Taggart McVie: Expanded Background Timeline
by Greg WeatherupIn one game I had a player who had a Cimmaronian character who was a veteran of the War (WotI) and I wrote up an expanded timeline for his background with various battles and such in the region, the player was new to Mystara and his character, Taggart McVie was a veteran of the Cimmaron cavalry, so I wrote up the following in-case he wanted to further flesh out the character's background during the war-time campaigns (or those of the old veteran's he encountered).
AC 939 Almarrón takes over Nueva Esperanza (what will become Cimarron)
AC 957 1st Arquebus made. They are dismissed by the Almarrónans as too dangerous.
AC 975 1st Wheelock’s made, production kept a secret.
AC 977 Almarrón initiates hostilities with Gargoña.
AC 978 While Almarrón is distracted by it’s war with Gargoña, Gen. Cimmaron begins a Revolution in Nueva Esperanza. His new Pistoleers make quite an impression, and manage to route a whole unit, to Almarrón’s complete surprise.
AC 979 Battle of Old Fort, Cimarronians overrun and mostly massacred. Almarrón makes treaty with Gargoña to end hostilities.
AC 980 After several losses and only some minor victories, Gen. Cimmaron, armed with a wheellock pistol and a red steel sword, leads his forces to victory over troops from Almarrón at the Battle of Hondo with the batle cry “Remember the Old Fort!”
AC 980 War Over. Nueva Esperanza, renamed Cimarron, now independent.
AC 990 Cimmaron ratifies the Treaty of Tampicos.
AC 1000 Hule Invades the northern Baronies. The invasion, which never really accomplishes much asides from weakening Torreon & Vilaverde, never advances to far, and often stalls for months or even years at a time with no fighting. The Torreón Infantry is too good as is the Vilaverdean Navy. While Hule could overcome the Torreón Infantry with sheer numbers, Hule has no Navy of it’s own and much of it’s coast is routinely attacked.
AC 1002 or AC 1003 Hule ceases agression against Torreón.
AC 1003 or AC 1004 Hule ceases agression against Vilaverde.
Dates on the above are impercise because it wasn’t a formal event, the fighting just slowed down and died out. Hule was content to learn from it’s probe. It sit’s back and starts building a fleet, while waiting for the right time to strike. It sends spies into the baronies to stir up trouble.
AC 1005 An internal holy war begins in Narvaez. The church of Narvaez unifies the factions by providing an external enemy: the other Savage Baronies. Narvaez carries its Inquisition to the other baronies.
AC 1006 Torreón and Vilaverde, already weakened from the Hulean invasion, ally with Narvaez, rather than fight that state. They mostly stay out of the fighting at first though, focusing on rebuilding. Torreón hires out many mercenary units to Narvaez, and the Vilaverdean Navy sponsors many Pirates too. Texerias now finds itself surrounded, so it also allies with Narvaez rather than fight on all front’s. Texerias sends it’s powerful navy to help Narvaez. The other five baronies (Guadalante, Cimmaron, Almarrón, Saragón, and Gargoña) ally to fight against the Narvaez alliance. Gauchos and Swashbuckler "freedom fighters" prove effective against the naval power and mercenaries of the Narvaez alliance. On land, after initial setbacks, the allied forces manage to break into Narvaez, and cut Narvaez in two. The Infantry and Siege engines (Made up of units from Almarrón, Gargoña, and some from Saragón) turn east to besiege Castillo Blanco which guards the most direct route to the Narvaezian capital. Meanwhile the Cavalry (made up mostly of Guacho’s from Cimmarron & Guadalante, with some from Saragón), press north up the Guadiana valley and slowly overrun the rest of Narvaez, and then press east into Texerias, but are unable to advance further North into Torreón beyond La Escarpadura, a great cliff that marks the border. Pressing into Torreón will take the Infantry but Castillo Blanco continues to hold out, and the progress into Texerias slows down, thought the further they do press, the more they elongate their flank along Torreón. The Cavalry eventually reaches & besieges the Texerian capital of Boa Mansao, which lies at a strategic choke point between the Baia de Sereia & La Escarpadura. However, the Texeiran Navy keeps the town supplied, and the cavalry isn’t really equipped nor suited for a serious siege, so they mearly settle down to hold out for the Infantry. All the while Torreón pushes on the northern flank, and the Vilaverdean & Texerian Navies threaten the East Flank, and Narvaezian bandits and rebels occasionally launch small guerrilla attacks from the Colinas Grutescas (an area of hills, badlands, and swamps on the coast between the Narvaezian capital and Texeiras, resulting in a very elongated, “L” shaped flank for the cavalry) to the South & East. Things look grim and the commanders are about to pullback their forces believing, correctly, that they are overextended. It suddenly changes. Hule attacks the Northern Baronies, quickly overrunning Vilaverde and attacking Texerias & Torreón. The southern baronies are at first overjoyed, Until they realize the scope of the Hulean invasion, and they know Hule will not stop with the North. The baronies end their conflict to unite against Hule. The Cavalry suddenly find’s themselves invited into Boa Mansao (The Huleans are already advancing on the city from the North, East, & South East), and are allowed up the La Escarpadura into Torreón, which is infested with Hulean forces (Both Human & Humanoid!). While the Baronies combined Navy easily outmatches the Hulean’s Fleet, the land battle is a different story. The Baronies forces are weakened, with the majority of the infantry way to the south in Southern Narvaez. Vilaverde’s overrun. Most of Texerias is in ruins, as is most of central & Northern Narvaez. Refugees from Vilaverde, Texeiras, Torreón, & Narvaez are a problem everywhere. The Texeiran Army, the remenants of the Vilaverdean Army, and about half of the Cavalry are in Boa Mansao which is being hard pressed, and slowly surrounded (though still suppiled by sea). The strong Torreón Army and the other half of the remaining Cavalry are ingaged across a wide and convoluted front within Torreón. The Hulean’s have a distinct numerical advantage.
AC 1007 After several vicious battles, Hule begins a staged-fighting withdrawl. Though it was easily winning at the time, Hule was not prepared to face ALL the baronies given it’s other operations to the East (Darokin & Sind), South-East (the City States), and North (Yezchamid). Plus it was shocked at the easy defeat of it’s fledgling navy. The Hulean’s are not routing however, they are slowly withdrawing. They will make the Baronial’s work for every acre of land. They even still occasionally launch an small offensive. The Master of Hule sets a curse on his enemies, inflicting floods and other natural disasters on the Savage Baronies. Yazi gnolls attack the southern baronies, which have been severely weakened and drained by the previous conflicts. Unfortunately the gnolls had been planning on most of the baronies forces being engaged fighting Hule. Even with Hule’s untimely departure, the southern baronies armies are way to the north, and Fort Stetson in Cimmarron is Destroyed and Gnolls raid heavily into Cimmarron before turning to do the same to Almarrón & Gargoña. After ravaging much of Cimmarron, Almarón, & some of Gargoña, they turn north to Saragón. The Saragón Infantry, which had been brought back from Narvaez traps them at the Battle of Morrión. However the battle is on the brink for a long time, threatening to go either way before some Cimmarron Cavalry reinforcments, which had been riding hard returning from the Hulean front, turns the tide and deals a major defeat to the Gnolls. However Large, Repeated raids still occur into the largely undefended other baronies (incl Cimmarron) over the intervening years.
AC 1008 Gen. Cimmaron died in 1008 at ‘Longhorn’s Last Stand’, leading his tiny force of Cimmaron irregulars against hordes of Yazi goblins advancing towards Cimmarron from the West in the Bushwack Praire beyond Cimmarron. The advanced units of the Cimmarronian Cavalry, though severely fatigued meet the weakend horde at the border. The horde, luckily, is now cautious, and after only minor skirmishes, turns back. The Cavalry would have been very hard pressed in their fatigue to hold them off. Now that the fighting with Hule is basically over, tensions begin to reignite amongst the baronies, though all sides are too weakened to do much more than small border raids. Yazi Gnolls continue to Raid from the North, at times seeming to run rampant north of the New Hope River, though never threatening the capital. Yazi Goblins are a threat from the West, and tensions escalate with Almarón. Cimmarron begins construction of Fort Whitstone across the Bushwack prairie from Cimmarron to defend against the Goblin threat, the construction site is heavily guarded and reapeatedly attacked by Goblins and occasionaly even Gnolls. Cimmarron forces deal a major blow to the Yazi Gnolls at Red Creek Battle.
AC 1009- A little over a week from New years, Magic fails. The Gnolls attempt to attack Smokestone City, but the defenders don’t usually rely that much on magic anyhow, so they are turned back. During this time the Yazi Goblins also manage to Bypass the Construction site of Fort Whitstone, and raid into Cimmarron. They withdrawl as Forces from the capital, now freed from defending Smokestone city, drive them back, fighting only minor skirmishes. Most other Baronies are not so lucky during this week. When magic is restored late on New Year’s Eve, the Red Curse has spread and covers all of the Baronies.
AC 1010- Before Fort Whitstone is completed, the goblins of the Bushwack Prairies again bypass the mostly finished site and it’s patrols and make raids into the lands of Cimarron, destroying many homesteads. They are soon routed by the armies of Cimarron, however, and forced back into their own territories. Fort Whitstone is completed, but can cavalry patrols from here actually secure Cimarron’s Western Border? The Goblins have already slipped by twice. Despite the end of the war’s, the threat is not over. All the Baronies are repeatedly raided by either Yazi Gnolls or Gosluk (Yazak) Goblins, some successful, some not, though Cimmarron is relatively lightly effected. There is even a large, multi-tribe (Gosluk, Kuttai, AND Dankut), horde of Yazak Humanoids are barely repulsed at the Battle of Manzanas in northern Saragón. The humanoid threat seems to be growing, despite continued successes against them.
Major Battles possibly involving Cimmaron Cavalry since AC1000:
AC 1005-AC 1006: War against Narvaez and it’s allies (Torreón, Texeiras, & Vilaverde). Allies: Guadalante, Saragón, Gargoña, Almarrón)
Pazo del Rey: Torreón Mercenaries Massacre the village of Pazo del Rey in Northern Saragón. If there was any Cimmarronian cavalry, they arrived too late.
4th Battle of Pardalupe: Narvaez and Torreón unsuccesfully besiege the Castillo de Pardalupe in Western Gargoña.
2nd Battle of Navas: Narvaez and/or Torreón unsuccesfully besiege the Village of Las Navas in Western Gargoña. Reinforcements save the village.
3rd Battle of Ciudad Real: Narvaez and Torreón unsuccessfully besiege the capital of Gargoña, Ciudad Real, but are held on the other side of the Pozaverde River
2nd Battle of Bosque de los Ojos: Perhaps some Cavalry were lost in the woods in this indecisive battle in Eastern Gargoña.
2nd Battle of Hidalgos: Supporting Cavalry coming out of Northern Saragón was ineffectual in the hills of Castillo de los Hidalgos in the SouthWestern Corner of Narvaez. Siege Indecisive.
2nd Battle of Los Peregrinos: Los Peregrinos in South Central Narvaez is successfully sacked by Southern Forces.
3rd Battle of Hidalgos: Siege successful this time, as the defenders surrender. Cavalry supporting again from out of Northern Saragon and from the eeast (advanced units coming from the successful Battle of Los Peregrinos.
Battle of Guadiana: Siege engines trade shots across the rio Guadiana in Southern Narvaez while Southern Cavalry splits in two, one goes North and fords the river and surprises the flank while the other charges across the river at a key moment to attack directly. Many fall to the river. Northern Forces retreat to Castillo Blanco or route to Colinas Grutescras.
Battle of Paz del Sol: After Brief fighting, the village of Paz del Sol in East-Central Narvaez surrenders.
2nd Battle of Ciudad Quimeras, in Central Narvaez. Heaviest Fighting yet. Patrick Cimarron, heir to Cimmarron is killed. When the towns walls finally fall the victors go on a looting spree…. Town is sacked, and fire finishes it.
2nd Battle of Guadiana: Lucky this time, looting is virtually unheard of, but the village of Peunte-Guadiana is sacked.
3rd Battle of Eseobar: Heavy fighting. Fatigued Narvaezians are desperate. What should have been an easy battle is complicated when, on the second day it is revelaed that a couple of units of Torreón mercenries had slipped into the town through the woods overnight, and reinforced it. When the Narvaezian commanders goes to surrender, the Torreón Mercenaries will have non of it. Half there forces launch a counter attack, while the other half retreat to Torreón or Texeiras. After bying the other Torreónans some time the counter attack breaks off and the Torreóners scatter. Some go to the South Esat to Colinas Grutescas, Some West to the Pampa Rica, some north to Torreón. Village then surrenders, many Narvaezian troops taken prisoner. After this it is a fight up and over the ridge seperating Texeiras, a slow going campaign not suited to the cavalry.
2nd Battle of Monaco: Cavalry descends out of the hills on the coastal village of Vila Franca in Western Texeiras. Texeiran & Torreón forces hold out long enough to evacuate by ship to positions further north along the shore. Village is Sacked.
3rd Battle of Boa Mansao: Inefectual Siege. Town supported by sea. Last major Cavalry ‘Battle’ against Narvaez Alliance. Now Face Hule.
AC 1006-AC 1008: War against Hule. Allies: All the Baronies.
4th Battle of Boa Mansao: Heavily besieged by Hulean’s, who slowly envelop the town. Town supplied by sea.
AC 1008: War Against the Yazi Gnolls (eps. Long Legs Tribe, but also Dead Yuccas Tribe & Chiriquis Tribe) of El Grande Carrascal. Allies: Mostly Saragón but also Almarrón, Gargoña, & Guadalante.
AC 1008-1010: War Against the Yazi Goblins (esp. Flat Noses Tribe & Black Bellies Tribes) of the Badlands. Allies: Maybe Guadalante and/or Vilaverde and/or Robrenn.
Again I stress that this was written to be from the viewpoint of a Cimmaronian cavalry veteran.