After reading a lot of AAR's I decided to do one my self. I really like the HSR format some AAR's are written in, so I thought I'd try that one. I chose the British because of my ancestry. Difficulty is M/M, I haven't been able to make some decent screenshots yet (might be due to the fact that I play on a laptop) but I promise I'll try to get some up as soon as I get the hang of it Now without further ado, I present to you:

THE BRITISH CONQUEST OF EUROPE

Foreword
The year is 269 BC. After many years of peace in western Europe, war was imminent as the Romans are expanding outside of the Italian Peninsula. In doing this, they drive other civilizations away to other areas of the world, where yet other civilizations have lived for generations in peace. And so began the great era of war. The era of Total War.

Chapter One: The first age of peace(296B.C. - 255B.C.)

In 269 the Romans first started to expand outside of the Roman peninsula towards North-Africa, Greece and Gaul. While the Britons under Barrivendos the Lucky weren't directly affected by this lust for power, their European neighbors, the Gauls and the Germans, were.

However, as news reached Barrivendos, he sent spies and diplomats to the mainland, mainly for map information and information on to where the Roman factions were expanding. The spies were put near and in Rome, while the diplomats were burdened with the task of trading map information with other cultures and seeking out the alliances between other factions.

They soon found out that the Gauls and Germans allied with each other against the Romans, and eventually the nations of Macedonia, Scythia and Thrace joined this alliance. This alliance would soon be known as the First Barbarian Alliance. With Dacia trapped in between this powerful alliance it was soon destroyed and its territories were divided between Germania and Scythia. Gaul was expanding towards Greece by taking the towns of Segestica and Salona, while Germania was expanding towards the Mediterranean by taking Lugdunum and Massilia.

You might think where Britain's place in all this lies. To be honest, Britain won't take any action at the continent anytime soon. Not until the first wave takes place(see Chapter 3: "D-Day in 223B.C.") moe than 70 years later.
Barrivendos the Lucky and his sons decided on a more defensive approach in this period however and leave the settlement of Samarobriva with minimum garrison to prepare for an eventual attack. After all, after their diplomats returned with the message of Dacia being destroyed, they could be next. The Britons were luckier than the Dacians however and the Barbarian Alliance left them alone.

However the Macedonians kept expanding towards Greece and they eventually came in a clash with the Roman House of the Brutii, the Gauls and of course the Greeks themselves. While they eventually wiped out the Greeks on the main land, and even started expanding into North Africa, this would not last.

Chapter two: The start of war(254 B.C. - 237 B.C)

That the Britons turned to a defensive approach rather than an aggressive one turned out to be a good decision. A third big faction in Western Europe combined with the Iberians coming up from the Iberian peninsula, could have ended in a disaster for Britain. Their fears of the Barbarian Alliance coming for them were found to be correct however, as the Gauls took the small-garrisoned town of Samarobriva. The population was spared however and it is entirely possible that the Gauls only wished to capture this settlement because it would increase both British and Gaulish trade over the Channel.

The Britons were greatly offended however by the fact that the Gauls took the settlement by force and panicked. Although Barrivendos and his (greatly expanding) family already had a great army on the main British Isle, this was primarily used to fend of invading Hibernian rebels, and was not only decimated due to many severe battles but also situated all the way in the north of the British Island. Therefore an even greater army near Londinium was needed to stop an eventual invading Gaulish army. The Britons were now officially at war. The Britons' concern of the Gauls invading was unfounded however, and the Gauls did not invade the British Island. This too leads historians to think that the Gauls indeed only wanted a better trade post with the Britons. Why they took it by force will remain a mystery however.

Although by 242 the Britons had the largest army in the entire world, they faced two problems. Their army upkeep was now divided over only three settlements and therefore Britain suffered great financial losses. These were soon to be solved however.

A bigger problem was the loss of the Faction Leader Barrivendos the Lucky. He died in the Summer of 242 B.C. and people argued over who should be the next Faction Leader. The obvious choice would be Belenus, Barrivendos' first son, however many people in the north thought little of him as he had never in his life seen any battle and they preferred Matagenus to be the faction leader as he had not lost one battle against the constantly invading Hibernian Rebels. Before there could be any trouble however, Belenus had already risen to leadership and who opposed to this were silenced.

However trouble was far from over. The Britons still needed more money to keep up their army. After many discussions of the elder council it was decided that the Hibernian Rebels would need to be exterminated once and for all. In 241 Matagenus encountered a small Rebel army preparing for yet another invasion. Matagenus and his army had much experience fighting these rebels however. Matagenus rode towards the Rebels with 134 men, and he slew all of the Rebel army. What he did not expect however, was that the Rebels had sent a messenger before the battle to the nearby town of Tara, and reinforcements arrived. Just too late for Captain Gwenddolau, but the 34 men under Captain Tincommius did arrive. Although some of these men could escape the battle it did not matter. Matagenus lost 19 men on the battlefield however. This victory only helped the capture of Tara (and with Tara the entire Island of Hibernia[modern Ireland]) as he could basically ride into the city in 240 BC with minimal resistance although he did encounter some rebels under Captain Aneirin. These rebels were slain without any casualty on British side however.

With Hibernia captured the Britons now held what is now known as Great Britain. Financial trouble was over for now, however Belenus soon got message from one of the diplomats that the Barbarian Alliance was crumbling apart. Scythia, Gaul and Germania weren't happy with Macedon's expansion into Greece and with Thrace backing them up they too were thrown out of the alliance in the year 239 BC. After being thrown out of the alliance Macedonia didn't have enough power to keep all their provinces so they lost some to the Roman houses of Scipii and Brutii. However with Thrace backing them up in the north, they managed to withstand the Scythian attacks, but were eventually put in the same position as Dacia about 20 years before them, as they broke their alliance with Thrace as well, though the two nations still kept trading with each other.

However, just a year later, and luckily for Macedon, the Barbarian Alliance was completely crumbled as Gaul stepped out after Germania's refusal to help them. The Gauls were rapidly losing territory to the Roman House of Julii and by 237 they had lost every territory they had east of Mediolanum(which is Milan nowadays) with the exception of Aquincum. With these two provinces alienated from the rest of Gaul (all other territory between these provinces was either German or Julii), the Gauls were desperate for German help. Although the Julii did declare war on Germania, neither of these factions attacked each other, and Germania refused to help Gaul. This led to Gaul stepping out of the Alliance and shortly thereafter declared war on Germania. Germania then broke the alliance with Scythia, seeing no need to continue it, but like Macedon and Thrace, they kept their trading rights.

Now Britain, watching what was happening on the continent through their spies and diplomats, saw good use of this. They had a huge army, the largest in the world, and trade rights with basically anyone in Europe. Thanks to their great diplomats they had the most recent maps of Europe. Belenus thought this was an excellent time to attack. He ordered the recruitment of a huge army in all four of Britain’s provinces and had ships build, ready to cross the channel. Belenus, however, would not live to see his effort accomplished.

Chapter 3: D-Day in 223 B.C.(236B.C.-222B.C.)

Belenus died the following year. Again people argued about who would become the next Faction Leader, with Matagenus being the peoples favorite once again due to his success against the rebels only a few years earlier. The elders however quickly placed the rightful heir on the throne and made Prasutagus Faction Leader.

Prasutagus followed his father’s dream of conquest in Europe, but he was more patient, and waited until the exact right time. He might have waited too long (or maybe not long enough), as the Iberians had now just conquered Narbo Martius and were aiming for Massilia which was in German hands. Gaul was now desperate. In war with the Julii(who had taken the rest of their provinces) in the east, Germania in the north and Iberia in the south, Gaul could now only move west, towards Britain. The Gauls knew however, if they were to invade Britain they would have to face the largest army known to man, and thus they decided to go on the defensive like the Britons did against them about 20 years earlier.

It worked for them for about ten years until Prasutagus was done waiting. The entire British army now counted well over 3000 men and Prasutagus decided to attack in 223 B.C. However, they did not do so before making an alliance with the Germans. This alliance was made to suppress Gaul once and for all. The Britons were now sure of backup, would the invasion not go as planned, and the Germans would now have another ally in their struggle for power in Europe.

It is 223 B.C. Prasutagus and two other British warlords board ships with a full stack of military power. These armies land near in Normandy, near the towns of Condate Redonum(Rennes) and Samarobriva(Amiens). One army(that of Prasutagus) stayed in the middle, and would supply reinforcements would anything go wrong at either of the two towns. When all three armies landed Prasutagus sent messengers to Wotecorix the Wrathful and Geraint with messages to commence the attack.

Before the messengers arrived however, the British fleet was ambushed by the entire Gaulish navy. The Gaulish navy may have suffered some heavy losses, but the British fleet was annihilated. There was no way back now for the British invasion army.

After half a year of siege on both towns the armies were ready to attack. With three battering rams ready Wotecorix was the first to attack Condate Redonum, just when he got another message. Prasutagus had died. After a moment of silence he attacked Condate Redonum and left no survivors. All 104 men under the Gaulish captain Lugotorix died while Wotecorix lost only 62 out of 298 men. Condate Redonum was exterminated.

After Geraint, a far less capable general, had received the same message, he too attacked after a moment of silence. The results of this battle seem different however. The British often describe this as an overwhelming victory over the Gauls with only 25 losses, and no survivors on the Gaulish side, the Gauls, and also the Germans who had send a Diplomat to watch, desribe a far more realistic victory for the British with 171 casualties on the British side(out of 503 men), and only 37 casualties (out of 74 men) on the Gaulish side. This is much more realistic seeing as Geraint wasn't such a capable general. People wonder why Matagenus, the conqueror of Hibernia, wasn't put in charge, but historians suspect he couldn't get to Land's End in time to join the invasion fleet, and thus Prasutagus chose Geraint instead.

Under the new rule of Drustan the Lucky, Britain started constructing a new fleet, to annihilate the Gaulish fleet like they did to the British fleet a year before. At the same time, the reinforcement army, now under command of Drustan the Lucky, pressed toward the Gaulish capital of Alesia which they planned on taking the following year. The Gauls had nowhere left to go, except for Lemonum which would be invaded by either a second British reinforcement army, or an Iberian army.

[This message has been edited by Pizzadude (edited 06-23-2008 @ 08:32 AM).]