I just won my first war in CKII. Since I'm a really crappy player, this is good news. It was an exciting experience and fun. I am playing the Duchy of Swabia, a little fairy tale kingdom in the south of Germany. I had wrestled with Pisa before, and they were seriously weakened after fighting a series of useless wars against the whole of the Holy Roman Empire. They still kept the little holding of Aargau, near my frontier, and I was eyeing it, since it looked like easy prey. So I deployed my talented Chancellor there, the Count of Nordgau, to fabricate some claims upon it, and it didn't take long before he was successful. My Duke was old and fragile and near death, so it was now or never. I pressed the claim in February 1081 and raised my levies, an army of 1500 men, sufficient for such a small invasion.
The First Levies.
So The Duke of Pisa called in his ally, the Duchess of Tuscany. That wasn't planned for, but I called my best pal the Duke of Savoie to keep Tuscany at bay. That wasn't enough, since Tuscany was soon fielding 2000 men in Italy. Half of my army was engaged in Aargau, besieging it and that would take time. I deployed the rest in the pass over the Alps, hoping that Tuscany would turn on Savoie first, but no, they marched their superior force against me instead. I gave a fight in that mountain pass, in August 1081, losing half of my effective fighting force and the Tuscans then invaded my Duchy, starting sieges in the south of my land. In the meantime, Aargau fell to our force though, so all was not lost.
After having conquered a province in the south of Swabia, the Tuscans were harrassed by the Savoians, which gave me an opening. I sent 600 men south towards Pisa itself. I needed to capture Pisa to conclude a good peace. White peace was out of the question. It was conquer or die. All my counter attacks on the province the Tuscans had conquered failed, but I was still holding Aargau firmly. The main Tuscan army, now 1800 strong, fought successively against Swabian and Savoian troops sent against it and did serious damage, but the opening was the siege of Pisa which was begun by my smaller force down in Italy. If I could take Pisa, I could win the entire show.
The Tuscan Army pressing over the Alps.
The Tuscan army then turned around and marched south. At Pisa they defeated my besieging force and all would have seemed hopeless. But not so. I raised all my levies and also recruited a mercenary company of Italian mercenaries. With this as backbone, I merged the armies, now counting 2400 strong, a proper match for the Duchess of Tuscany, and marched them south into Italy towards Pisa. My state coffers were dwindling and I would not be able to keep my expensive mercenaries for long.
The Battle of Monza
The Tuscan army that had threatened us for the whole duration of the war, 1800 strong, met my forces at Monza in Lombardia. At the Battle of Monza in June 1083, the Tuscan army was soundly defeated. It stood no chance against my mercenary centre. My own heir was leading one of the divisions at Monza. Tuscany's offensive power was exhausted and the road completely open south into Italy and to Pisa. My army had not even started marching south before the Duke of Pisa sued for peace. He did not know that I would probably have had to disband the mercenaries in a few months and that I would have had a difficult time to take his province. All's well that ends well though. Swabia gained Aargau in the peace treaty, a small and insignificant province, which we spilled a lot of blood over.
The First Levies.
So The Duke of Pisa called in his ally, the Duchess of Tuscany. That wasn't planned for, but I called my best pal the Duke of Savoie to keep Tuscany at bay. That wasn't enough, since Tuscany was soon fielding 2000 men in Italy. Half of my army was engaged in Aargau, besieging it and that would take time. I deployed the rest in the pass over the Alps, hoping that Tuscany would turn on Savoie first, but no, they marched their superior force against me instead. I gave a fight in that mountain pass, in August 1081, losing half of my effective fighting force and the Tuscans then invaded my Duchy, starting sieges in the south of my land. In the meantime, Aargau fell to our force though, so all was not lost.
After having conquered a province in the south of Swabia, the Tuscans were harrassed by the Savoians, which gave me an opening. I sent 600 men south towards Pisa itself. I needed to capture Pisa to conclude a good peace. White peace was out of the question. It was conquer or die. All my counter attacks on the province the Tuscans had conquered failed, but I was still holding Aargau firmly. The main Tuscan army, now 1800 strong, fought successively against Swabian and Savoian troops sent against it and did serious damage, but the opening was the siege of Pisa which was begun by my smaller force down in Italy. If I could take Pisa, I could win the entire show.
The Tuscan Army pressing over the Alps.
The Tuscan army then turned around and marched south. At Pisa they defeated my besieging force and all would have seemed hopeless. But not so. I raised all my levies and also recruited a mercenary company of Italian mercenaries. With this as backbone, I merged the armies, now counting 2400 strong, a proper match for the Duchess of Tuscany, and marched them south into Italy towards Pisa. My state coffers were dwindling and I would not be able to keep my expensive mercenaries for long.
The Battle of Monza
The Tuscan army that had threatened us for the whole duration of the war, 1800 strong, met my forces at Monza in Lombardia. At the Battle of Monza in June 1083, the Tuscan army was soundly defeated. It stood no chance against my mercenary centre. My own heir was leading one of the divisions at Monza. Tuscany's offensive power was exhausted and the road completely open south into Italy and to Pisa. My army had not even started marching south before the Duke of Pisa sued for peace. He did not know that I would probably have had to disband the mercenaries in a few months and that I would have had a difficult time to take his province. All's well that ends well though. Swabia gained Aargau in the peace treaty, a small and insignificant province, which we spilled a lot of blood over.
