[AAR] M2TW: The Foot of the Mediterranean Sea Part 2

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Greetings gentlemen, part 1 is located here.


Author : tuore
Original Thread : [SS AAR] The Foot of the Mediterranean Sea (COMPLETED)

The Foot of the Mediterranean Sea

UPDATE #13 (Pink Beard i can tell. Really radical news!)

Part XIII: The Gunpowder, The War of Scotland and the Crusade

Before attacking Scotland, we would need gunpowder. And lots of it. Soon gunsmiths would be completed in many cities.

We got news from a great trading network. We would improve our trade, and then we would have enough money for troops.


Then the gunsmiths were completed:



This is the new military technique.

We were ready to invade Scotland with two armies, both having one bombard.



The fleet that transferred Francesco was sunk behind him. He had just arrived on land. Lucky.





We had to make a lot of decisions these days.


We supported the Byzantines.



But then, the Pope died out. No election was made, they just choose our cardinal as the new pope.





But the new pope was already 64 years old.

We didn't care, we just attacked Edinburgh. Good old friend called night attack was handy now.





We went to the battle for ourselves, because we wanted to show our new technology.



Francesco: Well, shoot with the cannons and then we'll see if they are as good as they say.



Francesco: Holy !!!

Francesco ordered the cannons to fire at the walls. They wouldn't last long.



Francesco was so excited that he moved closer to the enemy. This was fatal, because he got shot by his own cannons.



Francesco: Auugghh!



The walls fell down, and our soldiers assaulted the city. We continued, even though Francesco was dead.



We killed their king, and after that we won the battle.







The scottish realized that we are at war.



New king was 23 years old. He had 4 command stars. But the new prince was called Bastard, so he would attack some rebels and die.

We conquered Inverness.





Then we called a crusade to Tunis, so that we could fill our victory conditions. Then we would need just 22 cities more.



And we are at war again.



And it seems that we cannot control the seas.




And the next turn, every catholic faction remaining joined the crusade. Except for the Teutonic Order.



The prince died in battle "accidentally" and a new prince was selected. New one was called prince Uberto. And he would join the crusade.

The Byzantine Empire and the Venetians established a client kingdom.


We outnumbered the forces of Tunis greatly.



And the crusade was successful.



Uberto left Tunis and attacked Tripoli.



But the Egyptians were there first. We attacked and destroyed them.



Then we took Tunis from the rebels, thanks to our bombard.



We won the battle, and now we had a large part of Africa.




Update #14

Chapter XIV: New government and the Casus Belli

We had a part of Africa now. It can be a great advantage, if we get to war with Moors or Egypt. We upgraded our cities and castles.

King Guido: Advisor!
Advisor: Yes, my liege?
Guido: Let's change this government type. I'm too tired to travel throughout the world to lead the wars. From this point, i'll rest here in Tunis, and wars will be lead by the nearest generals possible. Start building schools and libraries, so that we can get good commanders.
Advisor: Yes, my lord. I have some news...



Guido: Yes yes, accept it!

Advisor: And more...



But then, Guido interrupted.

Guido: What? Look at that! Poland's occupied Nuremburg is really close to our cities. If we ever get to war, that city can be vital. We need it. Send diplomats to buy it.

Prince Uberto knew that war was close. He recruited many soldiers quickly.



Then the diplomats arrived.



This was our first offer:



But they rejected !



We cancelled our alliance, trade rights and military rights to them.



Our first spy was successful. We got vital info from the Polish.



But the second wasn't that lucky...



Guido: Yes, but lets make this offer to the Polish people: They give Nuremburg or we will attack!





Now we had a Casus Belli, reason for war, against them. This would be vital, as Guido's government made everything more civilized way than Francesco's. Wars would not be started without a reason.


After this, Uberto took another part in Africa and made peace with the Egyptians.



Then we attacked to Poland.




We were at war now. Sicily was fighting against Poland. Strange.



Battle of Nuremburg was easy. Ram crushed the gates.



Then our cavalry charged through their spearmen to the center. Then the enemy's king attacked our cavalry.


But he didn't stand a chance. He got killed instantly.



And then we killed the remaining forces, and won the battle.



It looks like Guido's new government is working. The enemy was surprised, and they didn't have almost any garrison.

Next turn, we heard a cunning question:



We captured Prague with autoresolve, they didn't have almost anyone there.




But then, we were driven into a massive field battle.



Things were not good, because we didn't have any general. Still, we tried.

We started with a massive line attack. It worked greatly, until the enemy's reinforcements came behind us.



We killed their general. But they still had two other generals.



Another one got killed, but we had so much troubles, that we had to retreat. This was a stinging defeat, and it would not be forgiven.



After this, we just autoresolved the battle of Madgeburg.




And then we immediately negotiated for peace. It was accepted willingly.





We had completed in our objective. Our independence was no longer insulted. We were the supreme power of Europe!

End of Chapter XIV





UPDATE #15

Chapter XV: The Invincible King

First of all, war with Poland was over. But our borders weren't secured. We still had the Byzantium as a rival. We could wipe them out. Their castles are too close to Italy. First, we took the lst city of Venice, so that they couldn't declare war.



We began to recruit troops. It looks like we cannot control the seas.






Guido: Why can't we ever win the naval battles? We must wait for real-time 3D naval battles so that we could win...

Advisor: Ehhh... wtf? :hmmm:

Guido: Nothing. Gather the army.

Prince Uberto took many soldiers and crossed the Mediterranean with his fleet. But he was attacked.




But fortunately we managed to retreat, without any losses.

We diplomatically cancelled our relations to the Byzantines.



Shortly after this, we attacked their cities.



We had troops all over Byzantium.



Our objectives were:

Take Corinth
Take Athens
Take Arta
Take Scopia
Take Thessalonica
Make peace.

Uberto took Corinth easily.



Uberto: It seems that... NOTHING CAN STAND IN OUR WAY!



Then we assaulted Scopia. We went to the battle.



Our cannons started to bombard their walls.



And after a long time, the walls fell down.



But at this moment, the ammunition of the bombards had run out. So the computer decided that we lost.

General Ercole: ¤£#$ we cannot lose now you ****** i kill you @@£$%!!

The Pope got a strange idea. He called a crusade to Silves, a Portuguese city.



We had no intensions to join. We had other problems:

The Moors betrayed us.



Their full stack attacked our forts near Tunis. And king Guido was resting there!



And we lost one fort.


But then, king Guido made a draft. He took every troop in Africa and attacked the Moorish fort.

Before attacking, we took Athens.



We also finally managed to take Scopia.

While marching to Thessalonica, our army got defeated.



Then the battle against the Moors started.



Defeat was certain, but our king would sacrifice himself for our land.



After his death, all other troops routed.



But then, a really strange thing happened. The army retreated to another fort, but the king was still alive. He got killed in the battle, but it didn't stop him. He is the GOD!



We made peace with the moors.



Then we took Arta from the Byzantines, and after that, we made peace with them.



The Byzantines accepted a peace, and they gave us Thessalonica. We had succeeded.

Advisor to king Guido: Sir, we heard news that the Papal States have lost Cyprus.

Guido: Where's Cyprus?

Advisor: It's the island we gave to the Pope.

Guido: Oh... THAT island. Whatever.

Advisor: Are we gonna do something?

Guido: No.

Advisor: :hmmm:Why?:hmmm:

Guido: No time.

End of Chapter XV

Next objective:

1] Get Cyprus Back
2] Go to the crusade that was called to Silves
or
3] Reinforce regions and just see what happens.


Mini-update!

Chapter XVI: An overview of our empire.

Venice is our capital. We decided that Rome wasn't secure. Venice had natural defence, the island, and it had great trade income. It is governed by Matteo de Palermo, who is quite old.



He will still make a good governor.

This is the diplomatic situation:



Our military main base is France. There we get the best units, and the largest expenditure because of army upkeep .

King Guido (i call him King Guido the God) is the governor of Tunis. Tunis is surrounded by forts, one owned by the Moors. But the forts are empty.



And the last thing for this mini-update: Our main objectives for capturing Europe.



I have put lines on the areas we need to take to establish a secured empire. So, we should still eliminate England, take three cities fron Denmark, eliminate Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Spain and the Teutonic Order. Also, all cities from the Byzantium all the way to Constantinople. We have to drive the byzantines out of Europe.

And money situation. We generate income of 10,000 florins each turn, we lose 11678 florins to corruption. Army upkeep is roughly 38,000.

This was really mini update. Next big update will come in few days.


UPDATE #17

Chapter XVII: World ruled by one

Last time, we were at war with the Byzantium.

Guido: Let's look at our statistics... hey! What the ****? Has the Papal States recaptured Cyprus?

Advisor: Yes, sir, it looks like so.



Guido: Well, lets join the crusade to Silves. But first i want to look @ our trade monopoly in Italy.



Guido: Ahhh... merchants...

Advisor: Sir, it's too late to join the crusade!

Guido: What do you mean?

Advisor: I just mean...


Guido: Awww... what else?

Advisor: We still cannot control the seas.



Guido: It must be a curse...



Advisor: But the Portuguese made an interesting offer!



Guido: Accept it!

Advisor: Oh, and one more thing...

Guido: Oh? It gets even better. Tell me, i'm so excited!



Guido: *** ***** ***** you ***** i *****

Advisor: And this is really urgent:



Guido: Hmmm... accept.



Guido: We must accept it. The portuguese are really big. (Look at the map)

So, Crown of Aragon was no longer our vassal. We have to destroy them.



But the Aragonese had every army just standing, so we captured their cities easily.






And then:



Venice, our capital, had grown to a huge city. Look what we are building!



This is possible because:



Guido: This is awesome! Is there anything new?

Advisor: Well, this curse...

Guido: Has it gone away?

Advisor: Ermmm...




Then other news. We invaded Leon-Castille right away, because they were an easy target.



And then, the curse stroke again.



We captured Toledo and Pamplona.





And then Guido said something.

Guido: Let's attack England.

Advisor: Wh-what? Oh, i heard you said that we should attack England...

Guido: Let's do it.

Advisor: WTF





The English were an easy target. But it looks like Guido is seriously insane. We cannot continue this war thing for long, or the Pope will get angry.



Then we took Edinburgh.

Pope was not happy.



Guido: Ahhh, i don't care about that old guy!

Meanwhile, we took the last cities of Spain.





And another kingdom has fallen.



Pope was getting really angry.



Things didn't get better after we continued our assault on England.



To be exact: Things went even worse.



It looks like Guido would be the last ruler of the New Rome. Scientists say, that New Rome would not last for more than ten years.

We heard news about the new 14th century.



To us, it would mean defeat. That is obvious.

Guido was getting more insane. He couldn't even talk anymore:

I dn'to care! L'ts 'ake Jerusssalle...





Guido: Andddd nowww attack teh Mo0o0o0o0rs!





Finally, we took the last city of England, and destroyed them. But our defeat was getting more distinct. After taking the city, we heard the most excellent, perfect, magnificent and glorious thing of all:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This was what Simone had waited ever since he took Bari.

(I decided to continue game, so that it would disappoint you guys).

What would we do next?

1] Conquer the entire world as quickly as possible
2]Slowly advance throughout the world

or

3] Try to keep the places we have now, and not expand for a while.


UPDATE #18

Chapter XVIII: The unfortunate crusade

So, we had to conquer the world. Where would we start? We were at war with Moors and Egypt.

We didn't have to start anywhere. The Moors did it.





Other bad things also happened.



And another disaster.



Good thing was, that we got lots of priests.



Guido was in a dangerous situation.



Guido: Men! You know that i am god?! We will crush them!

Start looked great. We charged at their missile troops.



And thanks to that, their general got killed.



But it seems that Guido wasn't god. He got killed.



And also Roberto D'Altavilla, son of Francesco, got killed.



Our bombard bombarded their troops. They were the only ones who didn't care.



But they had too many troops. Tunis was lost.



But there was yet luck: We got reconciled!

Yay!



Uberto was now king. He was very distant relative to Simone, but he was his relative anyway.



But our prince sucks.



The siege of Cordoba was great. We just waited for the time to run out, and then it became a draw.




We needed peace with the Moors. This was our offer:



And they accepted.



Jerusalem, the holy city, was besieged.



The enemy invaded it quickly.



But we had a line of spearmen covering the gates.



No one shall pass!



We won the battle.



Jerusalem was now safe.

Advisor: Sir, the Pope has called a crusade to Gaza.
Uberto: We will leave immediately. Gather as many troops as you can.

Uberto, living at Corinth, quickly crossed the sea and sieged Alexandria.



Clear victory.

Advisor: Sir, our ship is under attack!
Uberto: OMG! The curse will sink it. This is !

Advisor: No, sir...



Uberto:
Uberto: Yeah well, let's take Cairo.



The enemy's captain got killed right away. Battle swinged in our favour.



We crushed them to the last man. Or atleast almost.



Next army arrived by ship.



Damietta would be important, because it is a citadel.

General Bernando: The Handsome Bastard got killed...



But it didn't help us. Our army was crushed by the egyptians.



We got an interesting offer from the Kwarezmian Empire:



We accepted it.

Uberto was terrified after hearing, how brutal the egyptians were.



Another army was sent to take Damietta. At this point, at least four armies were coming from Europe to the Holy Lands.



But we got destroyed again.



Our prince was sent to take Gaza, so that the crusade would end.



We made a massive line attack.



...but it didn't help.



The next turn was not good.





And Uberto was under attack!



But even Uberto could not resist our new curse.



Fortunately he managed to escape to Jerusalem.

Our ships got sinked.



But we won one battle!







This does not work...



We accepted the message. We crushed the egyptian army.



Strangely, we won the battle. Could you have guessed? ()



With the aid of the Knights Templar, we managed to take Gaza.









They didn't have many towns left. Maybe we CAN crush them. If get get as many defeats as we have got this far, we have problems. But still, one army is coming towards the Holy Lands...

End of Chapter XVIII


UPDATE #19

Chapter XIV: The End of Egyptians

We got attacked by an Egyptian army near Al Aqaba. We won the battle.



We had the city now. And lots of prisoners.



Uberto sent a general with a huge army to take Luxor.



Uberto heard news: We have been backstabbed! The infamous Danish have attacked our peaceful city.



Uberto initiated a battle line to Denmark. It would be called "The United Armies Line". We had the norwegian people helping us.

Another ship arrived to the shores of the Holy Lands. This time, we took Acre...



Meanwhile, the United Army line was moving. Our main objective was to take all Danish cities up to and including Arhus. Then we would make peace. But the egyptian line had to destroy the Egyptians as quickly as possible.





Hamburg was now ours.

We don't know why, but our relationswith the Moors got better.




We won the battle for Luxor.



Our Curse of the Seas striked again.





But it was quickly forgotten, because we took Damascus. Now they only had Medina and the curse of us all, Mecca.



Our king, Uberto, moved towards Medina. We got interesting reinforcements.



Uberto: Advisooor!
Advisor: Yes?
Uberto: What are these grey monsters?
Advisor: Sir, they're elephants.
Uberto: El-Ephant's? Is it a tavern?
Advisor: No.
Uberto: And what are these? Strange name.



Uberto: Kwrazexömian mercenaries... ok... :hmmm:

Meanwhile, danish invasion line had taken Arhus. Now we made peace with them. They accepted it willingly.




Then, Uberto took Medina. Easy cake.


Uberto was already waiting for news like: "Sicily conquers the desert" or "End of the Egyptians", but only new was this:



Someone didn't know EXCACTLY where Medina is...

Just preparing to take Mecca, we heard this thing: Our capital has becomen the holiest...


But, we were having a religious war in Europe. Heretics were everywhere, and we required lots of priests to take them out. Average percent of heresy in the towns were about 25%.

After the Pope heard about the cathedral, he was happy.




We won the battle of Mecca, and the egyptian age was over.





Sicily now had a mainland AND, translated to german, a "Västerreich", a western empire.

Finally, a picture of the world with toggle_fow on.



End of Chapter XIV

What next?
1] Invade Portugal
2] Invade Poland
3] Invade Hungary
4] Inavde Byzantine empire
or
5] Try to take all of them at the same time (really risky).

Reason why there's only invade choices is, that you voted previously for "Invade the whole world".

UPDATE #20

Chapter XX: Invasion to Portugal, Poland and the Byzantines.

We had to invade somewhere. Uberto called his advisor:
Advisor: Yes sir?
Uberto: We need to invade Portugal.
Advisor: :hmmm:Why?
Uberto: Because this vote says so.
Advisor: What vote?
Uberto: This total war center forum.
Advisor: Eeeehhh?
Uberto: Forget.

Before the attack begun, the Moors wanted to help us.



The war started from the taking of Badajoz.



We won every battle against them. They were weak.




Another battle took place.



Their prince got killed. And so, their army got crushed.






Another victory against the portuguese.

Next one was an important battle:


We commanded our troops to kill their generals. It was a success.







It was a battle worthy only of the mightiest of the Generals!



Uberto got a strange message:


Uberto: How is it possible that France and England are at war, there are no nations called England and France. It's Sicily now! There people don't seem to know anything.

Another battle was over.





Now, the portuguese had been driven off. We made peace. But uberto wasn't happy.

Uberto: Let's take Byzantine too. We'll drive them off Europe.

War started with the taking of Sofia.



Right after the battle, Uberto said:

Also attack Poland. Our eastern borders aren't secured.

We had won every battle against our enemies of Portugal and Byzantium, and Poland would not make a difference.



But then, we lost a battle against the Byzantines. We could not expand out of Europe. We would take Constantinople.



The Pope did not like our war with Poland.



Finally we managed to take Constantinople.



Then we lost a sea battle again.



We took the last cities of Byzantium in the Europe half of their empire, and made peace.



Byzantines had been driven off, and so have been the portuguese. But the war of Poland continues...



End of Chapter XX

(quite short this time... but try to live!)


UPDATE #21

Chapter XXI: The End Begins

Poland had to be destroyed.

Uberto's new idea was to take regions from the Turks, and also take Baghdad. It is an important center of trade.



Uberto was a pure military leader.

He heard terrifying news: After excommunicating us, the Pope said that the God would punish us. Now it has happened!



At the same time, we destroyed Poland.



Uberto: Now we should not get into war, or the plague will destroy us all when it comes.
Advisor: Sir, it's unavoidable.
Uberto: What do you mean?
Advisor:


Uberto: Oh...my...god.

The plague attacked us.


Everywhere plague:


Next turn, we got these reports:



Uberto: Well, let's hope it's not anywhere else than in Italy...


Uberto: ARRGHGHGHHH!



Uberto: God, please, i'm sorry! I believe in you! Don't do this! NOO!

We took few turkish cities.



The Hungarians joined the crusade, and it was our disaster.



We went from defeat to another.





Uberto was also afflicted with the plague, the curse of gods.


Uberto: This is the curse of the gods... NO! I mean the God! There's only one god! Please! Let me live! I didn't mean to...

And just when we almost won the crusade by overnumbering the enemies, the muslims betrayed us.



We were also having money problems.



Uberto: What's this? Oh, GREAT!



Uberto: Now let's see the situation of our cities:



Uberto: WTF? It should have been over! What's this?! God has forsaken us.

Uberto still raised the taxes in our settlements and disbanded our troops, and then, the next turn, our treasure was growing again.



And then the defeat spree continued:



We lost Bucharest and Constantinople.





The Byzantines would surely occupy it and begin to praise their architecture... no way! Look!



Our people was dying. Uberto was fortunately besieging Baghdad. Time tells, if our nation can hold out for another 200 years.

End of Chapter XI

UPDATE #22

Chapter XXII: The Rise of the Italians

We were having money problems. Uberto took a look at our diplomatic situation while besieging Baghdad.



We were at war with many nations... dang crusade & jihad!

We knew that Jerusalem would be lost soon. So we did the most unholy thing a man can ever do...



The Holy Place was now crumbled.

Iraklion was lost to the despicable Byzantium, but the siege of Baghdad would go on.




The battle tactic was this: First a line attack towards the defenders' army. Then, splitted up the forces and attack the reinforcements.

1. The Line Attack



2. The Split



2 ½: The General killed:



3. Get inside.



4. Take the Square.



5. Kill the remaining forces and win.





Uberto executed the prisoners.



Then we won the battle against hungarians.


Then happened the thing what Uberto feared.



An unstoppable army.

During the next turns, we took Constantinople.



We executed the people. That will teach them to support the Byzantines.

A huge army of ours was closing to Buda.




Then the battle of Jerusalem took place.



New sections of siege defensing.

1. Check the army that has the siege equipment and position your troops.



2. Wait for them to reach walls..




3. Make sure they dont get past the gates.



4. Which failed...



The battle was starting to become a mess. We got slaughtered. The infidels have no honour. They slayed us.





Uberto got a message.


Uberto: First the Great Mortality, now the Great Drowning, what's next? The great Browning would be nice...

While talking about the great mortality, it was passing away:



Diplomacy succeeded.





..and failed...


And now, we were only at war with few countries.



We won a heroic victory against the hungarians. Sicily was rising again!


End of Chapter XXII

UPDATE #23

Chapter XXIII: The Last Days

We had some money problems. But soon they would be gone, because we made peace with everyone.





The Black Death was also letting go its grip.



The Turkish were strange. They declared war, but Uberto won the battle clearly.



After the next turn, the black death had passed.



Uberto was now taking Mosul.



The battle was too important to be autoresolved.



Assault begun greatly. We crushed the gates and took the walls.



Our glorious army was now inside.



Everything was going well, until:



This was an unfortunate tide. We thinked that a retreat was the safest option.



Soldiers withdrawing from Mosul.





Today's battle was lost, but we will see how our new kings government works.





New king was king Martino, and he was the governor of Caen, our mighty sea fortress.



Martino's first step was a peace with the Turks.



But he also thought one thing: Does this war help us? It just kills our soldiers, and our empire is already at its glory. Expanding might just destroy us.


Martino made an important decision, like all kings had done before him.

He closed the borders of Sicily. Our empire was at its largest, and it won't grow during his reign. Trades and arts would rule now. A change to our world has finally arrived.

Let's see how things are going.

Italy has grown into a great trading center, Venice as our capital.



Jerusalem was now in the hands of the Muslims, who had the place first. This is the right decision.



Scotland, tamed by Francesco, has grown as an important strategical center. Arts rule.




Spain, or more correct, the Iberian Peninsula has got both Islamic and Christian influences. Martino thinks that this is right. People will live in peace.



Constantinople has got christian influences, thanks to the huge cathedral there. Orthodoxian priests are still preaching.



And finally, Europe, that Simone had conquered, had becomen a great financial center AND a military stronghold.



And now, let's remember who were our great leaders:

Ruggero

Simone
Francesco
Guido
Uberto
Martino

Sicily has given the world a peace. Trade and arts will now on be the sign of the New Rome. All shall remember us. Martino has, without any wars, becomen one the smartest leaders. He has given us nothing less than... peace!

Who knows, maybe future can give us something different. Maybe Sicily will release nations and they will become mighty?



Maybe that will happen... in the times of Empire!




On the whole, what have we lost? Nothing!

This is it guys. This AAR is now finished. Taking the whole world would have taken too much time, and i want to play Empire just as much as you want. So thanks for reading this, and please be kind and also read my future AARs i will make with Empire.

End of Chapter XXIII and the AAR. The Book of Sicily is now complete.