Here come the Habsburgs - An Austrian AAR

Febuary 1358, Breisgau.

The Duke has spent an entire month hunting, enjoying the woman of the nearby villages, and remodeling the castle to fit his desires. However, the time for childish affairs was over, our Duke was a man of action and it is time for him to return to state affairs. Letters were sent out calling for a meeting of the House von Habsburg.

The Archduke thundered - "Brothers and sisters, cousins, friends, I have called forth a meeting to address the current situation of our lands. Austria is victorious, our old castle as you may see has been reclaimed, and our crusaders have just returned from Lithuania triumphant! We cannot stop now - our army is unstoppable, I say let us press on, on to Tirol, where the count dares to act without our cossent! My proposal is simple, we shall storm Tirol by force and take the rich silver veins to mint for the good of Wien!"



It should also be mentioned that the family agreed to pass the 'Liquor Act' as everyone the next morning were so hungover that even the thought of alcohol bought disgust to the minds of the sturdiest Austrian men.



June 1358, Wien

By the start of summer the Army was once again was ready for action. The crusaders were quickly reformed into a professional force and renamed into the "Heiligen Ordnung Wien" known to the English as the Holy Order of Vienna. Equipped with the very best weapons, this was the start of an army of the highest quality found anywhere in Europe.



On the 4th, a messenger was dispatched to Tirol, War had begun anew. Diplomatic negotiation has not been the best for Austria leading to the war. The count of Gorz, brother of the count of Tirol refused passage through its lands,
so a battle plan involving passage through Wurtemburg, an ally of Tirol was formed, meanwhile the Tirolean army would be pinned down at the border of Lienz by
less well trained levies.


October 1358, Lake Constanz, Thurgau.

By August 1358, Archduke Albrect II, having defeated the armies of Wurtemburg, began the siege of the two major castles housing the nobility of Wurtemburg.
However, shortly into the siege, news from the defensive front at Leinz suggested that the Tirolean army was spotted and was expected to engage soon after.
The news provided the Duke with a possibility of a new plan. Leaving a few regiments to continue the siege, Albrecht decided that a fast march to the Tirolean Capital
could lead to a quick victory whilst the enemy army was out of position.

Arriving at the Austrian province of Thurgau, Albrecht realized he was tricked.


The Tirolean army executed the perfect ambush as 4 thousand Tirolean mountaineers crashed into the Austrian column. After a battle lasting nearly 14 hours the brave Austrians were victorious - spirit, discipline and sheer superiority in equipment proved too much for the Tiroleans, who even though have taken very few losses in the battle ran for the hills. Albrecht marched on.


The next few months proved to be a matter of long sieges and death. Plague broke out after the battle of Thurgau, the Austrians blamed the dirty mountain men, however in truth it was probably the difficulty in transporting goods to the mountainous terrain of the alps. The Tiroleans, though clearly beaten, did not surrender. Every other day one or two men of Wien would go missing. Albrecht having grown old and paranoid was against a direct siege, fearing the fact that the Castles in the alps were neigh impenetrable, decided to wait out the sieges. Some say this was a critical mistake of the Archduke of Austria.

Rifal said:

Austria est imperare orbi!!! Or something along those lines, my Latin isn't the best.

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I dont think there are many who know latin

But yes, that is an amazing AAR

November 1359, Tirol.

The siege of the castle at Tirol has been underway for more than a year. Even though there were no supplies entering the castle, it seems like the mountain men were in no hurry to surrender. Efforts to undermine the castle walls proved futile as the rock on which it was built was simply too resistant to the crude tools of the Austrians. The duke, noticing his elderly age begin to take hold of his body and tired of the harsh weather of the alps, sent emissaries to the castle to negotiate.To the surprise of the Duke, a meeting was agreed upon. Meeting at the Austrian camp, the Arch-Duke laid out his demands - he would lift the siege in exchange for vassalage. Little did the Duke know, the Tiroleans were not here to negotiate. The Dukes son, Rudolf IV was unable to save his father. Six stab wounds sealed the fate of the old man. Enraged, Rudolf executed the assassins and called for an immediate assault on the castle. The plan of the Tirolean's backfired. Austrian forces, filled with hatred and blood thirst for revenge overwhelmed the stronghold. Within two days the central keep was taken, and a Habsburg Flag flew high above the castle which put Archduke Albrecht the II to rest.



Rudolf the IV, firstborn of Albrecht the II, became head of the Habsburg Family at the age of 16. His first order was to punish the killers of his father. Wurtemburg was vassalized and their treasury taken to Wien. The Tirolean elite was all put to death by burning. The county was put under the direct administration of the Habsburgs and the riches of the land were all confiscated in order to pay for the funeral of the old Duke. Upon return to Wien a celebration unlike any seen before was held for the Victorious Rudolf, and with his father put to rest, Rudolf planned to propell his family to new hights. Greatness and unimaginable wealth were just around the corner.


June 1362, Wien.

Rudolf was unlike his father. He was not patient, but he was not brash either. By the summer of 1362 he revolutionized the army. More than 300 ducats were invested into getting the best equipment for the army, siege equipment was modernized to allow for quick assaults rather than prolonged sieges which due to earlier events bore a special place of hatred within the heart of the Duke. Fully mobilized the new army of the Habsburgs fielded 22 thousand foot soldiers and 8 thousand Cavlary. There were two major reasons for the expansion of the army. Influence on the young Habsburg leader by the senior army officials who sought more power in the state, And the Duke's interest in the nearby province of Istria, to the south. Istria, populated by people similar to the Austrians have been under the rule of the Doge of the Most Serine Republic of Venice, the most influential trading power of the Mediterranean. The Duke saw war with Venice as a way to kill two birds with one stone.

First and foremost, the Duke would assert his position as Hegemon over all of the Austrian people. Secondly access to the sea would be profitable to the city of Wien. Support for the war was affirmed by the Merchant Caste which has long been unable to expand due to the large shadow cast over them by the Venetian Merchants, who monopolized all trade through their own city. If Wien was to flourish, the power of Venice must be curbed.

Venice however, is no pushover. The city itself is impervious to assault by land, so a quick siege was out of question. The Duke's advisers, who were much less impulsive than their leader, knew that if Venice is to be defeated, its colonies must be targeted, only by starving the populace and making Venetian merchants see the war for Istria as a waste of money would success be achieved. But Austria has no Navy. The problem was resolved in the spring of 1362, when the second daughter of the King Pedro the Just of Castille, Constance, was betrothed to the brother of Rudolf, Frederick III. The King of Castille was then obliged to Honor his family vows and agreed to help the Austrians in their fight against the Venetians. With the Castillian fleet on board, a declaration of war was sent to Venice.


The first War of the Coast had Begun.


The first four months of the war proved to have no major engagements, marred only by the sellfish Swiss, who upon seeing the complete lack of Austrian forces at the Counties of Thurgau, Sundgau and Breisgau, took the oportunity to invade.
In the South, the castle at Pola was taken without casualties as the Venetian garrison was taken hostage by Austrian sympathisers within the keep. The Austrian army then marched south and began the seiege of the balkan possesions of Venice. There was no need to take any of the castles in the area as the plan was not to hold them, but to render them useless to the venetians. Meanwhile, the Duke reorganized his armies and marched at the head of a fourteen thousand strong army to Switzerland.

December 1362, Zurich.

The earlier war in Tirol allowed much of the Alpine tactics to be refined, and the veteran troops managed to reach the Swiss City of Zurich by the start of Winter. The Swiss, surprised at the speed of the Austrians, retreated from the Habsburg territories, regrouped and a preemptive battle was fought outside the city. The battle proved to be indecisive but the Swiss decided to retreat further into the valley hoping for a better engagement. Eager to pursue, the Duke gave chase, two days later the battle of Bern took place. In the following battle 14 thousand Swiss soldiers were routed and the Swiss Stadtholder was taken prisoner. Switzerland was forced to sign the Peace of Zurich, thereby removing them from the War of the Coast.


News from the Agean were not good. The Castillians, attempting to Invade Crete were caught off guard by the Venetian Fleet. Utterly crushed, the entire Castillian fleet was destroyed, what little remained of the Castillian army was trapped on the Agean Islands. The Aegean theater was lost and the Venetian fleet was now free to carry regiments and supplies to any destination necessary. Rumors of a massive Venetian army being assembled in Venice were heard all around the Habsburg lands.

Sorry for the Delay! Got caught up with Christmas work

Comm Cody said:

Habsburgs?

Don't you mean Trollburgs?

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Habsburgs are awesome man.

Rifal said:

Small tip. If you remove the xxx[URL] part but not the [IMG]xxx[... in the table of contents? Thanks in advance!

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Hi everyone, sorry for the absence, I was massacred by the most horrendous flu. I will be posting an update soon! Hope you all didnt lose faith!