[This update should be more exciting than the one just above this post, although I didn't get to the battle until the end and it wasn't the battle I expected. It's also a bit short, however I think it has some of the best pics I've captured so far. Hopefully, you'll all enjoy it. I got us into a war I normally would have avoided so that there can be more action in the future updates. :-) ]
When we ended last we had just finished up a rather uneventful year spent preparing. As we open our, now 7th, season the new Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitalier, our very own Doge orders the establishment of yet another chapter house, this time in our island fortress of Ajoccio. In Sarkel, despite dealing largely with heathens, Count Prospero Adorno has been continuing his even-handed rule, truly a commendable man, not merely a brilliant war leader but a just ruler as well is he. The chapel there has also been improved, and our mines in Caffa and market in Krasnodar are finished as well; all-in-all our colonies are progressing along nicely. Even better news, we've discovered two potential enemies to the south, the Mamluks and the Ottomans have greedily turned their eyes on each others lands. Few good news comes without its bad though, as we hear France, a powerful Catholic nation has decided to ally itself with the Muslim Maghrebs. Most disappointing. That will not please the Pope most likely, but the Pope is most pleased with us our ambassadors discover as, we hope we can say without committing the sin of pride, he should be, as should all Christians.
We wish to get moving eastwards in Sarkel as quickly as possible, so we leave the more battered units behind in the Fortress as a garrison and move rest of our force east towards the sea, while constructing a port there as well. It seems some foreign nation is trying to disrupt our colonies though, has discontent has suddenly arisen in Krasnodar. We're forced to lower taxes there for now, and recruit a spy of our own to defend against this espionage attempt on us. To make up for the loss of tax income, we begin building a merchant bank there and also recruit a few more crossbowmen. Lastly, our cardinal is shipped here and converts who he can while he continues towards Sarkel. Over in the Caffan region our merchant has set up shop on the sulphur trade there.
Back west, our diplomat has contacted Hungary. Discovering they are allied with the powerful German empire to the north of us, and at war with the Ottomans (who are now embroiled in two large wars) to our east and south we bold propose an alliance with them and they, most agreeably, accept. Our spy in Hungary moves further east, and espies their rather large armies, making us relieved we decided to ally with them. We close off this season in the west by recruiting two more crossbowmen, one unit of pikemen and one of Broken Lances for our exploratory army, moving a few steps closer towards sailing off to the west.
As the winter of 1457 opens, we're approached by the Tsardom of Muscovy with an offer for trade rights which they offer map information of theirs in addition to. Clearly our wealth is to be envied, for they ask nothing in return. We wish peace with Russia, for now, and agree and they are elated. The Knights also continue to expand under the leadership of our Doge, this time in Sarkel. The aggressive Scandinavians to the north have now also gotten into a war with England. This should not affect us for now, although it's upsetting to see so many Christian lands at war with one another. They should instead, like us, seek to spread to infidel lands. We begin our work however, by further expanding our soon-to-be-remembered-to-history army in Ajoccio. In the east though, it seems the enemy spy has transferred himself to Sarkel, causing considerable unrest there, however our own spy follows him, hot on his tracks. It seems our attempt to move eastwards was not fast enough though, and the Muscovites have claimed the former mongol province for themselves. Seeing this, we turn back around towards the Ottomans. We order up some reinforcements for Adorno's, now southward-bound army, including a Carroccio Standard to let our enemies be sure of who they are dealing with when they greet us. We now intend to aid our new allies Hungary in their war against the Turks, who justly deserve a thrashing for closing of trade to the east and oppressing Christians in their lands. As we intend war upon them, we send a spy from Hungary, along with an assassin behind him, further east towards them, hoping to learn something about the composition and power of their forces.
As the year of our lord 1458 begins, we see that the Ottomans are spying on our eastern colonies. Likely they have a similar mind towards us as we do towards them and we were right to take sides with Hungary. The port in Sarkel is done, however that isn't needed too much right now, but we have also finished our market in Genoa and merchant's wharf in Florence. Our mission in Sarkel is also finished, and the Pope acknowledges our efforts. Wars have broken out all over Christendom during the end of the last year though, we must tread carefully in this contentious time. Being on such good terms with the ruler of all Christendom though, we decide to take advantage of that fact and forge an alliance with the Pope. Unlike our other allies, we also grant mutual military access to the Holy Father as a show of good Faith. He unfortunately is suspicious of allowing foreign troops in his lands though, so for now it is a normal alliance. Things are going mostly quite well in the west, but a point of some concern is the presence of an Magreb navy just off our coasts.
We notice the Ottomans attempting to invade our Hungarian allies and have our spy attempt to scout their armies. He is successful and ascertains that they army appears weaker than ours, at least in terms of number. They are however using skilled Janissary troops, powerful horse archers in the old style, and traitorous Christian mercenaries from the west as well. We appear to have our work cut out for us in attempting a conquest of the lands of the former Byzantine Empire. As such, we go about our business, building a Barracks for Sarkel and advanced mining networks in Florence and Genoa. In Ajoccio, we finish our army there by calling up some mounted crossbowmen. Next season, preparations finally ready, they shall out past Iberia and into the Atlantic.
As the winter kicks off, we notice the Ottomans are sending spy after spy into our eastern colonies. They shall surely pay for this, as after we launch our assault against the northern shore we intend to use our status with the Pope to unite all of Christendom against them, and hopefully put a stop to their warring amongst themselves in this mission against a common enemy. Speaking of which, it seems our allies intend to drag us into such a war, daringly taking to arms against Spain. Still, in this case, while risky, it is perhaps necessary as Italy can no longer tolerate these Spaniards splitting it in half. At nearly the same time, Adorno lands his men across the Black Sea, just outside the Ottoman held city of Alacam. They've underestimated our boldness and its ill-defended. We decide to waste no time with a siege and launch an assault against the walls immediately. Unless they have some surprise in store for us like the mongols and their war elephants this should be no real trouble. But first, we call for the blessing of the Pope in this war, convincing him to call for a crusade against the city of Constantinople, stressing the importance of relieving the, still numerous, Christian populace there. He agrees! and all the west will now engage in this conflict we hope, and none can accuse us of mere land-grabbing but instead acknowledge our part in this holy crusade against the Turks. With that done, Adorno, of course, has his army officially join the Crusade and begins by attacking Alacam right out. (As the focus of this mod is too late to be centered around the Crusades though, crusades do not make additional mercenaries available, they, and jihads like them, are largely a political tool.)
Once again, General Count Prospero Adorno uses his skills at night fighting to launch his assault in the middle of the night. Our newly plate-armored pikemen are placed in the front of the attack lines, with the older, more-lightly armored ones towards the back. Our gunners places stakes in front of our artillery, and we begin bombarding the gate with our mercenary cannon, busting it open first followed by the gatehouse itself and the two defensive towers atop it. Although it is unlikely to be necessary, we have plenty of shot to spare and order the side walls and towers atop them to be taken down as well, of which they are in rather short order. We decide to play it safe and use our mercenary rockets along with our mortars to bombard our enemies as they hovel inside their city, and they are pulled up to the front, with the rest of our men marching behind, inspired to victory by our noble standard.
Their men have seen what that we intend to bombard us from a distance, and have suicide charged right at our mortars! They may kill some, alas, but this is surely madness on their part, yet even more madness it is not to simply surrender immediately at the sight of our army! We tell our artillery to retreat and instead simply skewer them upon our advancing pikes. Our plate armor protects us well against their cowardly potshots, and they cut apart quickly and with east, like, as they say, a hot knife through butter. They foolishly send even more of their musketeers straight towards us, who are likewise run through, although they do, sadly, manage to shoot through some of our men's advanced plate armor being at such a close range as they are. As our proud standard comes pushing up through the narrow alleyway, we can see them losing heart as man after man falls (including their commander) even through the increasing thick haze of gunsmoke. Credit must be given where do they, although perhaps mad, these foes are tough and brave and more than we would like are lost in this assault. A few straggling musketeers are only soon left though, and they flee as we continue to march forward into the square.
Now all that are left is one small contingent of their elite Janissary halberdiers. We decide to attempt to employ our rockets once more and order them up the alley. Our men form up a spear wall against any attempt to counter charge the artillery this time. Our rockets absolutely rip apart their remaining men once they open fire, all their skill and arms can't help them now. It is at the same time awesome and piteous a sight to behold. The contraptions are unpredictable though, and one either blows up or is hit by a misfired rocket (it is difficult to tell in the chaos) and a few crewmen are killed. Mercenaries only however, but acquiring them was expensive. The rockets are ordered to be pushed forward out of the alley after that incident, hopefully giving them more space and preventing another such accident. Our mortars are also now in position, and the last of this garrison is bombarded into hell, with our cannons helping to finish them off as they die nobly but helplessly.
General Prospero Adorno, now doubtlessly famous, wishes his memory to be that of not only a brave and skilled leader but a generous one, worthy of the title of noble. He releases the few poor wounded men left after the attack, and as he means to set an example of what will be Genoan rule, merely occupies Alacam, threatening severe punishment to any of our own forces who engage in looting. Besides, there are many Christians still left in Turkey, even if they are Orthodox. We repair the walls we badly damaged in the city, retrain our men, and order the construction of a small church. The city must adjust to our rule for now, but we cannot tarry here too long lest our men become anxious to march towards Constantinople and do so without us! Spying an Ottoman navy off the coast, we order Black Sea fleet to assault it, and they do so quite successfully pushing it back away from the shores of our newly taken city. The admiral of that fleet, Admiral Adelmo, is acknowledge by being promoted in rank. The Mamluks send a message saying the disapprove of our attack upon the Ottomans, but there is little they can do about it now we suspect.
Adorno constructs a watchtower in Alacam and spots an Ottoman army in our new province but we are confident they can be held back. Our spy informs us that our Hungarian allies are also achieving victories against the foul Turks, and are now besieging their capital! Our assassin spots a Turkish diplomat in Hungarian provinces. Whatever he is up to, we don't want him to be successful at it, and our killer is sent to grant him eternal rest from his labors. He objects, informing us the man is well guarded. Normally, we would be taken aback at such a protest from an underling, be he is indeed correct and it is foolish to throw a loyal man's life away, especially over something inessential. Over in Ajoccio, council member and commander Coccino de Genoa finally boards our carracks with his army and sails far west. We recruit more men in Genoa, Florence, and Ajoccio to make up for their leaving and re-garrison the province. Likewise in Caffa and Krasnodar we build up our military further, expecting future conflict with the Ottomans. Even after all that, we have quite a few gold pieces left in our coffers. As our final order, our spy sees what our Venetian allies our up to against Spain in the south of Italy, and uncover that they have sent their considerable navy to blockade Catanzaro, but their force in the region is mall and their is a large Spanish army on patrol not too far from them.
Well, fellow Genoese, unlike the last year and half, these two years have turned out to be rather eventful. Now, consider careful any suggestions you may wish to put forth to the Doge, but do not hesitate to speak at all for fear of reproach!
Re: [AoD AAR]"Age of Discovery"
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Originally Posted by Erebus26
