busyness over the winter

New map for 1004.



The various nations rebuilt as follows

Danes: 1 Blade, 1 Spear, 1 Psiloi
Normans: All those lost in the siege of Aalborg
English: 3 Spear
Welsh: 1 Cavalry, 2 Psiloi
Irish: 2 Auxilia
Scots: none

In other news, Wales decided to join the growing empire of the Scots, submitting to what has now (with the exception of Brittany) become the Greater Pan-Celtic Co-Prosperity Sphere.

In further irony, it turns out the the Irish have the first move. Chris?

Wales stays home

After initial thoughts of a foray into the western shires, the Welsh retire to their (few remaining) hills.

The Irish army (namely the general and his 2 I/C) play draughts (they would do nine mens morris, but they don't have enough men!) and so the turn ends.

Winter sets in with a vengeance, bringing ice and snow to many hearths. The Normans retire from their siege of Aalborg, and the Danes raise another toast to the power of walls to repel cavalry.

New forces are built from reserves; unless I've got something wrong, that will amount to:

Danes: 3 elements (giving them 8)
Normans: All those lost in the siege (giving them 12)
English: 3 elements (giving them 3)
Welsh: 3 elements (giving them 6)
Irish: 2 elements (giving them 2)
Scots: none (the Scots are already at 12)

Once players have let me have their recruiting schedule and their army starting locations, I will check to see who has the initiative for 1004.

not so mighty melees

A Korean proverb says, "In the battles of the whales, the shrimp are crushed." Who is crushed when the shrimp battle?

The Angles, restless and feeling as if their untold store of wealth should mean more than it apparently does to their neighbors, decided to take their tiny army and see if they could turn it to some advantage. They marched into the hills of Powys, hoping to administer a kicking to the Welsh while they were prostrate after their defeats at the hands of the Scots.

The Welsh, however, were more than a match for the English, disposing of them in a short battle (OK, what else would the Welsh fight? ;-) The English general was cut down (to size?) in the midst of his host (well, in the middle of a small group of armed men, anyway). The few remaining thegns fled in dismay, some disguising themselves as hermits or beggars or lepers, the rest settling for hiding in an old oak tree until the furious Welsh had passed and then going to hide in a swamp for the rest of their days. England had joined the Norse Irish in the unestimable Club of Not Having Any Army At All.

Wales was then left to consider its options, with the high road to Winchester and London looking very inviting. They had lost Dyfed to the Scots; what if they were to just seize some of the western shires in compensation?

Wales retreats, attacked again!

Having taken their lumps from the Scots, the Welsh fell back to the quiet dales of Powys. Or so they thought.

But the English, who had been silently nursing their grievances after drubbings at the hands of the Danes and Normans, suddenly cast off the garments of woe and leapt into action, charging across the border into Wales! Still nursing the wounds of their last battle, the Welsh were confronted with a new and unexpected (though admittedly tiny) enemy army on another patch of their own soil!

New map below.