Pics and History of your Empire

[Monk]

The year 1099, Ireland.

After nearly nineteen years of bartering, negotiations, skirmishes, plotting and overall intrigue, Great King Brian the Mauler has at long last united the Emerald Isle under one banner, his. The long road to unification was one that the Irish people had been crying out for twenty years and at last it had come. They could now be considered a true nation of their own right and King Brian was the man responsible.

Yet Brian knew that beyond the shores of Ireland lay the greatest destiny of all of his people. In brittian the English and Scots had been locked in a bloody war for the last decade and at the turn of the century Brian's spies reported a decisive turn in the war.

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London, capital of the forces of the English had fallen to the Scots! All he needed was a way to enter the war, some injustice committed upon his people that would allow him to take advantage of the English's perilous position.

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It would seem the English were eager to provide it. That very same year a weary army of England came ashore upon Ireland, what reason they had forsaken the mainland and the war Brian didn't know, but he wasn't about to ask. He gathered his host at Dublin and attacked quickly, utterly annihilating the enemy force with little trouble. The Anglo-scots war had a new player...

Following up in 1100 Brian and his two sons lead the main Irish army in a seaborne invasion of whales, something the English thought beyond the irish's capabilities seeing they lacked a port system! Such a fact would not be an obstacle, a little gold can buy many things and transport is one of them. Caernarvon, the main powerbase in the Whales countryside was quickly beseiged and captured. Lacking in troops it appeared at first glance as if Brian would not be able to finance a further push, yet he found in the welsh a very willing population, one who despised the English. A number of Gent raiders and welsh spearmen signed on full time into the Welsh army as mercenaries right then and there! The campaign would continue.

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1103. After building forces and recruiting local mercenaries to supplement his army, King Brian leads an attack against the lightly defended Settlement of Exeter. With the main English army trying desperately to fend of the Scots to the East at Winchester, the attack on Exeter was an easy affair for the Irish. Despite the merciless reputation of the defending commander, the King of the Irish granted a full pardon to the captured English upon the battle's conclusion.

The following year the English sue for peace, The King knows that he cannot sustain his momentum; not to mention his economy is in dire need of strengthening. Therefore he decides to accept. Meanwhile the Scots make a determined push on Winchester but are again repulsed by the English, Brian quietly begins to rebuild his forces.

1108 arrives, four years after the cease-fire is signed and Brian has had enough! He sends his son Domnall the Chivalrous, mastermind of the Exeter siege, against the English entrenched at Winchester. Extended years of fighting the Scots had left the English army decimated and without strong leaders, the battle that followed was more of a clean up operation than a true battle - something the Irish failed to understand. An overconfidence in their arms is building.. one that could prove disastrous...

Slowly the English have been pushed back, bit by bit, by a coalition of French, Scots and Irish armies. The grand Norman invasion that had claimed half of the british isles has been undone, pressed back to Antwerp King Ralph the Merciless of the combined English forces contemplates his options... then what should he find but a combined host Of French and Irish marching upon his great fortress. Surrounded and out of options he pulls back into the citadel and awaits the seige.

A struck of luck appears however in 1112, the Irish commander Corcc of Monaghan has a falling out with the French commander, the french forces pull back from the siege leaving the battle in the hands of the irish. King Brian, wintering in Exeter, is furious when he hears of the development and orders his army to retreat. The King knows without the aid of the French his men have not the strength of arms to overcome the English, Corcc refuses the order and continues the siege.

Summer of 1113. A terrible surprise awaits Corcc as he sieges Antwerp, the English have recalled their army which was marching to retake Caern, the entire southern army now marches north and is bearing down upon the Irish. Lifting the siege Corcc turns to meet the new force, drawing his lines four miles south of the main fortress. The English king sallies forth, he has the Irish trapped between two armies.

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Yet the irish stand their ground. The Irish army is a hodgepodge of English mercenaries, Whelsh auxiliaries, Ostmen, and Irish citizen soldiers; while the english army in stark contrast is a tough, professional and veteran force. Though having lost much of their kingdom they march with dodged determination intent on driving back the invaders. With a foe in front and one behind, the Irish's only hope is to charge home and defeat their first foe quickly, before turning to meet their other. They charge headlong into the whirl of arrow fire, hacking their way through the ranks of the english and winning home with a charge of their cavalry. The battle is hard fought, and Corcc and his men start to celebrate when...

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Over the hill comes marching the second English army, their armor glinting in the high afternoon sun. The Irish have not the strength to win the day and only now does Corcc see the error of his ways - yet what can he do?

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He charges. With the remainder of his host behind him he slams into the english line, determined to fight to his last breath and utterly refusing to retreat. His men follow the charge, but being exhausted from the earlier confrontation are quickly hacked to pieces. Soon the Irish host is in full retreat, and Corcc of Monaghan is no more.

The Battle of Antwerp is a disaster militarily, one that will likely take many years for the irish to recover from. It is too early to tell whether the English can capitalize upon the momentum from the battle and retake the Normandy coast.


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It's been too long, here's a small teaser from my recent Irish Campaign, SS 6.1. Those English are not to be counted out, even when down to one province! NoScript seems to hate imageshack so i switched to my old photobucket account for images, funny in a way i haven't used that thing since i stopped playing WoW.