed the opposing field, but in melee combat he was taking heavy losses. He only hoped he could turn the tide before the German cavalry finished off Guiliano's army and flanked him.



Catelano urged his cavalry towards and isolated German unit and charged. He couldnt turn the whole flank, he lacked the knights to dream of it. But he would take his victories where he could.



After a few brief moments, he realized that against mail clad veteran spearmen, even his heaviest cavalry was too bloodied to save this position. Catelano withdrew slightly to assess his options.



At that moment, the German cavalry appeared on the hill. Catelano hung his head in shame as the Germans poured into his right flank. The left flank saw the slaughter and broke into a full retreat. Even the standard bearers abandoned their position and fled!





Out of over fifteen hundred men, only a couple dozen spearmen managed to escape into the scrub forest at the edge of the battlefield. Utterly disgraced, Catelano stabbed himself in the neck with a dagger rather than surrender to the German army.

[Ryoken]

OOC Commentary

I should have won this battle. This isnt some great victory. I brought more men and I brought 5x more cavalry than the enemy. However, I do want to note some things here.

The Genoese crossbowmen probably got more kills from crossbow fire than melee. They had a lot of crossbowmen and in my mod they fire fewer shots but do much more damage. So while they only got off a few volleys, I took many casualties from that. It is also the crossbow casualties that really seperated my army into several clumps rather than a smooth line.

I am deploying Armored Sergeants here as well, so my infantry is superior to the spearmen that they did bring to the battle. He charged a heavy spearman unit with 1/3 that many cavalry and wisely retreated after suffering many losses. In this mod, cavalry will get killed in huge numbers in melee if you are fighting 2nd tier spearmen or pikemen or some other anti-cav unit. Cavalry can usually survive okay in melee vs normal spearmen. No great, but not massacre.

When I came into the battle, I decided to pin down his main force with my infantry while the cavalry overran a few units of supporting troops (all crossbowmen, so easily charged). Then I turned my cavalry back on the main force after they had a little time to lose some morale against my superior infantry.

Classic battle really. Too simple though. Milan was a disappointment because they didnt build much cavalry. Dont worry though, that was their particular AI's problem. As you will see in the next posting, the AI does build cavalry.

[Ryoken]

The Unthinkable Occurs!

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Emperor Heinrich turned to his aide-de-camp. "What is it?"

"Well, the Pope demanded that we withdraw from Genoa. I just dont like going against the will of his Holiness, my liege. I know you have your reasons, I just feel like we will suffer for our pride."

"The Pope can make all the decrees he wishes from Rome. When I grovelled at his feet, he removed my excommunication. But at what price? My father's empire was torn apart, these pathetic Italians gained independence, and countless other afronts to our rule were committed. After many years of struggling to rebuild what has been lost, now the Pope demands that I bend to his will once more. I am no fool."

"I would never suggest such a thing, my liege. I just fear that without God's protection, we must walk lightly for fear of him."

"I fear no man. And I grow weary of fearing God."

A squire rushes up

"Sire! The Genoese have sallied!"

"Send word to the Knights, we will ride down these pathetic men like grass."





The Genoese army was beginning to buckle. Heinrich smiled beneath his blood crusted helm.



"Mein Emperor!"

Heinrich turned to see his Aide-de-Camp approaching. He lifted his face plate and turned his horse.

"Mein Emperor, the Army of the Pope approaches!





"Retreat! Retreat!"

The word passed quickly through the German cavalry through the din of battle and they withdrew up the hill to form up behind the infantry.

A handful of Genoese soldiers hastily retreated through the gate back into the city as the army of the Pope formed up between the Germans and the defenseless city.



To be continued......

[Ryoken]

Against God's Soldiers

Just as the German cavalry retreated to safety, the Papal cavalry force slammed into the infantry line. Wave after wave of heavy cavalry smashed into the German spears. Meanwhile, the Papal infantry continued to advance, preparing to assault the German lines as well.





As the Papal infantry began to engage the outer German lines, a small army of reinforcements from Florence arrived. Bolstering the Papal army on the left flank, the forces under the command of the Duke of Milan's son pressured the German infantry terribly. They had never faced so much cavalry at once! At least a thousand knights were in the field!



As the battle raged, Heinrich ordered his cavalry to the left flank on a small elevated position.



Just when the time was right, Heinrich ordered a charge. The Papal line collapsed and retreated as quickly as possible! Wisely the Germans did not pursue as the Papal force, while in retreat, was still quite strong. The position on the hill was well defended and so it was held.





As expected, the enemy was rallied and under the command of the Duke of Milan's son, they approached the German army once more.



However, Count Puccio's overconfidence led to his downfall. He unwisely charged against a far superior German cavalry wing and was slain.



The tattered remnants of the once might army of Rome retreated back into the city of Genoa. Demoralised and beaten, within days they send emissaries to negotiate surrender. The papal standard and a small band of spearmen were allowed to leave the city unharmed on August 12th, 1133 A.D.





Back in Rome, the Pope excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor

But word of this would not reach the Crusading army sieging Antioch until it was far too late......

[~Beren~]

I have to say, this is very epic Ryoken. Very well done.

Seriously, this is really good. Your work defines the true meaning of an AAR. With a good story and an actual after action report.

Good job Ryoken, I look forward to some more of your work, keep it up.

[Ryoken]

How are you enjoying the mod? I saw you say you downloaded it.

[~Beren~]

I have yet to try it, but I did download it.

This week was Quarter-Final Exams in my school and I had little time to play. But since we have a 3-day weekend, I'm able to try it out.

[Ryoken]

I really recommend playing a minor power first. Scotland, Denmark, or Milan is great.

[bomberboy]

This is a great AAR Ryoken well done are you going to bring back the crusading army.

[Ryoken]

No no no. A far more grisly fate awaits them.... MUWAHAHAHAHA!

[Selifator]

I'll see if I can repair M2 on my pc, if I can fix it I´ll download the mod.