Autumn - 1459

Autumn 1459 - "The quality of the Roman army is built on the faults of its enemies" - Tacitus

Well, it appears that the cat is out of the bag. I may be leaping to conclusions but I believe this turn saw the dawn of the last war, I give myself three years, (nine turns) to either win or die trying. It appears most of the world has allied against me (or what's left of it, keep reading to find out) with one or two players who seem hesitant about lending a hand, when really they are the kingmakers and fail to see it, or fail to see it from a Milanese spyglass.

After the interesting turn of events with Austria last season I expected to find myself with a solid ally, someone with whom I could work with and balance the playing field a little, of course this was a ridiculous thing to assume given that I obviously failed to understand this particular man's thought-train. After the orders were placed last week, Austria decided that after losing some armies to plague, (Something I know better than others) due to poor dice rolls by the umpire, that they didn't want my friendship and concluded that in some way or form Milan had control of the Plague and had used it to trick him. Yep it's true, I stunted my own progression in the campaign for a cheap laugh with Austria, OH WAIT-.

He decided I was not his ally "for allies do not attack one another" and cancelled all chat. Bad move.
He then decided to not hand in orders, or talk to any other players to assure his safety. Worse move.
Army Austria to Hungary. As presumed Venice assaulted Austria's southern border denying me the yearly income, but I was happy with proving a point. Goodnight Austria - another power bites the dust.

So left in the campaign we now have the Papacy, Venetians, Neapolitans, Turkish and Milanese. Orders went in for Autumn, Austria died, I raised an army in Marseille and marched to Provence, The Papacy spent money like crazy building an army and a fleet, moving the forces to coastal regions no doubt to head north via transport, I understand he will attempt to assault France to slow my progression however I am quite happy containing him over there as it will enable me to strike at his city-rich northern border. The Turkish also got moving, capturing three lands from Venice, who seemed to run to defend his poorer territory. I can't tell if he's running scared of the big powers and thinks there's a deal in it for him, or that he's just tired of war and doesn't mind if new middle eastern foods such as the Kebab permeate his culture. Naples started shifting fleets around to move to more aggressive positions, leaving Tunis un-sieged, and Venice also raised an army and now has three forces sitting in southern Austria on the border of Milan, note to self: Fix That...

Orders for Spring are going in soon and it'll be interesting to see what happens and how this all plays out. If worst comes to worst I'll just fight through it. I leave you with a quote from Churchill, and a link to the recoloured map for autumn.

" If you're going through hell, Keep going."

Summer - 1459

Summer- 1459 - Coughs and Sneezes


So it was on the afternoon of an enjoyable Sunday I sat down to meet the new Austrian general on the field of battle, he was motivated and up for getting the game going, which is a first - most other generals are either sombre or unwilling to fight. Just as the table sides were being generated I was met with the amusing question of "Do we really have to fight this?" "Yes, unless you want to retreat to your walls and grant me victory", having decided to waiver any peace terms in the previous turn I wasn't going to halt my advance now. He didn't want a practice game as per his previous form - and like clockwork his forces were ground into the dust with a result of 5-2 in my favour, his forces fled the field and holed up in the city of Austria. Elsewhere the other battle was fought, Venetian and Turk armies met - and produced one of the most extraordinary results I have ever witnessed in the DBA system, the game ended in a Turkish victory with a score of 8-5, the bloodbath only ending when a flying column of Turkish light horse butchered the Venetian camp followers and burnt the tents to the ground. The Venetian fleet retreated to the port of Ragusa and set to baring the gates.


Orders were handed in, I talked with Austria who was in a rush to leave as he had to catch a train home - this was beneficial to me as I convinced him to sue for peace, my terms being his disbandment in Genoa and reparations of 2 ducats for his cruel invasion of Milanese territory. I personally advised him on what his next move should be, whilst also arranging for our peace to seem unclear, by feinting an assault on the Austrian garrison.


Then Plague hit - wiping 6 forces off the map, more importantly it hit Austria, killing both my force and his garrison, Savoy, killing my advance to reclaim Genoa and finally Bologna killing off a Papal assault to take Modena from my control. Elsewhere I captured Austria with a follow up force and also reclaimed Pavia from Austrian control. The Papals set to siege Lucca, with the Turks also sieging Ragusa and having an army transported by the Neapolitan's fleet into Dalmatia. The Austrian army in Hungary moved south as per instruction and elsewhere Venice captured Croatia and also moved its armies north towards my border - I can only assume what that means but if it comes to war I feel that I will definitely have the stronger hand - Venice most likely having been convinced by my good ol' friend the Papal States who have become my main rival in recent turns. Elsewhere around the map most other armies stood still.


As always the recoloured map is below, an interesting observation is that I am yet to spill Italian blood on the field of battle, having fought Swiss, French and Austrian forces only - everyone else's aim may be to unite Italy, Milan has bigger dreams, I'll unite the whole of Europe!