Fools of Damnation: The Orthodoxy War

rcduggan: You're right. There are a couple of inconsistencies in the prologue, but that won't be relevant to the rest of the story. And I have no idea what happend to france; some kind of revolution, I guess.

By the way, before the next chapter, here's my Roman Empire on the eve of the war:











Andronikos had been serving as Emperor of Rome for several years now, and he had a firm grasp of the practicalities of governing a massive empire such as his. His right hand was the esteemed Georgios Phrangopoulos, a theologian with few peers. Georgios fully supported the emperor's plan to unify all lands currently under the influence of the Orthodox Church, thereby unifying the Church itself. Along with him were two diplomats: Aineias Paraspondylos and foreign-born Luis de Meneses, who had fled to the emperor's court due to religious persecution. Their efforts in polishing the empire's image were extremely valuable, especially considering its rather heavy-handed treatment of the conquered ("We're not sowing your fields with salt, it's, er, special fertilizer crystals"). Though they were less than enthusiastic about another war that they would need to cover up, the emperor's word was final.

Emperor Andronikos had made several public proclamations questioning Tsar Pyotr's piety; these words reverberated throughout both kingdoms, disturbing relations between the Russian and Roman peoples. Furthermore, Andronikos withdrew his tentative support for the supposed Holy Roman Empire, forbidding any of the conquered territories in Germany and Italy to participate in its administration. By now, relations between the Romans and Russians were at their lowest in history.

One dreadful night, in the cover of darkness, special agents of the emperor's Secret Order set fire to a cathedral along the Roman-Russian border, leaving behind evidence framing Russian agents in the arson. Word quickly spread throughout the country and the rest of Europe, and though the plot had been uncovered by Russian agents, the damage had already been done. Anti-Russian sentiment was inflamed even further throughout the massive Roman Empire.

And thus, on the third of March in the year of our Lord 1719, Emperor Andronikos XI issued the following proclamation: "Henceforth and forevermore, let it be known that all diplomatic ties with the Russian Empire are eternally abolished. A state of war now exists against the Russian Tsar, who is unfit to rule a Christian state. It has been said of the one and only Church that there is one body and one head: the Russian Empire remains an extraneous body that must be carved away."



Tsar Pyotr was outraged. Though Russia had been prospering during his reign, relations with their dearest ally had plummeted like a stone sinking into the Baltic. Immediately, he sent envoys to his remaining allies in Finland, Norway, and Great Britain, who mobilized their armies and prepared to strike back against the encroaching Roman forces.

The Romans had nearly penetrated the Russian border before envoys returned from the capitals of the Roman Empire's allies, bearing good news. The Roman vassals Brandenburg and Saxony had already mobilized, and Galicia (which the Empire had liberated decades prior) threw in its full support.

While the Russian alliance technically possessed a larger army than the Roman alliance (480k vs 410k), the Romans possessed the advantage of months of preparation. The war had been planned for months in advance, and all 200,000 men who were to be sent into Russia had already been amassed at the border. Russia's armies, meanwhile, had been taken completely off guard. Indeed, Old Bohemia (which was separated from the rest of Russia by Rome and its vassal Lithuania) was almost completely defenseless, garrisoned only by a few regiments who feebly attempted to quell nationalist Croatians in the south.



Farther east, Roman forces held the border against the bulk of the Russian army.



In the west, Roman troops held the empire's English possessions against attacks by the sizeable British army. Fortunately for the Romans, much of Britain's army was busy quelling patriot revolts in Canada.



Much of Rome's success in the war can be attributed to its long history of successful military campaigns and the strategic masterminds that these produced. The military academy in Constantinople produced such great generals as Iason Phocas, whose name soon became synonymous with "death" to the Russian army. While Emperor Andronikos XI was not the brilliant strategist that his rival Tsar Pyotr was, he was a competent tactician in his own right.



The dominos had already begun to fall. Roman forces encircled Russia's greatest cities in Old Bohemia, ravaging the countryside and terrorizing the local populace. However, plans rarely come to pass entirely as they should. There were other factors at work, and these would test the true mettle of the young Roman Emperor...

NEXT:
Chapter 2
Europe is on Fire: the World Strikes Back

Here's a preview:

Update tomorrow. Too lazy to type the next chapter today.

Muscovy always seems to do well in my games. I once saw a massive Golden Horde blob, but it got taken apart pretty quickly and reduced to a couple provinces.