MTWII AAR - Two Romes, One Empire

[aronnax]

Note: Yes I know there is a Total War Forum, but the All Other Games Forum just gets more traffic so I thought it would be better here, since all the AARs are here. Further more since both of them revolved around games I dont think the Mods will mind too much to it. But if you wonderful, beautiful, incredibly sexy mods do have a problem with it then just send it straight to the TW Forum.

May 13th 1081 – Μέγα Παλάτιον, Constantinople
“Father, what are you looking at?”
“A map my child.”
“A map of what dear Father?”
“A map of our glorious past and inevitable future.”



Anna watched her father slowly gazed at the outstretched map before him. It was an old map of Europe, scribbled with Latin Scrawls and pen marks .
“Imperium Romanun” whispered Anna.
It had been a month since the Coronation of Anna’s father, Alexius Komnenos as the Emperor of the Roman Empire. The last Emperor, due to either sheer incompetency or God’s divine wind, was unable to secure his throne as the Empire broke apart under the greed’s of rogue generals. The Latins and the Turks took the advantage of the dimming Roman Light and attacked the Empire. The last stronghold of Italy was lost to the Normans and their bastard of a King Robert while the Turks kept on their harassment of Roman country side. Relations with Venice had also been tense over the ownership of Western Greece.
“The Italians had long forgotten their roots. Do they not remember that their heritage stems from us Romans? The Pope is especially forgetful over this matter. We should remind them of their history shouldn’t we?”
Anna nodded silently.
Alexius fixated his gaze onto his daughter and held her hands. “My daughter… is getting married.” He broke into a smile and gave a hearty laugh. “It is time you leave for Budapest, your mother will accompany you for the wedding.”







July 24th 1084
The emissary of the Turkish Lord approached the Emperor in steady steps as men of the Roman court, caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of a horrid barbarian and an enemy of civilization, turned silent. There were open mouths and a murmur of gossip that surrounded the Turkish diplomat and his entourage. The Turks ignored them and reached the foot of the throne.
“Your Grace” announced Selim Mustafa in a heavily Turkic sounding Greek and gave a deep bow to the sovereign that sat before him. The emperor nodded slightly, stood up and gestured him into the Diplomat Hall behind him. The Turk gave another bow and entered the solid stone room disappearing into the shadow of the high arch.
The door slammed and the court broke out in uncontrolled emotions. “Those treacherous dogs! We should kill them!” screamed one of the nobles. “There are probably here to beg for peace like the swine they are”. Court fever reached a climax and died down until the Wedding Present of Prince Kalman had arrived at court from Budapest.
Hours past before the ancient wooden door creaked open. The Emperor and the diplomat emerged from the shadows and stood before the crowd. “We” the Emperor began, “are now Allies!”
-------------------------------------------------------------
Under the Treaty of Constantinople, the Roman Empire had agreed to surrender Anatolia save Nicaea into the hands of the Turks in exchange of an Alliance against their enemies and the promise of peace.




19th June 1088 – The Pope’s personal Garden - Rome
“Your Holiness! Your Holiness! Naples… has been sacked! The Sicilian Royal Family has been captured by those Greeks!”
“What happened to their army in Tunis? Can’t they be recalled to take back Naples?”
“No your Holiness, word from sailors escaping Tunis reports that the army was cast into the desert after the City revolted against him, we can only assume that they have perished in the dersert. Sicily no longer holds a King, the Greeks have taken it back.”
“Call the Guard Captain for me! We need to shore up our troops! The enemy lies now at our gates”

 

[aronnax]

 

[Ulyaoth]

What's the black? And there's that many provinces in MTW2? How? Rome could only have like 200 or something.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

At a guess: the black are region capitals, and the map is custom made?

 

[aronnax]

The black provinces (and the white ones with the black dots as HRE is also a dark colour) are province Capitals, if misplaced a capital or missed out one tell me or something.

The map is custom made, but its not mine, I just had the luck of finding it. Yes there are only 45-ish provinces in MTWII but I decided to use the map because the many provinces would allow me to create a more flexible border shape rather than the ugly thing that is MTWII Borders

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

The black provinces (and the white ones with the black dots as HRE is also a dark colour) are province Capitals, if misplaced a capital or missed out one tell me or something.

They look alright - I only guessed that they were region capitals 'cos of their positions

Why are the ones in the HRE dots rather than filling the province though?

The map is custom made, but its not mine, I just had the luck of finding it. Yes there are only 45-ish provinces in MTWII but I decided to use the map because the many provinces would allow me to create a more flexible border shape rather than the ugly thing that is MTWII Borders

It's a good map, I've already nicked it for my own nefarious devices

 

[aronnax]

Its hard to see the difference between black and black-grey. So All HRE province capitals have white provinces with a black dot.

 

[Ulyaoth]

So there's that few provinces in MTW2? Glad I didn't get it then.

 

[Metromonkey]

I haven't played MTWII in a while so I don't remember if there is a capital for it, but on the map Portugal controls Navarre but there isn't a region capital. Not sure what the situtation is just thought I should point it out.

Also, nice AAR. I'm looking foward to see how you cope with the Golden horde.

 

[Dell19]

It's a good map, I've already nicked it for my own nefarious devices

Where can I download the map as that might actually make me play MTWII again.

 

[Metromonkey]

You can right click on the picture and select save as. It's not actually a map for M:TWII.

 

[aronnax]

Chapter 2 – The War of Winged Lion

August 23rd 1091 - Palazzo Ducale di Venezia, Venice

“Those Greeks are as stubborn as they are vile!”
“They are trying to steal away with our riches!”
“Look how they guard an army near Durazzo, their only wish is their pathetic greed for our wealth!”
The Major Council of Venice was in an uproar. News of the sacking of Naples spread across Europe quickly from refugees, spies and informants, telling the in vivid detail the sudden assault of the City Walls and the vicious sack that followed afterwards. Now, with the appearance of a Byzantine army at the borders of Venetian Albania, the Major Council was thrown into furious disarray.
“They are bandits! Looting off Italian land to fund the fattening of Greek pigs!” shouted Lord Bartholomew, who now commanded the Court Stage. Bartholomew was a young Noble who won his riches and titles serving the Serene Republic of Venice. His valour in battle won him the influence of the court. He waved his arms to call the attention of the Major Council and at his whim, the outrage Nobles silenced themselves.
“The Greeks now command Apulia. An army of asses have lined themselves outside Albania. Those dogs dream of commanding the mouth of the Adriatic on both sides, for they have gone mad with pure jealously! They are irritated by our wealth and it pleases them more to screw with our prosperity rather than their ill-bred wives!”
The Council roared in laughter and agreement.
“Diplomacy has failed! Now is the time to fight! Our Doge Domenico is ready to lead an our army to fight back those curs back into the hell that they came from! All he needs is your support! Do we war against the Greeks!”
The council unanimously burst in loud agreement! “War! War! War! War!” they chant religiously.





4th November 2009 – The Starbucks of St Nicholas & Bon Accord, Aberdeen

“…and the defeat of the Venetian Army under Doge Domenico proved to be a decisive standpoint between the resurgent Byzantine or Eastern “Roman” Empire under the Kommenid Dynasty. Venice, at that time had a Maritime Empire that controlled the entire Length of the Eastern Adriatic Coast as well as important Mediterranean outposts such as Crete, which was vital to its prosperity as a Mercantile Republic. Byzantine Conquest of the Kingdom of Naples threatened the open trade routes between Venice and Outremer and instigated Venetian fear that the Greeks would wrestle Albania from them and control the Mouth of Adriatic, resulting in the war. However, the Battle proved disastrous for Venice as an unexpected fog allow the Byzantines to divide the Venetian army into small groups and weaken the strength of the overall army. This battle was best captured by Giorgio Stephanopoulos’ 1563 painting “Death of Lion”…”
Ken Shar-Dumer clicked the Wiki link. Two hours ago, he was on Wikipedia, looking up information on the WWII British Invasion of Italy for his report he was supposed to present to Class Four C. He was trying to figure out how he got to the “War of the Winged Lion” page as he waited for the page to load.



He carried on reading. "...Domenico barely escaped the fight with less than 10% of his men while the Byzantines lost one Greek for every two Venetians captured or killed. He retreated to Durazzo in shame. This is also immortalized by another of Stephanopoulos’ paintings “Flight of Doge”..."



"Domenico retreated, believing that he could call upon reinforcements in Ragusa or Zagreb. The Byzantines, despite a resounding victory, lost half its force in the battle and also needed rest which gave Domenico the time he needed to reinforce. However, two days before the Battle of Durazzo Field, a second Byzantine force from Naples, captured the Fortress of Ragusa, cutting of supply and communication from the rest of Venice. Trapped in Durazzo without supply or reinforcements, the Greeks took their time to mend their wounds before taking out Durazzo. It was mentioned, in the memoirs of a Venetian page boy serving the Doge that in the three weeks between his defeat and death, Domenico grew a pathological fear of all things Byzantine. In one incident, he fired a crossbow bolt into a peasant for speaking Greek and in another, at the sight of a captured Kommenid Byzantine Banner, received such a shock that he drew his sword and began recklessly swinging it, killing two Venetian knights that stood near him. When the Byzantines captured Durazzo, he was found dead, with his sword through himself in the Town Hall. That sword is currently located in the Constantinople Museum of Weaponry."

 

[aronnax]

So there's that few provinces in MTW2? Glad I didn't get it then.

45 may not be as much as Rome, but it is plentiful enough for the game to be challenging. You should get it.

I haven't played MTWII in a while so I don't remember if there is a capital for it, but on the map Portugal controls Navarre but there isn't a region capital. Not sure what the situtation is just thought I should point it out.

Also, nice AAR. I'm looking foward to see how you cope with the Golden horde.

Fixed! Thanks. Why did you think I decided to leave Asia to the Turks?

Where can I download the map as that might actually make me play MTWII again.

I have a blank map here for you to use as well as one with (slightly wrong) modern borders

Spoiler :

 

[Dachs]

Aw, you're playing vanilla instead of SS and farting around in Italy. Oh well, I guess I can understand why. Good luck, waiting for the next installment.

But Sacrvm Palativm? Really?

 

[aronnax]

Aw, you're playing vanilla instead of SS and farting around in Italy. Oh well, I guess I can understand why. Good luck, waiting for the next installment.

Yes Im playing Vanilla. I tried to get the SS Mod but it just wouldn't work. I tried farting around in Asia in previous games, and I realised that it was stupid mistake because Venice will attack you no matter what and if you kill off Venice, the Pope, HRE and possibly Milan will come after you. And I dont have the resources to split my attention between Asia and Europe. (I am really broke though)

But Sacrvm Palativm? Really?

Well I was looking for the name of the Byzantine Palaces. I changed it. Is it less cheesy now?

 

[Dachs]

I was thinking just "Great Palace", dude, but whatever.

 

[aronnax]

April 10th 1101 - The Grand Palace, Constantinople





“What is the news on the Crusade that the Pope has called for?”
“It seems another country now answers the Pope’s call for Crusade. The French envoy has recently asked for passage through Roman land.”
“And what did you reply?”
“For a simple fee.”
“Good. Now, where were we? The Papal-German-Venetian Alliance. Ah. We need to hear fr-…”




“Your Majesty! I have a report from Ragusa. It is the word of Prince John.”
“Excellent timing, read it to the court won’t you?” Alexius replied with much interest. After the Battle of Durazzo, the entire Adriatic Venetian coast lay opened to conquest. Venice had elected a new doge since Domenico’s sucide and after a short election, Lord Bartolomeo was chosen. In a series of spy reports, the Roman Court received information of Venetian troop movement which had gathered in Zagreb under Bartolomeo’s rally ready to counterattack and restore Venetian rule on the Adriatic coast. The Roman Armies was split into two groups. The Crown Prince and Conqueror of Naples, Prince John, led an army North to fight off the Venetian counter. While a second force, under the Banner of General Olaskos, set sail to Crete with Morean Reinforcements to rid the Eastern Seas of Italians.
The messenger cleared his throat and read the report : “My father, the Emperor, we have brought you news of conquest and victory!”
The crowd roared in celebratory cheer.
“It is with Great Pleasure that I present to you the City of Zagreb and the Serbian lands in your honour. Our numbers in battle were equal to those of Venice and they hungered for revenge in order to overturn Durazzo. However, the Venetians fought as stupidly as they are greedy for gold. For the strangest of reasons, the Douche Bartolomeo, separated his army into three sets, all of which arrived at different times. One group, even walked into a valley where our mounted archers line the edges and fired from both sides. We merely picked them off one by one with ease. As a result, their entire army of 1209 soldiers was vanquished with the lost of only 156 of our own.”



Once more, the court broke out in a high festive mood, the nobles each congratulating Prince John on his victory. The wine barrels were rolled out, broke open and pass around in hearty cheer. “God Praise Prince John! God praise the Emperor!”.
The messenger finished the report though no one seemed to be hearing the final lines of Prince John’s report.
“…the few things we learnt from the battle was that it seems that Italian doges have a high tendency to run away from Roman fire…
… the Doge Bartolomeo was executed the next day with the rest of the captured army. Every dead Venetian was one less to kill.”








“Excellent! With our Allies the Milanese at the gates of Venice, Venice shall not be able retaliate and we can prop up our new conquests.”



At the Same Time – The Guard Tower, Naples
“Well I’ll be damn Seamus.”
“What is it Earl?”
“Isn’t that the Papal Banner in front of that army?”
Seamus lifted himself off the chair he was napping on and peered over the walls. “Well Hol-lay crap…”

 

[LightSpectra]

This story is amusing. I subscribe to this AAR.