MacDidz: The Scottish Blog

[Didz]

I also loved the picture of the sheriff of Nottingham.

I tried to find out who the Sherriff of Nottingham really was, but stumbled upon the picture of Alan Wheatley the actor who played him in the Robin Hood films instead. In fact, as someone pointed out on one of the sites I visited, Nottingham Castle being a castle would not have been the residence of the Sherriff of Nottingham anyway, but would have been the responsibility of a Constable, hence the idea that Alan Wheatley was being sent to meet with King Edward whilst the Constable stayed in the Castle just in case of treachery.

I thought about getting Robin Hood involved in the story, particularly when the English Army spent the entire Winter camped in Sherwood Forest, but I decided that might be a bit too corny.

The thing that has surpised me as I've been writing this blog is the extent to which fate has favoured the Scottish. The rapid deaths, first of Pope Gregory and then Pope Aczo were an amazing coincidence which left Scotland with a 10/10 Pope-o-meter rating even after taking York and Nottingham. One can seriously understand why Edward would be convinced that God favours his cause and it's interesting that as I've followed through on this theme so Edwards traits in the game have followed suit.

Both in the game and in the story Edward is becoming ever more convinced of God's hand in his destiny.

The only time this ever seemed in doubt was at the battle of Nottingham when Rufus and his army of Knights emerged from Sherwood forest. That really was a shock, and I can only assume that the AI had rapidly recruited these extra knights just before the battle. I thought at that point that the battle was lost and if the AI had handled King Rufus better that might have been the case.

Instead it produced a great story line and a nail biting epic battle that decided the future of England and changed the course of history.