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?

crashing and bashing

It has been pointed out to me that, in the process of losing Armagh, the remaining Irish troops are eliminated. As vassals of the Scots, the Irish retain Armagh, but they will have to rebuild their army.

The Danes having passed, the Normans rode south from York to attack London. The English, perhaps having strayed out in the noonday sun too often, marched out to fight them in the open field. The Normans first stormed the small hillfort that the English had garrisoned and left their baggage in. The Normans slew the guards and looted the baggage, then fought back and forth, eventually killing off enough of the "small men" (skirmishers) that the few remaining English took to their heels. The Normans paraded into London and established their Duke as "King of All Britain". (2BUA-0, 4 Prestige for the Normans, the English lose 3 Sp, 1 Ps total, retain London, but become Norman vassals).

The English pass in their turn; it is now the turn of the Welsh.

1003 dawns bright and cheerful

Well, for some.

All armies are placed (though their locations are not revealed until they move or are encountered by moving armies). All reserves have been replenished.

The honour of first move for Spring 1003 (and for the other two seasons as well) goes to....

The Scots!

end of 1002

This should reflect matters at the end of 1002.

I have arbitrarily deducted 2 Sp from England's active army to represent its last losses that were still unfulfilled.

The Danes may replace three elements.
The Normans may replace their only loss.
The English may replace three elements.
The Welsh may replace five elements.
The Norse Irish may replace two elements.
The Scots may replace all five of their losses.

Please send me your replacements and the starting position of your army for 1003. Once I have all those, I will check to see which player moves first in Spring 1003.

the end of autumn 1002

We fought out the Battle of Mann last night between Wales and Scotland. I will defer to one of the combatants to provide a full report, but the outcome was a 4-1 win for the Scots who (after the Irish have their turn, in which they can do effectively nothing because they sent a contingent to the Mann battle) proceeded to complete their year-long subjugation of Mann by finally reducing its inhabitants to obedience.

I will provide an updated map over the weekend (and update the army lists and prestige totals). The Normans, the Welsh, and the Scots will be able to refill their armies from their reserves over the winter, but the Vikings (who can recruit only 3 elements), the English (who can recruit 3 but still need to lose 2 after a previous defeat), and the Norse Irish (who can recruit only 2 elements) will have some tough choices.

Also, could the Norse Irish please clarify their current status: have they voluntarily submitted to vassalship, and if so to whom? I have heard rumours, but I have seen no formal declaration by the Irish themselves.

rules correction

I beleive I may have given one or more players bad information. Several army lists contain options; those players selected options at the beginning of the campaign, and these choices will hold throughout the campaign. They cannot be changed between battles.

If players would like the option, we could agree that players can alter those choices over winter turns, starting out a new campaign year with the alternate choices (to the extent allowed by the size of one's army for the coming year). But they cannot be changed from turn to turn or from battle to battle.

army selection

A reminder that players may choose which element will include their general before each battle, rather than it always being the element indicated in the army list (which may not always be available, depending on losses in prior combats).

One player asked about optional element choices. While one might interpret the campaign rules to mandate that players use the same set of option choices throughout the campaign, I'm inclined to let players choose each campaign year what options they are going with.

So, in addition to your starting location, please email me your choice for your optional elements. By my count (correct me if I'm wrong), the Danes and the Welsh have the fewest, at 1 choice each; the English and Irish have 2 each; the Scots have 3 choices; and the Normans have the greatest flexibility, with 4 choices.