Long string of English success capped off with disaster at Iverness

I already mentioned this battle elsewhere, but I didn't really go into specifics.

I am playing an English Campaign.

William the Conqueror set out to consolidate power throughout England and Wales after defeating King Harold. In the year 1084 he completed the occupation of Wales and occupied York. After establishing proper garrisons William moved south towards London to rest his war torn army. It would be a well-deserved, but short-lived pause.

Williams holdings in France were under constant threat by rogue lords from places like Bruges and Rennes. In order to secure his flanks in Europe he sent his son Rufus, who had proven a very capable commander, across the channel. His army landed at Caen and for seven days he took on reinforcements and supplies to support his imminent campaign against the rogue lords or Bruges and Rennes.

On 4 Feb 1085 Prince Rufus received a letter. It would prove to be a blessing. The letter, written by Pope Christophe I, requested the Noble English King William secure the belligerant realms in northern France in order to eliminate any potential for heretical influences emanating from these "loosely" governed "rebel strongholds". Prince Rufus read the letter to his troops outside the northgate of the Castle. Their loud and boisterous cheers and taunts echoed like thunder off of the castle walls. They were now not just going to war, but on a Holy sanctioned crusade.

Rufus re-sealed his father's mail and forwarded it to him in England and on 5 Feb he began his campaign to restore Catholic order to Northern France. Within 4 years all of Northern France was brought under the rule of the English crown. England's economy expanded due to the new conquests and the opening of several trade routes. The Pope was all too happy to shower the English Monarch with gifts of money and his loyal nobility provided military units for service.

In 1091, England was at peace. With the exception of some minor peasant rebellions, England enjoyed treaties and trade agreements with every country in Western and Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, the pax Anglia would not endure beyond year's end. The French, suffering economic hardship due to wars with the Holy Roman Empire and Milan shifted its attention at what it perceived to be a fairly unsecured territory... Normandy.

Prince Rufus was at Rennes with his army when he received news that on 27 Nov the French had besieged Caen. The French and English were now at war. Prince Rufus wasted no time in breaking the siege of Caen. After this was accomplished, William the Conqueror ordered his army assembled in London. On the day William was to set out to join his son in France, he died of a massive coronary (I had to say that; I couldn't resist).

Rufus was crowned King of England in Caen on 13 February 1092. And it would be King Rufus who in 15 years would control all of central and western France.

However, before the new Monarch could complete his victory he would have to deal with a major disaster back on the British Isles. Two years into Rufus' campaign against the French, the Scottish besieged Dublin, which England took years before, initiating a war between these two historical foes. At first, the English commanders struggled to put together a capable army that could defeat the Scots on their home soil. The English suffered two significant defeats in two years which virtually left York undefended. On top of that, the Scottish Navy one a series of upsets in the North Sea which severely degraded England's freedom of maneuver.

In 1097, a commander of superior quality was finally brought to the forefront. Prince Rufus' nephew, Harold, took charge of a small force in London. Over the next year he trained new recruits and received quotas of knights from the lords of the realm. He also received some longbowmen and mailed knights from King Rufus in France.

In February 1098, Harold's military advisors urged him to march to York to defend the castle. Instead, he announced his army would be joining the King in France to reinforce him. It was said by Harold that he received a letter indicating things were not going so well and that York could easily defend itself with a few levy spearmen. So onto the ships Rufus' Army went.

This was just the news the Scottish King wanted to hear. With the departure of the English Army, the Scots marched on York. All of England was in a great panic and it was even reported York had fallen and the Scots were headed for Nottingham. Rumors begat rumors begat rumors. Finally, the Scots did capture York. This was all Harold needed to know and one month after he departed London with his army he landed, but not in France.....

Much to the Scots' dismay the very large and capably led English army landed north of York effectively cutting the lines of communication of the Scottish Army. Before the Scottish commanders could organize their troops and withdraw Harold was at the walls.

Four more months later, a Scottish relief force arrived on the scene and the Scottish army in York sallied out. The battle ended with the complete destruction of Scotland's only substantial field army. The way north was completely open and Sir Harold would not leave any stone unturned in hunting down the treacherous Scots who attacked his country.

Around mid July 1098, Harold marched his army north towards Edinburghh. He marched slowly, taking his time to burn and pillage the Scottish countryside as he progressed towards his target. He reached Edinburgh Castle at the end of August and found it largely undefended. The Scots offered surrender, but Harold replied by telling them it would only quicken the pace of their annihilation. Harold ordered the assault and the castle was taken in the span of the morning. No one of Scottish blood was spared the sword.

After resting his troops at Edinburgh for a week, Harold set out north again to complete the conquest of Scotland. His next target would be Iverness. The Scots still resisting the English onslaught had all agreed to rally at Iverness for a last stand and Harold’s spies provided him this information. In Harold’s mind victory was all but certain. In a letter to his eldest son of 9 years he wrote, “Your father is about to bestow upon you the blessings of a great family name. The victory I am about to win for our King in the coming weeks will be attributed to you when I am gone. And you will have to live up to the glory you will inherit from the great pool of valor I have filled during this campaign”.

On 16 Sep 1098, Sir Harold reached the walls of Iverness. Little did he know when he called up to the Scottish Guards on the walls to open the gates that this would be his last battle.

Harold’s Army consisted of 450 Levy Spearmen, 360 Billmen, 240 Mailed Knights, 240 Hobilars, 600 Archers, 3 Catapults and his personal guard. The Scottish had within the walls 200 Conscripts, 60 Crossbowmen, 90 chivalric Knights and the Scottish Commander with his personal bodyguard. Approaching the castle opposite the English Army was 240 archers, about the same sergeant spearmen, 60 Knights Templar and 80 Mailed Knights.

Sir Harold wisely dispatched all his cavalry to attack and defeat this force before it could enter the walls. On his order, all 480 of his cavalry advanced at a gallop to surround the force on three sides. The cavalry charged as one unit and the impact was felt and heard up to a mile away. Some English chroniclers even claimed the English garrison at York felt it. The result of the charge was predictable. It was complete chaos in the Scottish ranks. They were already in disorder due to the fact they were racing to enter the walls. The English crushed the reinforcing army in less than 45 minutes. Reports vary about how many Scottish troops made it into the castle, but it’s generally accepted that about 30-50 of them survived to enter the walls.

Meanwhile, Harold had also ordered his catapults into action. They were utilized to destroy the towers in the vicinity of the gate in order to protect the troops that would be conducting the assault. The bombardment lasted the better part of six hours. As mid-afternoon approached, Harold was ready to make his assault.

First he sent two companies of **Billmen against the gate. The gate was guarded by the Scottish Commander with the conscripts and knights in support to his rear. On the walls were the Crossbowmen who were now suffering at the hands of the English Archers. The Billmen entered the gate and now began the real battle for Iverness. Harold’s expectation was that the Billmen would clear some space at the entrance of the gate and he’d be able to flood the rest of his infantry in to complete the victory. This did not happen. The Scottish Commander’s personal bodyguard were well trained and were fearless. They stopped the Billmen cold.

After 30 minutes of no progress, Harold threw his third and final company of Billmen at the gate along with a company of levy spearmen. These two units initially pushed through the gate and for a moment Harold thought the gate was captured. Harold then ordered the rest of his Levy Spearmen into the gate, he would lead them. When Harold rode through the gate he was met by the Scot Bodyguard along with the Chivalric Knights and Conscripts who were not reinforcing the gate to push out the invaders. The Scottish fought with much more ferocity than they had in the past, but Harold was undeterred. He taunted his men, urging them forward to hack away at the traitors. The fight continued in a virtual stalemate for approximately an hour. Fate struck the English army at that point.

Harold spied a small gap in the ranks of the Chivalric Knights engaging him and his infantry. He rode into it calling for his soldiers to follow him. As he rode into the gap, the Scottish closed in around him. Some say Harold was killed by the sharpened edge of a peasant’s shovel. Some say the Chivalric Knights cut at his horse’s legs, brought him down and delivered the death blow. Whatever the exact weapon was that killed him, the point is he was dead. The man who would conquer Scotland met his untimely end against an army on the run, bereft of effective leadership.

Then that’s it. The stupid battle was over. That never happened in Rome Total War. If your commander died you could still keep going and maybe even win the battle. Harold died and the battle log immediately popped up calling me a loser. Is that a bug or something?

I still haven’t completed this turn yet. But don’t worry, I’ll have Scotland within the next two turns. Stupid BS commander dying on me. What a crock.

**No, I didn't know about the bug with the Billmen not being able to hurt infantry. Boy, that little nugget of info would've helped Harold a bit.