In the midst of war and battle, one only thinks about survival and the next fight. Thanks for the votes. Below is a summary of the history of the Kaiser von Bayern. There may be some exageration :) but should be mostly factual.
Ludwig was surprised to find himself excommunicated by the Church (I have been away from the game for awhile). The Pope had hardened his heart against the Kaiser and was threatening excommunication against any HRE lord who gave his rightful fealty.
Finding himself alone, Ludwig sent his Ambassadors to the great Kings of Europe to establish behind the scenes ties. At first, only the Black Prince sent friendly words of support. Isabella was standoffish. Sensing danger from France, Ludwig made frantic efforts to negotiate a deal with the Roi. The Roi knew he had the advantage and sought to maximize it during negotiations. Proposals were drawn up then discarded. Realizing that a deal was impossible with the Roi, Ludwig merely tried to buy as much time as possible -- praying that something would happen to turn the tide in his favor.
In the meantime, the Kaiser was trying to recruit loyal HRE lords to his side. Luck was with him as he found himself with the mightly Lothier and the convenient Grimaldi pledging him their fealty. Lothier promised him the safety of Brussels and Antwerp. Grimaldi pledged to help raise funds for the Imperial cause.
Almost all the other HRE lords either openly pledged themselves to Viscounti (Paleologo and Savoy), or served other 'Other' royals, or turned into rebels against the Kaiser. The eldest son, Bayern of Zealand, called for a civil war and Namur and Neufchatel added their banners to that of the rebel son. Only the Good and Loyal Baveux dared to pledge his fealty to the Kaiser.
Soon the French invaded the northern lands of the HRE. The 3 rebel HRE lords quickly joined them. At their zenith, the French and rebel HRE lords controled all of northern HRE save the strongholds of Brussels and Antwerp.
At that point, the Kaiser smiled. Now is the time to attack. Besides the 3 loyal HRE lords of Lothier, Grimaldi, and Baveaux all others are either outlaw or will be purged for lack of land. NOW the Kaiser has a chance to take HRE land and strip the titles (for he could not if they were held by loyal lords). The loyalty of Baveaux was a blessing but it prevented the Kaiser from taking his lands (something that VP had realized all along?).
In the meantime, diplomatic relations were strengthened with the English Royals. The Kaiser knew he could not secure the Northern territories of the HRE unless he could drive back the French. He knew he could not drive back the French unless he took their northern strongholds. He knew that he could only do that with the help of the English. Once the strongholds were taken, he could double back and take back the lands of the HRE. Soon Lord d'Audley (97) and Lady Talbot were garrisoning Antwerp and Brussels. The Northern Campaign had begun.
Things did not go well at first. One of the English lords needed to return to England for reinforcements and the vaunted Hearld de Nevers struck. Seeing Antwerp empty, Nevers struck right before reset and took the stronghold right after reset. Hearld Nevers would use this tactic with great effect throughout the war and he was the most dreaded enemy the Northern campaigners would face.
Kaiser Ludwig was desperate. Left only with Brussels, he knew he had to do move quickly. Following Nevers tactic, Ludwig attacked Ghent. Luck was with him and Ghent similarly fell right after reset. The Northern campaign lost one stronghold but gained another. Attention was now focused on Amiens. It was pillaged relentlessly and then the Kaiser again attacked and quickly took Amiens. It was quickly garrisoned with another English army, led by Lord Mortimer.
The Northern campaigners (Talbot, Audley, Mortimer, Kaiser) now turned on Calais. The keep was much bigger than any other attempted. After much pillaging, two attempts were made at taking Calais in one season (it had become too dangerous to hold seige over reset as Lord Nevers had received generous funds from the Roi and raised large armies). Finally on the third try, Lord d'Audley had taken the mighty keep in less than 90 days.
The efforts of the Northern campaigners was not going unnoticed by the French Royals. The first Capetian Roi raised an army and was warring in Flanders but by his misfortune, he was caught outside of the keep and the mighty Black Prince killed him in combat. Later the second Capetian Roi decided to attack the Kaiser as he and his army was resting in Amiens.
It was late at night when by chance, Queen Isabella first contacted the Kaiser at his favorite tavern, "IM Chat". Earlier that night, the Kaiser had almost arrested the Roi in Amiens. After talking with Queen Isabella, the Kaiser looked out his window and suddenly saw the Roi seiging his fief with an army. Quickly Queen Isabella was contacted and help requested. After frantic discussions, luck would have it that the Chief Justice Mowbry came online. Raising a mighty army of yeomen, Mowbry quickly crossed the Channel (thank god it wasn't winter), defeated the Roi and captured him. The Northern Campaigners won another great victory.
Disciplined and methodical, the Northern Campaigners continued their war and with the aid of the Eastern Levy, the Kaiser took Coucy. The only stronghold left in the North was Bruges -- defended by Lord Nevers, the Kaiser was never able to take it (lost twice in trying).
Concurrently, with the Northern Campaign against the French, the loyal HRE lords of Baveaux, Lothier, and de Toul campaigned against the unholy rebels of Bayern, Namur, and Neufchatel. Bayern of Zealand was captured many times. Baveaux retook Holland and then retook Hauignaught. Lothier retook Brabant. With the encouragement from His Holiness, Bayern of Zealand eventually retired into a monastery, Namur joined the Papal Knights, and Neufchatel retired back to his ancestral lands in Lorraine. Kaiser Ludwig owed a great debt to His Holiness for his support during the darkest times of the HRE Civil War. The role of His Holiness in the wars was behind the scenes but none the less the Pope's actions played a key role in the game.
As the Northern campaign took all the strongholds save Bruges (in the north), they changed their tactic and started to take the smaller fiefs in the northern provinces of the French. Again, the Roi took the offensive and called a Levy. Leading the Levy himself, the Roi seiged Amiens. Again the English Royals took action and brought a great host of yeomen across the channel to attack the Roi and break the seige. Lord Mortimer attacked several times without effect. The Kaiser's contribution to the effort was minor, as he transferred his army of 2000 men Lord Mortimer. But it was enought to turn the tide of battle and Lord Mortimer did capture the Roi in battle.
This blow was the beginning of the End for the French. The second capture of the Roi marked the peak of the Northern campaigners. Besides the capture of the northern strongholds, three times were the French Rois defeated in the north(1 death and 2 captures). The French, who had been valiently and successfully defending their lands in the south, now began to crumble there as well.
The Kaiser now turned inward, stripping HRE lordships from the French and returning them to their rightful owner -- himself. In the meantime, rest of France was being gobbled up by the Kaiser's good allies, the English and the Spanish Kings.
Besides the war with the French and the HRE rebels, the Kaiser also had trouble with Visconti and other Italian lords. Visconti never forgave the Kaiser for pillaging his megas with the Levy. Though he often urged his Italian lords to attack their German counterparts, it was just too far for them to sustain the effort. The Kaiser found one ally in the Italian lord, de la Scala. Eventually Lord de la Scala won the confidence of the Kaiser and in doing so, won the right to be soverign of Italy and received the title of Re of Italy from the Kaiser.
[Many details have been left out, and the perspective might be different from other player's eyes, but hey, it's my first time in Ace's Hall of Fame :)
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written by Hall of Famer rrorrorro
rrorrorro@aol.com
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