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I'm playing as the Byzantines and I got into this epic(for me) war that lasted for 5 years. It started in 1427 as a war against the glorious almighty empire of Achaea(an OPM). Now They were allied and guaranteed by Venice, France, Milan, Aquilea, Wurttemberg, and Aragon. Those that joined were Aquilea, Milan, Wurttemberg, and France. I sort of wished that Aragon had joined 'cause they held Athens and that's all I needed to recapture Greece. They weren't really a threat land-wise(They had 3k total) but navally we were pretty much evenly matched.

Well there was only three theaters in the war: Naturally Achaea(France's only land battle), Aquilea, and Milan. Achaea was pretty much straight forward, a few months into the war they were gone, as I said France threw some troops in but it didn't change the outcome. Later I would completely destroy France's navy of 4 ships:laugh:. After that France wasn't a threat. I signed MA treaties with Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, Which leads straight to the second Theater of the war: Aquilea. The Aquileans had 9k troops(in one stack) so I sent two of my standard 9k armies(3k cav 6k infantry) and in one battle I routed them and finished them off in the next battle. The sieging was the worst of it. In all I lost 6 regiments of infantry:blink:! After Aquilea fell I vassalized her(I had 23 infamy at the time). After that and armies replenished I signed MA treaties with Ferrara, Mantua, and Modena. Once I realized that Milan had 13k troops I brought up another army from Greece(I was building another by that point).

Once my armies were in Ferrara I moved one to Modena and two to Mantua to scout out the terrain and realized that Milan had their entire army in Brescia. I moved everything I had into the battle and after one follow up battle in Cremona I destroyed them. Then I spread out to siege. This siege didn't take as long as Aquilea, probably six months. In the end I took Parma. I wanted to Vassalize them too but no dice so I took Parma instead. Why? For my war against Aragon. I want Athens damn it! I realize that the war against Aragon will be decided navally. And the side closest to the action will have the edge and naturally Aragon will have that edge but Parma will lessen that edge. In the war I hope to nick The Baleares from them along with Athens. They'll be useful in future wars in the Western Med.

I think I'm getting close to my version of the Punic Wars...

That's pretty much where I'm at right now. It's Nov. 7, 1432. I'm having a blast with this game! Finally a game Paradox got right!
 
I'm playing as the Byzantines and I got into this epic(for me) war that lasted for 5 years. It started in 1427 as a war against the glorious almighty empire of Achaea(an OPM). Now They were allied and guaranteed by Venice, France, Milan, Aquilea, Wurttemberg, and Aragon. Those that joined were Aquilea, Milan, Wurttemberg, and France. I sort of wished that Aragon had joined 'cause they held Athens and that's all I needed to recapture Greece. They weren't really a threat land-wise(They had 3k total) but navally we were pretty much evenly matched.

Well there was only three theaters in the war: Naturally Achaea(France's only land battle), Aquilea, and Milan. Achaea was pretty much straight forward, a few months into the war they were gone, as I said France threw some troops in but it didn't change the outcome. Later I would completely destroy France's navy of 4 ships:laugh:. After that France wasn't a threat. I signed MA treaties with Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, Which leads straight to the second Theater of the war: Aquilea. The Aquileans had 9k troops(in one stack) so I sent two of my standard 9k armies(3k cav 6k infantry) and in one battle I routed them and finished them off in the next battle. The sieging was the worst of it. In all I lost 6 regiments of infantry:blink:! After Aquilea fell I vassalized her(I had 23 infamy at the time). After that and armies replenished I signed MA treaties with Ferrara, Mantua, and Modena. Once I realized that Milan had 13k troops I brought up another army from Greece(I was building another by that point).

Once my armies were in Ferrara I moved one to Modena and two to Mantua to scout out the terrain and realized that Milan had their entire army in Brescia. I moved everything I had into the battle and after one follow up battle in Cremona I destroyed them. Then I spread out to siege. This siege didn't take as long as Aquilea, probably six months. In the end I took Parma. I wanted to Vassalize them too but no dice so I took Parma instead. Why? For my war against Aragon. I want Athens damn it! I realize that the war against Aragon will be decided navally. And the side closest to the action will have the edge and naturally Aragon will have that edge but Parma will lessen that edge. In the war I hope to nick The Baleares from them along with Athens. They'll be useful in future wars in the Western Med.

I think I'm getting close to my version of the Punic Wars...

That's pretty much where I'm at right now. It's Nov. 7, 1432. I'm having a blast with this game! Finally a game Paradox got right!

That sounds pretty awesome! :D
 
I hope I didn't kill this story through my insane ramblings!
 
I hope you didn't.
 
I believe i have been very rude for not posting in this AAR of yours before, but i have to say that i really enjoy it.

Keep it up as always Avindian, you won't let us down i know it ;)

Thanks very much! I thought you already had posted here. In any case, I'll let it slide this time. :)
 
Chapter 52: The war against Aragon​

(We're going to do another different kind of update, because it's a pretty short one. I don't like these short ones, but the next one is going to cover the rest of Francis III's "reign", and it does give me the chance to experiment a bit.)

15 October 20XX, University of Rome

The professor surveyed his class room. Most of the students looked bored, but then again, this was an introductory history course and a lot of them didn't really want to be there.

"Good afternoon, class."

The students chorused "Good afternoon, Professore."

He motioned to the projection screen, which had a slide of the infamous Treaty of Rome that saw the end of Persia as an effective threat to the Empire of Italy.

52persianvictory.jpg


"It is clear why Emperor Francis III wanted to force Persia to recognize the dominance of Italy in Fars, but can anybody think of why Laristan, which belonged to the Timurid Empire at the time, was part of the peace treaty?"

After a few moments of silence, one student tentatively raised his hand. "Didn't Marshal de Ruyter think that war with the Timurids was inevitable, and that this would prevent another war with Persia when Italy annexed the province?"

The professor beamed. "Excellent work, Adelbert! Of course, since he is your ancestor, it is sensible that you would know so much about him. Let's move on to a forgotten little chapter in Italian history: the war with Aragon, which began in 1716."

52aragonwar.jpg


"After the collapse of the Aragonese government, Francis III saw an opportunity to secure the border with Castille. Aragon is a very mountainous area, and with suitable fortifications, Castille would be trapped in her own peninsula. Field Marshal Benedetto Visconti personally commanded one of the invading legions, while Colonel Lafayette took command of the other. Now, if you remember, it was very unusual for Colonels to command legions, but the Emperor wanted the war over quickly."

52invasion.jpg


One of the smug know-it-all students raised her hand. The professor sighed. "Yes, Arabella?"

"I read that Francis III wasn't actually Emperor, that he'd secretly abdicated in favor of his cousin Antonio and Marshal de Ruyter."

The professor chortled. "Where did you read this, girl? In a comic book?" After the students stopped laughing, the professor continued. "In all fairness to Arabella, that was a popular theory at one time in Italian history. Giuseppe, who was Prince at the time, was a very brutal and cruel ruler in Constantinople. Francis III was a very sensitive man -- there is a lot of evidence that he did try to abdicate multiple times, but it would mean Giuseppe's inheritance. The "Shadow Emperors" theory that Ms. Germanicus recalls says that the Emperor retired to a monastery and let his cousin and Marshal issue proclamations in his name. However, thorough research in Imperial archives has indicated no such document, and the monasteries open in the Empire do not show any di Farnese entering a monastery since Pietro Leopoldo."

Arabella tried to recover her pride as best she could. "What about the fire of 1716? Couldn't that have destroyed the records?"

The professor nodded. "It is possible, certainly. But in history, my girl, we must stick to the facts, and until we have conclusive proof we cannot assume that anybody other than Francis III signed those decrees. Even our best handwriting analysts have proven that the handwriting is the same."

Arabella was still a bit grumpy, but she sat down and the professor continued the lecture.

"The war against the Aragonese was no serious matter; both of their armies were routed quickly and with minimal casualties. Fewer than one hundred Italians died in the entire war."

52alicante.jpg


52pirineo.jpg


"Aragon did have allies, of course, and many speculate that the Emperor intended on annexing Toulouse or Portugal, both of whom had answered the Aragonese call to arms."

52taleofthetape.jpg


A budding officer rose his hand. "Professore, why didn't he? Most of Portugal's troops were probably in the new world, and wasn't Toulouse a big thorn in the Empire's side."

"A great question, Marcus! The Emperor was worried about the international opinion of the Empire. He was, to be honest, very concerned about the bloodthirsty reputation the Empire had, particularly since the reign of Peter I, and actually wanted to be much more patient and expand more slowly. He probably would never have even attacked Aragon if the opportunity was not so perfect."

52aragonwin.jpg


"Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that after this war, Italy was at peace for years. In fact, until 1741, the only conflict of any kind was a brief fight with Funj that ended largely in stalemate. The peace signed with Portugal is often called the beginning of the Empire's Golden Age, a time of self-reflection and internal growth."

At the moment, the bell rang.

"That's all class! Remember, the next exam is in two weeks. Study hard!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next update should be this weekend, possibly, or early next week.
 
So the descendants of our heroes are all happily studying in Rome? I guess that most of them still belong to heriditery nobility.
Interesting change of updates though, and we still got to know what happend with Aragon! And based on what they speculated about we're still not quite sure about what happens with Giuseppe, does he die or not? Thats the question.
 
So the descendants of our heroes are all happily studying in Rome? I guess that most of them still belong to heriditery nobility.
Interesting change of updates though, and we still got to know what happend with Aragon! And based on what they speculated about we're still not quite sure about what happens with Giuseppe, does he die or not? Thats the question.

It's a mere three hundred years or so; of course the descendants are still around :)
 
I have a question. It's been nagging at me for the past week. What do you call a person from Aragon? Is it Aragonese or Aragonian? The former sounds better doesn't it? I think it's the former.
 
I have a question. It's been nagging at me for the past week. What do you call a person from Aragon? Is it Aragonese or Aragonian? The former sounds better doesn't it? I think it's the former.
I think it's Catalan :p
(maybe just me but Aragonian reminds me of Argonians and that's not the same thing.)
 
I have a question. It's been nagging at me for the past week. What do you call a person from Aragon? Is it Aragonese or Aragonian? The former sounds better doesn't it? I think it's the former.

I think it's Catalan :p
(maybe just me but Aragonian reminds me of Argonians and that's not the same thing.)

You're both wrong! You call them Italian :D

Playing too much Skyrim?
:p

Anyway, who is the emperor at 20XX? :D

I've tried to make the future stuff vague enough that you can imagine whatever you like ;)
 
like the change of tone and style, and Arabella certainly seems a worthy descendent of the current Germanicii? Germanicuses? anyway .., them.

Glad you liked it!
 
Just checking back in after being absent for a couple of weeks and I was not disappointed. :D Excellent work once again!
 
I like what you have done while I have been away distracted with Skyrim. The failed coup by Ettore was quite satisfying. I think the internal minister had it right when he said he only cared about himself. The war was quite interesting. I also love the "abdication". To bad the truth has not come down through history, but maybe Arabella will be the one to prove the theory someday (would be very satisfying for me because she is descended from a character I created). Cannot wait to see what you do next (brings out the axe for Giuseppe).