Byzantine Succession Game

There is nothing like a fresh AAr right out of the Oven...

The reign of Ioannes VI (1429-1459)

Ioannes took the purple in January 1429. Greatly ambitious and aggressive, he would shape the future three decades of the Empire and continue on the road to greatness that his father had started.
The mongols of the Golden Horde had just a few months before his ascension declared war on the Greek ally of Georgia, thus bringing the Empire itself into the conflict. Ioannes quickly assessed the situation and decided that the Georgians would have to handle the problem on their own; Byzantine ability to project power into the north-eastern Black Sea was limited and would probably also prove too costly. Instead he quickly gathered his main army, under the experienced Iakobos Barys and sent them north, to the kingdoms of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Invading the southern Wallach province of Dobrudja, Barys met opposing forces and quickly defeated them. Utilizing the victory to its fullest extent, he moved on to Wallachia proper, also beating the Moldavian force that came to the rescue. The situation passed like this for six months, the imperials sieging Dobrudja and Wallachia, while the enemy massed their strength. In summer, 1430, the Moldovs and Wallachs counterattacked, sending the imperial forces sieging Bucast in retreat. the slavs tried to take this advantage just like Barys had done a year before, following up the victory in Bucarest by marching on Dobrudja, which was by now in imperial hands. Barys was a more experienced commander though and quickly took advantage of their open backs, marching unopposed on the Wallach capital of Bucarest. The Moldavians tried to retaliate, at some points sending the imperial armies fleeing, but Barys easily outmanouevred and thwarted the enemies plans time and again. The province of Wallachia was occupied and remaining forces in Dobrudja annihilated while the general prepared the invasion of Moldavia. But then in february 1432, word reached from Constantinople that the emperor had decided to be merciful and accepted peace with the enemy under condition that Wallachia would enter vassalage and Moldavia would pay great toll.
Just a month later, on March 10th, the Georgian signed peace with the Golden Horde, paying a great tribute, part of which the Empire would stand for.

The Empire had achieved victory, but this was just a minor event compared to what Ioannes had envisioned. Siezing the opportunity when the Egyptians became involved in the troubles between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Kaliphate, the Emperor quickly assembled an army and sent his greatest generals south across the Mediterranean.
On the 25th of January 1433, Leon Chalkoutzes and Iakobos Barys landed in Alexandria at the head of fourty thousand men. Egypt was quickly overrun, the main Mameluke army embroiled in the fighting around Jerusalem did not dare cross the Sinai desert to save Cairo. The sea was not an option, for here ruled Stephanos Doxapatres, hunting down all fleets carrying the Egyptian flag.
By May 1434, the entirety of Egypt was occupied but a contigent of the Mameluke army was still existent in and around Jerusalem. Ioannes ever the optimist, directly siezed this advantage. Publicly, he declared that, since the crusaders had housed the infidels and enemies of Byzantium during a time of war, they were also heathens. The patriarch of Constantinople was convinced that an excommunication on the king of Jerusalem, Phillip III was in order and in July, Chalkoutzes landed in Judea. This action caused an uproar in the west. The Mamelukes were invaders of the crusader country, not in liege with them and this fabrication of the sceming emperor was an insult on the whole of christianity. The Pope in response to the Patriarch, excommunicated Ioannes, who in turn forced the Patriarch to excommucate the Pope. However farcical these actions were, they would pave the way for future problems between the Italian peninsula and the Empire.
While the fighting transpired in Judea, one of the bolder crusaders, Godfrey of Lyon, launched an expedition force from the still crusader held Cyprus, sailing up through the Aegean with Constantinople as his target. He wanted to bring the war to the Empire itself, intending to end the conflict there and then and giving the Kingdom some respite to be able to deal with the Kaliphate. Luckily for the Byzantines and unluckily for Godfrey the imperial home fleet was ready, forcing the crusader to flee. Somehow, he still managed to pass the Bosphorus, but instead of invading the capital, he landed in Anatolia and laid siege to Bursa. Ioannes fled into a rage, seething with anger over the failure of his admirals. If not the home fleet had been able and ready, the Empire could have happened into a serious catastrophe. The current court favourite Ioannes Pediasimos was dispatched with an army of fifteen thousand men, the greater part of them horses, to deal with the avaricious crusader. Pediasimos’ skills did not lie in warfare however and he was forcefully repulsed by the more experienced Godfrey, losing nearly half his force in the battle. Only through a strong reinforcement from Constantinople and sheer weight of numbers would the court favourite be able to send the crusader from imperial territory, but Pediasimos would for the rest of his life be dishonoured and loathed by the Emperor and his followers. It was only the Empress, Pediasimos being her secret lover that prevented the angered Emperor from exiling the incompetent.
By now, the Mamelukes that had fled to Judea during the Imperial invasion of Egypt had now been defeated and accepted a peace where the important trade city of Alexandria was handed over to the Byzantines, as well as rights of military access in Egyptian lands. The year was 1431 and in this same year did the aged and valuable commander Iakobos Barys die. He had served in counless campaigns, in the Balkans, Egypt, Judea and Syria and his experience and military skill had proven valuable every time.
The war with the Jerusalemites was almost over and only a few provinces still held against the might of the imperial army. Cyprus was the only place where a substantial army was existant, but Ioannes did not dare to assault the island fortress, fearing the casualties. Besides, he had turned his eyes to yet another ripe target, this time in the Balkans.

Rich Ragusa had been a part of the Italian alliance for decades, consisting of Ragusa, Sicily –who reigned over the south of Italy, including the Papal States-, Milan and Genua. At this time, the coalition had thrown their power into the problems of the east, wanting to gain some winnings from the defeated and cumbling Mamelukes along with her allies. Ragusa had sent her entire army abroad, with just a minor contingent staying home to tend for the defences.
Ioannes quickly seized the advantage, declaring war on Dubrovnik and sending a sieging army to take the city. He expected a quick victory and peace, where he would be able to focus on the growing threat of the Kaliphate and the pretendants in Krete. This would not be.
The Empire, already quite weary from her war in the Orient, now found herself at war with the entire Italian peninsula. The first part of the war consisted of both parts vying for control of the seas. Admiral Stephanos Doxapatres proved able here. When the Genuans and Sicilians sailed into the Aegean, he swiftly annihilated their navies over and over again. Ioannes did not allow him to take the fighting to the Adriatic however, as he knew the Empire, in its current state couldn’t support invasion on foreign soil.
The Turkish state of Kandahar recognized her chance and declared war on the Empire now. When asking his allies to join, the vassal of Albania dishonoured, leaving the Emperor gravely insecure in the home lands. The ally of Kandahar was the Golden Horde, which, although plagued by revolts the last ten years, was still able to pack quite a punch.
With war on three fronts, it was but minor relief that the last resistance of mainland Jerusalem had given in to Leon Chalkoutzes. Peace was signed, in 1439, where the Empire received Cyprus and a minor tribute. Important armies in the east were swiftly shipped to Greece to assist in the repulsion of invading Italian armies.
Ioannes recognized that the Empire needed peace. Revolts were spreading sparsely now, but if he wasn’t careful, he would be in real trouble. The Italians did not want peace however, so the fighting continued. Byzantine ships under Doxapatres sunk more than half a hundred ships during the following years of fighting. In 1443, Doxapatres mounted an amphibious assault on Genoa, laying siege to the city and occupying it the following year. The Italians, beaten on home ground, quickly peaced out. Ragusa, with its important Center of Trade, was annexed by the Empire.
Now, the Empire was only at war with Karaman and her allies in the Golden Horde. The imperial allies in Georgia seemed to handle the situation just perfectly, so Ioannes decided to wait the war out, not wanting to waste more troops. In 1445, Stephanos Doxapatres died. He had served the Empire loyally and in thanks for his servitude of the Emperor, his immediate family was awarded great estates in Anatolia. That same year, Karaman accepted a peace offer, where they were forced to pay a heavy tribute, something which came as a relied to the imperial administration, as they were hard pressed to pay the troops. Ioannes had also, the year before decided that the entire Ioinian isles were to be fortified, in order to defend against future alien attacks from the sea. The fleet was also strengthened to its pre-war status, having lost one third of its force when fighting in the Marmara, Aegean, outside Egypt and Judea and in the Adriatic.
Only a few months of peace were allowed to the weary Emperor, as the Moldavians attacked in November. Aided by Ukraine and the former Byzantine vassals in Albania, Ioannes was once again in a hard position. The able Chalkoutzes had died the year before, so only Pediasimos remained as available commander of the land forces. Quickly pardoned for his past mistakes, he was sent ahead to meet the advancing enemies, accompanied by the Empire’s ablest military advisors.
At the same time, the Kaliphate attacked the Empire. Its current ruler, Muhammad V had a few years earlier proclaimed a holy Jihad, receiving help from a great part of the muslim world and marched on the battered Kingdom of Jerusalem. Having completely shattered the realm, he now stood ready to bring the Jihad even further.
Applying a defensive strategy, Ioannes let the Moldavians and Ukraines descend far into imperial territory, while he dealt with the Albanians. He had to break the siege of Albania when the Ruthenians threatened Constantinople however, and while he was away, the Kretans moved in and occupied the province, later annexing it. The fighting passed like this for a few years, the Emperor trying to defend his lands, but lacking the funds and armies to repulse enemy invasions. It did not help that the Ruthenians had stronger and more technologically advanced armies than the Empire, even though Ioannes invested great amounts of money to bring his troops to its former status as the worlds greatest military.
In October 1452, the Kaliphate was peaced for the concession of Jordan (which had defected to the Empire just a few years earlier, from Egypt). Even though the eastern front was secure for now, the western looked very grim. The Moldavians possessed a mighty army, making a quick victory and siege of their homelands impossible. The Ukrainans fielded a good general who time and again beat the imperial forces at the best defensive advantages.
And thus came the next blow to Ioannes. In January of 1453, the Armenians, having recently gained independence from the Golden Horde, declared war on the Empire. Ioannes could not muster an army to protect his lands in the east, so he just let his tried old ally in Georgia take care of it. In the same year, Ioannes accepted peace the the Moldovs when he gave Dobrudja to Ukraine. It was the first territorial loss of the realm since Ioannes had begun his wars. The west was secure however and in 1455, Armenia was also peaced in return for a great amount of money. The Empire was finally at peace, after twenty-two years of war!
The last years of Ioannes’ life passed in tranquility. Sure, the Golden Horde attacked Georgia yet again in 1455, but the Empire did not have to get involved in the war, since the khanate was greatly reduced in size as many revolts had given independence to nearly half the realm.
In 1457, Ioannes was struck with madness. Most probably it was because of the stressful life he had led, fretting over the security of the Empire and indulging in the passions of liquor and women. By now, he was monstrous, obese and terrifying. He died two years later, on April 19th, 1459. He had been a great warrior-emperor, who increased the size and power of the Eastern Empire by bounds, but at some cost to the economy.

The situation as it is right now is quite stable. Inflation was just increased a little, while great gains were made territory-wise. Alexandria and Ragusa, two CoTs were captured, as well as Cyprus. Dobrudja, which had been won in the early part of Ioannes’ reign, was lost later, but can be easily recovered if the Empire receives a good leader.
The principality of Krete, which houses a Byzantine family with claims in the imperial thronem has grown considerably in the last years. Profiting from the wars with Albania and the Anatolian Turks, they have grown quite a lot. In the east, Armenia and her gold province is free for the taking, provided she is humbled in the field first.
But, most important of all, the Empire needs peace, to decrease her BB and increase the army and treasury.