Kingdom of the Scots 3 - Previews

[Muzz1497]

I sure hope the american stereotype is of Popeye the sailorman.

[The Bruce]

Kingdom of the Scots Version 3: Faction Preview - CLAN COMYN

There was no more powerful clan in Scotland towards the end of the thirteenth century than that of the Comyns. With their headquarters in Badenoch the chiefs and gentlemen of the clan owned broad lands in nearly every part of Scotland.The bitter civil war between the Comyns and King Robert the Bruce ultimately led to the defeat of the English at the Battle of Bannockburn and to Scotland winning its independence. Click "Read" for a brief clan history.

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Known also as the Cummings, the clan were descended from a Norman knight, Robert de Comyn, who fought alongside William I in his conquest of England. By the 13th Century the Comyns exerted great power, holding the three earldoms of Menteith, Angus and Buchan, and the Lordship of Badenoch.

Following the death of Margaret in 1290, John Comyn, known as the "Black Comyn" was one of the six competitors for the throne. The other claimants included John Balliol and Robert Bruce the elder.

When King Edward I of England offered to "adjudicate", he selected John Balliol. The Black Comyn and Robert Bruce the elder acknowledged Balliol as king. In a move designed to strengthen the claim on the throne, The Black Comyn's son (also named John but usually referred to as the "Red Comyn") married Balliol's sister.

Eventually, Balliol rebelled and Edward came north. At this time, Bruce was one of those who rendered homage to Edward and Balliol seized the Bruce lands and gave them to the Red Comyn (his nephew). Edward defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar and marched across Scotland and removed such precious items as the Stone of Destiny and the Scottish crown. He humiliated Balliol by removing his royal insignia. Balliol abdicated in 1296 and Scotland was again without a king. It has been suggested that the Comyn family were the driving force behind both the Balliol kingship and the revolt against Edward's demands.

In 1298, after the Scots defeat at Falkirk under Wallace, Bruce the younger ("the Bruce") and the Red Comyn replaced Wallace as Guardians of Scotland. In 1302, the Black Comyn died. In the same year the Red Comyn, along with Sir Simon Fraser, defeated three English armies in one day at the famous battle of Roslin. By way of reprisal Edward, a few months later, marched another army into the north, and took Comyn’s great stronghold of Lochindorb. The Red Comyn, nevertheless, fought on until finally defeated at the passage of the Forth (close to where Wallace had won his great victory of Stirling Bridge).

After the capture and execution of Wallace in 1305, Scotland seemed to have been finally conquered and the revolt calmed for a period. However, in 1306, it is said that Bruce discovered that the Red Comyn had betrayed him to the English by revealing a pact to make one of them King. In February 1306 Robert Bruce met John "The Red Comyn" at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries to discuss their differences. John Comyn was killed by the Bruce and his supporters in the church.

For such a heinous crime, Bruce was excommunicated, but he still had himself crowned King. The murder led to a bitter civil war between the Bruce and the Comyns and their allies. Bruce ruthlessly raided the Buchan lands and destroyed the Comyn family there. The war eventually resulted in the Comyns' power being completely broken at the Battle of Inverurie in 1308.

Robert the Bruce went on to defeat the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The Red Comyn's only son died at the battle fighting for the English.

CLAN COMYN - Unit Preview

Clan Comyn held vast tracts of land in both the Highlands and the Lowlands. Version 2.0 distinguished these areas by restricting the recruitment of Highlanders to the Highlands only. This concept has been extended and enhanced in version 3.0 by linking unit availability not only to the location of settlements but also to each factions origins. The Comyns, therefore, will have clan units available in the Highlands and also a full contingent of feudal units beyond.

In this way the Comyns are unique among the clans as unlike the MacDonald, MacKenzie, MacDougall and MacLeod factions, they will be able to recruit nearly all the units that Scotland can. The other Highland clans will be able to recruit only basic feudal units east and south of the Highland line with some advanced feudal units only available as mercenaries.

Below is a selection of screenshots featuring units of Clan Comyn:







Clan Comyn starts the game holding the lands of Mar (Aberdeen) and Badenoch (Aviemore), Mar being feudal land and Badenoch being clan land.

One of the other differences with Version 3.0 will be that certain settlements cannot build walls and in the case of the Comyn faction, Aviemore is unable to produce large walls to hide behind. If the user wishes to hide behind walls to outlast an enemy assault then they will need to expand their settlement as a castle.

Moreover, all settlements on the Scottish Islands and west of The Highland Line start the game as villages, with the exception of some historically significant places such as the strongholds of Dunstaffnage, Dunvegan (vanilla Skye), Wick, Inverlochly and Inverness and trading towns such as Stornoway and Kirkwall.

[The Bruce]

Reserved

[The Bruce]

... and this one.

We'll add some more Comyn related screenshots here too!

[DragonsWarrior]

Brilliant british style ;-)

[Swagger]

WOW



will they be playable ?

[The Bruce]

@DragonsWarrior - Thanks, though I prefer Scottish Style!

@ Swagger - Yes, they will be playable in at least one campaign.

[Balmung]

include Clan Scott!! Excellent job on the units by the way. I feel Comyn will be a powerful faction.

[The Bruce]

The map in version 3.0 is a modified version of the Kingdoms Britannia map and there is not enough room for all the clans we would like to add. Clan Scott are on the list for inclusion eventually (in the big map version).

Clan Comyn will certainly be a powerful force in Scotland, as they were historically until the Bruce destroyed their power!

[The Border Reiver]

@DragonsWarrior...thanks mate, there'll be more on the way soon!

@Swagger, thanks for being patient. Clan Comyn has turned into quick a good looking faction to play, although I admit i'll find it hard not to play with the MacDonalds!

@Balmung....have no fear my fellow Border Reiver, there'll be your riding family when the big map is launched....why I hear you ask?? Well that will be the faction I choose to play the most too!

@Bruce well done mate, looks good!

[Swagger]

who made the exelent skins ?


clan comyn colour is black right ?

@ Swagger - Yes, they will be playable in at least one campaign.

what do you mean in ''least one campaign'' ?


you will make multiple campaigns..like eras ?


i wonder if you could reintroduce the saxons, and simulate the invasion of england by william the conqueror, and simulate the fights between willy and harald...

but im just dreaming...



i would like to help in anyway...

i've recently joined the Dawn of Kingdoms mod team...

i have some experience..

[Father Jack]

Looks good guys

Now how about the MacLaran clan (my clan)? I joke, we were never a hugely powerfull clan

[Icefrisco]

Very nice!

[Son of Mao]

Very Nice! + REP

[The Border Reiver]

Very Nice! + REP

Tobolight...thanks very much!

Icefrisco....good to see you again, thanks mate!

Mackios....quite right, we can't fit all clans, but the Clan name MacLaren has been added to the names files!

Swagger....The Bruce is solely responsible for the skins! We will slowly be releasing 3 campaigns all based in the same period, but with clearly designed parameters!

We won't be going back in time to the Norman/Saxon period. The only Saxons left in this time will be the Earls of Dunbar in East Lothian, should this make it into the game!

The Bruce and I really need help with making some new unit models and of course beta testing when that becomes available! I'm not sure The Bruce wants to share the skinning work, but there is still quite a lot of things that need to be done in this area too!

[Muzz1497]

Those units look good. Are those suppose to look like how clan comyn had theirs, like color and style?

Providing the short history was nice also.

[Tarif]

Wow this is shaping up to be awesome.

[The Bruce]

clan comyn colour is black right ?

Are those suppose to look like how clan comyn had theirs, like color and style?

I have found no evidence to suggest that the Clan Comyn fought in red and black - it is in fact very unlikely. However the Comyns of Badenoch (not Buchan - cheers Wilddog!) had the red shield with a yellow motif. As the English already use similar colours I thought I would use black with red instead. The leaders of the period were referred to as the 'Black Comyn' and the 'Red Comyn' so I think its fitting artistic license. The tartan is based on the Comyn tartan first published in 1842 and is therefore also unlikely to be authentic for the period but what can you do!

[DaVinci]

Well, yesss. I see forward to any updated version.

[wilddog]

However the Comyns of Buchan had the red shield with a yellow motif.

All the info I have is that John the red of Badenoch was the gules, three garbs Or (ie 3 garbs on a red background) and the Earl of Buchan was 3 garbs on a blue background.
Those are the motiffs I'm using in my mod.

Glad to see you're making progress though. Nice display page and good summary of the history.