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Vann the Red, comagoosie

... just a side-note...

When I speak of King's advisors this is not 100% my imagination. I had my brother sitting behind me and shaking his head in disbelief, as he watched Spanish (Spanish Alliance, that is) troops overunning "our" country (bastard hates to play the game, but loves to watch it, especially when things turn ugly for me).

His sarcastic remarks and prophecies of doom echoed by the sound of lost battles and confirmed by a miriad of popups, all bearing bad news, had put me in a really dark mood and set a really desperate atmosphere for that session.
 
Giving up two or three provinces!? You're not going to accept that, are you? Well, of course if there's really no other way, you should, but really... How did you end up in a situation like that?
 
Just read up. Some really nice little ditties here. I particularly liked the Seven Deadly Sins, Gold Mightier than the Sword, and the most recent one, the adaptatian of Over the Hills...

Good stuff.
 
My kids enjoy watching me lose as well, old chum.....However, I do NOT see you giving in for so much loss. I can't remember a time where you ever DID do so. I imagine that with so many enemy troops in Aquitaine that they have left their own lands rather barren of troops. I can see you running wild in Iberia and forcing them to come back to try and stop you....whereas you liberate your lands and pull yet another rabbit out of your hat. You've done it before, and by God, I expect you to do it again! :)
 
Qorten, a lack of CB for years prompted me to jump at the first opportunity to declare war on Castile without taking a stab hit. So, greed is the root of all evil, I guess :D Besides, at I outline in my AAR, (king's actions reflecting my thinking, or the lack of such), I simply failed to predict the right sequence of events. Ideally, I would enter the war with a multitude of vassals on my side. That did not happen here. Instead, Castile's entry is ideal, while mine is the worst I could hope for.

stnylan, thank you, Glad you liked the last one, I had my doubts about it. Probably a good thing I followed through, as Over the Hills style allows for many sequels.

Amric, this kind of thinking is what usually leads me to those prolonged wars on the first place :) I believe I can do it and I end up fighting a war for twenty years in a row. And yes, I would only give up land if I am 100% beaten... all it would take right now is two major defeats and the loss of 2-3 additional provinces.
 
A great AAR! And I recognise this
Amric, this kind of thinking is what usually leads me to those prolonged wars on the first place I believe I can do it and I end up fighting a war for twenty years in a row. And yes, I would only give up land if I am 100% beaten... all it would take right now is two major defeats and the loss of 2-3 additional provinces.
so well...
 
Again We March Through Night And Day { Part II }

Again we march through night and day,
We wish to fight, King wills to pay
First battle lost, but not in vain -
For lesson learned is our gain.

The lesson learned is our gain,
And we inflict a lot of pain
We live to fight another day
This wood, this hill and far away.

Again we march through day and night,
And pray the Lord our King is right.
We pray the Lord and stalk our prey
Beneath the sun and clouds gray.

Beneath the sun and clouds gray
We welcome our foes’ stay
With their blood our fields we stain
For God, for King, for Aquitaine.

Commentaries: The Armee du Sud's return to Aquitaine did not the course of the war as King Charles expected. The first attempt to dislodge the enemy from his quarters in southern France failed, albeit not miserably. The Castilians and Portuguese were ably led, while young Wernigerode's lessons of war against weaker Aragonese forces were yet to bear fruit. Still, the first defeat did teach both the general and his King a few important lessons.

Retreating from superior enemy forces (and this is not your usual propaganda, for Iberians outnumbered Wernigerode's forces heavily), the general was able to rendez-vouz with the Army of the North and the Army of Aquitaine in Blois. Combined Aquitaine forces were able to quickly recapture some fortresses (which recently fell to the enemy and the Spaniards had little time to reinforce) and defeat smaller enemy parties sent to forage before winter.

Combined Spanish forces, led by his Most Catholic Majesty, gave a brief chase, paused and disintegrated again... burned fields of Aquitaine could not sustain such a large body of troops. They were still more numerous than Aquitani, however, and were able to besiege more fortifications than Wernigerode and King Charles. They, for a moment, were content to follow the foe and re-capture the scorched provinces right after their fall.

The situation was now far from hopeless. The treasury was full of gold, the army united, the enemy in plain sight.

The envoys from Castille made it plain that the price for peace may go down. Forget the lands, they said, just give us the gold... and accept His Most Catholic Majesty as your suzerain.

The Kingdom of Aquitaine had plenty of gold and plenty of honor. The latter was not for sale.
 
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I KNEW you were going to do something like this....It is so....you. Doggedly following the path of least resistance until your enemy makes a dreadful mistake...whereupon you pounce upon them like a rabid dog and tear them to pieces.....well I am still waiting for the rabid dog part...but I expect it to happen....
 
Good to see another rhyme.
 
Amric, you know me too well :) Although, I do have to say one thing: none of this was planned. I wanted this war, but it came all too sudden. The enemy I've beaten before is too strong this time. I am not sure 'Aragon first' was the smartest strategy to follow. And trying to attack the largest enemy force... naive at best :) I am glad this is not Rome or In Nomine, I would have been punished me.

stnylan, I bet there is another one around the corner :)

Qorten, as it is, poetic references aside, I only control five provinces at the moment. However, you may be right about the tide being turned. Time is on my side, since I am fighting on my own turf and attrition is my best friend at the moment. Here, however, I have to regret that this is not Rome or In Nomine for the Spanish would have suffered even more greatly. Now I am forced to give chase to every small army to make sure it does not come back to haunt my lands again.

comagoosie, I did not make peace, my friend :) I should have, maybe. The Spanish stopped demanding land only once and I refused (foolishly). Now, as more reinforcements pour in from the south, they are back to asking for a province or two with some gold to add insult to injury.
 
1. A Poetry AAR! Gutsy!

2. Sure it's isn't totally Period work but I like it.

3. You need some kind of romance/drama/marriage/stabbity death ballad. I think that's the one thing that's missing so far.

4. I can't believe I missed this for so long!

5. Beautiful maps, great gameplay. As usual, a top-notch Nalivayko AAR.

6. Anxiously awaiting more!
 
RGB said:
1. A Poetry AAR! Gutsy!
Yeah, I can see it now :) Need a backup of a muse, but liquor will have to suffice for now.
RGB said:
2. Sure it's isn't totally Period work but I like it.
Now, going totally "period" would be gutsy indeed. Might have done it in Russian, but not in English.
RGB said:
3. You need some kind of romance/drama/marriage/stabbity death ballad. I think that's the one thing that's missing so far.
100% agree, was saving it for later.
RGB said:
4. I can't believe I missed this for so long!
Me neither :D Kidding, glad you're caught up now.
RGB said:
5. Beautiful maps, great gameplay. As usual, a top-notch Nalivayko AAR.
6. Anxiously awaiting more!
Thank you, will do :)
 
Disgruntled Deserter's Song

Ask me to sing about love and gladly I will sing
Of pretty maidens and brave knights who aim their hearts to win,
Of broken hearts and joyous nights I'll sing and then some more,
But dare you not ask me to sing to you about war.

Ask me to sing about wine and, if you have a heart,
Buy me a glass - with no delay a new song shall I start,
This gift from gods, no less, no more, 'till morning shall I praise,
But ask me once to sing of war, I'll set this place ablaze.

Ask me to sing of spring and fall, of rainbows in the sky,
Ask me to sing about lands where people never die.
I'll sing of every little thing that comes to your small brain,
But beg me not to sing of war, it brings me too much pain.

Ask me to sing about war, in horror shall you gape,
I cannot help but sing of death, of murder and of rape.
I couldn't stand it one more day and ran so far away
But I still carry war with me, each night and every day.

Commentaries: And so the war dragged on and on, armies losing thousands to battle, dysentery, hunger and desertion. The summer followed the spring and was in turn followed by the fall. Then winter came, causing even more deaths, mostly among Iberians. The spring returned, but brought little relief to Aquitaine, the only consolation being that her enemies suffered the grieves of war as much or more than she did.

A year passed and then another. And another. And another. Most lost the count.

The time of large battles has passed. Wernigerode fought Fabian war, by ambushing smaller Spanish detachments. From time to time the enemy tried to offer a battle, which he consistently refused. Both Spanish and Aquitaine's armies began to run out of men, but King Charles still had enough gold to replenish his losses with mercenaries. With time Spanish armies became mere shadows of their former selves.

Yet another spring followed yet another winter and as the snow melted away so did the Spanish presence in the Kingdom. A series of quick battles earned Wernigerode's family yet another paragraph in the encyclopedias of the future and his country a respite from war. It would not last long for the King soon decreed the time was ripe to take the fight to the enemy.
 
great to see you back with another fantastic update :)

The poem was great, and it flowed like a spring river.

But it seems that the same cannot be said for Aquitaine. Hopefully peace can be made.
 
Terrific to see another installment in the most unique tale in AAR-land! Sounds like you may have finally turned the tide.

Vann
 
Another nice little ditty.

And war does seem to be the natural state of this land. Peace is merely just a rest break.