I recently dusted off my British grand campaign in Empire: Total War, and decided it was time to get back down to the business of finishing this one. On a side note, I would like to mention that I don't leave home without Darthmod. I was totally without equal at sea; and this allowed me to slowly but surely pick apart most every other nation's overseas possessions, especially those of France and Spain, piece by piece. I managed to ally myself with the Iroquois against France, thereby assuring me hegemony over all of North America. I simply got to India first, and sided with the new but optimistic Maratha Confederacy, toppling the Mughal Empire, and earning me the Lion's share of the sub-continent.
When the Spanish were stupid enough to declare war on me along with the French, I robbed them blind, gaining most of the Caribbean and Mexico, along with a significant portion of South America. I took Gibraltar, Sicily, Southern Italy, Sardinia and threatened to invade Portugal who long ago had fallen before I could do anything about it. I gave them back Sardinia in return for peace; I was sick of the Spanish throwing themselves at my guns. I also set up puppet states from their former territories to divide the power amongst factions, guaranteeing that they would never again cause me trouble. I gave much of North Africa to the Moroccan Republic, and I granted Southern Italy to the Italian states, uniting Italy under one flag.
I was long-time trading partners with the Ottomans, but never an ally. Their opinion of me, and our relationship, got ever worse as I acquired more territory. They broke off our trade agreement, and I declared war. The time was right; they were barely strong enough to keep order in their cities, let alone oppose an invasion. I soon wrecked every harbor and shipyard they had and wrested the middle east from them. I stopped at the border of Armenia, leaving them a rump of an empire. I offered peace, and they wisely accepted; no strings attached. They allied themselves with the Russians, hoping to jointly oppose the fledgling Austrian Empire, an ally of mine. The Russians, who had long ago "liberated" (as one ACG member put it) Poland and Lithuania, attacked Prussia --who was allied to both Austria and myself. I had up until this point managed to keep myself out of continental conflicts; aiding allies with large subsidies and shared technology; but I realized that neither Prussia nor Austria were going to be able to hold in the face of the Russian tidal wave.
I managed to hold off the Russians with a huge army of my own, and an allied Prussian force near Danzig, momentarily halting their offensive; but suffering enormous casualties under the leadership of one of my more inexperienced generals (a recently promoted brigadier). At stalemate for the moment on the Northern front, I began part two of my strategic offensive. My Highland Corps smashed Armenia in an instant, barbecuing the defenders of one fort who dared to oppose their march. I quickly made peace with the vassal state of Georgia and opened a lucrative trade partnership with them, further enraging the Russians who had been eying the nation for some time. The Ottomans had little left to throw at me, and gathered what forces they had left to oppose a landing I threatened near Istanbul.
I figured I would surprise them though; I embarked my Highland corps onto my Mediterranean fleet, now waiting for them on the coast of the Black Sea, and sailed them all the way around to the coast of Southern Anatolia. Ankara was undefended, and I thought I'd try the "Indirect Approach" that the British historically had used so well, and had worked so well up until this point. But, the damnable Turks managed to steal a march on me and interposed their mass between my southern army and Ankara. It was either back to the boats, or through their Army. I think you can figure out what course I decided upon.
I for one, think of most things cinematically, so here's a soundtrack to back the images:
The Ottomans had chosen a hilly town to defend on the road to Ankara, and I was glad that I had stocked my army with plenty of artillery; it looked like a pretty good grade to the top. I placed all of my units with care, sighting each battery with the perfect field of fire, and dressing the ranks of my Infantry in sharp lines so that they could begin an orderly advance when the curtain was raised. When the curtain did go up though, I was greeted with the sight of Infantry; lots of Infantry; hordes of Infantry, and they were way too close to attempt any sort of grand, intricate flanking maneuver. I quickly threw my Infantry into a roadbed in the near front, and let loose with every gun at my disposal.
The crazy ottomans were actually advancing towards me! There was nothing but open field between the enemy and my own line, and they were going to come at me with scant artillery of their own! There were even numerous rail fences and knee walls that the enemy would have to climb over to get at me, slowing their progress. My commanding General, who had led the Highland Corps to one victory after another in the Middle Eastern campaigns, was named Julius Slougther; appropriate, I thought. My entire artillery park was by this point firing as fast as they could load.
They soaked up shot and shell the whole way. I managed to ride some heavy cavalry all the way around their army, and destroy their undefended mortars. My cavalry then had free reign to pick off any unit that pleased them from the flank or rear. The Ottoman infantry charged my lines, bayonets fixed and kukris in hand at a dead run. Once they met the fire from the Highlanders and the blistering canister fire from my massed guns, they went the other way just as fast, tripping over the fences and walls hindering their dash rearward.
The Ottomans threw everything and the kitchen sink at my Scots, but my Highlanders didn't bat an eye. It was as if the enemy was arraying their most exotic units for me to slaughter wholesale. Everything from Islamic swordsmen to Turkish lancers broke on the rock that was my line, leaving none but my Highlanders in possession of the field.
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