[M2TW AAR] El Reino de España

[Slimshoom]

For those who did read my Venetian AAR (the whole one update), my little brother decided to uninstall M2TW off of MY laptop to make room for an old game he wanted to play. Needless to say, that destroyed my Venetian campaign, so I am going back to a faction I played when I first got the game, Spain. The Spanish campaign (in my opinion) is challenging and should make for some interesting updates. Hope you enjoy the AAR.

El Reino de España (The Kingdom of Spain)

AAR Guidelines

Mode: Vanilla M2TW Grand Campaign
Difficulty: Hard/Hard
Unit Size: Normal
Cheating: None
Replays: None
Goal: To Reconquer the Iberian Peninsula, then move on to Western Europe and the New World.

[ALZU]

you mean España

[Slimshoom]

there ya go....its fixed

[Slimshoom]

Chapter 1: The Fall of El Cid

Iberia, a land of wealth and war. King Alfonso of Spain sits upon his throne , hoping one day to rule all of the Iberian peninsula. But so many enemies stand in the King's way. The Islamic Moors hold two strongholds in southern Iberia, while the Portuguese were divided, holding their Capitol of Lisbon in the east, and also the mountain stronghold of Pamplona north of the Spanish Empire.

But it is the Spanish rebels, who hold a large amount of territory in Eastern Spain, that anger Alfonso the most. They are led by the former head of the Spanish army, El Cid "the Chivalrous", who rules his "empire" out of the fortress of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the rebel territory is plains without much settlement. The only other city held by the rebel forces is the small town of Zaragoza.

It is outside the walls of Zaragoza that the main Spanish army now sits. Led by General Vaasco, who was appointed the head of the Spanish military after El Cid rebelled, he has won many battles for the Spanish crown over the last five years. Despite the fact that it was a simple assault on a small rebel village, this was an important battle in the grand scheme of King Alfonso. After years of rebellion and infighting, this battle would be the first step in the "Reconquista" of the Iberian Peninsula.

Mounting his horse and closing his visor, Vaasco ordered his men into battle formation. The men were ready, the ram was built, and the day of bloodshed was upon them. Vaasco could smell the stench of fear wafting from behind Zaragoza's walls. It was time to attack!

The Taking of Zaragoza

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Vaasco ordered his mercenary spearmen recruited from the countryside to take up the ram and push it to the game while the rest of his infantry followed. His plan was to simply overwhelm the outnumbered, tired, and hungry rebels with the sheer weight of his infantry. His forces outnumbered the rebels by almost 150 men, but it was not just the numbers advantage that gave Vaasco confidence. His men were well trained, armed, and armored, while El Cid had obviously left the cheapest garrison possible, assuming the Spanish would attack first at Valencia instead of Zaragoza. These were peasants who were given the least amount of training possible and armed with a crudely made spear or a hunting bow. They would be no match for his forces, and their wooden gate would be no match ram. It broke through in a matter of minutes.



The Spanish infantry charged through the broken gates into the city, where the rebels had organized a defensive line on a small hill just behind the gate. The lines smashed together viciously, and the weight of the Spanish forces almost immediately began to push the rebel line backward towards the town square. After several minutes of fierce fighting, the rebel militia broke and began fleeing back to the square for one last stand against "oppression."



Meanwhile, General Vaasco had led his small force of heavy cavalry had slipped into the city via a side gate, and now they attacked the town square, where the rebels had left a small force of about 60 crossbowmen to defend it. Vaasco only had 20 cavalrymen with him, but they quickly slaughtered the crossbowmen and took possession of the town square. When the fleeing rebels reached the square, they found not their companions ready to fight, but more Spanish ready to cut them to pieces. Every rebel was massacred, and Zaragoza was won for Spain.

Back in the Spanish Capitol, King Alfonso had just received a messenger that told him Zaragoza had fallen to Vaasco and the Spanish army. He had sent a message back to send 100 men back to Leon to join with his army as they marched to assault Valencia. This would give him enough men to assault the stronghold and finally be rid of El Cid and the rebellion. There came another knock on the chamber door.

"What is it NOW?!" Alfonso shouted from his throne. A guard entered meekly and raised his voice while bowing his head to speak to the King.

"My Lord, an emissary from the Portuguese requests and audience with you," the messenger said meekly, "shall I send him in?"

Alfonso hated the Portuguese with a passion. They had been a thorn in the side of Alfonso ever since he took the throne so many years ago. There had never been an outright war between the Spanish and the Portuguese, but it was no doubt they were on "less than friendly" terms. The Pope would not allow war between Catholic factions without the threat of excommunication, but the two had always found ways to hurt or annoy the other. They had cut off each others trade lanes, hired pirates to attack the others treasure barges, and just overall pissed each other off.

"Yes, yes send the dog in..." Alfonso remained seated with a bemused look on his face as the emissary was let into the throne room. The grand chamber of the Spanish court was an intimidating place to be, even for a Spaniard. Huge red and yellow rugs and banners adorned the walls, and the balcony behind the throne offered an outstanding view of the city and the mountains beyond the walls. But the grandest feature of the throne room was the throne itself. Covered in gold, the throne sat on a dais six feet above the floor, intended to frighten any visitor.

"Greetings, my Lord, I have come to you with a proposition for you from my King..."

"King?! King of what?" Alfonso bellowed, "he is King of nothing but a few mountains and a port, get to the point, emissary, or I will have you executed and sent back to your 'king' as a gift!"

"My Lord....the King wishes to put aside our differences and form an alliance to push those Islamic dogs in the south back into Africa, to reclaim out land," the emissary said rapidly, "he only wishes to become Allies, and asks you to agree."

"An interesting proposal....I accept!" Alfonso stated after a moment's pondering, "tell your King that I will assemble an army to combat the Moors as soon as I have taken Valencia from the rebels. Now get out of my sight!"

"Thank you my Lord," the emissary spluttered as he hurried out of the room.

The Fall of Valencia

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A year after his alliance with the Portuguese, King Alfonso sits on his horse behind his assembled forces, ready to assault Valencia and retake his territory from that rebellious dog, El Cid. His spies had done their job well, they had infiltrated the castle during the dead of night and had opened the gates this morning to allow his army to enter the castle.



Alfonso and his men outnumbered El Cid almost two to one, but that did not guarantee victory. These were not the inexperienced, ill-equipped peasants who had attempted to defend Zaragoza. Instead, these men were grizzled veterans of the infighting of the previous decade, and they were armored and armed with the best gear the rebels could afford. This would not be easy, but it was necessary. Alfonso ordered his men forward, and they stormed through the gate and savagely attacked the surprised rebels.



The fighting was fierce, with javelins and arrows from both sides whizzing through the air, striking both friend and foe of both armies. Eventually the sheer weight of numbers forced El Cid's forces back up the hill towards the town square, where El Cid joined the fighting, riding his grand war horse and wearing a full suit of glistening plate armor. His bodyguard fought valiantly, taking many Spaniards with them, but eventually the overwhelmed and killed, including El Cid. With the capture of Valencia, Alfonso further spread his empire over Spain, and took a huge step towards completing his dream of becoming the sole ruler of the Iberian Peninsula.

Coming Soon: Chapter 2: Crushing the Islamic Dogs

[Thokran]

Great first chapter, I love reading about the Spaniards! I'll be sure to keep reading these updates. Bravo!

[Slimshoom]

The Battle of Sagunto

The Moors had no right to occupy territory in Iberia. In 711, three hundred years prior to King Alfonso's rise to throne of the newly united Spanish Empire, the Islamic hordes had crossed the Straits of Gibraltar from North Africa and had conquered much of Iberia. United against a common enemy, the Christian peoples of Spain had resisted the Moors, and pushed them back to the southern reaches of Iberia.

Now, after years of fighting amongst themselves, the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula was limited to the city of Cordoba, their base of operations, and the mountain fortress of Granada. There had been an uneasy peace between the Muslims and the Christians in Iberia for almost ten years, but now it seemed that the two superpowers were on the razor's edge of another bloody conflict. Constant raiding and pillaging in Christian lands by Muslim horsemen, and the recent breakdown of peace talks in Leon, have the two sides poised for battle.

Two months after the successful Spanish assault on the fortress of Valencia on the eastern coast, a large Muslim army under the command of a Moorish family member known as Khayri had landed several miles north of Valencia and had captured a small Spanish village of Sagunto. Enraged, King Alfonso of Spain ordered the Moors to withdraw. They refused, sending him back the head of his messenger as their response. Defying orders from the Council of Nobles in Leon, Alfonso sent for his son-in-law, Pasqual de Surriba, to muster an army and meet him at Valencia to go to war.

Several months passed, and the Moorish army began to get complacent in their new found home. It was a great surprise to their commander when he spotted a large Spanish army, numbering almost 800 men, standing in battle formation on the plains that separated Valencia and Sagunto. Cursing the Christians, he gathered his force of 500 men about him, he took up a defensive position on a small copse of hills north of the Spanish position. The war had begun.



Despite having superior numbers, the Spanish refused to make the first move. The two lines stood across from each other for three days, neither general wanting to be the first to attack. The Spanish general, Pasqual de Surriba, was an intelligent, although inexperienced general, and saw that the Moorish army was made up of missile units, which would tear apart his infantry as they marched up the hill to engage the small battalion of Moorish spearmen. Khayri also did not want to attack first, because of the lack of infantry in his army. His archers would be no match for the Spanish infantry in close combat.

Finally, in the early afternoon of the third day, Khayri ordered his men forward to attack the Spanish lines. They were running out of food, as the small city of Sagunto was not large enough to support 500 additional soldiers with their meager food supply. On the other side, the Spaniards were receiving constant shipments of food from Valencia, which was only a day's march away, and was large enough to spare some extra food for its brave soldiers. Khayri sent his light desert cavalry to the flanks in an attempt to distract and delay the Spanish cavalry's involvement in the battle.

The tactic worked somewhat, the Spanish cavalry left the battle line to engage the Moorish cavalry, but the mailed knights of Spain quickly tore apart the light desert cavalry, and returned to the fight almost unscathed. Cursing his weak cavalry, Khayri ordered his missile and melee infantry forward to engage the Spanish line.



The Spanish infantry outnumbered their Moorish counterparts almost four to one, and almost immediately gained the upper hand in the savage fighting. Eventually, the left hand side of the Moorish line disintegrated, allowing the Spanish right to fold over on the remainder of the Islamic infantry, surrounding them and quickly slaughtering them all.



Seeing that the battle was almost surely lost, Khayri roared with rage and ordered his small personal bodyguard of about 25 cavalrymen to attack. They charged and smashed into the Spanish line, but they too were soon overcome by the sheer number of Spanish men. Soon they too routed and began to flee the battlefield. They were chased down by the well rested Spanish knights and killed one by one. Khayri was the last Moorish horsemen to fall on that day, and he cursed the Spanish and all of Christendom as he fell from his steed.



After the death of Khayri, the remaining Moorish forces began to lose their will to fight, either throwing down their weapons and surrendering, or fleeing the battlefield like cowards. Those that surrendered were spared and sold as slaves, but those who ran knew no mercy, just the sharp end of a Spanish sword. The day was a complete victory for the Spanish crown, and a very good beginning to another religious war in Iberia. The Spaniards had lost just 74 men, while almost all of the 504 Moorish soldiers had been killed or captured.



With the main Moorish army in Iberia crushed under his heel, King Alfonso turned his attention to their two remaining pockets of influence, Cordoba and Granada. Leaving some of his army in Valencia should the survivors choose to take up arms again, Alfonso released the prisoners and marched the remainder of his army south. He would not stop until he had erased every last shred of Muslim influence from his kingdom.

[Imperator Romani]

Good AAR mate. Plus rep. If you like France click on the link in my sig, it's my little AAR.

[Slimshoom]

thanks for the compliments, Ill give your AAR a look, even though i dont like the French...