MacDidz: The Scottish Blog

[Didz]

Thought I'd try my hand at playing Scotland next. Being English I've tended to view the Scottish faction as a potential victim rather than a playable faction and so I ignored it up to now.

King Malcolm dies soon after the start of the campaign, having achieved little in his reign and the Scottish faction begins with control of only one city 'Edinburgh', which is quite novel in itself.

The opening moves - Preparation for War

Prince Edward is dispatched north with the vast bulk of Scotlands army to subjurgate the rebel highland clans around Inverness, hiring a unit of crossbowmen and a band of Irish Kerns en-route. Edward slaughters the rebel Highland Clans with brutal efficiency effectively doubling the Canmore's land holdings at a stroke and then returns to Edinburgh leaving his brother Edmund to placate the city and keep order. The 'motte & bailey' at Inverness is torn down and replaced with an village settlement.

Meanwhile, his father has been taking steps to deal with the economic state of the Scotland. A merchant 'Gwain of Fife' is commissioned to find the trade route to the fabled riches of Africa and is provided with a ship to carry him into the heathen lands to the south. Amazingly he makes it all the way to Timbukto and before long the Scottish court is receiving 472 florins per turn in gold from the mines in Africa.

Bouyed by this success King Malcolm immediately commissions a second merchant and a cog to carry him and dispatches them both south to join Gwain.

Meanwhile, farmland improvements bring additional tithes from the local lowlanders of Edinburgh and Inverness and a port is built to encourage the trade of locally produced dyes with Denmark, Ireland and England. realising a further 400 florins in trading duties.

To increase trade, Patrick Macdougal is dispatched to Europe with instructions to meet and greet as many other factions as possible and enlighten them as to Scotlands existence and its value as both as a supplier of quality dyes and as an ally.

King Phillipe of France immediately recognises the value of an ally with an interest in the future of England and forms an alliance. The Danes formalise their exsting trading arrangments, as do the Germans, Milanese, Venetians and Sicilians as Patrick wends his way southwards towards Rome. Finally, Patrick presents his credentials to His Holiness the Pope and is even successful in securing an alliance between Scotland and the Papal States.

With its economy and diplomatic status secure and still improving, Scotland now looks to secure additional local support and expansion.

Prince Edward and the army is sent to Ireland to secure the support and resources of the Irish to their cause. A brief and bloody battle outside Dublin secures Ireland for the Canmores. King Malcom dies at about this time and so the brutal Prince Edward is now King Edward I of Scotland. He sensibly decides to leave the adminstration of Ireland to his more reasonable brother David and readies his army for the sea crossing to Wales.

The English Prince Henry has captured York by now and the Scottish court is being pestered by a rather demanding and arrogant English Princess. However, Alexander Canmore though young in years refuses to accept any of Englands demands for tribute and the princess is sent back across the Scottish border with a flea in her ear.

After a brief and typically bloody seige, Caernarvon Castle falls to King Edward's combined Scottish, Irish and Welsh army completing the tri-partite anti-English union and giving Scotland a strong castle on Englands western borders which will curb its freedom to send armies to the north.

All the Canmore brothers are now married, though I am concerned to note that they all seem to have married their own sisters, or at least cousins.

Edward to Marjorie Canmore
Edmund to Mabel Canmore
Alexander to Danea Canmore
David to Ealusaid Canmore

This is either an indication of the lack of suitable noble women in Scotland or a lack of imagination on the part of the Canmore brothers.

Mental note 'Import more posh 'totty' to Scotland'. In the meanwhile, its time to build brothels.

War with England now seems to be the next logical step, though it may be best to wait until King Phillipe is ready to reclaim his possessions in Normandy.

The Scottish Blog can also be read on Games Tales.
http://www.gamertales.com/M2TWtales/...shcampaign.php

[Didz]

Part 2: The War Clouds Gather

1086 AD: A large English army is gathering near York and Alexander Canmore hires addition Irish mercenaries to bolster the defence of Edinburgh in anticipation of an imminent assault. In fact, it proved an uneccessary precaution as the English merely dithered near York seemingly unwilling to march either North or West.

1095 AD: Kyle Canmore is born?
When asked the reason for the strange name her mother merely shrugged and said it was suggested by her neighbours.

1096 AD: Every Scottish controlled city and castle now has its own counter-intelligence spy in residence, to prevent the English causing unrest and loss of income. The next objective is to establish if the English have more than one army in their kingdom. If they have not then the situation will be ripe for a rapid assault on either Nottingham or York.

1097 AD: Bad news reached Edinburgh today that the poineering merchant 'Gawain of Fife' was killed by an earthquake in unholy lands to far south. His place has been taken by Gille Patrick, a merchant from the Shetland Isles.

King Edward has ordered a watchtower placed on the Welsh border enabling the movements of the English in Mercia to be monitored. This seems to confirm the belief that the English only have one army and are torn between using it to attack Edinburgh and protecting Nottingham and York.

A strategy is established which will bait this English army either to the North exposing Nottingham to a rapid assault by the army of Wales, or to draw it into Wales allowing Prince Alex's army to march on York.

1098 AD: All is set for the invasion of England. The final preparations are in place and the mercenaries hired. Then just as they were poised to strike the war has to be suspended when a Welsh uprising on the island of Anglesea threatens Caernarvon Castle.

[Didz]

Part 3: The Battle of Anglesea
When news of the Welsh uprising reached King Edward at Caernarvon he wasted no time in calling for his charger and set forth with the entire of his army for Anglesea.

The Welsh were marching on the castle but when they saw the Scottish king and his host approaching they baulked and fell back to the coast. However, Edward was in no mood for prolonging matters and urging his men forward forced the Welsh to give battle by trapping them against the sea.

Battle lines are drawn. Mercenary crossbowmen to the fore, open fire on the advancing Welsh.


Away the Scots: With the Welsh infantry committed the border horse deployed on each flank of Edward's army charge the exposed Welsh Longbowmen.


Away the Irish: The Irish charge to finish the rout of the Welsh infantry.


An uprising quelled The surviving Welshmen throw down their weapons.


The battle over Edward and the army return immediately to Caernavon determined to waste no more time on trivial matters. Messengers are sent to his brother Alexander in Edinburgh to ready his army to march south on York.

[diotavelli]

All the Canmore brothers are now married, though I am concerned to note that they all seem to have married their own sisters, or at least cousins.

Edward to Marjorie Canmore
Edmund to Mabel Canmore
Alexander to Danea Canmore
David to Ealusaid Canmore

This is either an indication of the lack of suitable noble women in Scotland or a lack of imagination on the part of the Canmore brothers.

I know you're from Bedfordshire and probably don't get out much but do you really think it's unusual for a wife to have the same surname as her husband? My wife shares my surname but isn't related to me by blood: I thought this was quite common?

Of course, it doesn't mean we had the same surname before we got married......

Oh, and do you mean Anglesey, rather than Anglesea? There's nowhere in the British Isles called Anglesea, so far as I know. Of course, Anglesey is home to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which would have been a good location for your battle!

[trickydicky]

Nice work Didz, keep it up. Looking forward to the next instalment.

Makes me want to revisit my old Scottish campaign again, which I think I might just do

[Didz]

I know you're from Bedfordshire and probably don't get out much but do you really think it's unusual for a wife to have the same surname as her husband?

Good point! Why didn't I think of that.

I foolishly assumed the family tree adhered to the usual practice of noting the wifes family name not her married name which actually doesn't provide much value information wise.

But your probably right, there is no reason to suppose MTW2 follows this practice. The proof will be in checking what happens in the case of an arranged marriage with a princess of royal blood to see if it changes her name also.

Oh, and do you mean Anglesey, rather than Anglesea?

Well, I mean both or either, but not the Anglesea, in Victoria, Australia obviously.

Anglesey or Anglesea (both: ăng'gəlsē) , island and county (1985 est. pop. 68,800), 278 sq mi (719 sq km), NW Wales. Beaumaris is the chief town. It is a region of low, rolling hills. The principal industries are agriculture and stock raising. Two bridges over the Menai Strait connect the island to the mainland. The town of Menai Bridge has long been a stock-trading center for NW Wales. Anglesey is said to have been the last refuge of the druids from the Romans in Britain. Penmynydd, at the center of the island, was the home of Owen Tudor, founder of the house of Tudor.
http://www.answers.com/Anglesea

[IrishArmenian]

Great stuff MacDidz

[helmeteye]

Love the bio of Scotts. I know this may belong somewhere else but here goes anyway, How do I make all fashions playable in vanilla 1.2?

I am am my first campaign and I am the English. I chose the English because, I can remember the names better and thus more easily role play.

The problem I have encountered is that I was trying to role play and just recently checked my mission status and it appears that I no longer have time to complete the mission to get more factions. Of course I am still trying to complete the mission but with a less diplomatic strategy.

I would love to unlock other factions instead of have to complete another campaign. I want to be the Scotts.

[Kobal2fr]

Scots wha hae !

If only they had some gunpowder units...

@helmeteye : check the FAQ (stickied post), it's the most answered question (plus lots of good info too)

[phunkbot]

this is making me mouth water and i still have 3 hours left to work before i can get home and get them pikes... aaargh im buying a laptop and taking it to work

[Didz]

Winter 1099 AD: News from England and the army marches South.

Messengers from Ruadri Wallace, the agent sent to gather intelligence on the English, inform Edward that the English have made an alliance with Spain and that as a consequence Prince Henry has left the English army and gone. Wallace assumes that he has gone to London but cannot say for sure.

However, the English army has been left in the charge of a mere captain.

Wallace estimates its strength to be somewhere in the region of 2,000 men, but at least a quarter are nothing more than armed peasants, no more than 300 are archers and these of poor quality, and only a handful are knights.


Furthermore, Wallace confirms that there is no garrison in Nottingham Castle. Only King Rufus is in residence guarded only by his personal retinue of knights.

Edward studied the report for some time as if some clue in its content would reveal an English trap or deception.

Why would Rufus sit alone in Nottingham and leave his only army leaderless?

Were the English trying to provoke him, to trick him into sticking his head in a noose, or was this truly a perfect opportunity to be grabbed and wrung for all it was worth?

Well trap or not he would not be the one to trigger it. He called for his equerry. 'Take a message to Edinburgh, tell my brother that all is set and that he is to march on York immediately, inform him that the army in Wales is already on the road for Nottingham and that he is too waste no time. is that understood?'

The equerry nodded 'Shall I inform the captain of the army to prepare to march, sire?'

'No! just send the message.' replied Edward. 'And inform Wallace to keep me updated on the movements of the English Army'.

If there was a trap it must be triggerred but not by him, not by him.

Edinburgh: A few days later
All is bustle and haste as Alexander Canmore gathers his troops and heads south.

He had felt it prudent to leave a small garrison in Edinburgh, particularly as there had been reports of Danish ships patrolling off the east coast. He had hoped to hire more men as he marched south but funds had proved sparse since the death of Gawain the merchant and so his army was less impressive than he had hoped.

Nevertheless, his brother the King had assured him that the English garrison of York was weak and he was already on the march to Nottingham and would draw the English away from York. So, it was unlikely that the English would prove too much of a problem.


Alexander marches south.

[Didz]

Summer 1100 AD: Edward finally marches
York is under seige, but Wallace confirms that the only movement from the English was a rather hearthearted attempt to block the road from Caernavon to York.

Re-assured by the news Edward finally musters his troops and marches east, avoiding the dithering English army he heads directly for Nottingham and the English King.

Even now with two Scottish Armies on their land and their King under threat the English Army dithers and does nothing. The only action from the English is to appeal to the Pope,who sends a terse note to Edward informing him that he is to cease all hostilities against the English immediately and return to his own lands. 'This is a strange note to be sending to your most loyal and trusted ally.' he commented 'Inform his holiness that we shall be in our own lands soon enough, once we have thrown the English out of them.'
[With a Pope-o-Meter rating of 8/10 I was reasonably certain that the Popes threat was a hollow one, but nevertheless secretly Edward was concerned.]

[Didz]

Summer 1100 AD: Alexander assaults York.
The English having failed to surrender the city, Alexander decides that an assault is unavoidable. Therefore, choosing what he considers to be the weakest part of the City defences he draws his army up ready for the assault.

Supported by his crossbowmen a force of Irish kerns use a ram to batter a breach in the city walls.

With the breach established Crossbowmen move forward to clear the English defenders from the breach.

Unable to do anything to protect themselves the English defenders are flensed by concentrated crossbow bolts.

In desperation the English charge troops through the breach to drive off the Scottish crossbowmen.

Only to be decimated and broken by the concentrated fire of the Scots Archers and crossbowmen beyond the wall.

With their spearmen routed the entire English garrison surrenders the walls and retreats towards the city centre.

At this point Alexander makes a mistake and orders the Border Horse to pursue the English into the city in the hope of cutting them down before they can rally. The border horse charged into the town hacking and hewing their way through the streets in pursuit of the routed English spearmen, only to turn a corner and run headling into a group of mailed English Knights. Whereupon, they in turn were cut to pieces and fled the field. Proving once again that cavalry are neither mine nor the Scottish strong point.

Alexander attempted to save his horse by ordering the Irish Galloglaich axemen forward and these eventually drove off the English Knights forcing them to withdraw to the city centre with the rest of the army.

The crossbowmen were then ordered forward again to cut down the English in the town square.

This triggered a series of six or seven costly counter-attacks by the English horse in an attempt to drive off the crossbowmen, each attack resulting in the crossbowmen withdrawing behind the Galloglaich and more English horse being cut down with axes.

The English general is cut down during one of these charges.

The death of their captain knocked the last of the fight out of the English garrison and they retreated once more to the city centre.

As the first Irish troops reached them they surrendered the keys to the city.

Casualties had been relatively light except amongst the border horse but the City of York was safe in Scottish hands.

[Fußball]

An entertaining read Didz. I will likely show this to my friend who loves playing the Scottish, he will likely enjoy the read.

Tschüß!
Erich

[Razor1952]

MacDidz a great read. The scots are great fun to play.

here's a shot of scottish canon elephants.....[IMG]
[/IMG]

[sapi]

Nice work, Didz, that's an enjoyable read.

However, AARs really belong in the Throne Room, so I'm going to have to move this there.

[Magraev]

Great read! And funny.

I wish there were more AAR's like this one.

[Didz]

I'm glad you guys are enjoying this blog and I shall keep adding to it when I can. I'm one of those players who likes to keep notes of his games so I find it quite nice to have this forum to publish them on, and if you enjoy reading them then thats even better.

One thing I find quite interesting about this Scottish game is the way my habit of using mercenaries is leading to a quite interesting anti-English coalition in my field armies. Indeed, a large portion of my so called Scottish Army are actually Irish and no doubt you will soon seen some Welsh and even English troops appear. I suspect that historically this would have been quite accurate, the only people missing at the moment are the French who are being a little bit slow in recognizing the opportunity Edward is offering them.

The other nice thing about writing a blog like this is that it encourages me to add a bit of background colour to the characters. Edward for instance is turning into a pretty ruthless character, both in the game and in this blog. Although he nearly comes unstuck in Sherwood Forest. But thats in the next report.

[Didz]

Winter 1100: Nottingham
The first frosts of winter found Edwards army camped outside the walls of Nottingham Castle preparing for the imminent assault. The army was cheered by the news that York had already fallen to Alexander and all looked forward to the plunder which Nottingham would provide, not to mention the warm beds, ale and women.

The army was poised to strike when news reached Edward from his agent, Wallace, that the English had finally stirred themsleves from the Welsh borders and were approaching from the west through the forest of Sherwood.

"Yer can allays trust the damn English ta ruin a good party." cursed Edward "Muster the men, lets teach 'em how we Scots deal wi' gatecrashers.'

The Battle of Nottingham
The area from north to west of Nottingham is one huge forest. The forest of Sherwood was a Royal hunting ground used by the English king and so was preserved from clearance by local peasants and farmers. However, Edward managed to find an area of higher ground which was large enough and clear enough to deploy his army upon.

The way Edward deployed his army was becoming almost a standard for the Scottish king. The infantry formed two lines with the crossbowmen in front and the archers sandwiched between the first and second line, whilst the border horse formed up slightly behind each flank ready to fend off any threat or launch an attack on the enemy reserves.

Scouts soon reported that the English were approaching through the forest to the west and Edward rushed his army forward to deploy across their line of advance, and to allow his crossbowmen a clear field of fire as they emerged from the tree-line.

The English infantry baulk under the heavy fire but the English knights spur forwards and hurl themselves at the Scottish line driving off the crossbowmen and impaling themselves on the wall of lowland spearmen and Irish axemen forming the Scottish first line.

With the English Army now locked in close combat with the Scottish battle line the Border Horse on the flanks of the line sally forth to drive off the English archers.

Fighting is fierce and bloody, the Scottish first line is driven in by shear weight of numbers and Edward is forced to commit his second line to protect his archers.

Finally, the English have had enough and their Knights attempt to extracate themselves from the slaughter.

The English general is either too slow or too brave and is cut down by Scottish spearmen.

Their Captain dead the English lose heart and flee to the South presumably heading for London their last place of refuge. The border horse chivvy them from the field whilst the archers and crossbowmen use them for target practice. The rest of the army began catching their breath and looking for loot or friends amongst the corpses that littered the hillside.

But Edward was looking for the English King. Rufus had not shown his face at the battle, although Edward knew he must be close by. He had deliberately held back his retinue of 62 knights with the intention of preserving it to deal with Rufus and his small retinue of English from Nottingham. The idea of cutting down the English King personally appealed to him and he certainly did not want Rufus to escape back into the city. So now he scanned the tree-line looking for any sign of the skulking monarch.

The sight that greeted him made his blood run cold. For instead of Rufus and the small retinue of knights reported by Wallace, what emerged from the tree's and began to march resolutely up the slope towards him was little short of another English army, and an army made up not of peasants and local levies but an army of knights.

"Ta Arms! Ta Arms! Recall the pursuit. Reform the battle-line. Ready the archers."


As the tired and bloody Scottish Army scrambled to face this new threat Edward realised he had been right all along. It had been a trap. The English had lured him here like a fat trout with a juicy worm and now they thought they had him, but something must have gone wrong for the English had been late springing the trap, had Rufus and his knights arrived earlier when the Scots were still struggling with the main English army they would have overwhelmed him. But they had not and so there was just a chance that Edward might still win, if god and St.Andrew was with him. Crossbow bolts began to pepper the ranks of English knights plodding up the slope but with minimal effect, the English just kept coming.

The battles lines clash over the bodies of the fallen from the first battle. Rufus and his personal retinue charge the Scottish centre intent on breaking the line.

The remnants of the Scottish horse attack the English flanks in a futile attempt to break their resolve.

Edward watched the struggling mass of men with growing concern. Everything was now committed to the fight except his own household and the Scottish ranks were gradually being thinned. It was only a matter of time before his men gave way under the pressure.

If he was to win this fight then Edward knew that he would have to risk all on a final roll of the dice, and trust that St. Andrew was holding the dice cup.

He could see the English Royal Standard and knew that Rufus was there in the fight near the centre of the battle. It was time to rip out the heart of this English Army or die trying.

With that he moved his personal retinue of knights around the left of his own battle line and brought them up behind the English centre where Rufus was still struggling to break through the Scottish line. With a final shout of 'Fer Scotland and Saint Andrew, KILL THE BASTARDS' he launched his charger into the midst of the English knights and began hacking his way resolutely towards the Royal Standard and the English King.

Rufus seeing the mass of Scottish knights closing on him from the rear spurred his own horse hard and finally managed to break through the Scottish battle-line and escape abandoning his standard bearer and most of his surviving retinue. Edward attempted to follow but an English spear thrust across his chest made him realise that the English had closed ranks behind their King and pursuit would be suicide. 'SCOTS TA ME! BACK! BACK! He fell back reforming behind the English line whilst the surviving infantry on the hill launched a furious charge into the English spearmen to distract their attention.

The escape of Rufus proved to be shortlived, as the English King attempted to make his way back to his own lines, Edward and his surviving knights having extracted themselves from the tangle of English spears intercepted him and Edward finally had the King v King showdown that he craved. Rufus died his chest pierced by a Scottish lance.

Their King dead the English lost heart and began to fall back down the slope and melt away back into the greenwood from wence they had come.

Pitfully few of the Scottish host survived and of the 62 knights that stood with Edward that morning only 30 now remained, nevertheless it was a victory. The English trap had failed and Rufus had paid for his deception with his life.

Edward wandered the battlefield congratulating his men and surveying the carnage.

"How many did we lose?" he asked.
"As best we can tell six hundred and sixty six, Sire" was the reply.

Edward laughed ironically "Six-hundred and sixty-six, the devils number, if that doesn't convince Pope Gregory that we are on a holy crusade to rid the world of these English devil's then nothing will. Make sure that MacDougall gets that message in Rome, I want the Pope to know what happened here today, and that God was on our side."

[Stuperman]

The plot thickens, this it really good, I hope to see what happens next.

[Didz]

Winter 1100 AD: The Battle of Nottingham (Evening)
The funeral pires were burning fiercely on the hillside, fuelled by the oaks of Sherwood and Edward was recovering from the battle in his tent and contemplating Rufus' crown on the table before him when his equerry entered.

Sire! a deputation from the city is here to plea for mercy.

Edward stirred from his thoughts picked up the English crown and emerged from the tent into the stench of smoke and death outside. A small group of well-dressed Englishmen were gathered outside under the curious and careful gaze of his surviving knights. Their leader, a well dressed man with an impressive set of whiskers, stepped forward and bowed.

"Your majesty, I am Alan Wheatley and I have the honour to be the Sherriff of Nottingham. I am here together with this deputation, and on behalf of the Constable of Nottingham Castle to negotiate terms for the surrender of the keys to the fortress."

"Da yer have any daughters Mister Wheatley?" asked Edward pretending to inspect the English Crown in his hand.

The Sherriff seemed perplexed "Yes, sire I have a daughter. Her name is Marion." he replied.

"Then my terms are quite simple Sherriff. Tell you and yer friends, both here and in the fortress that if they hand over the keys to the Fortress to me tonight I will offer them and their families my protection tomorrow, when my army enters the city. If they do not then they can remain where they are until my soldiers find them and meet their fate like the rest of the population."

But, Sire surely we can discuss.... began the Sherriff.

"There is nothing to discuss, Sherriff. You can see the state of my army. Thanks to your King I have less that thirty knights remaining, and much of my army are hired thugs. Do you think I can deny them the spoils they have fought hard for here today. I can offer you and your friends protection but nothing more. Accept it now or negotiate with my soldiers tomorrow."

"You leave us no choice. Sire!"

"There never was one. Hand my men the keys and go with them to gather your people together in an easily defensible location, then stay there until what must be done is over."

The next morning Edwards army sacked Nottingham, claiming the warm. beds, ale and women that it craved. Whilst the castles dignitaries and their families cowered under the protection of Edwards knights.

[Didz]

Summer 1101: Nottingham Castle

Sire! Wallace reports that the English are still skulking about in the forest to the west and that another small English army has left London and is marching North, probably to join them.

Another small army. repeats Edward scornfully Another small army, like the small army that Rufus brought with him last year. De'yer think that Wallace has learned to count yet, or must we discover what small really means to him only when we count the corpses on the funeral pires.

"Tell, Wallace that I want ta'know how many English not how big they are and that if he cannot count them on his fingers and toes then I shall relieve him of them."

Aye Sire! I'll make sure he gets the message. Replies the equerry. Also, I am afraid there is bad news from Rome, Sire.

Bads news from Patrick. Did the Pope not get our message?

"Nay! Sire I'm afraid he did not. It seems his Holyness Pope Gregory died before Patrick could deliver our message. The new Pope has called himself Pope Aczo and comes from Portugal, so I am told."

"He died...my God he died. Thats the best news I've heard all week. Can there be any doubt now that God favours us. What do we know of this Portuguese Pope, does he favour our cause?"

"MacDougall, writes that he is quote 'utterly corruptable', Sire"

"Ha! Ha! Saint Andrew's bollocks" guffaw's Edward thumping the table in excitement "God has truly smiled on us today, lets waste no time then, have a chest of 500 florins dispatched immediately to Rome with a note congratulating his holyness on his new errm!....calling, and assuring him of the full support of Scotland in his future success. Patrick can deal with the details, just make sure his holiness is in our pocket before we march on London, and let Patrick know there will be more gold to come if he needs it."

[Didz]

Winter 1101: A time of consolidation and change
With most of England under their control the Canmore's spent the winter of 1101 consolidating their hold on their lands. Troops were rested and retrained and fresh troops were raised to help stabilize their control of their existing lands.

Edward remained in Nottingham, intent on preparations for a march on London in the Summer. The capture of the fortress of Nottingham provided the Scots with some of the most modern facilities for producing armour and weapons available at the time and Edward is engrossed in plans for their future incorporation into the army.

Fresh news arrived from Patrick MacDougall their man in Rome. I regret to inform your majesty that Pope Aczo the Corrupt died before I was able to deliver your gift of 500 florins. However, you will be pleased to announce that the college of Cardinals have just appointed a candidate from our allies in Sicily to the papal throne. I have met with Pope Alexius and he sends greetings to you his most loyal, faithful and trusted servant, and wishes you well in your endeavors.

It appears that God has some pride after all, or perhaps just a sense of humour. [Scotland's Pope-o-Meter rating rockets back up to 10/10]. Edward was becoming increasingly convinced that God really was on his side and the side of the Scots, he had never been a particularly pious man but it seemed to him that the facts spoke for themselves even if some of the heretic's wandering the country claimed otherwise.

The Winter also brought sad news that Queen Margaret, the mother of Alexander, Edmund and David Canmore had died. King Edward was the son of their fathers first marriage to Ingibiorg, daughter of Finn Amasson, widow of Thorlinn, Jarl of Orkney and thus had Norse blood in his veins, which some say accounts for his fierce and brutal ways. Nevertheless, Edward viewed the death of Margaret as an omen of the changes to come, ambassadors from the Danish court were becoming increasingly demanding over the rights of they thought they had to land in Northumbria, and in particular to York. Queen Margaret had kept these whining Vikings under control but now she was gone Edward realised it would only be a matter of time before the Danes decided to try and recover the land they had lost to the English at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

Edwards only hope was that he could finish the English, before the Danes became too much of a nuisance.

[Didz]

Summer 1102: Nottingham Besieged
As the Winter of 1101 retreated so the English advanced. A number of them had spent a cold winter in Sherwood Forest living on their former masters deer and terrorizing local travellers. Now bolstered with fresh men from London they laid seige to Nottingham Castle.

They made a big show of constructing a ram and some scaling ladders but seemed less excited about actually using them, and Edward's initial concerns about the ability of the garrison to resist an English assault subsided. The passive behavior of the English merely encouraged the Scots to become bolder. They began making sallies from the castle to harry the English, at first in small numbers and eventually in strength.

The English proved to be equally unwilling to face the Scots in the open as they were to face them on the walls of Nottingham and at one point the Scots were able to drive them from their seige works and take possession of their seige engine and ladders.

Eventually, after much wasted loss of English lives they gave up altogether, lifted the seige, and retreated back towards London.

[Didz]

Trouble with the Danes
It was soon after the lifting of the English seige of Nottingham that Edward was informed of the first trouble with the Danes.

Danish ships had been seen patrolling off the Scottish coast for months but in the late Summer of 1102 they began to attack trading vessels entering and leaving the port of Edinburgh. Edmund had sent ships of armed men to drive them off and had been successful in doing so, but the loss of Danish lives had meant that relations with the Danish court were now hostile and Edward was worried that this would become a distraction from his main objective of London.

He commissioned the building of three new Holks in Edinburgh, in the hope that this would dissuade the Danes from further aggression and sent his own ships across the North Sea to scout the Danish coast and establish whether the Danish were massing for an invasion. Initial reports suggest that they are not, but Edward is convinced it will only be a matter of time unless he can do something to mend the rift.

A diplomatic mission is called for and Edmund is instructed to look for a suitable emissary.

[Didz]

Summer 1103: Wallace goes sightseeing in London
Whilst Edward made finishing touches to his preparations to march, Raudri Wallace made his way to London. He quickly confirmed that his previous assumption that Prince Henry was in London had been correct, and that the new King Henry was resident in the city accompanied by an army of about 400 men, including a personal retinue of 62 knights and 21 Archers. The rest of the army were spearmen of varying and dubious quality.

Winter 1103: Remember the Danish.
Edmund sends word from Edinburgh that he has found a volunteer suitable and willing to go and talk to the Danes. He is a Stewart by the name of Angus and will sail for Antwerp in the next tide. Edmund also explains that he has taken the initiative of attaching a man called Gille Petair to Angus Stewart's staff. Petair can do a reasonable impression of a Frenchman, and smells strongly of garlic (or worse). Therefore, it is hoped that he will be able to acquire any information which the Danes might not be willing to disclose to Angus. He also reports that the latest scouting reports from the ships patrolling the Danish coast confirm that a large Danish army is massing near Antwerp and that a powerful Danish fleet lies off the coast near Bruges.

Concerned but satisfied that all that can be done to placate the Danes is being done, Edward marches south with his army intent on dealing with the English presence on the Island once and for all.

He is joined en-route by 160 mailed knights from Wales. In fact, the army marching on London could hardly be called a Scottish army. Whilst, it did include 240 Scottish Archers and the 62 Scottish Knights of Edwards personal retinue, the remainder were either mercenaries, Welsh or locally raised English Knights keen to win favour with their new King.

[Didz]

Summer 1104: London under siege.
As Edward approached London news reached him that King Henry had appealed for more troops and hastily increased the size of the London Garrison. It now consisted of over 800 men more than double the figure quoted by Wallace a few weeks ago.

Unperturbed Edward also appealed for more troops, hiring 150 Welsh volunteers and calling for a further 150 highlanders and 80 horse to join him from Nottingham.

[Didz]

Winter 1104: News from the Angus in the Low Countries
News arrived from Angus Stewart confirming that despite being driven slightly off course he and Petair had managed to reach the Low Countries and were put ashore near the Danish held port of Bruges.

Here Angus had presented his credentials leaving Petair to wander off and check the state of the Danish Army and the ships in its port. It appears that Angus was well received and was able to secure agreement from the Danes for an instant ceasefire. Not only that but he was also able to restored the Trade Rights between the Danes and Scotland and was even able to sell the Danes copies of the latest Scottish maps for 80 Florins.

The Danes seemed genuinely relieved to have the threat of war removed from over their heads and their army has already been moved from the coast to reinforce the defences of Bruge.

Income from African gold mines almost doubled
Edmund was able to confirm that another Scottish merchant has managed to establish himself as a gold trader in Africa and that future income from Africa is expected to rise to somewhere close to 2,000 florins per year. In addition, two more merchants are en-route to Africa even as he writes with the intention of seeking further trading opportunies in the area.

[Didz]

Winter 1104: The Seige of London
Cheered by the news from the Low Countries Edward made final preparations for the assault on London.

The small English army just to the West of the Scots, is a group of peasants who foolishly decided to join King Henry in the City at the last minute.

Edward took his time studying the defences of London, looking for a weak point at which to focuss his assault. Eventually he decided upon the north-eastern corner of the city defences where the city wall had been diverted to avoid several farms and consequently did not have such strong defensive towers.

The assault commenced with the two seige towers manned by the English Knights heading for the north wall. However, it was not long before fire arrrows from one of the defensive towers set one of them ablaze.

Fortunately the second tower reached the wall safely and the knights commenced their assault.

With the main assault underway Edward ordered forward the Welsh ladder teams in support.

As the assault developed the Welsh on the left of the attack found themselves unopposed, and with a clear run to the cities East Gate. This was not their intended objective, as Edward had planned to move right and capture the North Gate but nevertheless they made a run for it and captured it without further opposition.

In the meantime, Edward had ordered the first of his crossbow units to reinforce the troops on the North Wall, but as these men scaled the ladders they were met with a counter-attack from a fresh unit of English Spearmen, and Edward had to recall his knights from their advance on the North Gate to drive them back.

With his capture of the North Gate delayed by the English counter-attack Edward decided to switch the focus of his assault to the East Gate rushing all the troops still outside the city round to the East and into the city.

When news that the Scots had penetrated the East Gate reached the English on the North Wall they abandoned their counter-attack and fell back towards the City Centre.

At the same time fresh units of English spearmen launched a counter -attack against the East Gate in the hope of driving the Scots back out of the city.

The troops from the North Wall are rushed to the East Gate to assist in its defence and major battle develops in the streets.

Eventually, the Scots prevail and the Highlanders pursue the surviving Englishmen towards the City Centre.

A brief lull settles over the battle at this point as both sides prepare for the final confrontation in the City Centre. Edward's Welsh mercenaries form a shiltron at the head of the street backed up by dismounted knights to block the street and protect the Scottish Archers forming behind them.

With preparations in place the Scottish Archers begin to fire arrows into King Henry's personal retinue of Knights forcing them to react or die where they stand. The English King leads a furious charge which engulf's the Welsh shiltron and embeds itself in the supporting English Knights.

The Welsh are overwhelmed and die to a man, but Henry pays the ultimate price, cut down by his former subjects, or perhaps one of the highlanders who seem to have involved themselves in the fight.

Their King dead the English Knights lose heart and the handful of survivors fall back to the City Centre allowing Edward to bring forward his crossbowmen to finish the job.

The Crossbowmen continue to slaughter the Englishmen crammed in the City Centre until they eventually throw down their arms and surrender. Victory!

The entire of England is now under Scottish control and the Union is formed under the leadership of Edward, King of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

The City of London was sacked realising 13,039 florins for the Scottish treasury, and earning Edward the reputation of being a 'merciless mauler' (+3 Dread). When news of the victory reached Edinburgh, so many Scottish Knights flocked to join the army and share in the glory and spoils that Edmund was able to add four units of Feudal Knights to his garrison. (Mission: Reward)

[Razor1952]

"They made a big show of constructing a ram and some scaling ladders but seemed less excited about actually using them,"

I had to laugh at that , I also loved the picture of the sheriff of Nottingham. You have a easy writing style.

Anyone who is thinking of playing MTW2 should read this thread to see the fun you can have.

I await further installments.