The Kingdom of the Scots Redux - January 2015
Introduction
After 7 years and many false starts I have finally managed to update and re-release Kingdom of the Scots. While there will be many similarities to the original that people recognise, the mod itself is far more complex than the previous version. Although the team, goals and overall design has changed over the years, the desire has not. As such, I would like to thank all previous contributors, and for those whose mods I have included and forgotten to mention, please feel free to point it out and I will add you to the list of contributors. A mod of this antiquity has seen much coding and mod changes over the years, and as such the ownership and creators of some of them have been forgotten.
Compatibility
Updated 27th July 2019 - The game is now fully compatible with Steam and Kingdoms, simply click through the installer and then use the desktop shortcut to start the mod, regardless which M2TW version you have.
As the mod description on the moddb website says:
The Kingdom of the Scots is a complete modification of the Medieval Total War 2 - British Isles Campaign created by The Creative Assembly, and published by SEGA.
This mod is focused on the British Isles and Ireland during the 13th and 14th century. It seeks to reproduce the Anglo-Scottish, Anglo-Irish and Anglo-French conflicts of the period by adding Welsh rebellions, French invasions of England, Scottish Invasions of Ireland and England, and, but more importantly the struggle for domination of land within Scotland itself.
Kingdoms of the Scots will offer a good blend of historical accuracy and gameplay through the use of a complex recruitment system and and AI enhancement from some of the best modders in the TWC community. Featuring 27 new regions and 57 newly named historical castles, there is plenty to do. Complete with all new playable factions such as Clan Donald, Dougall, Ruriai, MacLeod, Mackay, MacKenzie, Chattan, Scott and Comyn, you will now be able to unite the clans and invade England should you play as the Kingdom of Scotland. However, if your intention is to defend and expand your lands as a Clan and defy the Canmore dynasty, then the choice is yours.
The mod also has new strat and battle models and textures as well as a new UI. It also features a Heraldry mod that assigns characters as Earls, Barons and the Great offices of State for Scotland and England. It also features floods along waterways, storms, earthquakes along fault lines and plagues. Plus the Great Famine & Pestilence events will feature as the campaign progresses. Finally, this game is no place for peasants. Your generals will not have peasant names, this is a game for Knights and Earls. As such all (only England and Barons Alliance currently) will have historical knights and nobility names like de Vere, Cressingham, Bek, Hesselrig, de Clavelland, Tottershall et al.
The Kingdom of the Scots stills commences in 1258 and as such still contains the Barons Alliance uprising. However, there are now there are 8 new factions that fill out the campaign map, leaving no rebel held territory (more on this soon).
- 2 Turns per year
- 8 New Factions (MacDonald, MacDougall, MacRuari, Mackay, MacKenzie, MacLeod, Chattan (Contains the Mackintoshes, Camerons and Davidsons), Scott)
- 27 New Regions (12 of which are islands that didn't have settlements previously)
- 50 Named forts on campaign map renamed to castles (such as Roxborough, Norham, Dunbar, Scarborough castle)
- 5 New Resources (Cattle and Sheep, Monasteries, Cloth, Wine and Pottery)
- Crusade Feature from MTW2 added for Scotland faction named as Clan Muster.
- Complex clan recruitment for factions and Scotland
- No more rebel settlements
- Only named generals, no captains in settlements.
- Historical English characters derived from Muster rolls. There are no common names in the game now, every character
(only England so far) is from nobility such as John de Clavering, Hugh de Vere, Robert de Tattershall etc.
- Every region in Scotland has different mercenaries and rebels based on realistic clan territories
- All new campaign interface
- All new battle interface
- River and marsh areas will flood.
- Storms will batter coastal areas
- Realistic Tectonic active areas will receive earthquakes (minor, as per Moment Magnitude Scale)
- New Models for Highland Factions to supplement existing rosters.
- New Strat Map models
- All Factions Horde except England
- All Factions are re-emergent except England, France, Norway and the Comyns.
- New Scripting (Really Bad AI, Settlement Tweaks, Princess Notifications, Garrison, Re-emergent Factions)
Campaign Map in Detail
The 27 new regions are:
Assynt (Mackay), Harris (Macleod), Nth & Sth Uist, Rum and Barra (Macruari), Tiree and Coll (Macdougall), Colonsay, Kintyre and Jura (Macdonald), Gairloch and Ardnamurchan (Mackenzie), Badenoch (Chattan), Strathspey, Turnberry Castle, Berwick, Bute, Selkirk (Scotland), Richmond Castle, Isle of Wight, Exeter (England), Anglesey and Cardigan (Wales), Clare, Castlebar, Wexford and Enniskillen (Ireland).
- Anglesey has been separated from wales by a causeway
- Bute has been separted from the mainland also
- Nth and Sth Uist have been separated by a causeway
- Tiree and Coll have been separated by a causeway
- Added Loch Lomond
- Added more forests to Scotland
- Fixed the geography and topography of the Firth of Clyde
- Carlisle, and Lincoln are now large cities and not villages.
- Added darker sea colour
- Moved placement of Edinburgh, Stirling, Stornoway, Dunvegan, Carlisle, Newcastle, Caernavon
The 57 new named forts:
- In Scotland (17) are Dunrobin, Urquart, Dunbarton, Bothwell, Edzell, Sween, Dunscaith, Mingary, Eilean Donan, Aros, ayr, Caeverlock, Lochmabben, Roxborough, Dunbar and Kildrummy.
- In Wales (12); Flint, Brecon, Builith, Denbigh, Dinis Bran, Haverfordwest, Laugharne, Crickhowell, Skenrith, Raglan, Castell y Berre, Criccieth.
- In England (15); Wark, Bewcastle, Norham, Alnwick, Penrith, Bolton, Scarborough, Ponterfract, Clun, Clifford
- In Ireland (13); King John's, Bunratty, Cahir, Ashford, Rinden, Clogh Ougher, Donegal, Green Carrickfergus, Kilkea, Kilkenny, Castle Martyr and Dunboy.
Resources have been completely redone and streamlined. All natural resources have been added historically, such as gold, tin, coal, iron. Likewise, the south of England & Scottish Borders has more grain, where in turn the Highlands
and Islands of Scotland have more fish, cattle, and plant dyes. Major trade hubs have cloth and textiles. Finally, monasteries have been added to historical regions in all 4 Kingdoms.
The Crusade Feature has been enabled and as such Religion replaces management. It also takes the place of cultural conversion. Religion re-entering the game is a by product of the Crusade feature and cannot be disabled, however I am fine with the return as religion in Medieval Britain was central to life. Now you can recruit priest to help with conversion, and these priests will become part of the Council of Nobles (Cardinals). Essentially the King, becomes head of the Church of Scotland as well as being King, and all Crusades (renamed to Clan Muster or Royal Muster) are requested through him.
These work in the same way as before and can be called against any other non Scottish Faction from the start, or later on a Scottish Faction that has been denounced as traitors and enemies of the realm. This feature at the moment is experimental and needs testing.
Recruiting
This is where the major change of the campaign occurs. Essentially, the recruiting is divided into 2 categories; 1. Feudal, 2. Highland. Feudal is available everywhere except in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Every single region has region specific recruiting based on which faction has ownership at the start. Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England are therefore predominantly feudal, but can recruit some highland units if they have converted over 65-95% (depending on the walltype) of the population to their cause.
Therefore, if an English Army marches north from Carlisle and captures the village of Aviemore in Badenoch. It must covert at least 65% of the population to recruit new Highland units only, if it doesn't, it can only recruit mercenaries to fill its army. Likewise, if a highland army captures Carlisle, it cannot recruit any feudal troops unless it converts at least 65% of the population to Scottish, and once again must rely on mercenaries to resupply the army.
For the Scotland Faction, they can no longer recruit generic highland units, and they certainly can't recruit highlanders in Dumfries anymore as this is a feudal region in the Scottish Borders. What occurs now is this. When the Scottish faction conquers a highland region like Badenoch, it can immediately recruit Clan Davidson highland units, then if it went onto capture Inverness, it could recruit Mackintosh troops; then if it went onto capture Inverlochly, it would recruit Clan Cameron troops.
However, recruiting is slightly different for Highland Factions. Highland Factions can only recruit their own faction highland units. Also highland Factions will only be able to recruit catapults, ballistas and trebuchets and no other forms of siege engine, whereas England will have the greatest access to as many siege engines as possible including mortars and bombards (after gunpowder event).
Rebel Recruiting
Each highland region has faction specific recruiting, but when the region rebels or when rebels appear it will not be the same faction. For instance when Caithness and Sutherland which is held by Clan Mackay, rebels or has rebels appear within its borders, the rebels will be from Clans Gunn, Sutherland and Sinclair. If you start the game as MacLeod, the rebels that appear will be Morrisons and MacAuleys in Lewis, Mackinnons and MacNicols in Skye, and MacIver and MacAuley in Harris.
It is very important not to have rebel clans like clan Macdonald operating in clan Macdonald territory. Therefore, I had to associate rebel clans that would appear as if raiding in non traditional territory. For instance, when the Clan MacNeil becomes playable in a future version, I will need to associate a different rebel faction to Barra and the Uists.
Hidden Resources Control the Mod
- Each faction is controlled by a hidden resource that enables it to be recruited there specifically (the name of the faction, Scott, Comyn, Macdonald, Cameron Macneil etc)
- Such as England has Southern (English Southern Army),
- Northern (English Northern Army)
- Midlands (English Midlands Army)
- Marches (English Welsh Marches Army)
- Lowland (Allows all other English units to be built)
- Warwolf - controls gunpowder units (not available in all regions)
- aroads - historically accessible roadways used for troops and merchants
- broads - these are the royal roads, such as the Roman Roads (Dere St and the A1 et al)
- arableland - allows only top two tiers of farming in arable areas
- townwall - only allows the building of stone walls in those towns where they were specifically and historically built
- Feudal - allows Scotland, Comyn and Scott to build feudal units (not highlanders)
- galloway -only galloway specific units can be built
- borders - only Scottish Borders units can be built here
- galloglaich - only professional galloglaich can be built in these regions.
- never - this building will ever be built (printing press, music, art gallery etc)
The Heraldry Mod
This mod also contains a Heraldry mod that assigns characters as Earls, Barons and the Great offices of State for England and Scotland, such as Chancellor, Chamberlain, Constable, Marshall, Lord High Steward and Keeper of the Privy Seal. This will be expanded with the large map as more room for offices is created. I will need to review this description, but you can read a bit more about what it is here.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Phase 1
- New Battle Models and Textures for England, Barons Alliance, France, Scott, Comyn and Scotland
- Includes completion of garrison script, french invasion events
- Byg Grim's Scripts Supply and Command Scripts
Phase 2
- Port existing mod over to the large map
- Possible addition of a couple of new factions
- New timeline starting 1306
- Removal of Norway
Phase 3
- Add 10 new factions into the game (2 Irish) & (8 Scottish)
- Complete Battle Banners
1. At the moment (version 0.2) there will be missing unit pictures
Western armies overhaul - Gemini Sandy
Highlander and Norse Models & Strat Models - Danova
Really Bad AI & Settlemnt Tweaks - Germanicu5
Dearmad and Puntmaster - King and Princess scripts
Irish Reskins, Battle Models - Lord Condolarmis
Bare Kingdoms Mod, Stone forts, Named Castle, Clickteam tutorial - Gigantus
Better Water - Davide.cool
Darker Nights Updated - Author unknown
Better Skies Mod - Swagger
Strat Model - KnightErrant
Faction descriptions - Maca
1066 Models - Disgruntled Goat
Real horses - Argent Usher
Resource model -
Strat Map retexture - charge
Blockade model by riczu74
Cattle resource model from the High Road
Scottish Targes by Tyre
Installation
This is a 'click through' installation.
- As long as your registry is fine the installer will find the correct installation path. If not, simply follow the instruction displayed in the installer.
- At the end of the installation a file verification will take place, allow it to finish, check for error messages, close it and finalise your installation.
- Steam users: no need to do anything - simply start the mod with it's desktop shortcut
Download
Here
Spoiler for link to old, original 0.1 version: