A German history under the reign of Old Fritz.

Aemilius XXIII

Chieftain
Joined
Mar 8, 2002
Messages
51
Location
Netherlands
Note before: My English is limited; I hope this will not result in to many linguistic errors.



This game is played under the following conditions.



More than 6000 years ago there was a Teutonic nomad tribe. These Teutons, being the ancestors of the German people, lived in an area near the Rhine River. This river flows partly through a desert like landscape but its riverbanks are exceptional fertile.

The immortal leadership of the Teutons is presided by the head of state Frederick the Great. The German king is kindly nicknamed as Old Fritz by his subjects. King Fritz is assisted by some other, also immortal, well known historical figures. The earliest of them are Otto von Bismarck, nicknamed the Iron Chancellor and Carl von Clausewitz, the king’s genius in military issues.



During our journey through the German history we shall meet these characters frequently.
 
Looking forward of this. ;)

Any ideas which victory you are going to (or do you just take what you can?)

:)
 
The beginning.

4001 BC. - The official prehistory of the German civilization, marked by the foundation of the German capital named Berlin, started probably some decades after the beginning of the fourth millennium BC.

We visualize the following event. It was a nice evening during the late summer of the year 4001 BC. Old Fritz, Otto and Carl are sitting in the sand around a campfire at the base of an imposing rock. That rock, named the Loreley, is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine River. It was after sunset and the last sunlight was still visible, filtered by cirrus clouds high above the men.

afb3.jpg

The panoramic view from the top of the Loreley over the course of the river is phenomenal. Below the water of the river flows from the south into a sharp left bent and after that into a right bent to follow its journey in northern direction. There is not much space for the river here. The present dangerous streaming on this spot is caused by the powerful compressed water flowing trough the narrowing riverbed. This had serious consequences during the course of history for many wooden (sailing) ships. They sailed on the cliffs and wrecked. A legend, almost the same as the mythological sirens in the Odyssey, was born here.

The three German leaders discussed until night about the future for their tribe. The idea to give up their nomadic existence was not new, but among the Teutonic population there was already a serious majority who wish to settle down permanently on a suitable spot. The tribe leaders made late that night the decision to build a permanent settlement some where during the next spring. For the minority, led by a skillful scout named Siegfried, who didn’t wish to give up their wandering existence was a solution found. They formed the first German scouting group. The band of scouts was named the Siegfried Group. Its task was to discover the whole continent, find opportunities for further expansion in the (far) future and discover as soon as possible the (potential) dangers that can threaten the young German civilization. The bravest scouts will be used as messengers to bring over all the important news.

Early spring 4000 BC. - While the Siegfried Group stayed in the camp, build on the eastern riverbank seven months before, the tribe leaders and their settler group walked away around the Loreley, and then further to the north. Later in the year they build a new camp east on a sport marked as location 1, situated on the Germany map 1

afb1.jpg
Germany map 1


At location 1, late March 4000 BC. - The time came to make the first important decision.

< Fritz I .... in conversation with .... Bismarck >

---

North and east from here are forests and a huge resource of natural stone is instant available in the southeast. So there are here plenty of building materials available. A river source is in reach one tile further east, consequently we have enough fresh water available for a developing settlement. O yes... I made the decision to give that river the name the Spree.

:smug: Because my great philosophical talents I expect to have that unpretentious settlement in the northwest soon inside our cultural border. That will bring us profit but... I agree... I don&#8217;t know in which matter.


Hmm... Our settlement does not exist so far. Your ideas are not wrong chief&#8230; but... I expect to find a better start location for our great civilization further in the northeast.

Our great civilization does not exist&#8230; so far.

Lets spend time to travel somewhat further before we make the decision to settle down.

:eek: Are you loony? Do you know how dangerous that can be? This will put our civilization from the beginning in a backward position!

:mischief: Our civilization does not exist&#8230; as you told me just 10 seconds ago.

Sharp child&#8230;. you know what I mean.

No I don&#8217;t. Being in a backward position in relation to whom? As far we know there are no existing competing civilizations anywhere else. We have traveled for many millennial through the world; did you meet even the tiniest one so far?

No we did not but may be there is&#8230; at this moment elsewhere&#8230; a group of wanderers also busy to found one.

:lol: Sure&#8230; of course&#8230; what a remarkable coincidence that would be.

Probably does Siegfried not leave until the summer. Perhaps we can consider to send someone back to the Rhine, ordering him to scout from there to the northeast.

Yes chief, great idea, send someone back... but quickly.


At location 2, mid April 4000 BC. - The spring came early that year, much earlier than expected. Because of that was in Siegfried&#8217;s camp the decision made to leave before the end of the month. The plan was to scout along the Rhine further in southern direction. The group was disturbed during their preparation; an alarm signal was heard from one of the watch posts. Some men approached the camp from the northeast. Soon came the signal &#8220;nothing is wrong&#8221; the approaching men were proved as two of their own tribe members. They were send by Fritz to inform the scouts about the decision to spend somewhat more time for searching to a better settlement location further in the northeast. Just in time Siegfried received the order to move in a large curve to the northeast, spotting the area at the east side of the intended settlement location.

The movement paths, followed by the two group&#8217;s, the settlers and the scouts, are shown in the first German map. It was during the summer of the year 3970 BC when the settler group founded the first German settlement, named Berlin, on a strategic location in a bend of the Spree River.
 
Looking forward of this. ;)

Any ideas which victory you are going to (or do you just take what you can?)

:)

Hi. thanks for your interest.

I have no idea how this game shall develop. Victory or being destroyed during the course of the game is for me not the most important issue. The future is a surprise. Writing this story, based on what happens in my virtual empire, is my aim.
 
Berlin during its earliest centuries, part 1

Winter 3969 BC. &#8211; Inside Fredrick&#8217;s just finished humble accommodation are the tribe leaders in their next such and such discussion involved. Also Carl von Clausewitz, the military genius, is joined in this talk.

< Fritz I .... .... .... < Bismarck .... .... .... < Clausewitz

---

No and once again no! Building barracks during the current stage of our development is pointless. For training warrior recruits we need at first officers having enough experience. We don&#8217;t have these men yet. Beside this, it is in my opinion to risky leaving our settlement long-lasting undefended.

Dear Carl, you were really satisfied with the chosen location of our settlement. The Spree protects us against any forceful attack coming from the south and east. The forests in the north and the west prevents a quick and surprising push towards our&#8230; um&#8230; city. Further to the east are the Prenzlauer Mountains. They are a solid barrier against any large scaled attack coming from the east.

:shake: I am afraid that the advantages you named don&#8217;t work much if we don&#8217;t have the manpower to stop a ******ed push trough our forests. And the Spree can absorb a lot of power from an attack but this argument is pointless if there is not a single soldier available in Berlin to catch such a feeble attack.

My suggestion is to recruit enough brave men to form two bands of warriors. The first unit will do garrison duty for a while. The second shall be sending out. If the opportunity occurs it will fight here and there to receive their military experience in practice. The second group will be formed from the bravest men we have. A lot of them are during peace time rowdy, but in the right circumstances they are the best men you can find for such job and&#8230; uh&#8230; if they have left our city we are saved from our most awful troublemakers.

:goodjob: That is damn clever considered Carl! This idea could come from me... if I was you.

Hmm&#8230; so&#8230; two bands of warriors will be formed as soon as possible. After that it is wise to form workers units. We can use them to transform the area around our settlement into a real civilized world.

And what can they build? Everything is as it should be. They can, because our limited technical know-how, don&#8217;t do anything yet. Our fine tools are made of stone; they are not suitable to chop trees. We don&#8217;t know how to produce food, oriented towards the so named secret of agriculture and finally, we haven&#8217;t developed a technique to transport moderately quantities of resources or produced goods at once.

The last point you broached is damn bothersome. The huge reserve of natural stone located nearby south of us is just out of reach. So it has no value for us.

You can change that.

Can I?

:rolleyes: No&#8230; but my grandma can&#8230; okay?

:gripe: Fritz looked outraged at Otto because that rather respectless remark.

< Fritz I .... .... .... < Bismarck .... .... .... < Clausewitz

---

Listen to me Fritz. Years ago, during the time we roamed through the world without long term plans, we agreed with your leadership. We were impressed by your great intellectual, philosophical and cultural talents. Chieftains with those talents can bring their people much further in the right direction than leaders that mainly use their simple force to survive. We expect from you to be our smartest and most wise tribe member.

We are with you to be a sounding board for you, hoping that this will wake up the remaining existing wisdom slumbering in you. Being a good chieftain of a developing tribe takes more time and energy than you have. So we are also here to assist you, doing a lot of work for you. But that doesn&#8217;t mean that we are here to take over your leadership. To by our chief is your job. If you don&#8217;t know how you can use your qualities efficient as possible I wish to advise you this. Try to find another wise man to help you with that problem. I know a very decent young man, perhaps he is the right person you need also. We, Carl and me, are very pleased if you allow us to greet him as our youngest senate member.

:huh: What is a senate? I have never heard about this expression.

I can imagine that. I have also never heard about this phrase until I introduced it some seconds ago. To answer your question, let we use that name Senate for the special group of men, meaning Carl and me, acting for you as your counsel.

:) I like your senate phrase idea, having this to explain the delicate difference of our competences regarding the leadership concerning my humble kingdom.

What is a kingdom?

It is the organization of our leadership, meaning me as the king, being assisted by you and Carl as my Senate. Our constitution&#8230; uh&#8230; I mean the manner how we conduct our tribe, that will be in the form of a kingdom.

More precisely, it is the despotic variant of our kingdom leadership. It will continue until we have received the knowledge to replace this for a more sophisticated leadership variant. :deal: Do you both agree with this?

:yup: :yup: Fritz and Otto nodded, showing their acceptance
 
I like it, however, why you chose Deutchland? (German). I'd like to know, becouse the Deutchland (German) has an UU which is in very late of the game. (The Mightypanzertank)

The begginning is allways the beginning, i hope that there's some action in and some twisters. (Not like: Then i gone to war and i survived, w0h00, w00t iamdagreatestw00tcanihavethecookiew00t?).

How often do you update this? Everyday (like you're right now doing.) or you update as soon you could.

So good for so far. :goodjob:
 
@ StuntedAzrael
Keep it up. Very good start.

Hi StuntedAzrael.

Thank you for your interest, this is my first AAR ever so your compliment encourage me to go further with it.

@ Eikka
I like it, however, why you chose Deutchland? (German).
--
How often do you update this? Everyday (like you're right now doing.) or you update as soon you could.

Hi Eikka.

It did not mention about the late game German special unit.
The reason why I made the choice for Germany is that I wish to play for a for me familiar European country. In real life I live less than 5 kilometers away from the German border.

About your question of updating. Because English is not my own language I need more time, with help of my electronic English-Dutch dictionary, to write this AAR. Also my time is somewhat limited for playing the game. When I started this AAR there was already some work I have done before, resulting in a relative quicker start. My aim is to place one or two updates per week.
 
Berlin during its earliest centuries, part 2

Early autumn 3969 BC - The Siegfried Group stayed on the banks of the Spree River one tile east of Berlin. The settlement was good visible for them, it doesn&#8217;t look impressive. Berlin was in its earliest stage not more than a group of huts made of reed and loam and a primitive palace, acting as Frederick&#8217;s residence. Siegfried received from Berlin the request to scout further in northern direction. There was a strong indication that there is a coastline not far away. The idea is to find it and following it as long as this coast doesn&#8217;t go further away than approximately 8 tiles from Berlin. This expedition (see map 2) leads finally to the discovery of the Danish peninsula and Cape Skagen. The expedition provided a sum of 44 pieces of gold when a small tribe village was visited in south Denmark.

kaart2.jpg
Map 2

Berlin, spring 3968 BC - A young man enters the &#8216;throne room&#8217;. The respectful bow for King Frederick was not made, because the early stage of the German culture there was not such as a court protocol developed yet. He was invited by Fritz, recommended by the two Senate members. The man attracted the attention of his tribe mates because his huge versatility. His intelligence is impressive. He is also artistically-minded; especial his talent for poetry and telling novellas and drama stories is remarkable. Further the young man shows a lot of interest in (natural) science, geology especial in relation to mining, state affairs and not at last in philosophy (of culture).

< Fritz I .... in conversation with .... Goethe >

Please come closer. the words of Fritz were accompanied with a hand sign.

I understood from my Senate that you are possible the man I am looking for. The Senate have two members yet, I am afraid this is not enough in the future. I need more advisor's, especial in cultural and scholarly or scientifically matters. If I am well informed your name is Johann Wolfgang Goethe?

That is correct my King.

:o Please don&#8217;t say king to me. I am not accustomed to that&#8230; &#8230;yet. Some months ago I was not more than the chieftain. We don&#8217;t have any court ceremony jet. Possible are you the man who can help me to develop it

Yes my Ki&#8230; Yes Chief Fritz.

:D I am not a chief any more.

:blush: Off course not&#8230;. Sir Fritz.

Hmm&#8230;. Sir&#8230; Sir&#8230; yes Sir! That sounds great&#8230; &#8230;but not for me. I like the humble noble title &#8220;Sir&#8221; to honour an ordinary man who did something very special or very brave in the favour of our nation or me.

What do you suggest Johann. What is a suited title for the German king?

Your job as king is really&#8230;. uh&#8230; majestically. So in my opinion is the title &#8220;Your Majesty&#8221; very suitable for a king.

:king: Great, great, great. The king looks very pleased. From now on that will be my title, thank you Johann.

Great&#8230; um&#8230; Great sounds also very good, His Majesty King Frederick the Great should it be officially?

:lol: Hahaha&#8230; yes&#8230; please&#8230; if you like that?

Yes Your Majesty, I like that.

afb4.jpg

:goodjob: Good&#8230; &#8230;very good Sir Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Excuse me, Your Majesty, my last name is simple &#8220;Goethe&#8221; not &#8220;von Goethe&#8221;.

:nono: No&#8230; it is &#8220;von Goethe&#8221; from now on. You have proven to me to be a very worthy Senate member. All the members of my Senate are exalted into the nobility. To express the German nobility of a man the addition &#8220;von&#8221; will be added to his last name. This will honour him and all his descendants too.
 
Berlin during its earliest centuries, part 3

The German people developed them self slowly but steady. During this early period there was not such thing as a planned scientific program. Early technological advances, as fishing or the developing of the wheel... or the education of new ideas and cultural advances, were the rewards of adjustments to the needs of the early civilization. No one knows exactly how this has worked; historians surmise an evolution of simple daily techniques until an important breakthrough was received. The first major breakthrough was reached around 3730 BC; the German cultural power reached the critical level of 15 points resulting in the first expansion of the German border.

< Fritz I .... in conversation with .... Goethe >

The first major goal is reached; the natural stone reserves are within our cultural borders now. This will, I hope, stimulate my people to develop the technical knowledge of transporting large quantities of materials or goods at once.

Yes, there is a good chance they do. I have also noticed an advance in their mystical sensitive.

You mean that stuff about the possible existing &#8220;Grey Eminence&#8221; you talked about some weeks ago?

Perhaps&#8230; I don&#8217;t know. My thoughts are not crystallized out yet.

:) That doesn&#8217;t matter Johann, please tell me about your rough ideas.

I don&#8217;t know if he is a kind of god, almighty and all-knowing. I also don&#8217;t know if he is only there for us, Germans, or for all those other minor tribes we have met too. I don&#8217;t know his name. I am very uncertain about this matter but I believe, and sometimes also feel, that our virtual world is not all that exist... far from that. I believe that there is another world too. A world that is more real than the existence where we live in. That is why I see us as virtual beings.

Virtual beings living in a virtual world? Your philosophical thoughts are very interesting but for me impossible to understand... yet. I like this sort of conversations that I can have only with you. My other Senate members are to sober-minded. Their pragmatic qualities are very good for our ordinary problems, but not suitable for this mystical issue.

Please tell me... being conscious means that we have discovered the mystical secrets?


:nono: No&#8230; this is a serious misunderstanding. We have not reached the level of consciousness yet. The only level we have reached in this matter is the indefinite idea that there is a more realistic world in or above ours, a reality that host the existence of our virtual reality. We can give this idea, that is overlapping the sphere of philosophy and religion, the name Mysticism. For reaching the next level, the level of true conscious, we must search further. To develop new methods, as by example meditation, is necessary in this matter.

3610 BC. &#8211; After Siegfried discovered Cape Skagen he traveled further in south-western direction. Messages reached him about wild animals, especial lions, roaming along the German border and the area near the Rhine River. This made him cautiously, with certainty saving the existence of his group. The additional freedom of movement that his scouts have was used as a precautionary measure; it slowed their movement speed down to one tile per turn.

As the consequence of the carefully approach, the visit to the tribe village which existence was already known in 4000 BC did not took place before 3580 BC. The contact with the villagers resulted in another 80 pieces of gold for the German treasury and a fierce fight against a troop of lion&#8217;s not much later.

3550 BC. - In Berlin is the first warrior unit formed. As planned this unit serve as the town earliest garrison. During this period Berlin developed herself to a level (2) settlement, having a population of about 6000 souls.

3460 BC. &#8211; Berlin fishermen, living along the bank of the Spree River, developed a somewhat more advancing fishing technique. Primitive but effective fishing boats came in use. The technical condition, leading directly to the technical breakthrough of sailing was available since then.

3260 BC. &#8211; Siegfried discovers the west coast. Arrived there the group set foot on an L shaped peninsula; they give it the name &#8220;Sylt&#8221;.

afb5.jpg
Map 3; Siegfried's voyage of discovery, 3610 BC - 3220 BC

3220 BC. &#8211; The fight in the rice fields. In spite of the precautionary measures Siegfried and his men were surprised by an attacking troop of lions. After a very forcibly meeting the scouting unit was barely saved from devastation. Because the token safety measures a second troop of lions, peeking at the northern bank of the Rhine River was not able to finish the job of their failing colleagues. The positive result for Siegfried and his men was that the can present themselves since than officially as skilled woodsmen.
 
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