M2TW AAR: Vignette - England

[Beefeater]

WINTER OF DISCONTENT

The year was 1084. I remember the heat of that summer, and even now the memory brings warmth to my old bones. William was king then, his retainers dragged from their comfortable southern estates to the new stronghold at Nottingham so that he could wage war against the Welsh, and I, a tanner's son, had been called to the levy. My head was full of dreams, and I remembered how my older cousin Wat had come home with a chest of copper coins and a fine Flemish cloak from his service with Prince Rufus against the Danes of York, that some still called by its old name, Jorvik. Wat was a fine archer, and his stories of the arrow duel against the Yorkish bowmen and the massacre of the Yorkishmen by the Prince's knights had fired my blood so that I, too would have been an archer. But my hands were too clumsy to hold a bow, and so it was that I was called into the levy and came to hold a spear in the King's army. And in my youth and my hunger for glory, I imagined the land I would buy with my plunder and the smile in the eyes of my wife (for I meant to marry with my wealth) as I clasped a bracelet around her arm, or a necklace over her throat.

Welcome to Winter of Discontent, the first in a series of several vignettes I mean to write covering the short campaigns of the game's various factions. As you've probably guessed, this vignette will cover the English in their attempts to meet the campaign goals of holding 15 Provinces, eliminating the Scottish and eliminating the French. The vignettes will be in as many sections as I feel like writing (probably one for each major event), and as I'm not much with pictures, I'll try to illustrate them with the occasional sketch in a style appropriate to the faction. Needless to say, for the English I'll be ripping off Bernard Cornwell, who despite being twice winner of the David Eddings award for writing the same story repeatedly in a non-fantasy setting (Arthur trilogy, Grail trilogy, and Last Kingdom sort-of-trilogy) manages to keep it fresh and interesting each time.

So, on to the show. All games played on Hard campaign/Hard battles settings, although I may move to Medium campaign/Very Hard battles or Very Hard/Very Hard if H/H feels wrong.

First Steps

There isn't really much variety to the first few steps as the English. Take York, knock out Caernarvon and snaffle Rennes if the French are slow off the mark. I think that it's possible to do this with just your starting troops plus maybe one turn's build if you're economical. First things first: three starting provinces: the town (Level 2 city) of London; the Castle (Level 3) at Nottingham; and the Castle (Level 3) at Caen. There's two armies in the field: one in Yorkshire, and one in Caen: both contain a mix of basic infantry and basic archers. Finally, you begin with three family members: King William the Conqueror in London, his son William Rufus (just "Prince Rufus" in game, which I find annoying as he should really be "Prince William". I also think his traits at game start make him insufficiently awful!) up North, and Robert loafing about in Normandy. King William's a pretty decent leader, and both his sons have one or two command stars, so that's one for each rebel settlement.

The attack on York goes well, with the Prince's soldiers slaughtering the ex-viking defenders to the last man. This being the loathsome Rufus, he exterminates the populace. I was disappointed to see that this didn't bump up his Dread rating. One thing I noticed was that archers are very good at firing over obstacles, with my two units of peasant archers doing pretty sterling work shooting up the rebels. The pre-battle speeches are amazing, by the way, and very immersive. However, York had no walls to hold off an immediate attack: Rennes and Caernarvon will take more work. I send the Caen contingent to besiege Rennes, and Robert marches along to join them. In the meantime, King William gathers up the militias from London and Nottingham, leaving behind a unit of peasants in the first case and militia in the second, and marches toward Caernarvon. He should reach it in one to two turns. Rennes can hold out for 4. I have no intention of assaulting it as I'm not planning any major action in France in the opening moves of the game.

Building a better Britain

With the marching done, it's time to start building up my forces. On H/H you begin with a generous 10,000 florins. These I put to good use by recruiting a second diplomat in London and a unit in each of my settlements except for York (no military buildings there yet). Next it's time to start customising these places. York gets a palisade wall, London a brothel (I use spies a lot in total war games), and Nottingham and Caen both start roadbuilding programmes, as I'll need that mobility to reinforce against the Scots and French when the fighting starts. On to the agents...

The ties that bind

Starting agents are a diplomat in France, a princess near London, and a merchant in Normandy. I'll want both the Scots and the French onside while I consolidate my grip on the Rebel settlements, so the Diplomat heads south and the princess heads north. The merchant gets loaded aboard one of my two boats, as I'll want to have merchants on all the trade resources in England until they are savvy enough to take on those German and Italian types without getting bought out.

Good news! The French are happy to have trade rights, swap maps, and ally. The diplo's next task will be to swing East and get to know the HRE a bit better.

Tune in later to see how the Welsh War went.

[Mechstra]

Very good read so far, keep it up. :)

[Tamur]

Are you going to be taking this in a narrative way? Sounds great, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[astonkiller]

cant wait play faster:2thumbsup: :laugh4:

[Beefeater]

THE HARROWING OF THE VALLEYS


Back then Caernarvon was not the massive fortress that now guards the western marches. It was still impressive to my young eyes, though, and the savage Welshmen that guarded it seemed like monsters from a child's tale. Their spearmen taunted us from the walls, displaying their private parts and throwing ordure, but we could stand their jeers and we cursed back as lustily as they. For the assault, William had recruited a group of Welsh archers, short and wiry men who held great long bows nearly as tall as they were, and we mocked them for we were Saxons and tall and they were Britons and seemed like children to us. He had brought also spearbands from among those local tribes that paid tribute to the men of Caernarvon, and it was these expendable troops, accompanied by bands of lackwits and ne'erdowells from his own lands, who were tasked with taking the siege engines to the walls: a great tower and a score of ladders. It was then that we saw the deadly accuracy of the great yew bows the Welshmen carried, and our mockery turned to cries of dismay as flight after flight of arrows cut down the spearman and peasant bands in their dozens. We set up a shout as our tower neared the enemy walls, but the Welsh were skilled in siegecraft and had laid out barrels of pitch by their bows, which they lit as they shot to produce arrows that burned fiercely. Their flaming darts set one of the towers alight, killing the wretched men inside it, but the king just laughed his cruel laugh and we saw that the other tower was at the walls, and then I was moving forward as Geoffrey roared to me to march and I was made just one man among the hundreds pressing together as we struggled up the ladders.


First, an apologetic. I missed two agents - a spy north of Nottingham and a cardinal in East Anglia - in the post above. They are now hard at work spying and preaching respectively.

Sellswords of Swansea
Three turns in (ie turn 4) and King William's men have been besieging Caernarvon for a turn, long enough to build two ladders and a siege tower. Clearly I've been doing something right as the Council of Nobles last turn offered a 2500 Florin bounty for the capture of the castle. En route, I hired some Mercenary Crossbows and Welsh Spearmen to bulk up the assaulting force, as I expect casualties to be heavy. That said, as Caernarvon is just a wooden castle the few basic units I have should be enough, so I ordered the assault.

All goes well, although there is a dicey moment when the siege tower catches fire and the laddermen are getting butchered by Welsh Spearmen defending the walls. Thought for the day is that troops arriving at the top of a ladder are in a horribly vulnerable situation. I was impressed to see that the AI had put ALL its troops on the walls, only withdrawing any units to the capture point once I had already captured the gates. Doing that, by the way, capturing the gates, was a real fight. Even with spearmen on both walls AND more men coming up the ladders, which disrupted the Welsh Spearmen defensive units' formations and allowed me the first few kills, it was very slow going. Looks like wall assaults are where the English close assault troops will shine, when I get them later on that is. The kill ratio was horrible, and I lost nearly 400 out of 600 men beating the 260 or so longbowmen and spearmen in the castle. Also, mental note - while troops are unarmoured, longbows are a real killer against them. I lost nearly all my crossbow mercenaries and peasant archers (the first units the AI longbowmen targeted) before my ladders were even at the walls. Still, by the time the dust has settled, King William has added Wales to his growing nation, and the grateful nobles have coughed up their 2500 florin reward. This is immediately spent on outfitting more troops for the upcoming Scots campaign.

Northern Frontier
Before the princess even made it to the border, the Scots have offered map information and a trade deal. Looks like the Greater British Co-Prosperity Sphere is off to a good start. I sent Her Royal Highness to offer 500 gold to their representative as a sweetener (and in the hope that successfully negotiating things will help to trigger some handy V&Vs for her). The greedy Scots accept, but there's no trait increase - at least, not yet. As London's Brothel is now welcoming customers and sprogging cheery little English spies, there are a few more men in cloaks being sent North to ensure that Scotland is thoroughly infiltrated. This is good as the initial spy died horribly trying to sneak into Edinburgh (on a 93% chance too, poor devil).

Nottingham and London continue to produce reinforcements, including some Hobilars and Mailed Knights, so Rufus's army is growing nicely. The militia and archers wounded assaulting York have been sent home to pick up some new recruits but they'll be back soon. I was delighted to see that Rufus had gained the trait "mean leader" (+1 Dread) - any ideas what triggered this? Still, in the hope of encouraging him along the path of depravation I whacked tax in York up to 'Very High'. I want Edinburgh quaking when he gets close.

Meanwhile, back in Brittany
The chivalrous (compared to Rufus, anyway) Prince Robert's reunification talks with the good people of Rennes are going well and they should fall next turn. I imagine this will trigger a last glorious charge by the anti-co-operation elements, but they're troublemakers anyway and better dead. Once they're gone Robbie will have Rennes to play with. His enlightened rule should be an interesting contrast with Rufus's iron-handed ways, and with luck should give some insights into how the traits work.

Upgrades and Agencies
The Diplomat is still travelling East toward Germany, passing the rebel city of Metz on the way. Nottingham and Caen have both now build leather tanners and are churning out padded armour, which should cut casualties a bit against the Scots. For the hobilars, anyway, as frankly no-one cares if a few Saxon peasants catch arrows in the face. The Merchant is happily trading wool, appropriate enough in a historical context. I'm looking forward to seeing how the monopolies work - multiple merchants on separate instances of the same resource are supposed to produce some extra cash bonus, which could be handy down the line.

Next Steps
With England and Wales under one Norman banner, I'll use the next few turns to refit and resupply my troops, and then head North with Billy the first and his unpleasant son Rufus, with a view to removing the Scots before they have time to become a threat (or ally with the French). After that, it's eyes South to take on the French - but it's getting late, and I'm tired, so that's enough for today. Next up - the highland campaign.

[Beefeater]

BLOOD IN THE GLENS


I remember little, now, of battles when they are done. But this was my first pitched battle and it is as clear in my mind today as it was then: how Geoffrey was first to the charge and how he fell with a Highland axe buried in his skull; how a shrieking Scots captain who wielded a spear in each hand as if they were children's toys cut down Simon and Tostig ,and how he was felled from behind by a chance blow when I thought he would kill me too. More than anything, I remember the icy fear as the Scots knights bore down on us and the savage joy of fighting, second by bloody second, to keep our shield wall together. Afterwards the priest Jerome told me how the Lord had watched over me as we vanquished those mailed men who tried to trample us beneath the hooves of their warhorses, but all I remember of that was the shock in the eyes of the young knight I dragged from his horse as I rammed my spear though his throat, the mad relief as Prince Rufus's knights thundered into the melee, and the sight of Edward, the Scots prince who had smashed King William's force among the hills scant days before, offering his sword in surrender to a triumphant Rufus.


Professionals...they study Logistics

A couple of turns are spent managing the affairs of state - which is a grandiloquent way of describing the process of outfitting new light units (peasants and militia), sending units from the front lines back to Nottingham or London for refits, sending spies up to Edinburgh and keeping the French sweet. A few observations first:

Rennes fell after an unsuccessful sally against the besieging Prince Robert. He occupies the city, being a decent sort and thus quite unlike his bloody-handed brother Rufus. The next turn, Robert has the 'fair ruler' trait (+1 to chivalry). The following turn a small church is built in Caen to comply with a papal bull: I move Robbie back to Caen to benefit from this if possible and sure enough, on the turn the church is finished he has become religious (+1 piety), and 'fair ruler' has become 'noble in rule' (+2 chivalry). I'm not sure at this stage if building the church affected this, or if it's just a natural development of 'fair ruler'.

The turn after concluding her one-off payment to the Scots, HRH got the 'diplomatic negotiations' attribute (+1 to charm). More news from the diplomatic circuit: I don't want the French getting too annoyed with me due to my siege of Rennes, so the Diplomat on the mainland concludes a deal to pay 300 gold per turn over 5 turns. This raises Anglo-French relations from 'so-so' to 'reasonable'.

From the above it seems that traits, once triggered, are gained the following turn. Can anyone else confirm/deny this one-turn delay theory?

Monarch of the Glen

Interesting news from the spies in Scotland. Edinburgh is now far too tough to crack (53% chance of infiltrating is too low to waste their time and, maybe, lives) reveal that times are ripe for an attack - the Scots only have one, rather battered army in the field, led by Prince Edward. This may be because they have captured Inverness, where Edward's brother Edmund the Chivalrous holds the castle with one extra. King Malcolm is skulking in the city of Edinburgh, probably smashed on whisky.

By turn 8 I have combined all the units ready for the invasion into one large force, poised to cross the Scots border. The Army of the North is led by King William and Prince Rufus, and comprises a mix of spear militia, peasants, peasant archers, hobilars and mailed knights. So as to minimise papal interference by keeping things fast, the invasion force will be split into two units (three would leave one commanded by a captain and at risk of going rebel or being bribed). King William will lead a small enough force to lure the Scots army into combat and crush them before heading on to besiege Inverness with a couple of extra peasant units, while Prince Rufus will march on Edinburgh and kill off Malcolm.

These best laid plans gang agley, though. I have to say the battle AI is not THAT bad on hard. The Scots deploy in a forest slightly uphill from a low plain. William's force of bodyguard, one unit of mailed knights, archers, and three spear militia (superior in numbers to the Scottish force) march in formation towards them and take a pasting from the highland archers, who skirmish back when the spear milita get close. Ordering the bodyguard and mailed knights round the sides seems like a good idea at the time, but the Scottish General's bodyguards, supported by wailing highlanders in plaid, engage the mailed knights and have butchered them before the King's soldiers can break through the highland archers.

It seems that cavalry are at a massive disadvantage in woods, certainly against highlanders.

It's soon all over - the Scots heavy cavalry turn the flank of the English army and, despite a heroic rearguard effort by William's knights, annihilate the English force. William himself barely escapes the field, accompanied by one retainer. I pay for the return of the prisoners.

A Scots Tragedy

Their victory does the Scots no good, however. The main English force is just too large, and Prince Rufus, another unit of mailed knights, some hobilars and two more units of spear militia ram this point home, wiping out the unfortunate Edward and his remaining men in another battle that same turn. Edward is captured, leaving Rufus with a dilemma - ransom him and his brave warriors, or indulge his bloody side and butcher the lot. Robert would probably have let them go free, but Rufus is made of sterner stuff and not averse to the occasional massacre.

I really don't like that man.

A quick assault on Edinburgh and the war is over, but...

Rufus the bloody is dead, killed in the street-to-street fighting. King William avenges his son's death by massacring the population, in time-honoured fashion.

Inverness falls soon after.

Time now for a long period of consolidation and building up of forces in England and maybe the low countries. After that, wipe out the French, and it's all done.

Cushty.

[thalyrikalone]

Beefeater, these are really good. I really enjoy reading them; please continue,

[Mechstra]

Aye, keep going - very entertaining reading. I particularly like that you're role-playing to some extent.

[Beefeater]

GLORIOUS SUMMER - THE FIRST FRENCH WAR

The first time I sailed on a boat, I thought it would kill me. The crossing to the low countries was a rough and a dangerous one, and countless times I struggled, retching, to the sides of the cog and voided myself into the channel. The sailors were sullen and would not speak to soldiers like me, so I spent most of the voyage packed into the hold with the other spearmen, where there was nothing to do but drink and complain. Yet for all my discomfort, the voyage was safe and the King's Army docked in full a short way outside Bruges. By then we were rowdy and turbulent and ready for a fight, and as I think back I know that God must have wept that day, for we fell upon the city like starving hounds. The King let us have our way once we took the walls, so that I got my Flemish cloak, and bracelets enough to deck the spire of a church; we had wine, and women, and of all the things that those proud citizens had earned, those we did not take, we smashed for a childish delight in destruction.

The story so far...

With Great Britain clasped firmly within his mailed fist at the cost of his son Rufus, a grief-struck King William turned acquisitive eyes toward Ireland. Leaving a skeleton force to defend his possessions in Great Britain, HM and a couple of adoptees cross the Irish sea and fall upon Dublin. As has become his custom, William butchers the population - by now, less pour encourages les autres than pour suffer-the-same-fate-as les autres. The pope is not amused and the next turn we are informed that he holds us in less esteem than had hitherto been the case.

Wars and rumours of wars

The Council of Nobles, showing uncharacteristic backbone, come out strongly in favour of an attack on rebel-held Bruges, and to incentivise the Crown, offer 2500 Florins for the same. In the meantime, diplomats fan out across Europe, making alliances with the Germans and the Spanish (the latter by way of royal marriage) in addition to the French, and keeping up payments to each such neighbour in the interest of good relations.

Rufus's death has obviously hit William hard, as he is now known not as the conqueror but by the sobriquet 'the malevolent'. The nation is gripped by fear, which is a good thing as, if nothing else, this keeps disaffected elements quiet. Meanwhile Robert the Smug, having had greatness thrust upon him by his brother's death, is ruling Caen fairly. He's picked up a Guard Dog (why - is there a connection to building a town militia?). He remains chivalrous for now.

A turn or two passes, and, not a moment too soon, time's winged chariot carries off William the shockingly evil. Robert becomes King Robert the Chivalrous and prepares to arrange for the capture of Bruges. God has other plans for him, however. An unexpected rebellion (read: sudden appearance of rebel stack) on the Welsh border delays the main army on England for a few turns. Unfortunately for Robert, during this period, the pope's Special Prosecutors on the continent complete their investigation into accounting irregularities (i.e. HM the King's inability to make 2+2 equal 5 when told to do so) during this period. As a result, waking one morning in his comfortable chambers, Robert's calls for the servants go unheard as an armed mob, whipped up by the Inquisitor, drags him away to the central square in Caen where he is promptly burned to death. All hail King Lewes, a formerly undistinguished general whose only claim to fame thus far is crushing the Welsh rebellion a turn or so ago.

Cloak and dagger

Lewes turns out to be quitea smart choice as king. Initially a 'fair fighter' and chivalrous, he quickly adapts to the heavy burden of the crown by becoming the same twisted bastard as William was. There may be some connection between this and my mass training (and use) of spies and assassins. Not only does this give him traits that permit cheaper training of agents, it also gives traits one or two of which inspire dread. He is, I think, amoral rather than immoral - expect towns to be sacked rather than butchered under his reign.

Lewes leads his troops (for the record, these are a couple of units of mailed knights, a large number of spearman and a couple of archer units) over to Bruges. Remember all those spies I mentioned? Guess where they just infiltrated. Yes, when the English arrive at the gates they find them gaping wide open, and a surprise assault catches the unhappy Walloons off guard (with 6 spies, I had a 95% chance of this happening). The city falls at the first attack and most of the spies are assigned to the French countryside to build a picture of French strength. The victorious English then sack Bruges.

Blessed aren't the cheesemakers

The picture couldn't be more encouraging. France is locked in war with Milan, and Italian troops have penetrated as far north as Dijon, which seems to be their base of operations within France. The main French army is either nonexistent or nowhere to be seen - I suspect either chewed up by the Italians or somewhere in Spain, as the French and Spanish have just gone to war. There are however a good few troops near Paris. I decide that this is a good time to cancel my alliance with France, and order two columns into Champagne, one, led by the King, besieging Paris and the other, by the Faction Heir, besieging Angers. With the Spanish and Germans as allies, the Danes not as allies but on 'reasonable' terms with England, and the French unable to bring up troops in support, the omens are good. I order both besieging armies to build 4 ladders (achievable in 1 turn) and hit the 'end turn' button.

the seasons pass...

...and the French Northern Army all come together to attack the King's army outside Paris. This battle is crucial for France - I haven't got enough troops to replace my army if it's beaten, and the French have no other major armies in the field. If I can win, or at least bleed them badly, then the war will be over before it's even started.

Battle of Paris

The terrain is parkland, with few obstacles and a gentle hill at one end, fortunately the end I deploy in. This ought to be a good thing as my army has more cavalry than any one of the three medium-sized French armies attacking me. Fortunate too was news that the small bushes, which I had initially dismissed as ornamentation but that I now know can disorder cavalry charges, were absent from the lower slopes of the hill making charges easy, so I set up my troops uphill with the cavalry at a forward angle to the main battle line. The plan is to use my three units of mailed knights and Royal bodyguard to make repeated cavalry charges against the French infantry, with a view to wiping out each group of Frenchies as it comes. The Infantry and archers are there as a shield to fall back behind if the plan fails. Finally there is a unit of hobilars to chase stragglers. But the plan is dependent on making the knights charge with lances couched each time, as otherwise they will be bogged down in combat and will die - and I don't have enough infantry to hold off the French if they can bring their forces to bear.

The three French armies are clearly visible marching through the woods toward the English lines. The first group come into range, and as soon as they are past my knights, I single-right-click each enemy with a cavalry unit. The horses trot forward, then canter, then lower their lances and hit a gallop....and crash into the flanks of the French spearmen in three perfectly-executed charges, causing hideous casualties. While the spearmen are reforming, the cavalry wheel back and repeat the charge - again, three perfect charges.

The battle then becomes a massacre as the cavalry wheel and charge and wheel and charge until the first French army has been completely chewed up, with the hobilars on hand to mop up stragglers. The second French army fights much harder and the knights are down to under half strength with the King looking pretty badly mauled before they are broken. The final French army sweeps aside my cavalry but is overcome by the still fresh spearmen and archers. When the day ends, the English forces are battered but still standing, the last organised army in France is so much worm food, and Paris has fallen to King Lewes, who promptly sacks it.

The spoils of war

Once my turn came round again after capturing Paris, Lewes minor assaulted and took Angers. This is where things got really interesting. With two major victories against the French in recent memory, I decided to try my luck and sue for peace in exchange for the lightly defended castle of Bordeaux. As the offer (ceasefire for bordeaux) was 'demanding', I tried to make it more palatable by offering ceasefire + some cash (1600 florins) for Bordeaux - this, I was informed, was 'generous'. To my intense surprise, the French accepted my 'generous' offer and our relations even improved as a result.

There will of course be another French war to wipe the buggers out, but with 13 of 15 provinces in the bag and the Frogs reeling, what can go wrong?

[Myrddraal]

Great read. I imagine the offer might have been seen as very generous because by the sound of it the french are stripped for cash.

I'd love to see some pics and illustrations :grin:

[Beefeater]

Great read. I imagine the offer might have been seen as very generous because by the sound of it the french are stripped for cash.

I'd love to see some pics and illustrations :grin:
I'd love to know how to add them :)

Pics and illustrations are for future instalments I think. The English will have to do without.

[Faenaris]

Cheers Beefeater, this is a very very nice AAR. I'm looking forward to reading more. ~:)

[Dooz]

To take screenshots, just go to www.fraps.com and download the free program. It's really simple to use. Then you can edit and whatever you need to do, cut, size down, convert to JPEG in paint. And when it's ready, just go to www.imageshack.us and upload it and put it here for all of us to enjoy! I really can't wait until you provide us with some images to go along with the excellent writing :2thumbsup: .

[Beefeater]

Thanks Wonderland. Images will be in as of the next campaign, which will be as the French.

I've been able to draw some interesting conclusions about Guilds and diplomacy from this campaign as the English, which will go in the next, and final, writeup.

[Beefeater]

LAST ACT IN MARSEILLE


Every time I lifted my shield to defend myself, my reactions came slower, and my breath was laboured. There had been no warning but the hiss of crossbow bolts through the air, followed by the heartrending screams of men and horses in their death throes. That was the first we knew that the Angevin army, that we had thought beaten after the slaughter near Tours, had attacked from ambush. Now we were isolated, cut off from the Prince and his knights who had charged ahead, though I doubted that many of them could still be alive after that murderous first volley. Yet I think I must have been blessed that day, for it seemed as though I saw the world from a great height, and I knew to call the rest of the levy together to protect the longbowmen, who were exposed on our right flank. The French came on, rank after rank of armoured spearmen bellowing the name of their leader, the Provost of Marseille. No other general had given us such trouble as he, for when we took and killed the Dauphin, we had thought the Angevin French finished, but he rallied them and came back at us again and again, and now it seemed that he would kill me too. We held the shieldwall against two, three charges, though many died and though my arm felt like lead from raising my shield. But we could hold no longer, and the archers had spent their last shafts, and still the French came. Nothing but a miracle could have saved us then, and a miracle in truth it must have been, though I knew nothing of it at the time. The man beside me fell, and his killer stepped past me. Though I tried to raise my shield in defence, I had nothing left, and I am only alive today because I slipped on the blood of my fallen comrade, causing the spear thrust that should have gone through my belly to slice into my arm instead. I fell, then, senseless with pain, and knew no more of the battle. But Bishop Odo tells me that even as I fell, the French Provost was cut down by the Prince who had rallied the remaining knights, and fallen upon the French army from behind, slaying many and routing the rest, and so it was that the two crowns were made one and King Lewes made to sit, enthroned, in the City of Paris, Ruler of Britain and Grand Seigneur of France, and the proud lords of Aquitaine made to do him homage.

The Italian Job

The Anglo-Norman domain now stretched from Great Britain and Ireland in the North to Gascony and Bordeaux in the South, and wherever houses grouped together to form a town or city in Northern France, they did so under the watchful eyes of and English overlord. England's merchants ranged far and wide; her diplomats maintained strong alliances with Germany and Spain; and the scattered remnants of the Angevin French had retreated to their new capital of Marseilles. I was offered a swordsmith's guild in Caen on the same turn as completing a blacksmith there, which made me wonder if the completion of new buildings in a particular chain could be a trigger for a guild invitation. What bliss in that dawn to be alive, eh?

The serpent in the garden, however, was the Duke of Milan. One of the reasons that France was so weak and ready for the plucking was that the Milanese had shattered a French army and captured Dijon just before King Lewes attacked. As a few have remarked on these forums, the French really do have a tough time of it early on. At any rate, it became evident that his Grace's territorial ambitions extended beyond Milan, and within three turns there were two large Milanese armies on Anglo-French soil. Spies reported that each consisted of 10 to 12 units of town militia, a couple of units of crossbow milita from the city-state of Genoa, and that mailed knights made up the balance. Neither was commanded by a family member or general, though - they must have got on the wrong side of the Venetian assassins. Fortunately King Lewes, anticipating something like this (although I'd actually thought that it would be the Spanish or an additional French stack that caused the trouble), had sent reinforcements of Longbowmen and Feudal foot knights from Nottingham and Caen, and this reinforced army proved sufficient to beat off the Milanese near Paris.

The battle itself was an eye-opener. The Italians attacked uphill, in the driving rain. This negated much of the strength of the longbows, and my knights were unable to charge. In the end, the brunt of the battle was borne by the Foot Knights, and but for the King's strong command rating (5 stars) and the fortunate death of the Italian general when a unit of knights cuts him off from the main force, the English army would have been annihilated. As it is, we won but at horrible cost. Barely one man in every four who started the battle was left alive, and England's knights had been cut down in droves.

The second Milanese stack came just short of attacking the weakened English before they could reinforce, so I was, by merging the survivors into units of veterans and bringing in another turn's worth of reinforcements from England and Caen, able to withstand their assault the following turn. The King's army chasds and, with the aid of an allied HRE army, annihilated the routers. This had dramatic diplomatic consequences; as a direct result of entering into this tiny skirmish, the HRE was dragged into a war with Milan, and also lost alliances with Hungary and the Byzantines. Alles Gut from my point of view - the less secure HRE is on its own borders the less chance it will turn on me before I can wipe out the French and win the campaign.

Among the sun-drenched hills

With the Milanese humbled, I offered a white ceasefire (which they accepted). So, having secured the borders of the King's realm with a judicious admixture of alliances and military victories, it was time to finish the French and, with them, this story. It was the work of barely two turns to outfit and send an army against Toulouse - with a siege train of ballistae in tow, they were able to reduce the walls and capture the castle at the first attempt. The French were down but not out though - to my very pleased surprise, by the time the army arrives outside Marseille, the French have managed to assemble a full 20 unit army to resist. The campaign therefore ended in suitably dramatic fashion, with the clash of a full early period English army against a similar French one, both led by strong commanders. The difference was that if the French won, it would merely delay the inevitable, whereas an English victory would be the final chapter in this tale.

The battle took place among the Marseille hills. The Anglo-Norman army, led by faction heir Prince Walter, was composed roughly half of knights and a quarter each of infantry and missile troops (if one counts the two ballista units as missile troops). The free French responded with a more balanced force: crossbowmen and peasant archers, a few spearmen, and a good number of cavalry of their own. As the French were light on spearmen, and as it would be fun to make it work, I tried to engineer a massed charge of knights to sweep away their screen of missileers.

It was a catastrophe. In a reversal of Agincourt, the English knights never lower their lances and charge in swords drawn, to be skewered on the spears of the French militia who ran up from behind their missile troops. The French then moved up, leaving a neat line of English corpses and dead horses lying behind them on the ground. Ultimately, I still won - on Hard level the AI rarely beats me except where their numbers and general bonuses seriously outnumber my own - but it's less of a cut and dried affair than it might have been.

Ultimately the campaign ends with a whimper more than a bang. The victorious army besieges Marseille and I autoresolve the last conflict, that brings the campaign to a close. The Empire encompasses sixteen provinces, the Scots are crushed, the French eliminated, and the Anglo-Normans established as the pre-eminent power of the West. A most satisfactory conclusion!

Well, that's the first Vignette complete, and I hope that some of you have enjoyed reading it. The French are next - with pictures.

As for the unnamed spearman? I would like to have given him lands and wealth, but it was not to be. He was only a Saxon, after all...


With our victory won, King Lewes made his peace with those few rebels that still disputed his reign, and with the Emperor of the Germans, and the Spaniards, and he himself made a pilgrimage to Rome to appease the Pope. But when he died the new King didn't need levied soldiers, far less crippled ones, and I was given some coin and told I was a free man, and cast out from the barracks. But what was that freedom worth to me? My last gold was long since spent drinking and whoring in Marseille, and that, my son, is why you find me here, tending the gardens for these holy men whose charity provides me with bread and some vegetables, and, once a month, some meat from Abbot Odo's table. Leave me to my devoirs, now, for the Vespers bell is ringing and I have many tasks - and may God go with you, always.

[IrishArmenian]

I think these would be more interesting on VH/VH for certain factions such as the English and other more powerful ones. Very good though. Excellent narratives!

[AussieGiant]

Excellent stuff Beefeater.

I'm going to have to use this as a template for my English Grand campaign.

Cheers

[AussieGiant]

A bump for anyone complaining about Diplomacy.

Give this a read and take some notes it is excellent.

keep in mind it is on Hard Campaign settings not VH.

[Dooz]

Y'know, I just read over the posts again and it just keeps getting better. I eagerly await the upcoming French campaign. I do hope you take a lot of pictures, even though I suppose that might not fit in with the quicker style of these write-ups.... In any case, I'm sure whatever you do will be just dandy as you know what you're doing :beam: . Lets hope you go through evey single faction in the game this way good sir!