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[Undercovergeek]

After a couple of turns consolidating and renewing troops (more on that) Provence, a one town nation declares war on us for literally nothing - theres only one thing for it



Im outnumbered 2-1 again, this time by proper melee troops - its going to be a close call - I see reinforcements going in through the east gate



We reach the walls pretty intact and head for the top



And the fight for the south gate starts straight awaay - i see here how ineffectual crossbows are when i think im scouring the walls with them!!



Its hard won, and we're in but the majority of the enemy are at the eastern gate and we have to get them



The last desperate heroes head for the town centre to clear ouut the last of the enemy - this will cost us the Kings life



Yep, Pere has gone - theres a decent stand in, his son is too young so a regent takes over - 



Wait.... what? But Poooooooooope - thats not fair

[Martok]

Dang, that was quite the turn -- figuratively and literally. 



Nice job taking Provence!  Bummer about the Emperor declaring your conquest illegal, especially since Provence was the one who started it.  Perhaps he'll need to be dealt with at some point... 

RIP, King Pere.    You died well. 


Question:  In taking the city, did you use a second, token force to trick the enemy into concentrating their troops on the eastern gate?  Or were they just slow/not paying attention? 

[Undercovergeek]

The Total War enabler in me likes to think that the surrounding buildings, the untaken towers and the defensive properties of the eastern gate led the AI to decide staying put was the better option and it really was - i was all in at the Southern gate no other forces anywhere

or they just decided to clump up until i passed a certain trigger point and then decided to attack - either way it was the better choice by them

[Sir Slash]

Great pics UCG. 

[Undercovergeek]

thanks Slash

As peace settles across Aragon and we can hopefully start to prep for cleansing the mainland of muslims - another French province gets upset with us. The lone city state of Vienne not only declares war but marches straight into the empty Provence. I had left the place empty because it had run out of people - the army that conquered the area would not replen because the population was so low - but there was recruits available at Montpellier so thats where we were garrisoned - I dont remember if this is a feature of the mod or total war as a whole - you cant just turn up in a city and build army after army - there needs to be the population to do it and that population needs to contain excess nobles if you want fancy armoured guys and knights - i think its brilliant........

Anyway, after sieging Provence for a turn the Dauphin de Vienne decides to come out fighting. In the fog. At the top of a hill. Thing is, he attacked, i can wait at the bottom of the hill all day - he'll lose not me.

I hide the cavalry in the woods



After 20 in game minutes he decides to come sneaking down the hill, this is all i can see but i can hear shouting in the woods near my cavalry - we wait



Here he comes, theres a good amount of crossbows at the rear too



We retreat to the top of a hill at the back of the battlefield - the cavalry stay in the woods unseen - he has 8 crossbow companies - i can hammer his morale if i cant take these out



The Dauphin charges into our lines and decimates a spear unit almost instantly, and disrupts a crossbow unit, and 2 melee units - its a tank of a unit, in wedge formation too, never seen the AI do that - we send in another spear unit and point the crossbows at him - the Dauphin is in here somewhere - the loss of the General doesnt seem to have as much effect in the mod or im used to Warhammer where the loss a general is fatal - the French stay on the field



We unleash the cavalry on the unprotected crossbows - French butter, meet hot Spanish knife



As the crossbows start to melt we gain enough confidence to take on a few isolated spearmen to mop up the field



Ive found the use of crossbows quite frustrating until this battle, ive always managed to impede their view or get in their way and their use has been limited - on an open field like this and staying out of their field of view they are devastating, full strength units can be routed after maybe 3 rounds of firing



So with the crossbows taking on the spearmen and the horses taking on the crossbows we start to push the French back to the forest



and further



Job done - we lose 398 troops to 2250 French, Vienne is devastated and sues for peace next turn - idiots

[Martok]

Damn, those are some great screenshots, 'geek.   

I had left the place empty because it had run out of people - the army that conquered the area would not replen because the population was so low - but there was recruits available at Montpellier so thats where we were garrisoned - I dont remember if this is a feature of the mod or total war as a whole - you cant just turn up in a city and build army after army - there needs to be the population to do it and that population needs to contain excess nobles if you want fancy armoured guys and knights - i think its brilliant........

I do believe that's specifically a feature of the 1212 mod.  (The DEI mod for Rome II has a similar feature.)  And I agree it's absolutely brilliant. 

[Undercovergeek]

Toulouse itself is the final target for our northern enterprises for now - we have Montpellier from them and now their capital remains. After finishing a castle in Barcelona i have access to some pretty snazzy troops and consider this army to be the first real army of Aragon as opposed to make dos and compromises - this is the best army we can field right now - their health has taken a battering because right now disease is raging thru every army and every city i have, and if i win this then Toulouse too 



We scale the walls with relative ease - there are no relief reinforcements coming for France and our attack is wider than their defence - some troops scale the walls unopposed



Where we are opposed, the old RTW2 tactic of melee troops holding the line whilst javelin troops stand behind them throwing spears into the enemy is working great



The southern gate soon falls and we gather the troops for the push to the centre





The defenders head to the town square to make a last stand - i put spearmen at the exits and call in the crossbows to pepper them



its over quickly



As someone once famously said 'the North is secure' - north of Toulouse is Bordeaux in english hands, im not at war with them and not too far from a non aggression pact which would free up troops here to start the real mission of reconquista. Vienne lies to the north of Provence and i dont think well be having any more trouble from them and to the east Genoa - more concerned with trade than conquest

Ill deal with the disease, tidy up the new provinces as there are buildings there we cant use and build a second elite army - then we head south to liberate Spain

[Sir Slash]

 

[Martok]

Fantastic.  Let the Reconquista begin! 

[Undercovergeek]

I dont know if im furious, impressed, just happy to myself that PC gaming does things that make you feel any number of things but this was fun/not fun - anyway..............

We employ a priest, im not too concerned with his ability to spread Christianity - i just need an agent on the outskirts of enemy territory so i can peep at the garrison and surrounding forces



Thats not too scary - its has been a test of patience getting the army ready again, it took an age for the plague to leave the army and then the province so they could start recovering again - im not too worried by this garrison



And here we go, what the f****ng f**k - you're on my side you Castillian ass hat. I'd seen them declare peace with the Almohads a while ago, theres no military alliance with the pair - hes just decided to be a c**k - i'm literally stood at the gates of our enemy aand he comes out of the trees and attacks us



You'd better run.......... i was so engrossed in the battle that i forgot any pics, foggy, massive forest and i spent a long time trying to hide in the trees hoping to avoid any contact and run the clock down but i ran out of space eventually - it was similar to the French fight, we kept the cavalry back, waited for him to engage and then used flank attacks to cancel his numerical advantage - in the end it was pyrrhic victory for me - his army split in two very small armies on the strat map but as i moved to kill him and wipe his dumb ass off the continent we were now in range of the Almohads who tried to join the fight - we ran



Crazy ass Dauphine de Vienne attacked the english





Theres a small caveat here - this was my 4th try at the turn - i was actually all set to conquer southern europe and work my way towards the pope. On the first 3 goes everytime i got the army back up to scratch and marched away from montpellier or provence, first Genoa, then Savoy, then Vienne attacked me - all one city provinces who i could have wiped off the map and worked my way east with. So on this go i waited in the North ready to go for it but some inter euuropean holy war kicked off and they all started fighting each other - so we set off for the reconquista and then this ass hat jumped out of the woods 

The army has retired to Barcelona to heal and then well set off again and see what happens!

[Martok]

^  Your post perfectly encapsulates why, in pretty much any medieval strategy game, I love/hate playing a faction on the Iberian peninsula:  Those who would/should be your allies are no more trustworthy than your adversaries, which always keeps things...interesting.   

[Martok]

Scenes from the Battle of Raprix. 

While carrying out offensive operations inside Raxar and Zanaami space, the 5th Fleet was ambushed [read: me not paying sufficient attention] by the First Order Corps, the Zanaami's main battle fleet.  Reacting quickly to Admiral Merg Inik's call for help, Admiral Rald Mikon used the 4th Fleet's new jump-drives to immediately warp into the Raprix system and counter-ambush the First Order Corps in turn.  What followed was a chaotic affair, though it ultimately ended in a significant victory. 



[An overview near the beginning of the battle.  My 4th Fleet (comprised of corvettes and destroyers) is on the left, the enemy First Order Corps is in the center, and you can see some of the carrier-cruisers from my 5th Fleet off to the right.] 





[A Zanaami cruiser's shields taking a concentrated burst of fire from my ships...and holding.  These bastards were tough.] 





[Another enemy cruiser (upper-right) takes some concentrated firepower on its nose, while one of its brethren (center-right) is about to disintegrate and explode.  Both sides are employing Amoeba Flagella (the little tadpole-like things flying all over the place) as biological fighter-craft in this battle.] 





[My cruisers gang up on one of the (fortunately few!) enemy battleships, while smaller vessels continue dog-fighting in the background.  I was not expecting to see battleships already; it was a good/bad surprise.] 

[Sir Slash]

Way to GO Admiral Mikon! Opened a can of, 'Raid' on them didn't he?    That's the prettiest Fleet Battle I've ever seen I think. 

[Martok]

Thanks, Sir Slash!  Yeah, battles in Stellaris can definitely make for some nice spectacles.   

[thecommandtent]

Love the screenshots and narritive!