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General Karthos

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Aug 24, 2008
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This is a Byzantium AAR starting with the "Easy" start in 1405. All settings are normal except:
1) I am playing on "Hard" difficulty. This is my first time playing on that difficulty setting, so I might crash and burn at any point.

2) There are no "lucky" nations. I'm not a good enough player to the point where I need a massive nation left to challenge me at the end of the game. Playing normally there are plenty of large nations left by the late 18th century.



For the Glory of God: A Byzantium AAR

The Rule of Manuel II Palaiologos
Chapter I: A Mission from God
Chapter II: The Last Campaign
 
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CHAPTER I: A MISSION FROM GOD

Historian's Note: Dates given in this book have been changed to reflect the modern calendar.

My name is Manuel II Palaiologos, Emperor of what is known as Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire. I became Emperor on the 16th of February, 1391, over what little remained of the once glorious Empire. Nearly all of it had fallen to the Turk. For eight years, I only hoped to hold onto my territory, but in 1399, I was tossing in my troubled sleep when an angel appeared before me. I cowered in fear, but he told me "Be not afraid, Manuel; I am a servant of God as are you. I bring you a message from the Lord God. He commands you to recreate the Roman Empire, in the name of God and Jesus Christ."

When I awoke, I knew that it had been no normal day. I had been charged by God with a mission, and so I undertook to be worthy of his trust. In consultation with my ministers and a spymaster, we hatched a plan to incite revolution throughout much of what was termed the Ottoman Empire. My people still remembered rule under the Byzantine Empire, and many would support us.

Historian's note: Little of this period remains in our historical records. If, as later in his life, a court artist was hired to dramatize these events, none survive. Sketchy picture records begin in 1405

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With those territories firmly in my hand, I sat idle for a time, seeking guidance from God as to what my next quest would be. Prayer yielded me little until one of my ships happened to intercept some refugees from Smyrna. I recognized this as a sign from God that Smyrna would be my next conquest. I sent a Diplomat immediately and readied my armies for war.

The war was brief, and decisive. Though the defenders of Smyrna fought bravely, it was in vain, and on the 12th of October, 1406, Smyrna fell to my forces, and the province was liberated from its conquerors.

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With my armies fresh from victory, it was too early to stop. And Antalya was liberated on the 26th of June, 1407. I heard tales of rebellion from within the small nation of Karaman, and I knew that God was sending me another sign.

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My records do not say when the war with Karaman ended, but I have this map of Asia minor and Greece from July of 1408

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With that war over, I began an ambitious, but slow-moving construction and recruitment project. With our treasury somewhat low, it became necessary to move slowly in the construction of new carracks, and the recruitment of new Jaya infantry.

And then, tragedy struck my family. My son had recently reached his age of maturity, and on his sixteenth birthday, he went hunting with his older cousin (the son of my dear departed brother). What exactly happened was never clear, but I am certain his horse was spooked and it threw him. Poor Ionnes... he never was much of a rider.

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I prayed, wondering why God had seen fit to take my only son from me. God did not see fit to answer. Did my faith waver? No, indeed, if anything, it became stronger. I might well be the last of my lineage, and it would be necessary to do my utmost to reform the Roman Empire as God had commanded me.

With a new sense of purpose, I consulted our spymaster and sent a man to Rhodes, who was able to rustle up 1000 men to rise up in revolt. Where the troops of the Knights who followed the very liberal catholic faith were, I do not know, but with their absence, those mere thousand men began to besiege the castle.

In January of 1410, I was blessed with a son, a sign from God that I was doing His work, preparing to invade the Ottoman Empire to reconquer the lost territories of the Empire.

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But I had to wait for one more thing. I needed the Ottomans to be forced to split their troops. So when the Mamluks declared war in early January 1411, I knew God had sown discord amongst His enemies, and as the Sultan rode East to engage the Mamluks, I knew the time was right. There were some 19,000 men left on the East side of the Sea of Marmara, and I knew the only way to keep them from reinforcing their Western Empire was to block the Sea of Marmara.

The Carracks I had built were greatly superior to the Galleys that the Ottomans could bring to the fight, and so I was able to block the Sea, occasionally retreating to Thrace to allow them to try to get across the sea. I hoped I would catch the Sultan's general Hasan Karamanli trying to cross, but I was not so lucky. In the meantime my armies besieged the Ottoman cities on the West side of the Sea.

July 1411 brought two pieces of good news. First, on the 2nd of July, the castle on the island of Rhodes fell to the Byzantine patriots and they joined my empire. On the 20th, Hedjaz, the Ottoman Empire's only ally discovered they had no stomach for a fight with me, and they offered us a white peace, which I accepted. I was interested only in fighting the Ottoman Empire, not Hedjaz.

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Within two years I had all five of the cities west of the sea of Marmara, I sent a letter to the Sultan demanding the coastal territories, but he refused, and I knew what I would have to do. I could only muster 13,000 troops to Hasan Karamanli's 19,000, but my men were able to draw 4,000 of them into Thrace and crush them.

But to defeat Karamanli's remaining 15,000 men, I knew I would have to lead my men into battle. As the favored of God, there was no way I could fail to be victorious. I arrived in time to take up command, and then let my ships return to Thrace. Karamanli crossed the sea and we met him in battle.

It was a fierce battle, lasting for nearly a month, but at the end of the month, despite 5,000 casualties, we were able to send Karamanli's forces running. We pursued him and his force, including him surrendered. With no army remaining, in our theater and war still raging, plus the Sultan's favored General in my hands, I knew I had the bargaining chip I needed. This time, the Sultan surrendered the three coastal provinces I demanded.

Where I go from here, I do not know. It is 1413, my population is tired of over a decade of constant warfare, and the political situation is tricky at best. I believe that the time for further espionage has come. I have several spies who might be well employed persuading Byzantine patriots to bring Bulgaria and Nis into the hold of the Roman Empire.

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I hope I've done the story justice. I'm going to be a lot more careful with screenshots in the future, and making a note that every time I quit the game I need to remove the screenshots from the folder and move them to the folder dedicated to this AAR. I think I'm going to keep on going from the point of view of whoever is the ruler at the time. I don't know why this is, but I'm running the game on a Mac, so that might be the problem.

For those who are interested, Ionnes was a 5/5/5, but the new heir Demitrios is a 4/3/7. The military ability may actually be more useful, as I don't need a great diplomatic rating since I'm not gaining any Infamy from reconquest of my territory. (I know it affects more than that, but at the moment, I'll be okay. He just doesn't get to go hunting.) The difficulty I have now is that Aquilea and Venice are allies, so funding rebels there won't do me any good, Naxos is allied with Venice, though they are busy, so it might be worth a shot. The Mamluks are the protectors of the Sunni faith, and I can't afford to fight them at this point. My force limits still keep me at 17,000 troops in the affordable category. I'm not currently willing to go over my force limits in terms of ground troops.

So I'll probably fund some patriots in Bulgaria and Nis and hope the Ottomans can't get there to suppress them while I wait for some things to shift. Soon I will be able to take on Venice and her allies, and that's when things get interesting since they have guaranteed Venice, and Aquilea, and of course, Naxos is their vassal.
 
This is great! Always great to see a Byzantine (sorry Roman!) AAR! I'm playing a Byzantine game at the moment so I will follow this closely.

Nice narrative too.
 
Great!
 
Hi everybody, and thanks! At the moment, the AAR is "live". I don't know if it will remain that way, but I don't know what's coming any better than the readers. I intend to play some more this evening and perhaps get the new chapter up tonight. I dunno how long the reign of Manuel II typically lasts, but in history, he died in 1425 at the age of 75, less than a year after being humiliated by the Ottoman Empire.

Interestingly, the current heir in the game, Demetrios, was actually the name of a son of Maneul II, though it was actually John VIII who succeeded him, and Demetrios was born in 1407, rather than 1411.
 
If you want challenge i can write for you a decision to form rome once you own constantinople asia minor alexandria cairo rome venezia and sicily(including malta)
 
great story so far! IF you had used the Death and Taxes Mod, then there's already a built in decision to reform Rome
 
CHAPTER II: THE LAST CAMPAIGN

In consultation with my spymaster, I decided to fund a nationalist rebellion in Bulgaria, instead of a patriotic one. He believed that there was little likelihood of the patriots siding with us, but rather, owing to their culture, he believed they would side with the Serbians. Unwilling to add additional territory to possible enemies (despite the fact that Serbia can now be counted among our few allies in Europe) I decided he was most likely correct, and though the territory that makes up Bulgaria is rightfully ours, allowing a minor nation possession would likely carry less risk. It took some convincing, but in the end, I decided it was a lesser risk. However, we could not afford to supply an agent with weapons just yet, so we chose to bide our time until our treasury was replenished from taxes in January 1415.

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In December of 1414, a delegation of our hereditary nobility arrived at court to thank me in person for the liberation of their rightful territories, by offering up contributions of heathen artifacts seized from their ancestral homes. I ordered them melted down, and they provided a boost to our treasury.

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Using this money we were able to fund a trade expedition to Venice, where we had simply never before been able to compete. At the same time, on advice from Council, I began to loosen the state protection of traders inside the Empire, much to the dismay of our merchant class, and to the delight of our noble class, who found that greater competition for lower prices meant cheaper ornaments to flatter their vanity.

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As a new year's present, with our tax income, we were able to supply Bulgarian nationalists with one of our more promising military officers as well as weapons and funds for supplies. In a swift uprising, Bulgaria fell to the nationalist rebels within nine months, and Nis six months later. It would however be two years before they declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire. At around this time, I funded construction of new carracks, to ensure that our fleet was the dominant one in the Black and Aegean seas. I did not want any unpleasant surprises coming our way. I knew that on New Year's Day 1418, our truce with the Ottomans expired, and this time, we would take the fight to them. They were at war with several of the major Mediterranean powers including Sicily and Venice at the end of 1416, and I could only pray that war would last.

It was an uneventful few years in the Empire until September of 1417, when I ordered the armies to begin to muster, and rode out myself to command them. Even at the age of 67, I could still ride, and I knew that my presence as the chosen of God would inspire my troops. For I had not forgotten about my God-given quest to destroy the Ottoman Empire and assure the safety of the Byzantine Empire and the re-establishment of the Eastern Roman Empire. I had simply been forced by the laws of man to wait for my truce with the Ottoman Empire to expire. For man must render unto man what is his, and render unto God what is God's.

On New Year's Day, with our army assembled, I sent a new declaration of war to the Ottoman Empire. Our 17,000 troops crossed the Sea of Marmara, engaging the 12,000 strong Ottoman Army in early February. Though through the first few weeks, the battle seemed to favor them, the odds quickly swung in our favor. With God's chosen at the head of a cavalry charge, the Ottoman lines broke, their forces were routed and they fled to Bithinya. I dispatched 5000 men in pursuit while my 12,000 men lay siege to Bursa.

I received reports on the 25th of March, 1418 that the Ottoman Army had surrendered, and that Bithinya was under siege.

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I became ill shortly thereafter and returned to court to recover my health, but my loyal generals continued to send me reports. After the liberation of Bursa, we proceeded on a vastly successful military campaign, crushing a few Ottoman militias here and there, but greeted by cheering throngs of loyal Roman subjects in every city we liberated.

Today is the 9th of February, 1420. We have just dispatched a surrender order to the Ottomans. With their army in ruins, and their nation in ruins, I am certain they will offer a complete and unconditional surrender to my forces.

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....

I am John VII Palaiologos, nephew to Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, and Cousin to Demetrios Palaiologos, the future Emperor of Byzantium. Manuel II died in his sleep on March 17, 1420, at the age of 69, just hours after the news came to court that the Ottoman Empire had surrendered to the might of Rome, and that the Ottoman Empire would never again rise to threaten Europe. Manuel II turned to me and spoke. "Truly, the grace of God is with us this day," he said. Those were the last words he ever spoke to me. I have been selected as Lord Regent of the Imperial Realm until such time as my cousin ascends the throne.

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The legacy of my Uncle cannot be denied. During his reign as Emperor, the Ottoman Empire fell to our forces. Not one military campaign was undertaken that did not result in a total victory for our side. But my Uncle was not a military man. He would have said that it was through the grace of God that he was able to obtain his victories.

I have never spoken to God. I do not know if this is true or not, but Manuel believed so fiercely that he had been tasked with a mission that he made the men around him believe it too. And his foresight and his victories were astonishing. I counseled caution against the Ottoman menace, at the outset of both wars, but whether or not my Uncle indeed had God at his side in his battles, he was able to inspire normal men to extraordinary feats.

I believe truly that the Legacy of Maneul II Palaiologos will be felt throughout history, as the Byzantine Empire is well on its way to the establishment of a new Eastern Roman Empire.

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It was a really fortuitous time of death for Manuel II. He completed the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, but died shortly thereafter, and the Empire is well on its way to restoring itself to a semblance of its former glory. However, we're going to have to settle in for six years of regency (our heir hits 16 in January 1426), although it's a 7/4/6 Regency, so not a bad one.

I'd like input on what Manuel II's title should be.

Manuel the Pious (Μανουήλ ο Ευσεβής ) is my first thought. But there is also Manuel the Liberator (Μανουήλ ο Ελευθερωτής) or simply Manuel the Great (Μανουήλ ο Μέγας). Does anyone have an opinion of an idea of another title?
 
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great story so far! IF you had used the Death and Taxes Mod, then there's already a built in decision to reform Rome

Yeah, unfortunately, Death and Taxes mod won't run on my version of the game, much like screenshots won't behave. So I'll have to live with EU3 and its various expansion packs. Some of my Emperors/Regents will refer to it as Byzantium, whereas others will refer to it as the Roman Empire, and others will specify the Eastern Roman Empire. It's really more-or-less to their taste. And sooner or later I will head West, but right now, my primary focus is on the east.
 
Excellent update!
 
I suggest Manuele the Liberator sikply because the romans thought of these regions as their homes
Also you should check in the mods section there is a mod with extra Byzantine Missions.It will help you
 
Superb start - looks like Basileus Manuel really is Ruler of Rulers, King of Kings.

I always think it's a shame when these AARs take advantage of the over-generous situation at the start in 1405 and get boring very quickly - here's hoping the Hard difficulty can keep some decent regional powers at your throat. Can I suggest you implement a ten-year truce limit to keep things interesting?
 
Superb start - looks like Basileus Manuel really is Ruler of Rulers, King of Kings.

I always think it's a shame when these AARs take advantage of the over-generous situation at the start in 1405 and get boring very quickly - here's hoping the Hard difficulty can keep some decent regional powers at your throat. Can I suggest you implement a ten-year truce limit to keep things interesting?

Well, I am in a somewhat difficult position now as there's a powerful DotF in the Islamic world, and the cascading alliances will bring in Algiers and Morocco. I could surely handle one of them, but both of them together? Not yet anyway. Plus, as I pay to convert Asia Minor (my current mission) my economy suffers, so even with a force limit of 26, I'm keeping it at 22. Finally, I have the Golden Horde right on my doorstep, vassalizing my neighbors and every five years sending troops pouring over. And soon there will be another Horde nation to my East, so it's not gonna be an easy go.

So things won't get boring. And what do you mean about a ten-year truce limit?
 
What about Manuel the Restorer. Anatolia was the heart of the Byzantine realm, and he got more or less most if it back. And he certainly restored the future of Byzantium - without him, no future at all. And he restored the Navy (it sounds like) and the foundation of the state.

Just a thought!

And excellent, by the way!

It will be interesting to see which Emperors see themselves more driven by the goal of restoring the Empire to its former glory (those who call it Roman), and which find themselves pulled in other directions (perhaps in the footsteps of Alexander, or even in more northern directions....or who knows!)