[AAR] Wrath of the Ostrogoths
Chapter 1 - First Strike
The nation of the Ostrogoths were living in dark times. Forced from their homeland in Crimea by the sweeping wrath of the Huns from Central Asia, they moved west over the great mountains with their families and slowly began to settle in Pannonia (modern-day Hungary). This was anything but a change for the better -- the Romans in the west were formidable as well, and the idea of two great nations standing poised to take the freedom and dignity from the Ostrogoths with force felt unbearable. The advantage at the present moment was the fact that they had little or no contact with the Romans and could therefore concentrate the majority of their military operations against the Huns -- their blood rivals. Having but little time to make preparations, all the tribes within the Ostrogoths elected a new king called Amalric and slowly but surely things started to build up according to plan.
In the year 412 AD the Huns began to appear on along the borderlands of the Pannonian Ostrogoths. King Amalric knew it was only a matter of time until the Huns would attack, pillage and destroy with an overwhelming force, but nonetheless was determined to protect his new homeland, his people and fellow men in arms until the bitter end. The hatred for this rude eastern people was running rampant in the blood of all Ostrogoths. Early May the word finally came that a large army of Huns and their vassals had crossed the river Dniester and were headed straight for Nipoca -- now capital of the Ostrogoths.
Amalric assembled his forces across Pannonia and wandered for two months through the barren steppe, at times burning, plundering and destroying small Hunnic camps and their tents. The two forces met on August and the balance of forces was almost equally matched, with the Ostrogoths having some additional forces. Amalric commanded the waldmanne (archers) behind the strong infantry in the front and situated the cavalry on both sides where they would attack the flanks of the Huns. The Huns, seemingly fearless and overconfident of their victory, sent the infantry and cavalry head on into the centre of the Ostrogothic infantry while their archers would harrass the sides. This turned out to be a big mistake, and soon arrows of fire were flying over the Ostrogothic infantry right on top of the Hunnic forces.
Forging a weakened Hunnic infantry and armed cavalry, Amalric immediately rallied his own infantry towards the centre of the Hunnic forces and completely decimated the startled enemy.
The fighting continued for the greater part of the day until the Huns were defeated to the core -- those few that were left alive and had horses managed to escape back as the cowards that they were.
While Amalric's forces plundered and massacred any bodies of the Huns they could see on the vast field, the king ordered a contingent of scouts back to Napoca to investigate the condition of the city while he was away. Two days later a word came that the Huns had taken their capital and pillaged the entire city -- or more specifically -- town. Amalric had no other choice other than to flee westward where few other cities remained in Ostrogothic hands. All in all, this had been a defeat on both sides.
Chapter 2 - The Roman Threat
Few months after the battle between the Huns and the Ostrogoths, the Western Roman Empire in particular began to take interest in this brave people that had been so successful in beating back the fierce Huns. This caused a chain reaction of a rumor in other Germanic tribes like the Alamanni and the Franks that the Huns weren't impossible to stop after all. Nonetheless, the Ostrogoths had retained their way of life and carved out a growing kingdom across western Pannonia and the eastern Alps.
The emperor of the Western Roman Empire -- Honorius -- perceived the strong presence of the Ostrogoths next to his borders both a threat and an opportunity. While he had the option of convincing this Germanic tribe to fight for his cause, there was also a lesser chance that they might join the Huns in their quest to destroy Rome. Finally in 416 AD, a Roman diplomat came to Amalric and offered a place to the Ostrogoths in the Roman military as a protectorate -- they would have to accustom to Roman ways of governance, military and life. These terms alone caused the Ostrogoths to deem it an outrage to accept such a proposition and was thus declined. Amalric ordered his generals to harrass the Roman borders and if possible, take their nearby settlements should the Huns be successful in expanding any further east. The king now had enemies on both sides of his lands but he was determined to defend and eventually expand it, no matter the cost.
A small army of Ostrogoths lead by a captain called Theodoric marched to the gates of a Roman settlement just north of the Adriatic coast and south of the Alps. Lightly guarded, the amateur commander had no hard time taking control -- using ladders, siege towers and two rams. His spearmen decimated the Roman wall defense and his archers and light cavalry took care of the rest. The response of the Western Roman Empire would for some reason or another be lukewarm. Perhaps they had problems with the Vandals far in the south. Regardless, this new city would have time to grow under Ostrogothic administration. The native Italian/Roman population was driven out or killed for the sake of plunder.
Chapter 3 - A Great Victory
Having gained plenty of wealth and plunder from the borders of the Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths had grown their armies considerably and the living conditions of the Germanic population was becoming increasingly better. Many settled in the cities with Roman architecture and in time transformed them into northern cities -- cut off from the Roman civilization and effectively a part of the Ostrogothic kingdom. Just when one might not expect things to get any worse, Amalric dies. His legacy greatly respected and admired, the age-old king was given a beautiful burial ceremony in an unknown location. The Ostrogothic elite elected a new leader -- Frederic, a man of few words, deep thought and un-related to Amalric. The people were again preparing for war, because the Huns would stop at nothing to seize the opportunity.
418 AD. The Huns unexpectedly lay siege to Campus Iazyges with full force. Clearly outnumbered and outranked, the Ostrogoths in the city decide to fight for every inch of land. Frederic immediately left his court and began to rally all the Germanic tribes in the area to fight for his cause in return for glory and a tough push against the Huns. Setting camp not one hundred miles from Campus Iazyges, Frederic received a word that the siege of the city had failed simply because the defenders there had been successful in setting all the siege equipment afire; rams, towers, ladders. Humiliated and even more angered, the Huns began marching towards the river Alb towards Sermium, now under Ostrogothic control. A Hunnic turncoat and half a Goth, Kursyk, recently jumped sides. Kursyk went to Iazyges and took control of Frederic's forces under the king's blessing and decided to prove his loyalty by fighting the Huns.
Two months passed. The Huns had caused considerable damage across Ostrogothic lands and more and more angry peasants, warriors and mercenaries joined Kursyk's Germanic war party. The Hunnic warlord Crestes and his partner Ellac met Kursyk and his forces right at the opposite sides of the river Alb. Again, the Huns had slightly less men but had a considerable amount of both heavy and light cavalry and an endless quantity of archers. Relying on tactics brought down by Amalric, Kursyk ordered his Alan and Sarmatian archers to harrass the flanks of the Huns with arrows until they would cross the river -- only then would his infantry have the prospect of a powerful defense and counter-attack.
By the time the Hunnic cavalry were crossing the bridge across the river with their Onogur infantry units, the cavalry flanks that had attempted to cross the waters had been wasted to the ground and killed by the mounted Alan and Sarmatian archers.
The Huns charged towards the Germanic defenders like savage beasts and almost broke the wall until Kursyk charged with his Ostrogothic guardsmen -- completely decimating and tearing the Hunnic forces apart. All the enemy commanders including Ellac, Crestes and a rising figure named Attila (I don't know if it was the historic Attila or not, but I killed a captain called Attila).
The fighting continued for a long time until the Huns withdrew, completely overwhelmed by the aggressive counter-attack of the Ostrogoths and the crushing of the flanks by the armed Alan mounted archers. It wasn't long until they were driven back over the bridge and forced to flee back to the steppe, back where they belong. Surely these Asian nomads would have learnt the lesson by now?
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