Provolution
Sage of Quatronia
THE SIEGE OF BERLIN 1260 AD
May 5, 1260 AD, Kublai Khan became the ruler of the Mongol Empire, which happens to be the exact year our new government come into office, with a cruel coincidence of real world and gameworld dynamics.
I am writing about the Siege of Berlin, but we need to understand the entire picture of this political minefield the "War on Germany Party" threw us into.
THE TRIPLE BORDER
The Triple Border Region is a crossroads of cultures and the most militarized and warridden part of our continent.
The Yasutan Empire
With the recent conquests of Roman occupied Munich, which once belonged to Germany, and the ethnically Roman Cumae, Yasutan is about to attain a Northern Province with a siege of Berlin.
The Roman Empire
With the recent peace with Rome, set to last for at least 7 more turns and with all the forces set to enforce the peace besieging Berlin, the Romans still challenge the recently occupied city with an immense cultural shock and encircling Roman War Chariots. The Roman desert is vast, and signals that the rest of the Roman Empire may indeed be costly.
The German Empire
The Mongol ambush of peaceful Germany came quick, some would say too quick after the conquest of Cumae, battered troops, bruised, scattered and some units almost entirely wiped out, still they pressed onto the German capital. Pressing through the Autoburgerwald, the German forest preceding the capital, the home of the Roman Necropolis of the many Roman legionnaires stopped dead by expert German longbowmen, yellowed bones in vast tracts of the forest dotted with rusty arrowheads. The autopsies speak the same language, German city defenders are expert longbowmen, surviving many assaults. Occupied Munich is still being Mongolized, and we jump for the biggest prize of them all.
THE INTENDED MAIN STRATEGY
As we can see from the map, I marked off the following landmarks for ease of reference in strategy discussions.
The Rubicon-Rhine River is the main "Shicksalsgebiet" or "Fate District". The crossing of this river meant in both instances war, first for Roman Cumae, then Berlin.
The Autoburgerwald is the forest where the Germans fight off and kill off inwaders coming in from the west, in such a fashion that the invaders are almost automatically killed, their death sentence written in their foreheads and signed with a German arrowhead. The Expert German longbowmen weep when they pluck feathers from the doves, not because they are peacelovers or birdlovers, but because they can foresee the slaughter incurred by their expert craftsmanship. The ramparts are measured up for firing corridors, with colored ribbons marking off distances and microclimate wind-tunnels.
The Mosel Valley is part of the prize, three barren soil farms with white wine grapes, Mosel Grapes. Cattle grazing the land, with tender beef being the end product, very tasty with German wine. It is bordered between Weintraub Hill in the south and the Cemetery Hill in the north. Cemetery Hill is right now where our battered Mongol Army stands.
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Entlösung Hill, we can see a German Army of Elephants thundering around the mound on the westside, with 88 mm trunks they sweep the Western plains in a threatening, yet pompous fashion. Farther West we can see grazing elephants next to Schnabelsee, the little lake signaling that this is where Roman border meets German border (Ebony and Ivory, living side by side in perfect haaaarmony...). We will refer to the threatening Elephant Army as "Königstramper", the trampler of kings. This is why these elephants have been nurtured to grow so big, that you may suspect them to be kindred to Mammoths. The secret is that they are fed Weissbier and larger rations of grain than anyone else, and given the German milk cows from Mosel Valley, both meat and milk, so they grow to become almost 25 foot tall, amazingly big and strong German Elephants ( I thought the oldest of them wore a mustache).
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Zerstören Hill, we can see the German capital in the East, along the West Bank of Ehresblut River, with three full contingents of German troops. Outside, north of the bridge north of Berlin, a relief force of German longbowmen, trained city-defenders, is steadily approaching the city. We will refer to these as the "Sterbenfurt", the ones to die by the ford, as we cannot allow them to ever defend a city with their skills.
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Vernichter Hill, we can see that the relief force is coming towards a narrow river crossing. We all know they have no proper forces for a counterstrike, except possibly for the elephant. We still need to block reinforcements from seeping into Berlin, this means we should move units to defend that crossing and use that position to scout farther east for more German troops. Scouting has been a problem in this campaign, as absolutely no reconnaisance has been done, putting us in this precarious position.
Note that the GREEN SQUARE notes the location of our new advance siege and road denial position, with white lines showing where we got river defense bonuses from future German relief forces.
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Totenkopf Hill, we can see that we may need to keep our logistical lines open, as we have a badly, very badly battered elite Keshik formation (RED ARROW) I want to move out as soon as possibly, and for avoiding the Köngistramper to stomp these heroes from behind, I will put up a defense screen of spearmen in the ORANGE SQUARE, allowing our roads to remain sheltered. Hopefully, the Königstramper will either attack the advance rivercrossing position and harm himself on defensive spears at worse odds there, or do the same risktaking in our Mosel Valley Delaying Action. Note that we want this delaying action to halt Elephant attacks from Northwest.
This means that I intend to let the battered and weakened units rest on the hill till they are safe, move some relevant units to defend the ford from further relief actions, move some Anti Elephant units to defend the retreats of choice units (highly promoted units we want to save for later) and finally bring in reinforcements from Cumae (one Keshik, replaced by spearman soon) and Munich (several Keshiks and Macemen coming in).
For the city itself, we need to take into account that the garrison comprise of three different formations.
"SS REICHSTAG" - or Schiessenspezialisten Reischstag, expert longbowmen that name every arrow, know the lie of the land, can assess wind strengths even in drunk conditions and in generally master the bow better than Legolas himself. These are the main reason for the caution and observance on the attack.
"STURMKAMERADEN" - an expert German urban assault formation of spearmen, chosen for their tall sizes and urban training. These are now on the inside of the city, not the outside, and put in a awkward position like this, these are not an impressive adversary, more a commendable "good sports - but soon dead sports" adversary.
"VOLKSSTURM" - the elderly men and boys of Berlin, comprises a ragtag army of German conscripts. They are recruited out of the homes and Bierstubes, put into a uniform, if lucky, and sent to the ramparts. These will likely be our first kill in Berlin.
I will assume the worst, and say that the SS REICHSTAG will cost us between 3 and 8 units alone, I want to keep it at 3.
I would also be very pleased if we can make a revolution pretty soon. We need serfdom to build the road network for our army to travel easily in our vast continental empire, we really need that change right now. Also, we would be much better off with Vassalage, with an extra promotion per unit we can really make a difference in the field. I prefer a better army with units that lasts and improves, not a cannonfodder army. This is the main difference of the previous warlord and me.
Force Preservation, Force Specialization and Force Projection.
The promotions will from now on be designated for how the entire campaign army operates, and taking into account terrain, enemy army types, scalability and so on. I will put forward a list of promotions briefly.
BELOW:
A STAGED BATTLE PLAN WITH TWO MINOR OPERATIONS DURING THE HEALING STAGES
May 5, 1260 AD, Kublai Khan became the ruler of the Mongol Empire, which happens to be the exact year our new government come into office, with a cruel coincidence of real world and gameworld dynamics.
I am writing about the Siege of Berlin, but we need to understand the entire picture of this political minefield the "War on Germany Party" threw us into.
THE TRIPLE BORDER
The Triple Border Region is a crossroads of cultures and the most militarized and warridden part of our continent.
The Yasutan Empire
With the recent conquests of Roman occupied Munich, which once belonged to Germany, and the ethnically Roman Cumae, Yasutan is about to attain a Northern Province with a siege of Berlin.
The Roman Empire
With the recent peace with Rome, set to last for at least 7 more turns and with all the forces set to enforce the peace besieging Berlin, the Romans still challenge the recently occupied city with an immense cultural shock and encircling Roman War Chariots. The Roman desert is vast, and signals that the rest of the Roman Empire may indeed be costly.
The German Empire
The Mongol ambush of peaceful Germany came quick, some would say too quick after the conquest of Cumae, battered troops, bruised, scattered and some units almost entirely wiped out, still they pressed onto the German capital. Pressing through the Autoburgerwald, the German forest preceding the capital, the home of the Roman Necropolis of the many Roman legionnaires stopped dead by expert German longbowmen, yellowed bones in vast tracts of the forest dotted with rusty arrowheads. The autopsies speak the same language, German city defenders are expert longbowmen, surviving many assaults. Occupied Munich is still being Mongolized, and we jump for the biggest prize of them all.
THE INTENDED MAIN STRATEGY
As we can see from the map, I marked off the following landmarks for ease of reference in strategy discussions.
The Rubicon-Rhine River is the main "Shicksalsgebiet" or "Fate District". The crossing of this river meant in both instances war, first for Roman Cumae, then Berlin.
The Autoburgerwald is the forest where the Germans fight off and kill off inwaders coming in from the west, in such a fashion that the invaders are almost automatically killed, their death sentence written in their foreheads and signed with a German arrowhead. The Expert German longbowmen weep when they pluck feathers from the doves, not because they are peacelovers or birdlovers, but because they can foresee the slaughter incurred by their expert craftsmanship. The ramparts are measured up for firing corridors, with colored ribbons marking off distances and microclimate wind-tunnels.
The Mosel Valley is part of the prize, three barren soil farms with white wine grapes, Mosel Grapes. Cattle grazing the land, with tender beef being the end product, very tasty with German wine. It is bordered between Weintraub Hill in the south and the Cemetery Hill in the north. Cemetery Hill is right now where our battered Mongol Army stands.
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Entlösung Hill, we can see a German Army of Elephants thundering around the mound on the westside, with 88 mm trunks they sweep the Western plains in a threatening, yet pompous fashion. Farther West we can see grazing elephants next to Schnabelsee, the little lake signaling that this is where Roman border meets German border (Ebony and Ivory, living side by side in perfect haaaarmony...). We will refer to the threatening Elephant Army as "Königstramper", the trampler of kings. This is why these elephants have been nurtured to grow so big, that you may suspect them to be kindred to Mammoths. The secret is that they are fed Weissbier and larger rations of grain than anyone else, and given the German milk cows from Mosel Valley, both meat and milk, so they grow to become almost 25 foot tall, amazingly big and strong German Elephants ( I thought the oldest of them wore a mustache).
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Zerstören Hill, we can see the German capital in the East, along the West Bank of Ehresblut River, with three full contingents of German troops. Outside, north of the bridge north of Berlin, a relief force of German longbowmen, trained city-defenders, is steadily approaching the city. We will refer to these as the "Sterbenfurt", the ones to die by the ford, as we cannot allow them to ever defend a city with their skills.
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Vernichter Hill, we can see that the relief force is coming towards a narrow river crossing. We all know they have no proper forces for a counterstrike, except possibly for the elephant. We still need to block reinforcements from seeping into Berlin, this means we should move units to defend that crossing and use that position to scout farther east for more German troops. Scouting has been a problem in this campaign, as absolutely no reconnaisance has been done, putting us in this precarious position.
Note that the GREEN SQUARE notes the location of our new advance siege and road denial position, with white lines showing where we got river defense bonuses from future German relief forces.
From the Cemetery Hill, or in German, Totenkopf Hill, we can see that we may need to keep our logistical lines open, as we have a badly, very badly battered elite Keshik formation (RED ARROW) I want to move out as soon as possibly, and for avoiding the Köngistramper to stomp these heroes from behind, I will put up a defense screen of spearmen in the ORANGE SQUARE, allowing our roads to remain sheltered. Hopefully, the Königstramper will either attack the advance rivercrossing position and harm himself on defensive spears at worse odds there, or do the same risktaking in our Mosel Valley Delaying Action. Note that we want this delaying action to halt Elephant attacks from Northwest.
This means that I intend to let the battered and weakened units rest on the hill till they are safe, move some relevant units to defend the ford from further relief actions, move some Anti Elephant units to defend the retreats of choice units (highly promoted units we want to save for later) and finally bring in reinforcements from Cumae (one Keshik, replaced by spearman soon) and Munich (several Keshiks and Macemen coming in).
For the city itself, we need to take into account that the garrison comprise of three different formations.
"SS REICHSTAG" - or Schiessenspezialisten Reischstag, expert longbowmen that name every arrow, know the lie of the land, can assess wind strengths even in drunk conditions and in generally master the bow better than Legolas himself. These are the main reason for the caution and observance on the attack.
"STURMKAMERADEN" - an expert German urban assault formation of spearmen, chosen for their tall sizes and urban training. These are now on the inside of the city, not the outside, and put in a awkward position like this, these are not an impressive adversary, more a commendable "good sports - but soon dead sports" adversary.
"VOLKSSTURM" - the elderly men and boys of Berlin, comprises a ragtag army of German conscripts. They are recruited out of the homes and Bierstubes, put into a uniform, if lucky, and sent to the ramparts. These will likely be our first kill in Berlin.
I will assume the worst, and say that the SS REICHSTAG will cost us between 3 and 8 units alone, I want to keep it at 3.
I would also be very pleased if we can make a revolution pretty soon. We need serfdom to build the road network for our army to travel easily in our vast continental empire, we really need that change right now. Also, we would be much better off with Vassalage, with an extra promotion per unit we can really make a difference in the field. I prefer a better army with units that lasts and improves, not a cannonfodder army. This is the main difference of the previous warlord and me.
Force Preservation, Force Specialization and Force Projection.
The promotions will from now on be designated for how the entire campaign army operates, and taking into account terrain, enemy army types, scalability and so on. I will put forward a list of promotions briefly.
BELOW:
A STAGED BATTLE PLAN WITH TWO MINOR OPERATIONS DURING THE HEALING STAGES
