A Tale of Two Kings - Kingdom of Sicily AAR

[Jingles]

A TALE OF TWO KINGS

Rome Medieval is an awesome mod, and I think it's criminal that it dosen't have a single AAR yet! Well, I've decided to remedy this. With the last of my exams almost over I can start enjoying RM (and ATW come to think of it) again. With a CTD stopping my Byzantine campaign in its tracks, I have started a Crusades campaign...as Sicily. The Idea is that I shall try and conquer the Holy land for myself, whilst fighting off, (or maybe allying with) the native Abbasids and Ayyubids, who are the only real Muslim threats in the Holy land, as the Turks are busy fighting off the Byzantines and the Mongols.

The story is about the two Sicilian Kings at the time; The actual King of Sicily, who is in Italy fighting the HRE and Milan, and the self proclaimed King of Outremer, leader of the Sicilian crusaders who have landed in Syria.

Will These men's dreams of conquest be realised? who knows, maybe the enemy will prevail (or a CTD might...) I shall post the first update soon enough.

Rules: Nothing special, but Crusading armies MUST contain at least one unit of Hospitallers or Templar Knights. I have also tweaked the EDB to some degree to allow the AI and myself to recruit some of the higher tier units a little bit earlier, to make battles more interesting. I also reduced the stats of Byzantine infantry and replaced their Armed swordsmen with this unit. I also made Armed swordsmen and Armoured sergeants 0 turns to recruit, to encourage the AI not to rely on front line men so much.

[GreatOne]

Looking good

I thought about making Native American one, but It would lack pictures,..... probably.....

[Jingles]

PART ONE - PISA

Duke Richard Raymond stood on the westernmost tower of Pisa's city walls, with a torch in hand and a heavy cloak wrapped around him. He peered throuh the falling snow, out into the night where he could just make out the flickering lights of the Milanese army engineers putting together their siege engines. The scouts had informed him that construction had begun a week ago, as the Milanese had finally finished gathering enough materials for consructing their siege towers, battering rams and ladders, that were now slowly being arrayed before the walls against them.

Raymond, if he was honest with himself, was quite terrified of the fate that seemed likely to await him. Milan had been at war with the Siculo Norman Kingdom for a few months now, but this was their first act of aggression. Pisa marked the Northernmost holding of Sicily's lands, and Raymond and his men stood alone against the armies of Milan and the Holy Roman Empire that would seek to crush Sicily.




Meanwhile, in the Royal Palace at Syracuse, King Davis of Sicily was readying himself to leave for the city docks, where a new fleet waited to take him and his templars to Northern Italy. He was aware of the situation in Pisa, and it could not have come at a worse time. The royal coffers were a mess, and with the bulk of Sicily's Knights on board ships of the royal fleet destined for the holy land, The Army was at it's weakest. The only Knights with King Davis on Sicily itself were the members of the Templar order, of which Davis was a former member. The Knights were preparing to join the other members of their order at Damascus, where the forces of the Muslim Ayyubids and Abbasids were preparing to attack the English crusaders from Antioch. Much to the Knight's anger and dismay, Davis had called them off, to join him in Northern Italy, with the promise of much wealth for their order if the war with Milan was succesful.



The King, now wearing his armour, and unique surcoat, Green and white outfit adorned with his family coat of arms, and a red maltese cross, denoting his rank as a former Templar. He strode into the torchlit courtyard, followed by a number of servants, where he met Marshall Jacobeli of the Templars.

'Are you ready to leave Sire?' Said Jacobeli, with obvious disdain in his voice. He wished to be in the Holy Land with his brothers, and not pandering to this weak King. He was honour bound to stay though... for now, anyway.
The Wisened King looked up and met the Templar's stare with a glare of his own, asseting his authority over the zealot. 'Yes, Marshall. I assume your Knights are already on board the ships?'

'They are Sire.'

'Good, then we leave at once.'

The par saddled up and rode into the city streets towards the port, where the Templars, and the rest of the hastily gathered army were waiting.

Duke Raymond was awoken sharply by his servant. 'My Lord! The Milanese have arrayed their troops before the walls! They are preparing to attack!'
The Duke smiled wolfishly,

'Finally they have made their move!' He rose from his seat, still wearing his chainmail from the night before in anticipation of this moment.



The streets were awash with panicked soldiers, some half dressed, making their way to the City walls. Raymond arrived with his Knights as fast as possible, glad to find the hired merceneries there waiting for him. There were three companies in all, two from flanders, and something of a trump card, a small contingent of Landsknechts, elite merceneries from Switzerland. The Captain of which spoke to Raymond.

'The Milanese have not attacked yet, they are still preparing their troops, and their Knights have not yet had breakfast it seems!'

Raymond chuckled. 'It's a shame they arent taking this war as seriously as we are. I trust your men are already fed, captain?'

The mercenery nodded. 'We ate at dawn.'

Soon the majority of the soldiers were in position, with many of Raymond's knights atop the battlements, choosing to fight dismounted. One of the Sergeants cried from the Tower

'The enemy advance!'





Raymond bellowed to his men; 'Archers, open fire!'


Soon, one of the siege towers was alight, with one section of the wall secure, Raymond ordered his Knights to move and counter the Milanese Ducal Knights who had already made it to the battlements, while the Milanese ladders made contact with the defenders.





With the Landsknechts holding for now, he sent his mailed cavalry out of the gates to charge those still waiting to climb the ladders.






Some of the Milanese slipped through the open gates, and siezing the initiative, some of Raymond's Knights made their way down from the walls to engage them.




The battle raged for many hours, the balance of power constantly fluctuating like this many times. Soon enough, Raymond's men, much to their own disbelief, stood victorious atop the walls. The Milanese Count also lay dead, slain by Raymond and his bodyguards as he fled.





Raymond joined his men for the banquet that was laid on for all the soldiers in celebration. But it was a bittersweet occasion. Raymond knew that for these brave men, the war was far from over, and many more would die before the next moon.

[Lord Of The Knights]

Very intresting JB,thanks,please continue your nice work

[Jingles]

Thanks very much LOTK, this campaign is one of the most fun I've had for a long time on any mod, So I thought I should do it justice with an AAR

[Ragnos]

Which scenario are you playing? Crusades campaign?

[Jingles]

Yes, I am indeed. Lots of crusader action in the next update, I might add.

[Jingles]

Part 2 - The Kingdom of Heaven (1)

[This update is a very wordy one, but I haven't gone much further, as Photobucket is playing up...]



Baron Bros Tettius of Sicily was, and had always been a religious man. He grew up in Rome, the home of the Vatican as the son of a foreing noble. He prayed three times every morning and twice in the evening.

He took a swig from his waterskin. He rode at the head of a crusading army now, and he couldn't be more disappointed. He was in Cilicia, the land of the Armenian exiles, now a province of the Catholic Crusaders. The principle city in the region belonged to the Order of the Knights Teutonic, a now vassal Knightly order of the Holy Roman Empire, and so Tettius' political enemy. A Christian enemy that was about to slay in the one land he felt sickened by doing so. He assured himself that the people of Cilicia would benefit more from Sicilian rule, but he still felt disgusted nonetheless. It had to be done though, and the members of the Knights of St John and Knights Templar that rode with him had expressed their disgust for the Teutonic Knights. 'Foul Barbarians' they called them. 'Swabian scum.' Baron Tettius was unimpressed.

The Column of crusaders marched bleakly on through the heat of midday, everyone, including the Baron had an unquenchable thirst in their throats, that the warm waterskins were failing to deal with. He took another swig nonetheless. On the road ahead, Bros saw a thin figure jogging towards the procession. The Baron frowned, sensing urgency in the stranger's jerky body language. He motioned to one of his squires, 'Go, see what the poor beggar wants.' If the beggar needed help, Bros was prepared to give it. He was a religious man, committed in his fight against the infidels, but he was not without generosity. The tired and thirsty Squire jogged ahead of Bros and his men to meet the beggar. They stopped, talked briefly, and then they both approached the Baron. They slowed to walk alongside the Baron who towered above, upon his horse.

The Squire spoke. 'This man claims to be one of our spies, m'lord and he says he has important information for you.'

'Show me his wrists...' Ordered Bros to the Squire. The man, clearly of middle eastern origin, spoke out in near perfect Italian.

'No need , my Lord.' He shrugged off the Squire and unrolled his tunic sleeves, revealing the cross of Jerusalem, a symbol chosen by Bros as the hidden marker for his spies in Outremer.

'Let him speak.' Decreed the Baron.

'My Lord, I bring word from Adana, the Garrison that defends the city has marched from the Gates! they go North to guard the mountain pass into Cilicia from a great Turkish army that approaches the region. The City is undefended, save for a company of Teutonic Knights that did not leave the city, and remained to tend to their order's quarters. They also have a company of Teutonic order sergeants. They are armed with crossbows and are nothing more than a town watch. Not real fighters.' The man looked up eagerly at the Baron, who mulled this over.

Finally, with a smile, he replied 'This is excellent news! Sergeant! Order that we speed up the march, We must reach Adana before nightfall! Squire, give this man food, drink, and a mount!' The Squire nodded and hurried off in a resigned manner. Bros turned to the spy. 'I didn't catch your name, stranger?'

'My name is Armen. You are the Sicilian Baron Tettius, yes?'

'I am indeed. Now hurry along and find my Squire. And take this, you look like you need it.' He handed Armen his waterskin. 'Keep safe, you march with us now, and I may have need for you later.'

'Thank you sir!' He cried, and hurried away down the line. A spy in these lands would be very useful to have close at hand, thought Bros. He would take care of the young Armenian, as he could prove to be very useful...

[Jingles]

Part 2 - The Kingdom Of Heaven (2)





A week later:

Bros Gazed through the heat haze at the city walls. He was too hot for his liking. Despite being in the east for a month or so, he wasn't yet used to the heat. He told himself that it was his armour that made him so hot. He wasn't so sure.

Skirmishing had gone on for a week between the defenders and the attackers. The Teutonics had fired endless volleys of crossbow bolts at Bros and hios army, only recently remedied with large wooden shields to protect his men when on watch. Now the assault was at hand. Bros' Siculo Norman Knights were making their approach towards the city walls, carrying ladders to take them to the top. Bros winced every time one of them fell to a crossbow bolt, none daring to help them for fear of being struck down too.

The ladders went up, with around half the Knights pinned to the arid floor before the walls, their wounded bodies baking under the sun.


At the top it was slaughter. The poorly defended crossbowmen put up a spirited fight, but they were no match for the enraged Italians bearing down on them, armed to the teeth.


They were soon all dead, with but one living long enough for his fingers to be sliced off, and then his eyes gouged out, before being tossed screaming from the walls, landing crumpled on the hot ground. They proceeded to open the gates, letting the Templars, Hostpitallers and the rest of the Italians in.



Bros himself led the crusaders through the deserted streets to the city square, where the heavily armed Ritterbruder of the Teutonic order awaited them. The different Knights of the 3 monastic orders fought, both sides fighting with zeal, believing God was on their side. Bros watched with a hardened heart, as the fight ended, with the Hospitallers and Templars victorious.






Soon enough, with the City under Sicilian rule, pilgrims began to enter the gates from all over Europe. Bros' open ended policies began to give the city the moniker of 'Gateway to the Holy Land.'

Baron Tettius had settled in well, with word that the Teutonic army to the North had been vanquished by the Turks, he rested, safe in the knowledge that noone but the infidel turks threatened him. Even this threat was soon dispelled, as Turkish diplomats began to visit the city, evidently finding Bros' court more welcoming to non-Christians. The Baron himself was not amused, but his advisors told him that it was in his people's best interest.

Soon enough though, dark clouds began to gather on the Horizon. word spread from the south that the Infidels had Jerusalem under siege, and that Edessa and the eastern territories were under threat from the Muslims.


Bros was beginning to wonder if peace in Outremer was ever to be achieved... He considered his options for expansion, and where his defences must lie.


The following morning, a messenger burst into his quarters with an urgency the likes of which were quite alarming.

"My Lord! The muslims have the town of Halab under siege! The Prince of Antioch has sent what troops he can to defend the town, but with his armies concentrated on relieving Jerusalem, he has asked you to send aid to help him defend Halab." Bros was already looking for his sword as the Messenger spoke.

"Runner, go to the Palace, alert my Knights that we ride to Halab immediately!"

The messenger, with sweat rolling down his brow, nodded and scurried away down the corridor. Bros told his servants to ready his horses, and pack his belongings. He then left for the palace himself. Three hours later, he, at the head of a small force of Knights, rode from Adana, headed for Halab, to rendevouz with the English forces there.


By sunset the following day, he stood in the tent of Count Arthur Decimus, camped not far from the City itself. The Englishman had obviously done his best to lay on comfort for the Italians, and he now spoke to Bros in his best Italian, which Bros noted was really quite good.

"I'll thank you again for aiding us, Baron of Adana. Your help is sorely needed. without you, the Muslims outnumber us, but your presence has remedied that. The bad news is that they know we are here...Or at least they are expecting us. My scouts report that they have lookouts around their camp, so the moment we make a move, so shall they.'

'So when do we make said move?' Inquired the Baron.

'Tommorrow, at sunrise. We shall catch them napping. they have marched many miles through the desert, so I do not believe they will make a night attack on the city. I doubt they will attack the walls itself in any case. The infidel would rather wait out the siege than face Christian steel, no?'

Bros frowned at the Englishman's zeal. 'Do not take them for fools, Count. These men are not just Muslims. They are men of the Caliph of Bagdhad, the largest Muslim state in the middle east. They are not fools. They evidently do not treat us as such, and niether should we to them.'

The Count obviously resented the Baron's comments, but shrugged indifferently. 'What are the muslims doing in this neck of the woods, anyway?'
enquired Bros.

'We believe they are trying to push their way through to the Abbasid city of Damascus, which is isolated by Christian lands. Their Garrison is strong, however, and none of the Christian Lords have made a move against them, what with Jerusalem under siege. But then that is the Kingdom of Jerusalem's problem, not mine.' Arthur seated himself. 'The hour grows late, Sicilian. get some sleep, you shall need it for the coming fight.'

Seeing reason in the Englishman's words, Bros retired to his tent, and advised his knights that they did so too.


THE BATTLE



The desert was still warming up from the night's cold, when the Christians began to march. The muslims, as predicted, had spotted the army approaching them, and hastily readied themselves for battle. By the time the sun was just over the horizon, both forces stood at opposite ends of the battlefield. Arthur took his men to the east, in the hope of flanking the muslims, as Bros' men engaged from the front.



Seeing no spearmen among the enemy, Bros ordered his knights to mount up. They were going to open this battle in true Frankish style, with a cavalry charge.



It had the desired effect, and with the sight of Arthur and his Knights approaching from the rear, the small muslim force broke and fled. Bros shook his head in dismay, knowing they fled in vain. Some stayed and fought, while Bros brought up the rest of his unmounted knights to finish off the tattered remnants of the Muslim army. He headed back to camp as Arthur, and Bros' Knights Templar continued to pursue the enemy.






By mid afternoon, Bros and his men had readied themselves to leave with haste. Bros was intent on leaving immediately. with the muslims caught off guard, he would push further into enemy territory. He and his knights rode away in the early evening, with Arthur and the Englishmen's thanks, bound for Tudmur, and whatever else awaited them there.

[Hannibal the destroy]

nice aar Jingle

[Ragnos]

Nice stuff, your screenshots are very good.

[Jingles]

Aarggh!! I have some bad news... I've (as I thought I might) come across a CTD in my campaign... It keeps happening after a battle with the Milanese near Genoa. Unfortunatlely it keeps happening in the Milan turn, so theres not a lot I can do.... I'll keep trying ways of avoiding it, but I think It might be curtains for this AAR...

Its a real shame, as I was planning a big epic saga for both Raymond and Bros, but It seems it was not to be... If it's any consolation, I shall vow to be the first to do a RM3 AAR (probably a French or English one, I haven't decided yet). But in the meantime I'm deciding between doing an Invasio Barbarorum Saxon AAR, or a Post Marian Roma Surrectum AAR as the Romans.

[ttoommyy]

Did you start the campaign after patching Hotfix6?

I had some CTDs in Milan's auto turn earlier. But Hotfix3 or 4 has fixed that.

I just had one CTD after patching hotfix 6 when one Milan's army tried to attack me in the river. Game CTDed when loading the battle. I just used "retreat" to avoid this battle and CTD. Then I am able to sweep the Milan out.

Aarggh!! I have some bad news... I've (as I thought I might) come across a CTD in my campaign... It keeps happening after a battle with the Milanese near Genoa. Unfortunatlely it keeps happening in the Milan turn, so theres not a lot I can do.... I'll keep trying ways of avoiding it, but I think It might be curtains for this AAR...

Its a real shame, as I was planning a big epic saga for both Raymond and Bros, but It seems it was not to be... If it's any consolation, I shall vow to be the first to do a RM3 AAR (probably a French or English one, I haven't decided yet). But in the meantime I'm deciding between doing an Invasio Barbarorum Saxon AAR, or a Post Marian Roma Surrectum AAR as the Romans.

[Aonghus G. Friedhold]

Shame. I'd vote for a Saxon AAR, though. To many Roman AARs.

[Jingles]

Yeah I started long after installing hotfix 6. I cant retreat from the battle, as I'm boxed in between two armies. (I'm at that bit near Genoa in between that small mountain range and the sea.)

I foresaw that something like this would pop up from the start, I just hoped it wouldn't happen... I think perhaps the current build of RM is too unstable at the moment for a long AAR... I'll try some of the previous posted CTD dodging methods to try and get around it.

[Ragnos]

Bad luck...a Saxon AAR would be nice. And I finally got Roma Surrectum after 20+ excruciating hours of torrent downloading!

[ttoommyy]

I used 60+ for M2TW. but Looks our future RM3 will kick M2TW off from my disk.

Bad luck...a Saxon AAR would be nice. And I finally got Roma Surrectum after 20+ excruciating hours of torrent downloading!

[ttoommyy]

Did you get CTD when loading the battle?

Yeah I started long after installing hotfix 6. I cant retreat from the battle, as I'm boxed in between two armies. (I'm at that bit near Genoa in between that small mountain range and the sea.)

I foresaw that something like this would pop up from the start, I just hoped it wouldn't happen... I think perhaps the current build of RM is too unstable at the moment for a long AAR... I'll try some of the previous posted CTD dodging methods to try and get around it.

[Jingles]

No it was just after it. anyway My PC is now dead. I think it suffered some sort of fatal error, because it won't switch on properly. This potentially means a brand new hard-drive so, that unfortunatley means no more Sicily AAR with or without CTD... It also means that for the next week I'll be using the family PC so I'll be on here less often, and I'll only be able to play vanilla... I guess it's an excuse to finish that Julii campaign I gave up on to play RTR.