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Wow, it's the Alliance vs. [Thomas'] Horde XD

And for once I can cheer for the Italians -- the damnable, city-sacking, empire-ruining Italians -- as they currently fight on the side of Basil's beloved wife and David's magnificent son.

I don't want to predict the battle's outcome, but I think the Western Roman Empire -- I'm sorry, Spain -- will survive this war free but not supreme. Moreover, I suspect Alexios and Thomas II will become future rivals. Major rivals. Two mini-Basils battling for the Roman world, Italy in flames and the Mediterranean a lake of blood, that just has to happen for the sake of it.

Mind, I don't count France or Christina's plots in this. But I never liked either Drogo or the woman, or Leo for that matter. Plotting's fine and dandy, but they don't make for songs and tales!

And where's Heraklios? He can't be stupid enough to just play the Empress' Puppet throughout the play?

P.S. It's good to see Sophie's last major effort being so grand. Go out with a bang indeed. Unlike some of the characters above, I really liked her.
 
Great stuff as usual General_BT!

I think from that picture you've released of Alexios, it is clear that the first picture will be of Alexios and the last one of Thomas II. I think personally that "victory" will be sidestepped. The Alliance will do plenty of damage but Thomas is able to hang fire. Maybe ultimately Thomas ends up stomped to death is very possible in deed although I feel Spain will become an independent "pretender" Kingdom and split off from the Empire possibly with independence in Italy.

However the rest of the Empire will probably remain under Thomas with a possible competitive war occurring in North Africa amongst Alexios and Thomas II.

Or......

Thomas vanquishes the Alliance, marches onto Spain and Alexios possibly with Serlo end up going into exile and leading a campaign against Thomas or Thomas II later on....

Could explain the Thomas in exile look on the first picture.

Or.....

Thomas ends up dead, the Empire stymied but Thomas II later invades Spain and succeeds.....

Or.....

General_BT writes a fantastic update for Christmas gives us all a nice treat!

I'm going for the latter myself. :p

Wooh it's been nearly a year since I've been following this and like any good epic, it follows you and your life around. I'd keep coming on to find out what happens next. Alot has happened this year and I feel by this time next year, we'll be into Andronikos II and what happens with the Mongols!

You've outdone yourself General_BT.
 
Oh mi gott!!!
The west shall beat the east!!!
And the greatest naval battle ever seen is to come....
And I hope Thomas shall die, die slowly...

And then this Alexios shall bring civil war and destructiob to east... isn't he catholic? :p

But nah, you won't probably lose a civil war in a game with the figure you are playing. :eek:o

Dandolo + Alexios + venetian navy + army from west + Byzant + early 1200 + suckage emperor = HEHE
 
Well that was a cliffhanger!

Great chapter as usual. So Thomas II isn't going to be just scared little kid after all, but have some strategic mind. Crazy military genious who talks with imaginary friends does sound quite interesting. :D

I expect defeat for Thomas in the coming battle, but beyond that I'm just going to watch and see. I just hope Thomas dies off fast. :p
 
Well, now. Thomas might have a tactician's mind, but that might not avail him much, if the army doesn't like him. In the event of Thomas's I death, they might as well join with the young Alexios, because he would remind them of Basil.
And even with the army, games are one thing, leading men is the other. He probably lacks needed charisma, and his insanity won't help.
 
Well, now. Thomas might have a tactician's mind, but that might not avail him much, if the army doesn't like him. In the event of Thomas's I death, they might as well join with the young Alexios, because he would remind them of Basil.
And even with the army, games are one thing, leading men is the other. He probably lacks needed charisma, and his insanity won't help.

But that is *IF* Alexios wins. I'm sure Drogo will pull some strings to keep him back from inheriting the throne. And what about if the Italians don't fully cooperate? Atleast Thomas I has a huge army behind him that would be more united and loyal. But Alexios?

I do feel still that Thomas II could very well ascend to the purple. But we shall indeed wait and see. ;)
 
Oh I don't much doubit Thomas II ascension, what I doubt is that he'll be a good commander. He might be able to think correctly, but he lacks other talents. And he hears voices.
 
Yeah, never count on voices. They generally work in mysterious ways when they're not busy speaking in tongues.
 
This could go so many different ways…

I think that the big wild card here is Byzantine internal politics. Regardless of whether Thomas I wins, He’ll still be away from Constantinople for a very long time, during which any number of the factions which are now opposed to him will have plenty of time to plan and act. Who knows who’ll wind up in on the action: Christina, Heraklios, Thomas II, Mehetar, the civil aristocracy and the clergy are all potential co-conspirators. Even if Thomas I wins in battle, he might just lose anyways.
 
Wow. That's a hell of a buildup.
Reminds me of the battle of Lepanto, but (mostly) without the religious war aspect. The profile of the opposing fleets - nimbler ships with long range artillery vs. larger ships with a close range advantage - also kind of reminds me of the Spanish Armada, with the Spanish fleet playing the role of English.
Things don't look particularly good for Thomas right now. The Spanish fleet sets the rules here - it has time to get into position, while the eastern fleet will have to manuever under fire. And even if the Spanish fleet takes more casualties at sea, it doesn't take that many survivors to foul up an amphibious landing, particularly if there's a hostile army waiting on the beaches.
I also strongly suspect that Thomas is the type who will insist on his soldiers going into battle fully armored. In metal. Surrounded by water on all sides.
Probably Thomas' biggest advantage is that his enemy is a coalition, whose various members might suddenly flee or defect if they don't like the way the battle's going.
I wonder who's on the rowing benches. I think medieval Venice used volunteer rowers, which had the advantage of acting as reserve marines in a boarding action, and were also less likely to kill the crew and defect at the first opportunity. But slave rowers could be driven harder, and allowed them to crew more ships at lower cost, so if their population or civic pride has taken a hit from this timeline's latest set of Italian wars, they may have switched to that earlier than in OTL.
 
What a cliffhanger!!!

Cool as he is the appearance of good ol' Enrico unnerves me. The Venetians demands, his presence, and the year seem a lil' similar to certain date called 1204, and the blind doge who led there...
 
you all seem to forget
1 general is playing as thomas i presume, so i dont think he'll lose

2 as many of you have seen me say alexios is destined to re-unite the empire:Dso i think we are in for alexios usurping the crown

so im in a rut, i have no idea whats gonna happen.god speed alexios, god speed
 
you all seem to forget
1 general is playing as thomas i presume, so i dont think he'll lose

2 as many of you have seen me say alexios is destined to re-unite the empire:Dso i think we are in for alexios usurping the crown

so im in a rut, i have no idea whats gonna happen.god speed alexios, god speed

You seem to forget that Alexios is from the same dynasty as Thomas, so no matter which way this goes BT still wins. And that BT has been RPing through this.
 
Well, BT that was really exceptional. I am again impressed.

I'm excited to see what happens in the upcoming battle.

And I thought it was utterly hilarious that the Thomases were playing some sort of Byzantine Settlers of Catan. :rofl:

But then, being perpetually impressed and entertained by your AAR is no surprise. You maintain the sort of high quality that the rest of us can all aspire to. :D
 
Brilliant *thumbs up*


You are also a very evil and brutal person for leaving us with such an amazing cliffhanger. Personally I can't really hold on to the edge for much longer.
 
you all seem to forget

2 as many of you have seen me say alexios is destined to re-unite the empire:Dso i think we are in for alexios usurping the crown

I really don't think that this is going to happen. Do you remember the teaser map he put out a while ago? Spain and North Africa are going to be a separate power from Byzantium not too many years from where we are in the story. Italy is going to be fractured as well. I don't see that squaring with Alexios bettering Justinian (albeit in reverse with the West recovering the East).
 
The_Archduke - Actually the teaser map is still quite a was off - it was from 1399 - slightly under two centuries in the future, or a slightly longer time than the timeframe of the AAR so far! Plenty of things can happen during that timespan. And yes, keep Christina in mind...

Milites - I've been far too nice lately. :D I don't think there have been any cliffhangers since Niebla, and that was on page 70-something.

AlexanderPrimus - LOL, that's actually what gave me the idea for the game - some strange combination of Risk, Settlers of Catan, and chess. The game was complex enough it definitely fit in with the Byzantine court!

Avalanchemike - Alexios is indeed of the same dynasty, and has better stats, but that won't necessarily guarantee a victory... sometimes its fun when the crappy leader wins...

Servius Magnus -
1) Yes, I am playing as Emperor Thomas
2) Well, technically Alexios has already usurped the crown, hence the treason and war! :D The big question is, will Alexios get to keep his head, or will he order Thomas' head removed?

Avarri - It was definitely an omen that Venice is making her appearance. Way back people were asking what Venice was doing all this time, and the answer was - watching the rising Byzantine Empire with alarm. Now, Venice at the moment clearly doesn't have the power to pull a 1204, but if the Empire's weakened...

And Dandolo is such an interesting historical character I couldn't quite leave him out of the tale!

Antoku - Alot of how things turn out will depend on if Thomas can get his fleet deployed. The Venetians have catapults, true, but those are nothing to compare with English cannons in 1588 - they're far slower, have shorter range, and are less accurate. Most of Thomas' ships have Greek Fire, the nuclear bomb of the age in terms of naval warfare.

Add to that Thomas' ships are likely laden with soldiers (probably in armor), ready for a boarding action. The combined fleet will be at a bad disadvantage of affairs come to boarding...

Fulcrumvale - Lately we've been focusing so much on dynastic things that the emphasis on the dynatoi, the church, and the army has faded away. They will be playing a MAJOR role in future events.

asd21593 - If you can find a carpenter, I don't think it'd be that hard to make today...

RGB - Let's just say Thomas Jrs' voices are going to get even more interesting as time goes on...

4th Dimension - Alexios definitely has some Basil traits - going on campaign at a young age, for example - but he doesn't have Basil's insane military ability (he's good, mind you, but not a god of the battlefield). The biggest thing the army would hold against him is that in their eyes, he's almost a Latin, not a Greek. His mother is French, and his step-father (who basically has raised him and taught him) is a Norman...

DarthJF - Thomas Jr also has some martial skill as well (same caveat as Alexios), and also has many drawbacks. The voices are a big one. Another is that he's the son of Emperor Thomas - something that's going to give many of his father's enemies a dim view of him...

Ksim3000 - Ah, another cog in the wheel. :) The Italians in the Allied Fleet are out for their own interests, and those interests do not necessarily match up - Venice and Genoa are commercial rivals, for example. However, Thomas' force might not be united as much as you think it is...

As for next year, I doubt we'll be to Andronikos II yet. We should be close, though! Thank you for all the kind words - yes, the AAR follows me around, and I want to see it to completion!

Enewald - Alexios is Orthodox. By this point, Spain is slowly turning towards the Eastern faith. The Italians in the Allied Fleet, however, are Catholic. And considering Thomas killed the Pope, for them there would be a slight Crusadering tint to the movement...

Irenicus - It's the Alliance versus the Empire! :rofl: And true, plotting doesn't make for songs or tales (look at the public reaction to Nikolaios versus Basil), but its integral, at least to the Byzantine way of solving problems. And don't discount the plotting, even at the height of a grand battle...

Delex - It gets bigger before everything is all said and done...

The_Guiscard - It'd be much more difficult for the Spanish to pull a Salamis in Messina - the straits are wider than Salamis, and the Spanish aren't pulling the Imperial fleet into a harbor, they're sitting outside. I'm glad you like my portrayal of Serlo - it just seemed natural that after marrying Alienor he'd take Alexios under his wing, while still keeping those traits the Byzantines sneer at but the Normans find noble and necessary - honor, aggression and supreme confidence in victory. Thomas Jr could be a brilliant commander, but everyone should keep in mind he's still very young (I think he's 10 or 11 at this point)...

Kirsch27 - Like I've said, I've been nice recently. The next update will make up for all the meanness of the cliffhanger...:D


Speaking of which, I have the music ready for the next update, but nothing written up yet. I'm going to start work on it tonight between grading final exams, and I'm hoping it'll all be done by Monday, if not sooner. I hope you all will find it to be well worth the wait!