Re: Pics & History of your Empire
A short(ish) update for you. Up to now I have been lucky enough to have fought almost all battles with numerical superiority - this changes a bit in this instalment.
The Chronicles of Bamff’s English
Chapter 4 – King Stephen II reign begins (1188 – 1195)
Having ascended to the throne in 1188, young King Stephen mused on his good fortune. The building and trade programs of his grandfather Stephen I, and thence his father, Richard I, had reaped great benefits for the kingdom of England. The treasury was full to overflowing, allowing Stephen to continue the great building programs of his forebears, and he set about this task with great gusto.
Our envoys in Aragon send word that the Aragonese monarch continues to resist all offers of peace. King Alfonso is a most stubborn man….but one thing that Stephen has learned from his father is that there is more than one answer to a problem.
Stephen’s building programme is rudely interrupted in 1190. The Holy Roman Empire have been massing their forces along our borders for some time now, and Emperor Heinrich chooses this year to unleash his horde into the province of Champagne. Of all of the English border provinces, Champagne is the most lightly defended. Sir William Marshall sends riders to call for reinforcement, but the enemy are advancing too swiftly. He is forced to meet the German onslaught of some 2096 men with his force of only some 684 troops. Yet again Marshall demonstrates his superb leadership skills, and carries the day. As the dust of battle clears, some 465 German troops lie dead across the field. 508 prisoners are taken, with the German general, Lord Plittersdorf amongst them. Our losses amount to 202. News of the victory, and of the hefty ransom received for the release of Plittersdorf soon spread throughout the kingdom.
With almost a third of the garrison lost in the battle for Champagne, Stephen directs reinforcements from Flanders to move to the beleaguered border province, to discourage the Germans from attempting a second assault.
His strategy is successful in this endeavour – inasmuch as the German forces do not launch a secondary attack on Champagne. Instead Flanders is their new target. Lord Blankenberg marches from Friesland with some 2013 troops. Lord Mercadier marched north to meet this threat with his entire garrison of 1570 men, choosing a field slightly north of the township of Dendermonde on which to make his stand. The field is flanked by heavy forest on both sides. The battle is opened, as two regiments of enemy archers advance in a skirmish line across the plain. Our Hobilars burst from the woods and smash into the archers from the rear. Nary a handful escape as the cavalry rides them down. The main enemy force now advance in a steady line. Our archers hold steady until all are within range, and then unleash a rain of death. Having lost all of their archers to the charge of our Hobilars, the Germans cannot return fire, and their casualties mount steadily. With our lines of Fyrdmen holding steady in the centre, the clansmen sweep in from the flanks, carving the enemy’s feudal sergeants and urban militia to ribbons. Blankenberg’s men are forced back and surrounded, and finally Lord Mercadier leads the cavalry charge from the rear of the enemy formation. The rout is complete. Blankenberg himself is captured after he is dismounted from his steed.
The combination of two heavy defeats, the failure of King Heinrich’s crusade to Antioch, and the work of our Inquisitor in Friesland have had a disastrous effect of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1194, rebellions are reported to have broken out in all provinces along our borders. The news is not all good for King Stephen in 1194, however, as the Egyptian forces launch another invasion of Tripoli. 572 brave defenders of the faith fall in an epic battle, but their lives are not lost in vain. Some 1077 enemy corpses litter the field, among them is the Egyptian Sultan himself. 882 prisoners are taken. It will take our enemies some time to make good such losses.
Word reaches court that Princess Isabella of Aragon has been found garrotted. With a rue smile, Stephen sends forth another envoy, with his instruction “Those who stand against us do so at their peril. Remind Alfonso that he has two other daughters…and peace would be in their best interests.”
The following year, 1195, our Crusade arrives in Palestine, and sets about reclaiming this province for Christendom. Too long have these lands been in Fatmid hands. Meanwhile in Europe, the Holy Roman Emperor is under ever increasing pressure within his own territories, and at last agrees to terms for a ceasefire. With the German threat removed, Stephen is free to focus once more on his economic and building programmes…although he still harbours doubts about the intentions of the burgeoning Spanish empire to the south….
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Originally Posted by bamff
In addition, you can secure the services of El Cid should you feel so inclined. 
Had a couple of my own campaigns ruined in similar ways.
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