Post by SkulkrinBait on Oct 14, 2007 13:32:16 GMT
I posted this on the Midnight/MU forum and some people liked it, so thought I'd spam this forum too! Hope someone enjoys it.
Summer 1080 AD
The Scottish uprising, led by King Malcolm III, begins:
I am Máel Coluim, great chief of the Scots and rightful King of the English as well. If not for that pretender to the throne William the Bastardo! I would have united these islands under the rule of a Scottish King.
I avenged my fathers death at the hands of Mac Bethad and I will not rest until England is under my rule, the raids of last year into Northumbria showed that the English military is to be respected but not feared.
King Malcolm of Scotland, his forces march
The first task in achieving my goals is to secure a safe power base, I have despatched my son, Prince Edmund, an able leader to ride North to Inverness, to lay siege to the castle there held by a garrison of English rebels.
I have ceded my finest units to aid Edmund in his quest, I fear the defenders at Inverness may be quite numerous.
Prince Edmund prepares to siege Inverness
I have also sent my diplomat and spy south to see what forces there may be around the English town of York.
The dawn brings foul news as my spy failed in his mission and was slain by guards inside York, but combined with my diplomat I did find out that the city was not yet held by English forces proper but by rebels. Despite this it is well garrisoned, although the quality of the troops is questionable.
The English Rebels at York
It soon becomes clear that the enemy garrison at Inverness is bigger than anticipated and so I urgently dispatch another force of men to aid Edmund in his siege.
Luck is on our side as the defenders, unaware of their advantage in numbers, decide to sit tight while our reinforcements join with Edmund's force and bring parity to proceedings. However, it will now be a long siege as the castle appears well provisioned.
Prince Edmund reinforced, lays siege to Inverness Castle
Time is of the essence and so I sent an emissary to Ireland, perhaps we can ally against the English or perhaps I can bring them under the Scottish banner through more aggressive means. My most senior clergyman, Cannon Alpin has been sent to Ireland under the guise of spreading the Catholic religion, but he has been instructed to send back reports from Dublin.
AD 1085
Hard Times
It has become clear that the Scottish economy is in serious trouble, we are haemorrhaging money and at this rate soldiers will need to be allowed to return to their homes as the money to pay them will dry up within 3 years.
I have been improving the agriculture around Edinburgh to ease the situation and have employed a merchant to try to secure trade routes. My diplomat has also initiated trade rights with the hated English to ease the Scottish treasury.
Scottish Merchant at work
Patrick McDougall, my loyal diplomat has grave news, English forces are moving North from Nottingham in some force, two moderate sized armies appear to be heading for York.
I have ordered my 4th son, Alexander to patrol our border with his army to ensure the English do not approach too closely. I am hopeful that the English are simply going to arrive at York to retake it from the rebel forces there, but I need to be on my guard.
Preparing to defend Scotland
There is some happy news amongst the oppressing atmosphere of impending war, Edmund has found a bride and was able to leave the siege lines for a few days to marry Jane Cullen at Stirling Abbey.
Luckily, it soon becomes clear that the English do not intend heading further North than York, they no doubt fear a Scottish incursion and so wait safe behind their town walls.
I have now ordered Alexander to take his army, reinforced with some new units of spearmen recently recruited to try to capture Dublin. Our treasury is at last showing signs of recovery as my merchants have been busy finding new trade routes and I have been able to bolster my army somewhat.
Alexander marches on Dublin
The Battle of Inverness
At last the siege of Inverness comes to fruition and the English rebels decide to sally forth rather than starve, it's been a long siege and now it's judgement day.
On paper the Scottish forces led by Prince Edmund outnumber their English counterparts by 2-1 and so the battle should be over quickly. Especially as the English rebels will be demoralised and hungry.
Indeed the battle is swift and one-sided, the English rebels emerged from their hole and massed in a mob, firing arrows with little effect at our well-organised line.
A couple of their units of spear charged our line, that held firm, our own archers returning fire into the enemy mob.
As soon as the enemy spear were engaged, Edmund rode around the enemy right flank and charged into their rear unopposed, this routed the unit and panic spread through their ranks. The enemy surrendered soon afterwards, Inverness was now back in Scottish hands!
Edmund charges the enemy rear with his bodyguard, routing them
Text coming later!
With Edward safely ensconced at Inverness, the money is flowing into our coffers and at last we can spend some money expanding the army, ready to face the English.
AD 1098
Alexander arrives on Irish soil and marches on Dublin. I decided to send Edward to rendezvous with him to ensure we had overwhelming force for the siege and to give the troops a more seasoned leader, fresh from his victory at Inverness this would surely inspire the men.
After a breif siege the Dublin garrison sallied forth, their number being something of a surprise as they managed to field a force of equal strength to that of ours, although they are no doubt not of as stout a heart.
The Irish sally forth
The battle was brief and bloody. Edward lined up his men and waited the Irish to pour out of their town. It appeared that they had no leaders as they were just a mob who formed up into a disorganised knot and then charged at our lines.
Prince Edward lines up his forces while the Irish Rebels approach from Dublin
The charge did nothing but break upon our spears, we were able to quickly send our cavalry from the flanks into their rear areas and charge until they routed. We then pursued them back to the centre of Dublin, killing their number at will.
The Irish rabble charge the organised Scottish lines
However, there was one valiant unit of Irish heavy infantry that had been ordered to hold the centre of the town, they proved to be a tough nut to crack. With our entire force surrounding these valiant men, they stood no chance but would not yield. After several minutes of hard fighting we had subdued the Irish forces, but at quite a grievous toll of almost a 3rd of our force. Dublin was ours!
Victory!
So now we stand on the brink of war with England, Inverness and Dublin have been secured, our treasury is in a good state and we can now build forces ready to invade.
We need a few more seasons to get things ready and into place for the wr ahead. My two youngest sons both come of age in the next 4 years and they will be needed to help manage the new settlements under our sway while the older ones will lead our mighty armies into battle.
Summer 1080 AD
The Scottish uprising, led by King Malcolm III, begins:
I am Máel Coluim, great chief of the Scots and rightful King of the English as well. If not for that pretender to the throne William the Bastardo! I would have united these islands under the rule of a Scottish King.
I avenged my fathers death at the hands of Mac Bethad and I will not rest until England is under my rule, the raids of last year into Northumbria showed that the English military is to be respected but not feared.
King Malcolm of Scotland, his forces march
The first task in achieving my goals is to secure a safe power base, I have despatched my son, Prince Edmund, an able leader to ride North to Inverness, to lay siege to the castle there held by a garrison of English rebels.
I have ceded my finest units to aid Edmund in his quest, I fear the defenders at Inverness may be quite numerous.
Prince Edmund prepares to siege Inverness
I have also sent my diplomat and spy south to see what forces there may be around the English town of York.
The dawn brings foul news as my spy failed in his mission and was slain by guards inside York, but combined with my diplomat I did find out that the city was not yet held by English forces proper but by rebels. Despite this it is well garrisoned, although the quality of the troops is questionable.
The English Rebels at York
It soon becomes clear that the enemy garrison at Inverness is bigger than anticipated and so I urgently dispatch another force of men to aid Edmund in his siege.
Luck is on our side as the defenders, unaware of their advantage in numbers, decide to sit tight while our reinforcements join with Edmund's force and bring parity to proceedings. However, it will now be a long siege as the castle appears well provisioned.
Prince Edmund reinforced, lays siege to Inverness Castle
Time is of the essence and so I sent an emissary to Ireland, perhaps we can ally against the English or perhaps I can bring them under the Scottish banner through more aggressive means. My most senior clergyman, Cannon Alpin has been sent to Ireland under the guise of spreading the Catholic religion, but he has been instructed to send back reports from Dublin.
AD 1085
Hard Times
It has become clear that the Scottish economy is in serious trouble, we are haemorrhaging money and at this rate soldiers will need to be allowed to return to their homes as the money to pay them will dry up within 3 years.
I have been improving the agriculture around Edinburgh to ease the situation and have employed a merchant to try to secure trade routes. My diplomat has also initiated trade rights with the hated English to ease the Scottish treasury.
Scottish Merchant at work
Patrick McDougall, my loyal diplomat has grave news, English forces are moving North from Nottingham in some force, two moderate sized armies appear to be heading for York.
I have ordered my 4th son, Alexander to patrol our border with his army to ensure the English do not approach too closely. I am hopeful that the English are simply going to arrive at York to retake it from the rebel forces there, but I need to be on my guard.
Preparing to defend Scotland
There is some happy news amongst the oppressing atmosphere of impending war, Edmund has found a bride and was able to leave the siege lines for a few days to marry Jane Cullen at Stirling Abbey.
Luckily, it soon becomes clear that the English do not intend heading further North than York, they no doubt fear a Scottish incursion and so wait safe behind their town walls.
I have now ordered Alexander to take his army, reinforced with some new units of spearmen recently recruited to try to capture Dublin. Our treasury is at last showing signs of recovery as my merchants have been busy finding new trade routes and I have been able to bolster my army somewhat.
Alexander marches on Dublin
The Battle of Inverness
At last the siege of Inverness comes to fruition and the English rebels decide to sally forth rather than starve, it's been a long siege and now it's judgement day.
On paper the Scottish forces led by Prince Edmund outnumber their English counterparts by 2-1 and so the battle should be over quickly. Especially as the English rebels will be demoralised and hungry.
Indeed the battle is swift and one-sided, the English rebels emerged from their hole and massed in a mob, firing arrows with little effect at our well-organised line.
A couple of their units of spear charged our line, that held firm, our own archers returning fire into the enemy mob.
As soon as the enemy spear were engaged, Edmund rode around the enemy right flank and charged into their rear unopposed, this routed the unit and panic spread through their ranks. The enemy surrendered soon afterwards, Inverness was now back in Scottish hands!
Edmund charges the enemy rear with his bodyguard, routing them
Text coming later!
With Edward safely ensconced at Inverness, the money is flowing into our coffers and at last we can spend some money expanding the army, ready to face the English.
AD 1098
Alexander arrives on Irish soil and marches on Dublin. I decided to send Edward to rendezvous with him to ensure we had overwhelming force for the siege and to give the troops a more seasoned leader, fresh from his victory at Inverness this would surely inspire the men.
After a breif siege the Dublin garrison sallied forth, their number being something of a surprise as they managed to field a force of equal strength to that of ours, although they are no doubt not of as stout a heart.
The Irish sally forth
The battle was brief and bloody. Edward lined up his men and waited the Irish to pour out of their town. It appeared that they had no leaders as they were just a mob who formed up into a disorganised knot and then charged at our lines.
Prince Edward lines up his forces while the Irish Rebels approach from Dublin
The charge did nothing but break upon our spears, we were able to quickly send our cavalry from the flanks into their rear areas and charge until they routed. We then pursued them back to the centre of Dublin, killing their number at will.
The Irish rabble charge the organised Scottish lines
However, there was one valiant unit of Irish heavy infantry that had been ordered to hold the centre of the town, they proved to be a tough nut to crack. With our entire force surrounding these valiant men, they stood no chance but would not yield. After several minutes of hard fighting we had subdued the Irish forces, but at quite a grievous toll of almost a 3rd of our force. Dublin was ours!
Victory!
So now we stand on the brink of war with England, Inverness and Dublin have been secured, our treasury is in a good state and we can now build forces ready to invade.
We need a few more seasons to get things ready and into place for the wr ahead. My two youngest sons both come of age in the next 4 years and they will be needed to help manage the new settlements under our sway while the older ones will lead our mighty armies into battle.
I love the Total War series - I borrowed Rome: Total War off Gornall a while back and enjoyed it alot. The only problem I found was that conquering the entire map began to get very demanding and hard work. Whilst I had enough armies my leading family were barely at enough number to control even the Italian cities and moral further from the capital was appalling.
