RabidGibbon
12-20-2006, 23:44
The Vikings: 1080AD to 1120AD
“Denmark and its people have grown far beyond their Viking past” announces the voiceover on the intro movie. Which shows what he knows. This Denmark is going back to its roots. I’m thinking long boats, horned helmets and burning monasteries to the ground. Sadly Cardinal Halstan informs us that the last one is right out, but happily theirs still plenty of pagans around the Baltic that can be safely victimised.
Anyway before I forget to tell you all what’s going on here I’m writing up a Danish Campaign for my own and (hopefully) your amusement, settings VH/VH and to begin with I’ll be posting updates in handy bite sized 20 year chunks.
The starting cast of this little melodrama are King Knud, his slightly less bizarrely named heir Prince Charles and his daughter Princess Ingrid. As mentioned above Cardinal Halstan is also mooching around, and theirs some handy peasants on hand - a spy and a merchant to be specific.
My opening moves are pretty simple, Prince Charles takes the bulk of my armies, which mainly consist of Spear militia and peasant archers and besieges Hamburg castle. My intention is to create a “roadblock” at Hamburg to keep the Holy Roman Empire at arms length, whilst building an empire on the shores of the Baltic. A fleet in the Baltic will then be able to quickly shuttle troops to any point under threat. By 1090AD my forces have assembled at the walls of Hamburg in enough strength to attack the walls of Hamburg castle.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/Hamburg.jpg
Bad weather added to the difficulties of attacking Hamburg castle
A hideous fog made the assault a little more confused than it needed to be, but in the end a 2 to 1 advantage in numbers meant I managed to get the gates open, and then unleashed Prince Charles well armed and armoured bodyguard on the hapless defenders. By using peasant archers as melee troops the Hamburgers were eventually overwhelmed and I had a 2nd province.
At Hamburg I was able to build two different types of Vikings, which I hoped would signal an end to the days of spear militias.
Princess Ingrid meanwhile had set off on a European tour which not only saw me now in alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and France, but had them paying for the privilege.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/Ingrid.jpg
Princess Ingrid proved a formidable negotiator
Meanwhile her brother Prince Charles, after building a few forts around Hamburg to act as speed bumps if the Holy Roman Empire ever came calling, set off for Settin to incorporate it into my little empire. The fleet of long boats I had been building also set off to find where any settlements might be located in Scandinavia. They found Oslo, but they also found the Norwegian fleet.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/HighSeasBattle.jpg
Despite the superiority of their “Pirate Ships” the Norwegian fleet was destroyed.
Meanwhile the garrison of Settin was approaching the time when I expected it to sally out, so Prince Charles recruited some mercenary spearmen who had been loafing around making unhelpful comments. They proved unnecessary however as the spineless garrison surrendered without a fight.
My Council of Nobles, delighted at the fall of Settin raised 4 regiments of dismounted Huscarles, which would no doubt come in useful for the future. In the present however they were proving a huge drain on my treasury. I decided to make them pay for themselves by attaching them to Prince Charles force (which was now starting to look suspiciously like a proper army rather than a conscripted mob). A suitably reinforced Prince Charles now boarded the long ship fleet and set sail for Oslo.
Prince Ingrid meanwhile had been talking to the English who proved spectacularly uncooperative. You’d think there was a history of poor relations between us or something. As a result of these negotiations she lost the diplomatic weapon trait, knocking her charm down by three, so I married her off to the next suitable suitor.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/AssMan.jpg
Anyone with the word ‘Ass’ in their name is worth recruiting for the snigger factor alone
Prince Charles meanwhile had arrived in Norway, and laid siege to Oslo castle. My first thought had been to race in and carry the walls with a mixture of sword, fire and bad language, but a look of the garrison of cool-headed crossbow men and fearsome Viking raiders made me do a hasty re-think. I decided to wait this one out, even if it did mean leaving most of my army up in Norway for a lot longer than I’d hoped.
The pope meanwhile had cottoned on to the fact that the people of Stettin were essentially a bad lot, dancing round trees and holding free love festivals and generally behaving like a bunch of hippies. In accordance with his holiness wishes Cardinal Halstan was dispatched to put an end to their antics.
“Denmark and its people have grown far beyond their Viking past” announces the voiceover on the intro movie. Which shows what he knows. This Denmark is going back to its roots. I’m thinking long boats, horned helmets and burning monasteries to the ground. Sadly Cardinal Halstan informs us that the last one is right out, but happily theirs still plenty of pagans around the Baltic that can be safely victimised.
Anyway before I forget to tell you all what’s going on here I’m writing up a Danish Campaign for my own and (hopefully) your amusement, settings VH/VH and to begin with I’ll be posting updates in handy bite sized 20 year chunks.
The starting cast of this little melodrama are King Knud, his slightly less bizarrely named heir Prince Charles and his daughter Princess Ingrid. As mentioned above Cardinal Halstan is also mooching around, and theirs some handy peasants on hand - a spy and a merchant to be specific.
My opening moves are pretty simple, Prince Charles takes the bulk of my armies, which mainly consist of Spear militia and peasant archers and besieges Hamburg castle. My intention is to create a “roadblock” at Hamburg to keep the Holy Roman Empire at arms length, whilst building an empire on the shores of the Baltic. A fleet in the Baltic will then be able to quickly shuttle troops to any point under threat. By 1090AD my forces have assembled at the walls of Hamburg in enough strength to attack the walls of Hamburg castle.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/Hamburg.jpg
Bad weather added to the difficulties of attacking Hamburg castle
A hideous fog made the assault a little more confused than it needed to be, but in the end a 2 to 1 advantage in numbers meant I managed to get the gates open, and then unleashed Prince Charles well armed and armoured bodyguard on the hapless defenders. By using peasant archers as melee troops the Hamburgers were eventually overwhelmed and I had a 2nd province.
At Hamburg I was able to build two different types of Vikings, which I hoped would signal an end to the days of spear militias.
Princess Ingrid meanwhile had set off on a European tour which not only saw me now in alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and France, but had them paying for the privilege.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/Ingrid.jpg
Princess Ingrid proved a formidable negotiator
Meanwhile her brother Prince Charles, after building a few forts around Hamburg to act as speed bumps if the Holy Roman Empire ever came calling, set off for Settin to incorporate it into my little empire. The fleet of long boats I had been building also set off to find where any settlements might be located in Scandinavia. They found Oslo, but they also found the Norwegian fleet.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/HighSeasBattle.jpg
Despite the superiority of their “Pirate Ships” the Norwegian fleet was destroyed.
Meanwhile the garrison of Settin was approaching the time when I expected it to sally out, so Prince Charles recruited some mercenary spearmen who had been loafing around making unhelpful comments. They proved unnecessary however as the spineless garrison surrendered without a fight.
My Council of Nobles, delighted at the fall of Settin raised 4 regiments of dismounted Huscarles, which would no doubt come in useful for the future. In the present however they were proving a huge drain on my treasury. I decided to make them pay for themselves by attaching them to Prince Charles force (which was now starting to look suspiciously like a proper army rather than a conscripted mob). A suitably reinforced Prince Charles now boarded the long ship fleet and set sail for Oslo.
Prince Ingrid meanwhile had been talking to the English who proved spectacularly uncooperative. You’d think there was a history of poor relations between us or something. As a result of these negotiations she lost the diplomatic weapon trait, knocking her charm down by three, so I married her off to the next suitable suitor.
https://usera.imagecave.com/RabidGibbon/TheVikings/AssMan.jpg
Anyone with the word ‘Ass’ in their name is worth recruiting for the snigger factor alone
Prince Charles meanwhile had arrived in Norway, and laid siege to Oslo castle. My first thought had been to race in and carry the walls with a mixture of sword, fire and bad language, but a look of the garrison of cool-headed crossbow men and fearsome Viking raiders made me do a hasty re-think. I decided to wait this one out, even if it did mean leaving most of my army up in Norway for a lot longer than I’d hoped.
The pope meanwhile had cottoned on to the fact that the people of Stettin were essentially a bad lot, dancing round trees and holding free love festivals and generally behaving like a bunch of hippies. In accordance with his holiness wishes Cardinal Halstan was dispatched to put an end to their antics.