HRE NES

[Cyclotron]

And the Saxon activities in Thuringia will be coming later, as well. Sorry for the fragmentation.

[appleciders]

That's fine; sleep must take some precedence, especially as you must be coming up on finals. I have a few quick questions:

How is a "Magyar Bow" better than a regular bow and now that I have some, can I reverse engineer them?

How can I use lances? I mean, my only troops that can use lances are knights and chivalry, and they equip themselves.

Can I sell off excess arms and armor? How does that work, exactly?

[Micha]

Duke Heinrich of Saxony´s representative to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria

Congratulations for the victory over the Magyars! My army is currently trapped in Wendish land, so we were unable to come to your aid this one time. However, as soon as we can draw a peace with the heathens, we will join our German brethren in their righteous fight.
We also heard of your acquisition of some Magyar composite bows... Are you willing to sell some of those to us? We´d settle for 300 denarii for 250 composite bows.

May your wound heal soon,
- Duke Heinrich of Saxony´s representative

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by appleciders
How is a "Magyar Bow" better than a regular bow and now that I have some, can I reverse engineer them?

Magyar bows are composite bows. They have superior range, accuracy, and power as compared to regular bows. The disadvantage is that, because of their construction (various woods, horn, sinew, and other materials glued together) they basically fall apart in wet weather, making them useless at a rainy battlefield.

While this doesn't matter much on the steppes, Europe has stuck with the "self bow," a normal bow made of solid wood, because the weather in northern europe is far wetter than that of the eastern steppes. For this reason, the Europeans have continued to use the self bow while the rest of the world has moved on to composite; with the weather in Europe as it is, most armies value the increased reliability of the self bow over the better but less reliable compound bow. While it would probably be possible to "reverse engineer" the bows, this weakness must be kept in mind.

How can I use lances? I mean, my only troops that can use lances are knights and chivalry, and they equip themselves.

Yes, sorry. Lances of this time period are essentially identical to spears and can be used as such.

Can I sell off excess arms and armor? How does that work, exactly?

You would have to find another leader willing to buy them off you, you can't just sell them to "the market." Only other Dukes, Princes, Kings, and so on have use for arms and armor.

[Cyclotron]

Thuringian Campaign (Year 2)
Decisive Saxon Victory

Saxon Peacebringers (Duke Heinrich) – 1,560 men
240 Knights
510 Sergeants
300 Medium Swordsmen (sword, shield, light)
210 Light Archers
80 Skirmishers (sword, bow, cloth)
165 Medium Axemen (axe, light)
55 Medium Guards (polearm, light)

Count Johann von Zwickau (allied) – 1,600 men
100 House Cavalry (heavy, lance, sword, shield)
1,000 Thuringian Woodsmen (axe, bow)
500 Light Swordsmen (sword, shield)

Warlord Jarogniew – around 8 to 9 thousand men

Though his generals pleaded with him in private not to move out against the Thuringians this year, due to the army’s weakened state, Duke Heinrich was insistent that Misni be taken and the pagan Thuringians humbled. His generals did convince him, however, to wait a few months until Count Johann von Zwickau could rally a body of Thuringian reinforcements. This he managed to do, and in mid summer the Saxons moved from Zwickau, leaving around 500 of Johann’s men behind as a reserve garrison. Around 1,600 Thuringians, essentially doubling the army’s size, went with the Saxon army.

The thickly forested wilderness to the west had not been scouted by the Saxons ahead of time, though von Zwickau’s Thuringians were useful in choosing good paths and overall the army made good time. By this time, the Duke had received word of the battle at Nuremberg, and this boosted his spirits – after all, with the Wends under Torbin so soundly defeated, at least one possible threat was removed.

With the Thuringian skirmishers screening the advance, two attempted ambushes were thwarted along the eastward march. Twice, groups of enemy Wends tried to infiltrate towards the Saxon column, and both times the allied Thuringians spotted them and held them off until the Saxon chivalry could scatter them. With no other resistance, the Saxons made their way to the environs of Misni. The settlement itself, atop a 150 foot hill and surrounded by a rough but sturdy palisade, came into view as the Saxons and allies reached the bank of the Elbe just a mile north of Misni.

It appeared that Jarogniew was ready for them. At least a thousand woodmen confronted them north of the city; each time they assembled to fight, however, they were driven off by charges from the Saxon chivalry, and eventually scattered into the woods in the west. The Saxon force now advanced to the foot of the hill, the river on their left.

At this point Jarogniew brought the full weight of his army to bear. Apparently, he had heard of the Saxons’ escape from the Wends under Torbin, and decided to leave the Germans and their allies no way out. Held in by the river in the east and the walled settlement to the south, the Saxons could only watch as Jarogniew moved his army, numbering several thousand, around them and to their west and north. It quickly became apparent that the Saxons, even with their allies, were outnumbered nearly three to one.

Miraculously, the Saxon morale appeared to hold – though surrounded, the Duke and the ever-popular Heidolf von Dortmund rode across the lines of their troops, telling them of the German victory at Nuremberg and assuring them that Christ would bring them victory over the heathen. The Duke arranged his footmen and the allied swordsmen in a rough semicircle facing west, curved to anticipate attacks from the south and north. The Thuringian woodsmen and the few Saxon skirmishers drew their lines just in front of this.

The Wends began to close around 4 in the afternoon, and began firing volleys of arrows into the German ranks. The Duke’s skirmishers and woodsmen fought back, but his missile troops were heavily outnumbered. The Germans stood fast, but they did not have to for long – the impetuous Wends charged them not long afterwards. The charge was brutal, and the line nearly broke under the sheer crush of men upon the Saxon lines. The screaming Wendish warriors fought like demons, and though the Saxons wore superior armor, the Wends took their toll on the lines. The first wave was repulsed with difficulty, only to be followed by a second. This was only turned away after the chivalry, under the Duke himself, smashed the right flank of the Wends and forced them back. A third wave advanced, only to be countercharged by the full German force, headed by the Duke and his knights. The knights, armor clad and armed to the teeth, massacred the unarmored Wends. With the allied infantry not far behind, the Wends fell back in confusion into the forest. Now cheering as they ran, the Saxon infantry under von Dortmund forged its way forward behind the knights, keeping the Wends from flanking the chivalry.

Once in the forest, confusion reigned. The Germans attacked aggressively, keeping the Wendish forces from regrouping only by throwing their entire force into a pursuit. Whenever the Wends began to form up, the German chivalry would scatter them again. Quickly, the troops on both sides lost cohesion in the woods, with knots of German infantry and cavalry pursuing and fighting bands of Wends.

At this point, the Duke began to worry about his strung out forces, and began to regroup his knights, when he stumbled upon a thousand Wends just arriving at the battlefield. Knowing full well that they posed a great threat to his army, the Duke and his men charged them. The Saxon knights proved their valor and utterly destroyed the enemy, slaughtering the Wends by the hundreds. With the Wends now thoroughly beaten back, the Duke rallied his forces and withdrew back to Misni.

It seemed that Jarogniew had lost his nerve upon hearing of the destruction of his reinforcements, and had retreated into the walled settlement with many of his remaining men. The Duke ordered his men to encircle the settlement, and the allied woodsmen stood guard outside the circle to guard against ambushes. Over the next week, the Duke’s men had the settlement completely invested, and crafted ladders and rams from the nearby forest. Though they suffered a setback when a sally from Misni managed to destroy some of their siege equipment, the Saxons were ready in two weeks to assault the palisades. They succeeded in forcing open the gate and making three breaches in the walls with rams and fire, into which the armored infantry and dismounted knights poured. The Wends could not hold a candle to the armored chivalry in close combat, and the Saxons mowed them down. The Duke raised his standard by the gate within minutes, and the Wendish resistance collapsed.

In their fanatical bloodlust, the Saxon knights then put the inhabitants to the sword. Almost every Wend in the settlement, armed or not, was slain save a handful of women and children. The knights found and seized Jarogniew, who had been trying to slip out of the town, and cast him into a raging bonfire. Misni was utterly sacked. Efforts by the Duke and von Dortmund failed utterly to control this violence, likely the product of resentment over a straight year of hard campaigning in the wilderness.

Awed at the victory of the Germans against the famed warlord Jarogniew and his once massive force, nearly all of the allied Wends from Zwickau – mostly pagans themselves – converted to Christianity on the spot, now firmly convinced of the superiority of the Christian God.

The Saxons, jubilant in their victory, set about repairing the palisade. With access to the Elbe, supplies were secured from Saxony, and no further engagements were had with the Wends – with Jarogniew dead, his forces simply dissolved. Nevertheless, the Saxons are not in friendly territory, and now find themselves even further isolated from home.

Armies:

The Saxon Peacebringers lost 250 men.

30 Knights
50 Sergeants
60 Medium Swordsmen
30 Skirmishers
55 Medium Axemen
25 Medium Guards

The Thuringians of Zwickau lost 470 men.

280 Thuringian Woodsmen
190 Light Swordsmen

The Wends under Jarogniew lost around 3,000 men, with the rest of the army scattered.

Loot:

850 Axes
1,300 Bows
700 Swords
500 Shields
50 Light Armor
100 Spears

The settlement of Misni was sacked and looted, yielding 1,600 denarii in pillage.

[appleciders]

Fair 'nuff. I suppose other Duke, Princes, and Kings basically are "the market" in this instance. Also, my wise men, scholars, and other crafty types probably even have some theoretical knowledge of how these compound bows are built, even if none of them has done it before.

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to Duke Heinrich's Representative
Your offer seems fair, although I must insist on no more than these 250 compound bows being sold, at least until I acquire more. 250 bows for 300 denarii it is, then. I thank you for your promised support in this campaign against the Magyars. Upon reviewing accounts of our recent victories, I note that I have an excess of swords, while you have many extra axes. Would an even trade of equipment interest you? For example, 300 of my swords for 300 of your axes?

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to King Rudolph II of Burgundy
My thanks for the support of your forces. It's true they might have turned the tide of Nuremberg most solidly in my favor, but they will be of great use in this campaign and in these coming years.

EDIT: Upon reading the account of the battle at Misni: Wow. Congrats to Micha on that one. Looks like the Saxons will be in good shape after that!

[Cyclotron]

Duke Vratislaus of Bohemia to King Conrad and Duke Arnulf

I must express to you my great happiness, sadness, and worry - happiness that the Magyars have been driven from the field, sadness at my good bother's death, and worry that the Magyars, who now lay siege to my dear city of Prague, will make good on their threats and slaughter the people my brother worked so hard to save.

But I also have confidence and hope. My brother gave his life for our people in the end, and I would not have his sacrifice be in vain. I wish to strike at the Magyars laying siege to Prague at the soonest opportunity, and I cannot succeed in freeing the city alone. With the help of good Christians, I know that victory is within reach - we will surely triumph over the heathen and save Bohemia from the fate that befell Great Moravia.

In appreciation of your efforts on behalf of the Bohemian people, in return for your aid I will swear my allegiance to the German Crown, and acknowledge the suzerainty of King Conrad over my house.

[appleciders]

Private aside to King Conrad from Duke Arnulf
My liege, I urge caution in accepting Duke Vratislaus's offer. While I am excited by the prospect of a new Duchy added to the German crown, I fear that the German army needs time to reequip and retrain. I had counted on at least one year to strengthen my borders and regain firm control of my duchy. Should you order the German armies to Prague, I will of course follow your command, but I advise you to allow as much time as possible for the combined German armies to rest.

[appleciders]

It's a nitpick, but I actually lost more Light Spearmen at Nuremberg that I possessed. The group of 500 Light Spearmen in the Fourth Regiment should have become Medium Spearmen with the extra light armor I produced last turn. Or did I move out too early for my smiths to finish?

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by appleciders
It's a nitpick, but I actually lost more Light Spearmen at Nuremberg that I possessed. The group of 500 Light Spearmen in the Fourth Regiment should have become Medium Spearmen with the extra light armor I produced last turn. Or did I move out too early for my smiths to finish?

What appears to have happened is that, while I did see this part in your update, I somehow did not change the "light" to "medium." The casualty list will be altered accordingly.

The alternate explaination is that 70 light spearmen came back as zombie light spearmen and were then killed again.

[Micha]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to Duke Heinrich's Representative
Your offer seems fair, although I must insist on no more than these 250 compound bows being sold, at least until I acquire more. 250 bows for 300 denarii it is, then. I thank you for your promised support in this campaign against the Magyars. Upon reviewing accounts of our recent victories, I note that I have an excess of swords, while you have many extra axes. Would an even trade of equipment interest you? For example, 300 of my swords for 300 of your axes?

Johann Graf von Bremen (Heinrich´s representative) to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria
Indeed, we will settle for both trades. We will need to discuss the plans regarding the Magyars as soon as Duke Heinrich is back and the Mark Meissen is secured.

EDIT: Upon reading the account of the battle at Misni: Wow. Congrats to Micha on that one. Looks like the Saxons will be in good shape after that!

Wow, yes, I was quite stunned too. This could have been messy...
Thank you, Cyclotron, our Lord!

[appleciders]

I kinda like the alternate explanation better

Well, I'm glad I got rid of some of those weapons. I could have given each of my archers a sword and a Magyar bow and each of my medium spearmen a bow. That would have been a little funky. Then again, maybe I still will double up some of those weapons. Cyc, there's no real limit to what each soldier can hold, they just start losing mobility, right?

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Micha
Wow, yes, I was quite stunned too. This could have been messy...
Thank you, Cyclotron, our Lord!

Don't thank me, thank the fact that light swordsmen are totally and completely useless against armored knights. If anything, the battle has proven to the remaining Wends and other Polabian Slavs how utterly pointless it is to fight German troops in the open, where knights rule the field, especially against infantry without armor and lacking effective weaponry.

Well, I'm glad I got rid of some of those weapons. I could have given each of my archers a sword and a Magyar bow and each of my medium spearmen a bow. That would have been a little funky. Then again, maybe I still will double up some of those weapons. Cyc, there's no real limit to what each soldier can hold, they just start losing mobility, right?

Yes, that's correct - you can make very heavily armed units, but they'll be quite slow, and you'll lose a lot when they die. Giving bows to your front line troops almost assures that you will lose some bows at every battle, because front line troops die and a lot of gear on dead men can't be recovered. Of course, that might be just fine with you.

[Micha]

Cyclotron, my friend, when will the stats/map be updated?

[Cyclotron]

Alright, then, here's the long and the short of it.

I have updated the map. You will notice a few things:

- Bulgaria rumbles on.
- The Saracens in Italy are gaining ground.
- Croatia and Bulgaria are edging towards each other.
- A new color has been put into play to represent the new Mark Meissen. This will appear in the stat block from now on, like Carinthia does. Meissen is not currently feudalized and will create neither income nor expenditures until it is. The color on the map represents what areas are under nominal control of the Saxons. Note that the towns of Meissen/Thuringia will change names, depending on whether they are in German or Wendish hands. They are not to be confused with the principal towns in the Duchies proper; Meissen is, for instance, currently a smoking ash heap with a few thousand soldiers behind a palisade.
- Crossed Swords icons will be black instead of red where red is too hard to see.

Alright, now for the rest:

I am in hell week. This is one of - no, scratch that - is most certainly the hardest week of the year for me. I have two final term papers due on friday and that's not even the half of it. Any further updates, which includes the stat block, done before 4 PM PST on Friday you should consider miracles of a benevolent God; that is, praiseworthy and highly unlikely. I apologize, but that's just how it works.

I may - MAY - get around to filling in the Duchy-specific events on the update tonight, but in all likelihood you will not see updates to the stat block / mercenary board / marketplace until Friday evening, assuming I do not immediately get trashed upon turning in my term papers.

Welcome to college motherf*ckers!

Thank you for your patience. Because diplomacy and question-answering are easy for me to do and take only a minute, I may still respond to your diplo messages - our Dear Leader King especially neads to check his medieval inbox. The Saxon Stallion might also benefit from a little parlaying, lest his great victory turn into a sh*tstorm of epic proportions. Bavaria's a bit limited here because communication from their neighbors basically amounts to "kneel before us or perish," but Swabia has a more delicate balancing act - things are going down in Italy, things that put Swabia in the midst of a developing conflict.