In the Flash of the Blade: A burgundy AAR

In a Flash of the Blade: A Burgundy AAR

Phillipe the Second of Burgundy awoke to a rather cold and breezy October day. He rubbed his temples as the pain of a hard night of drinking had taken its toll on him. Phillipe, by the year 1399, was getting old. He could feel it in his joints.
Knock Knock
“Yes? Who's there?” asked Phillipe
“M'lord, I have brought a new map for you and the Nobles wish to inform you that they are waiting for you in the dining room.” humbly said the servant.
“Those damn Nobles will never let me be, will they?”
“I'm afraid not m'lord.”
“Fine. Let them know I will be with them shortly”
“Yes sire,”
“oh and one other thing, make sure Jean is present as well.” ordered the King
“Absolutely my king!” the servant then scurried off to fulfill the King's wishes
King Phillipe groaned and wished he had not had so much wine. Nonetheless, he put on his clothes and walked to the dining room where all the Nobles had been waiting for him.

As Phillipe walked to the dining room, he saw his son Jean waiting for him outside.
“Jean, you're not in there because?” questioned Phillipe
“Father, I was unaware of why you wanted me to be here with you” Jean asked
“You know you are to rule this kingdom when I die”
“Yes, I know this, but I'd rather not meet the nobles until I must”
“you must meet them now. They are a tricky lot and will do their best to take power from you. Do you understand?”
“Of course father”
“Let's go and deal with them”
The dining room was massive. It was about 12 feet high, 20 feet long, and 18 feet wide. The walls were adorned with paintings of relatives, trophy animals which the King and his predecessors had killed, maps of Europe, and a few relics from the Holy Land. The table was at the very most ten feet long and three feet wide. The edges were gilded as was the candle sticks placed every two and a half feet. The table itself was made of a nice mahogany wood. Phillipe's chair was at the head of the opulent table and Jean's was at Phillipe's right hand.
As the King of Burgundy and his son entered the room the quiet murmuring that had been going on suddenly stopped. Phillipe and Jean both took their seats. The room was still quiet, so Phillipe began.
“Well, all of you called me here. What is it you want” urged the King.
One of the Nobles chimed in “To be honest, your majesty, we just had a few ideas we would like to share with you for the future of the kingdom.”
“Go on”
“Here, you see the map of our territory.”

“Get to the point, I am not feeling so well”
“Of course, your highness, we are suggesting that you invade and conquer the Duchy of Liege”
“You nobles want me to sacrifice my men for what reason? I have no quarrel with Liege”
“My king, there have been constant raids by Liegean forces into our lands. They must be punished!”
“I will go, talk to my subjects and get their opinion of the matter.”
“But your highness! They are....”
“Do not raise your voice to me! I will handle this as I see fit. On a related note, I will be investing more of our military budget into the Army and not the Navy, I believe this makes sense because we will, one day, have to deal with the French and need all the support we can get. Furthermore, I want a change of infantry. No more halbeards, just use regular infantry” (Naval thought suffering).

Before King Phillipe and Jean left the room, they noticed three men who they had never seen before. They looked to be from the monied class. Very oddly dressed, but he could tell they were Burgundian. As Phillipe walked over towards them, they got nervous. Their eyes began to shift, became sweaty, and they began to visibly tremble.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?” Phillipe demanded
“My king, we are but three humble finance men” squeaked one of the group
“and that will do what for my country?”
“we can re-work your financial system to allow you to mint more money without any inflation?”
“Really? You can do that?!!!”
“Yes, your majesty”
“Hired” (Hire three Masters of mint)
With that, Phillipe left his castle to go investigate the claims of some of the nobles.

Woot! A follower! Yes, it was a very quick war against the Liegans (SP?), but its not the only one!

King Phillipe brought his entourage to the border towns. Several towns were burned, peasants lying dead on the ground, crops ruined, livestock destroyed, utter destruction. Phillipe clenched his fist, “those bastards will pay” he thought to himself.


some of the destruction

As he rode back to the local headquarters, two messengers was there waiting for him. The messenger flew the colors of the kingdom of aragon. The messenger walked towards the Burgundian king.
“yes, messenger. What is it you want?” asked Phillipe
“Oh king of Burgundy, the King of Aragon has the following message for you” said the messenger

“He wants an alliance, eh? That could prove very useful against the French. Consider it done” roared the king.
“of course. It will be so” and with that the Aragonese messenger scurried away.
“and what do you want?” questioned Phillipe
“Actually sire, the king of brittany wishes to be your ally” told the other messenger.
“Anything to destroy the French”
“So is that a yes?”
“yes, now go.”
After seeing such wanton destruction carried out by Liegian troops, Phillipe thought it was time for war. He immediately wrote two letters, one to the King of Brittany and one to the King of Aragon, asking for support. He would get it.




So it began, the Burgundian conquest of Liege was about to begin. The King would lead the invasion army himself. He would show no mercy, no sympathy, take no quarters. Phillipe would ride with some 12,000 soldiers. 4,000 knights and 8 thousand infantry. And ride he did. The initial battle for Liege was short. The enemy lost 1000 soldiers to the kings 116. Upon victory, 2,000 infantry were ordered to lay siege to the capital while the rest of the King's army left to go destroy several Trierian regiments that began to lay siege in eastern Burgundy. The siege lasted for a few weeks. The King's terms were very simple: Full annexation.

Phillipe began a march on the monastic state of Trier. He had no issues with them. “Just so long as they stay out of my way, they can have their independence” he grumbled to an aide.
After decisively defeating the Trieran army in a pitched battle, they asked for status quo ante bellum. Which Philippe had no problem with.

@Boris: Thanks! I have been playing Eu3 for awhile now, and I love Burgundy. Any other feedback would be appreciated!
@delra: The burgundians love to conquer and they are a bloodthirsty lot.

Phillipe rode back to the local headquarters in Antwerp. It was a long, cold ride back. He was fortunate to have his son, Jean, with him the entire time. It made the ride less boring.
“Son, our kingdom is small and we are faced with a massive neighbor. How would you go about rectifying the situation?” asked Phillipe.
It was a question that Jean was totally unprepared for. He was quiet for a few minutes. Even went as far as to bring his horse, Bucephalus, to a halt. He stroked his chin. Unsure of what to say to his father who had just won a crushing victory.
“Why do you stop son?”
“Father, you have been asking more and more for my advice. There must be a reason, why?”
“Jean, do not be so naïve. You know I am getting old and I want to ensure that you know what you are doing.”
“I believe we need more land. When the French come, and come they will, it will be in huge numbers. We will need space to crush them. I would suggest invading Hainaut.”
“Why? They have several allies.”
“Because unless we do, they will be a thorn in our side. And they have been oppressing Burgundians in their realm. That must stop.”
“Good. You have chosen wisely son. I only asked you to see if you would make the proper decision, which you have. I believe that Burgundy will be in good hands when I go to meet the Lord”
“Aye father. A conquest of Hainaut then?”
“yes, gather your cavalry. We march at dawn”
“One minute, the peasants will be getting upset with all the wars we have been fighting”
“Its been one relatively bloodless war and they are gaining more land. They shan't complain unless this one turns bloody”
“As you wish father”



Upon reaching Antwerp, Phillipe ordered a week of rest and relaxation for his soldiers. He always treated his soldiers well and they would follow him into the bowels of hell if he asked them to.
Waking up on that seventh day, there were his troops all standing in formation. To the side, there was Jean and his cavalry. The sun was bright, but the wind was cold.. He shivered under his armor. The King took his horse, Zeus, and began to pace in front of his men. They were eager. He noticed a few green troops that were nervous about the fight ahead. He would give them a speech to remember and, God willing, the veterans of the last campaign would help them along.
“MEN!”
Soldiers roar
“I know during the last campaign I asked of you to conquer for me. And conquer you did! But I must ask you to do it again. Burgundy is not safe. We have the French to worry about. We must be stronger! So, my most loyal soldiers and cavalry, I have another request. Follow me to conquer that small and pathetic state of Hainaut! I will lead you there. Together we are invincible! Let us go now. FOR BURGUNDY!”
Soldiers scream
This war, if you could call it that, would be short lived and simple. Phillipe had the support of his two trusted allies, Brittany and Aragon.


the two sides

Hey guys. The AAR has been placed on hold, temporarily. My computer was hit with a virus last night and since I have no external hard drive, I have to re-download EU Complete and HttT. It is not dead! Hopefully I'll have a new update tomorrow. (As well as a new job)


EDIT: Scratch that. No need to reinstall, I just noticed that the new OS install hasnt killed EU3:HttT and AOD. I just have no save games. so I'll have another update later today