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Deus Vult! - Roger's War of 1150
Turn 010
George of Antioch leads a fleet of over 100 ships to in Piracy against Tunis, he is joined by twenty Aragonese ships. He is thankful that it was the Venetians caught with their pants down, rather than his own forces. He captures seventeen cogs, only five of which come from Tunisia. Count Roger of Sicily has plans to move against Africa in the cycle, but with word of a Fatimid army in the region, and no sign of his new Almoravid Allies, he does not yet make a landing.
Turn 011
Roger is anxious to destroy the Tunisian fleet, but it refuses to emerge in the face of Sicily's superior numbers. Grudgingly, Roger gives up and proceeds to ferry the Almoravid Regent from the desert of Gefara to the fields of Cheliff. Additional Almoravid forces from Iberia, including mercenaries, are ferried to Cheliff by the Aragonese (who then disappear to stage an uprising at home). All told the Almoravids command 2,300 cavalry, and another 3,000 mercenaries. After arranging a second marriage to the Almoravid Sultan, Roger joins the forces in Cheliff with 3,000 Infantry, 3,000 Cavalry and 500 Engineers. The groups then press into Algeria.
The Tunisian Emir Faysal, and the Feudal Ally from Bone, react out to meet them with their own forces of 5,600 Cavalry; 1,800 infantry and three local field fortifications. Roger's battle prowess continues to shine, and he welcomes the Tunisian advance. Like clockwork, he exploits weaknesses and drives home advantages, until nothing remains of the Tunisian host but the retreating command. Barely over one thousand losses are accrued by the allies. The loss of the main army causes turmoil throughout the Emirate. Murtaza quits the realm for life as a mercenary commander, but the other leaders and regions remain steadfast.
Roger presses his men into a force march, pursuing the fleeing Emir. The allies catch up to him in Kabilya amongst the field fortification of the region. As the armies stop to topple the structures, Abbas of the Almoravid Sultanate is captured by the Emir before he flees to his homeland. While the land battle is going on, Conrad of Tuscany sits in defense of over eighty cogs supplying the army. His own ships house the Tuscan forces, who are unwilling to commit to the full battle. When sixty-four Tunisian warships swoop in on him he curses Roger's greed in sending the Sicilian navy to pirate Damascus. His seven warships are quickly destroyed Cast overboard, he watches the entire Tuscan force drown in the bay. Word of the battle reaches Doge Adrianno of Venice, who patrols the Ionian Sea with ninety-five Italian warships. It takes him some time, but he rounds up his fleet and sails for the conflict. Zafir, the Tunisian admiral, attempts to evade this new threat but is cornered. Battle is joined, and despite the fact that Venetian agents are able to wound him, Zafir holds his own. The losses are similar for both sides (Just under thirty ships each) but with Zafir commanding the sea, he is able to slip back into Tunis while Venice regroups.
Turn 012
Roger waits a few months for Sicilian and Almoravid reinforcements, then sets Eastward with his own nine-hundred infantry, twenty-five hundred cavalry, four-hundred engineers and nine-hundred mercenaries. He is joined by three Almoravid leaders, commanding one-thousand infantry, two-thousand cavalry and one-thousand mercenaries. The forces of Tunisia are prepared, two-thousand cavalry and fourteen-hundred mercenaries amongst the four local field forts. Three Tunisian leaders, two of them excellent military leaders by any standards, face the allies. The Tunisians benefit from a host of advantages: Homeland terrain, a friendly city, successful battle assistance. The Allies suffer a supply penalty due to distance from the controlled city of Fez. Roger recognizes his plight before the battle begins. The battle starts to turn when the high Almoravid leader is killed. Unable to gain any advantage, and hearing word of a large Fatimid force moving toward the region, Roger begins a withdraw. A continued harassment causes the Almoravid host to panic and flee to Kabilya, leaving the Sicilians somewhat open during the departure. Roger regroups in Kabilya, to a reported five-thousand allies dead. In Tunisia, two-thousand defenders have gone to meet Allah.
The new Sicilian Exarch, commanding over one-hundred and thirty warships, descends upon the Tunisian port of El-Jezair. The trade city is quickly looted of over twenty-eight cogs (many of which were once Sicilian transports). This has the side effect of angering the Aragonese merchants invested in the city. The Tunisian Admiral Zafr, commanding his own fifty-six warships, takes the opportunity to make a move against the Sicilian capital. Prince Baldo of Croatia has been put in defense of the city, but oddly has no orders issued to him by the crown. His thirty-one warships make no move to protect the Sicilian shipping, and the Byzantine defenders are off in Zara. Twenty-one Cogs are captured. During this process, over one-hundred Egyptian warships appear with Piracy on their mind as well. Seeing the Tunisians have the effort in hand, they move to a direct raid upon the region. Prince William is unable to stop the raid, and many fields and villages are razed. Count Roger, hearing of the attack, abandons the African campaign to the Almoravids and returns to Palermo.
George of Antioch, now finished in El-Jezair, speeds back to defend the capital with the fleet. The planned siege of Tunis with the Venetians is aborted after Roger's mainland army is repelled. George catches up first to the Tunisians, but the crafty Admiral is able to avoid combat and slink back to Tunis once again. The Fatimid fleet is not so lucky, and George blasts into them without mercy. After taking into account captured vessels, the Sicilian navy has only been reduced by sixteen vessels. The Shi'ite fleet is eradicated.
Turn 013
The Tunisian Emir spends his time calling for war against the treachorous Almoravids and the infidel Sicilians. Already suffering the yoke of war in their lands, the Emir has his subject's full support. The first strike of the cycle lands from Tunisia. Her agents are able to overcome and defeat the royal guard placed around the new Sicilian Exarch. George of Antioch is wounded, leaving the Sicilian fleet at a distinct disadvantage. The Tunisian fleet gets word that the Sicilians have sailed to the east, plundering much of the Fatimid fleets and lands. They emerge from hiding, only to run into George's fleet, not having gone east at all. The Tunisian Admiral immediately attempts to evade the Sicilians, and mostly because of George's wounds, is successful. Almoravid agents strike next, and terrorize the villages of Tunisia, burning the fields and towns of the local populace.
The Tunisians travel west with raiding and pillaging on their real agenda. Granada is struck first, the devestation is almost total. Neither the Almoravid forces in Valencia, nor the wounded Sicilian fleet are able to respond. Velencia is hit next, and despite the efforts of the Almoravid leader, ravaged as well. This time, George of Antioch is able to respond, and this time the Tunisians are unable to evade his advance. One hundred and twenty Sicilian ships face the fifty-seven raiders. George's flagship is one of the first vessels to be sunk, and as a result, the tide of morale shifts against the Cicilians. Despite destroying most of the Tunisian fleet, they lose ground. This allows Tunisia to make up some of her losses through captured vessels, but she only numbers less than twenty, while the Sicilians command near one-hundred. The Tunisian admiral is wounded in the fighting as well, and returns to Tunis rather than risk another engagement. Crusader Rollo, now in charge of the fleet, attacks the merchants of Tunis, looting about half the MSP of the city.
Two Almoravid Lietenants and three-thousand troops ferry to Africa and take up defense with Roger's forces in Kabilya. Roger has returned to Afrca, and has his eyes on the city of Bone. He and general Maniakes activate a siege of the city with their mostly cavalry army. The Tunisian Feudal Ally of Bone leads the defense with eight-hundred men. The first assault eliminates two thirds of the defenders, but Roger's backup leader is wounded. Roger leads the second push, breaching the walls and rushing into the city. Once again he is cut off from his men and goes down fighting. The city is taken, and Roger is nursed back to health by his Makurian physicians. The Sicilians have only lost two companies of engineers.
Just after the Tuscans take the city of El-Jezair, Tunisian agents incite a revolt in Algeria. The rebel army pushes the Sicilian garrison of one-thousand infantry into Kabilya, and control falls back to Tunisia. Roger's wounds and age finally catch up to him in 1164. His body is shipped back to Palermo where he is entombed with full honors.
Turn 014
Iberian Campaign:
King Saul of Leon marches at the head of eighty-six hundred infantry, thirty-seven
hundred cavalry, twenty-five hundred engineers and twenty-five hundred mercenaries.
Princes Velmiro and Sal support him. They cross the border into Estramadura,
where they set upon the three-hundred infantry in the region. Leon loses one-hundred
infantry, but Prince Velmiro is killed during the quick battle.
Saul and Sal move now into the Almoravid homeland. Sultan Baqi rallies from the capital at the head of one-thousand cavalry. Four field forts defend the region. King Saul loses seven hundred infantry while destroying the field forts. He is pressed from the region once winter settles. Both sides regroup, and King Saul attacks again. This clash sees the loss of nine-hundred men for Leon and six-hundred cavalry for the Almoravids. Both armies fall back in disorder, Leon regroupng in Estramadura, while the Sultan reforms his men in Seville. He discoveres one of his prisoners is the Leonese Prince Sal. King Saul presses in a third time, now destroying the remaining defenders at the cost of another four-hundred men.
The King now turns his attention to the walls of Seville. Attacking quickly, Saul presses into the city losing very few troops. Prince Sal is freed from captivity, only to have King Saul perish within days of conquering the city. The Sultan relocates the pieces of his government to Cartegena. He learns that five of his children were captured by the Leonese when they tried to flee the city. More bad news, Idjil and Merrekesh, distant from the new center of government, slip from control.
Elsewhere, the Duchy of Apulia sets out with thirty-six warships and descends upon the ferry arrow linking Andalusia to Morocco. The arrow is completely pillaged, the fleet then running Piracy against the Almoravid city of Cartegena, scooping up some 40 merchant shipping points.Satisfied with the plunder, two-hundred infantry, twenty-one hundred cavalry and eighteen-hundred engineers disgorge into Valencia under the command of Bruno and Bruce, the latter a general second in quality only perhaps to Roger of Sicily. They lose two-hundred men overcoming the five defending field forts. Bruce engages a passive siege of the fortress, and after eight long months, it capitulates. He spends another hundred men and many months in the military conversion of the region.
African Campaign:
Tuscan assassins are able to wound the Fatimid general Hassen al'Ali in Tunisia,
putting his troops at an even greater disadvantage. In Kabilya, two uprisings
occur. One by the populace itself, but the second is within the Almoravid troops.
Hearing of the loss of the capital, they agitate to return. The Almoravid leader
refuses, and the men turn on him. He is hacked to pieces and the three-thousand
Almoravid troops march back to Fez and out of the direct conflict.
The Fatimid and Tunisian forces time their attack of Kabilya with that of the local uprising. Thirty-eight hundred Tunisian and four-thousand Fatimid troops cross the border into the defending ten-thousand Sicilians. Despite an overall advantage, the Sciilians are pushed back. Over six-thousand troops are slan. The Tunisians and Fatimids fare better, but the death of the Fatimid commander causes his men to quit the battle and start a march back to controlled territory in Tripolotania. From the city of Bone, the Sicilian commanders Hector and Rollo figure their odds against the remaining Tunisian forces. With the numbers of troops now even again, and knowing that Palermo would be able to reinforce the area before Egypt, the Sicilian Regent risks a counter-attack. Thirteen hundred Sicilians are lost in the attempt, and the regent is driven back. Tunisia loses eight-hundred more men, and general Zafir is taken captive, but the region is held.
Four thousand Tuscan infantry emerge from El-Jezair, and take over the undefended region. They do not press into Kabilya. Abdul Azim of Tunis travels to distant Damascus, where he accepts gifts of troops from both Khwarezmid and the Qarakhanids. He returns to Tunisia with twenty-seven hundred cavalry and two-hundred engineers.
Turn 015
Iberian Campaign:
Sultan Baqi of the Almoravids, succumbing to desperation, overtaxes the realm
once again in an effort to repel the infidels. The econmy simply cannot handle
it this time around and collapses. Cheliff and Zirid both abandon the realm,
devolving to local governorships. Perhaps worse, the occupied governments in
Valencia and Andalusia also abandon ties to the Sultanate, theorizing that they
will do better against the invaders on their own. This cuts into Lord Abdul's
plans to reinforce the Andalusian fortress with seventeen-hundred new infantry.
Instead, he settles into Reaction out of Granada.
Sal of Leon is joined by Lord Marco, and the two press against the now abandoned fortress in Andalusia. They break it in a quick siege with their overwhelming numbers. Sal is later killed during the Swabian raid of the region. Lord Jose takes a newly recruited twenty-five hundred men and marches agianst Dab-al-Roca in Estramadura. The city offers a minor resistence, killing four-hundred of the Leonese attackers before capitulating.
African Campaign:
Tunisian sparked revolts erupt in El-Jezair. Tuscan agents are quick to find
and murder the instigators, and the city returns to quiet pacification. Lord
Sayyid of Tunisia leads five-thousand cavalry in a quick liberation attempt
of Algeria. His second is Abdul-Azim. Michelino di Siena and Tosca Picolino
defend the region for the Tuscans with four-thousand infantry and six field
forts. Further reinforcements from Italy have not yet arrived. The Tunisians
charge right into the meatgrinder. Michelino leads them deep into the region,
cutting off their supply lines with the field fort garrisons, then moves in
for the kill. Only Sayyid is able to make it out alive. Michelino is wounded
during one of the many battles, but there is no second attack into the region,
and it is reinforced by the new recruits a few months later.
Alfonse of Valetta and Bardas of Cagliari, two Sicilian allies, launch an amphibious assault of the city of Kairouan. The city has only walls, no local defenders, and is breached at the cost of only one company of engineers. Eighteen-hundred allied infantry, and one-hundred infantry and engineers remain to garrison the city. The Crusader Rollo, under Sicilian command, blockades Tunis with a fleet of one-hundred-ten warships, hampering Tunisian trade out of the capital.
Three-thousand Fatimid troops under command of Lord Mohammed reinforce the Tunisian capital late in the cycle. Sicily contracts fifteen-hundred mercenary cavalry in Bone.
Turn 016
Iberian Campaign:
The sides remain quiet.
African Campaign:
Mohammed, the Fatimid general in Tunis proper is assaulted by Tuscan agents,
but his bodyguards are quick to slay the attackers. He quickly preses into Gefara
with his twenty-nine hundred men, scattering the nine-hundred defenders and
giving him a line of communication back to the Fatimid Capital. Rainuld of Sicily,
in Gefara with seven-hundred men, quickly evades the larger Egyptian force,
retreating to Kairouan. He orders the city walled, and sets up a defense of
the city along with Alfonse of Valetta and his eight-hundred allied infantry.
The Fatimids simply return to Tunis and join in the defensive patrols.
Count Simon of Sicily takes command of one-hundred warships and patrols the Bay of Tunis. He brooks no other fleets to enter the Bay of Tunis. A Tuscan fleet slips in and out, supplying reinforcements to El-Jezair without the Count realizing it. A larger Venetian fleet, with raiding on their mind, is detected. Both sides keep their cool and the Venetians retire to other waters. Simon then concentrates on a full blockade of Tunis, once again choking much of the Tunisian trade.
Crusader Rollo, along with Prince Hector of Sicily, return to Palermo to take on reinforcements. Making it back to Bone, they attack into Kabilya at the head of thirty-two hundred infantry and thirty-seven hundred cavalry plus another fifteen hundred mercenary cavalry. The defending garrison is only two field forts. Rollo loses only one-hundred men in the attack. When the forces begin a military conversion, they stir up two-thousand rebels. Rollo loses another hundred men in the conflict.
The Sicilians then make the push into Tunisia, but Prince Hector, unwilling to play second fiddle to Rollo, takes direct command of the army. Having acted as Count Simon's Regent, the troops accept his command. The Tunisians and Fatimids have prepared defenses in the region. The Tunisians field eleven-hundred cavalry, three-hundred engineers and four field forts. The Fatimids host seven-hundred infantry, fifteen-hundred cavalry and seven-hundred engineers. The defenders manage to hold the line, forcing the Sicilians to retire in good standing to Kabilya. Twenty-three hundred Italians and twelve-hundred mercenaries are killed. The Fatimids and Tunisians lose six and five hundred men respectively. Rollo takes ill and perishes a few months after the battle.
Emir Faysal perishes as well, succumbing to age with no son or heir. Sayyid, the defender of Tunisia, has been plotting for years to overthrow the Emir and launches abid for the throne. He is supported by lord Fuad in his bid. A young noble named Zufikar, however, rises to oppose them. He quickly gains support among the troops. The armies mutiny and overthrow Sayyid, presenting both his and Faud's heads to the new Emir. In the turmoil, the Baelerics abandon their occupied status to the nation.
Turn 017
The City of Koirouan is the first place to see bloodshed. Instigated by the Tunisians, the city erupts in rebellion. Nine-hundred rebels assault the two-thousand man garrison of the Sicilians. Lord Rainuld and Alfonse of Valetta are in the city and move to engage. The rebel commander proves to be elusive and crafty, and despite losing more in raw numbers, keeps the Sicilians on the disadvantage. During the second round of fighting, Rainuld is wounded in a skirmish. Both Sicilians attempt to disengage, but they are cornered within the city. In a third round of fighting, Rainuld is killed outright, with Alfonse receiving wounds in the struggle. Down to three hundred men, Alphonse makes a break for the city gates, but these too have turned on him. Alfonse and the men are destroyed. The city reverts back to Tunisian control.
The Sicilians gain reinforcements in Bone, then three leaders set out to push into Tunisia. Prince Hector, Lord Thibadeaux and the Crusader Christian command a total of six-thousand cavalry (just under half of them mercenary), nineteen-hundred infantry and seven engineering companies. Awaiting them in prepared defenses are the Tunisian and Fatimids, benefiting from a newly renewed Defensive Pact. The Emir and Lord Omar command sixteen-hundred cavalry, two hundred engineers and benefit from two field fortifications. Al-Yabbir and Mohammed of the Fatimids lead almost three-thousand cavalry, two-hundred infantry and six engineering companies. Emir Zulfikar has chosen his defense perfectly, and he benefits from a robust battle support by his intelligence corps. The Sicilians are crushed - Christian is killed in an early fight and things just degrade from there. Zulfikar wastes no time in chasing the routing europeans. The forces of Islam lose only three-hundred of their cavalry.
Turn 018
Once again the city of Bone erupts into revolt, one-thousand Muslims launching an offensive against Hector of Sicily's five-thousand mercenaries. Hector loses one hundred of his hired troops putting down the uprising. He is soon joined by three groups of reinforcements - another fourteen hundred Sicilian troops from Palermo added to his mercenary forces. In addition, marriages with Burgundy and Tuscany allow both those nations to join the conflict. Burgundy sends twenty-five hundred cavalry under Guillaume. Tuscany sends Nine-thousand infantry, fifteen-hundred cavalry and three companies of engineers under Giovanni Danilo and Michelino, the Margrave himself. Awaiting them in defense are the Tunisians, down to one-thousand cavalry and two engineering companies. Lords Omar and Salman command them. Also in place are the allied Fatimid troops: Lords Mohammed and Tariq fielding fourty-two hundred cavalry, two hundred infantry, six engineering companies.
The Christians are fielding an array of exceptional leaders in the battle, to the Muslim generals of only middling ability. Lord Omar is wounded by Tuscan assassins early in the cycle, not helping the situation. The Muslims set up a prepared defense as best they can and wait for the onslaught. It isn't long - the allies march in under the overall command of the Tuscan Margrave. The mercenaries are used to draw out the defenders, the Tuscan infantry set to engage the slower moving. In a matter of three months the defending army is broken, all but a few units of troops mowed down in the field. The commanders retreat back into Tunis to wait for the inevitable siege.
Rather than attack the city directly, the allies encircle the walls, setting up a passive siege. Count Simon sails from Palermo with his one-hundred ship navy, blockading the port. The Emir has planned for this position, and stored enough agro to last for fifteen months. The food runs out in 1188, and all of 1189 sees starvation, disease and death within the walls. Still, the Emir is able to prevent the city from surrendering, and the capital does not yet fall. Prince Hector of Sicily doesn't survive the siege, neither does the Margrave of Tuscany. Giovanni Danilo marches the Tuscan troops back to Algeria. Guillaume of Burgundy, hearing of his brother's death in Worms, goes rogue, he and his men becoming mercenaries. When the Sicilian mercenary contracts expire, there are not enough troops to garrison Tunisia. Thibadeaux marches back to friendly soil in Kabilya.
Turn 019
The Sicilians and Tuscans amass their numbers in Kabilya, Sicily commands thirty-five hundred infantry, seven-thousand cavalry (mostly mercenary) and fourteen engineering companies. Tuscany brings along ninety-six hundred infantry, fifteen-hundred cavalry and three companies of engineers. The Tunisian Emir awaits them with a directed defense against the Italian approach, but he only commands one-thousand cavalry, an engineering company, and the support of four field forts. The defensive posture pays off, the Emir ambushing the command center of the invaders. Both Lord Thibadeaux and Vincenzo Specialli are killed. Only four hundred troops are destroyed, but the loss of leaders causes the Italians to retire. Tunisia loses nine-hundred cavalry.
Back in Kabilya, the remaining two Italian leaders regroup the force, then push back into Tunisia. This time they are routed, five-thousand infantry lost between the two allies. The remainder of the mobile Tunisian forces are destroyed. Wishing to utilize the mercenary contracts before their expiration, continued rounds of fighting are launched. The allies field three more attacks, each one steadily eroding at the defending field forts. The last round is a bizarre exchange which sees the last of the Tunisian forces destroyed, the Emir captured, but both Italian leaders slain. Seven thousand unled Italian troops march back to Algeria and Kabilya.
Salman of Tunisia slips out of port with twenty-two warships. Raids are quickly launched against the Burgundian regions of Provence and Languedoc. No defenders are present, and the Tunisians make off with minor amounts of loot. Next on the target list is Corsica. Leopold Totalini is on patrol out of Genoa, and catches word of the enemy fleet. He reacts to intercept with his thirty-four warships. Salman turns out to be twice the general of Leopold, and quickly sets the Tuscan fleet packing. Leopold's ship is lost with all hands along with twenty-two others. Salman loses five, but recrews seven captured ships. Corsica and Liguria are then both hit, more loot gained before Salman returns to port.
Turn 020
Tunisian efforts to rescue the Emir meet without success. Lord Omar finds himself at the head of the defensive forces, raising one-thousand new infantry, a company of engineers, and four field forts. He buckles them all down in defense. The Sicilians and Tuscans don't hesitate to press their advantage. Sicily raises a new four-thousand troops, while Tuscany sees an additional thirty-five hundred infantry and three warships. Three Sicilian and two Tuscan coordinate in Kabilya. The Sicilians field twenty-one hundred infantry, forty-five hundred cavalry (and another two-thousand mercenary horse) and eleven siege companies. They are bolstered by the thirty-five hundred infantry and cavalry, and four engineering companies of the Tuscans. Lord Omar has only eleven-hundred troops, but leverages them in the eight field forts of the region and a directed defense at the oncomers. Jordan de Lench, the overall Sicilian commander is an excellent strategist, and despite the capture of Raimund de Chalons is successful in destroying the entire enemy force. The allies lose thirteen-hundred infantry and a company of engineers.
Omar retreats into the capital, manning the walls of Tunis itself. But without other defenders, the Italian Allies encircle the city and after only three months Tunis is broken. Sicily garrisons the city itself, but hears word that the removal of the Kabilya garrison has erupted into open revolt. While the local garrison retains control of the region itself, the populace does cast off the military conversion. Jordan de Lench has his own plans for the populace of Tunisia, and begins to institute a new pogrom. The expected rebellion is put down with only one unit of infantry lost. Back in Palermo, Count Simon tangles with the remnants of the Tunisian fleet. He loses a few warships, ut protects Sardinia from any raiding. The Tunisian fleet disbands after word reaches them of the capture of the capital.