Rise of the Stormcloaks: Ulfric's Rebellion (An Elder Scrolls Total War AAR)

[Jogen The Conqueror]

Hi all! This is a new AAR with the Elder Scrolls mod with the unofficial patch in Medieval II Total War. I've been having alot of fun in the Skyrim Civil War custom campaign and I'm almost done with the war. This scenario will be a sort of alternate history where dragons never return and the Dragonborn is a Stormcloak general instead. I will still use certain events from the game and will be writing this in a similar style to how I did my first AAR, The Eastern War, by switching between narrative and more scholarly sections. Anyway, here's the first chapter of Rise of the Stormcloaks: Ulfric's Rebellion.

Rise of the Stormcloaks: Ulfric’s Rebellion

Prologue:

“The Dragonborn has come! The Dragonborn has come!”

Leaving behind the soldiers to shout and celebrate, Galmar Stonefist pushed his way past the guards and into the keep. Ragnar’s reinforcements had arrived from Riften. The Imperial force camped outside Helgen was going to be outnumbered in the coming battle, the first real battle of the war.

I suppose it takes little more than a sack of ice wraith teeth to become a Dragonborn these days. He thought to himself dismissively.

Ragnar had proven himself a true warrior, and tales of his exploits before joining the Stormcloaks were well known, but Galmar had never seen any signs that this man could prove worthy of the title of being the Dragonborn. Though they fought side by side at Korvanjund, he had yet to see Ragnar use the Thu’um that Jarl Ulfric had taken years to master, but if the tales could be believed, Ragnar’s dragon shouts were a sight to behold. Of the stories he remembered, the Dragonborn was said to be able to absorb the souls of dragons. But then again, no dragons had been seen in thousands of years, so there was no way to test the hypothesis. As far as he was concerned, the Dragonborns had disappeared with Martin Septim.
At any rate, Ragnar had returned, bringing back the dregs of what Jarl Laila Lawgiver had to offer. She had probably seen it as a convenient way of depriving both the Thieves Guild and the Blackbriars of corrupt guardsmen. Of all the Jarls who had declared for Ulfric, Galmar trusted Laila the least as she was of the most dubious commitment to the cause. That said, she offered troops and gold, which would be badly needed for the war to come.

The battle with the Legion would be comin soon, and this would be the first true test of the Stormcloak Rebellion. Taking Helgen from a gang of bandits and driving away the small Imperial militia sent to investigate, while good victories for raising morale, did not compare to fighting legionnaires. The latter effort had cost only 27 men. Fighting against the trained legions he had once served in would be the most difficult test of his resolve since the Great War.

The Rebellion was in full swing, aiming to take the Empire by storm. Galmar knew Ulfric was a gambler, but even he worried about the recklessness of his strategy. After taking Helgen, Galmar had orders to march on Riverwood, leaving Ragnar in charge of the castle. At the same time, General Avulstein, commander of Fort Dunstad, was marching south on Fort Greymoor. Ulfric himself had taken a hastily assembled army and was now marching on Whiterun. The plan was to force the Imperial commander, Giovanni Olin, to either divide his forces or abandon the defense of one of the three settlements. Knowing Ulfric, Galmar also knew this could just as easily have been a feint to lure Olin away from Whiterun.

Taking his mind off wider strategy, Galmar turned his thoughts to the battle ahead. With Ragnar’s reinforcements, the Stormcloaks would have nearly twice what the Legion brought. But then again, the Legion’s soldiers had twice as much training as most of the Stormcloaks. For every trained and battle-tested soldier there was an untrained militiaman or a washed-up former adventurer serving in the guard. A spear thrust to the shoulder, a sword stroke to the thigh, or an arrow to the knee often signaled the end of an adventurer’s career and the beginning of a guard’s. Galmar planned to use these troops to garrison the castle after the battle, using professional troops to march on Riverwood. Of course, he would have to take few losses in the coming battle, which he was unsure he could do.

Studying the reports from his scout, he saw that the Imperial commander was a young officer named Regilus. He had never heard of this lad before, and took heart in the fact that the commander had probably never commanded an entire army in a real battle before. Before the war, Imperial legions had mainly focused on fending off bandit raids, clearing out the odd draugr-infested cave, and guarding the roads. The legionnaires in the Imperial army likely contained many veterans of the Great War but Galmar doubted they had seen a pitched battle in years. Not that he had ever fought in one either. Not since Markarth.

[IMG][/IMG]

“Get some rest men!” He shouted down into the ranks below him. “We have a battle to win tomorrow!”

Should I give a speech? He thought. No, better save it for tomorrow.

“Eat well and sleep well, but do not drink too much ale. Be sharp, be brave, and follow orders. Tomorrow we will show the Imperial scum who Skyrim belongs to!”

I should end it there. He thought to himself. I suppose I could use a little indulgence.

“WHO OWNS SKYRIM?” he asked.

“WE DO!” came the response.

‘WHO DOES SKYRIM BELONG TO?” he asked.

“THE NORDS!”

“Good. Get some rest and tomorrow we’ll get this war started.”

With that he retired into the castle and followed his own advice.

[Alwyn]

I like alternative history, rebellions and the world of Skyrim, so it's good to see an AAR involving all three! I look forward to hearing more about Galmar, Ragnar and the progress of Ulfric's Rebellion, including what happens in this battle.

[Jogen The Conqueror]

Lightning War: The March of Galmar Stonefist

The first major battle of Skyrim’s Civil War was a lopsided affair. In fact, the same could be said of the first several months of fighting, with the Stormcloak rebels making significant gains in a short period of time. At Helgen, the army of Galmar Stonefist easily routed the outnumbered but well-trained legion under the young officer Regilus, who only just escaped from the battle alive.


The Army of Galmar Stonefist faces the Imperials in battle

The commander rode through the woods outside Helgen, placed in hot pursuit by Galmar’s cavalry. By the day’s bloody end, the Imperial legion was utterly annihilated, at the cost of about 330 rebels. The survivors of the battle reunited with Regilus and fled in the vague direction of Fort Greymoor. The disgrace of the defeat led to Regilus being stripped of command and demoted to a sergeant for the rest of the war. The Stormcloak reinforcements meant to aid Galmar, led by the mysterious figure known as “the Last Dragonborn”, were unable to join the battle, being delayed by a collapsed bridge. By the time they arrived, the battle was won. They were sent to garrison Helgen and the Dragonborn would not see his first battle until he joined the relief of Whiterun later that summer.


Casualty report from the Battle of Helgen

The disparity in casualties at Helgen would prove emblematic of the first phase of the rebellion, with Jarl Ulfric placing into practice a philosophy known as “Lightning War”, sending highly mobile armies on rapid strikes through enemy lines against multiple targets. After the victory at Helgen, the Stormcloak general marched north into the village of Riverwood, with a smaller force of mainly archers and infantry. Leaving about half of his army behind to garrison Helgen, Galmar’s force of about 1,000 men faced a similar number of men defending Riverwood. Where the Stormcloaks fielded well-armed, well-trained, and now battle-tested troops, the Imperial forces were composed mainly of poorly trained and equipped militia, some of whom had already been defeated and captured by Galmar’s army in an earlier skirmish before the battle of Helgen.

At Riverwood, Galmar used his large contingent of archers to rain fire down on the defenders, using his heavily armored infantry to drive back any attempts to halt the endless stream of arrows. The bloodshed was terrible. The defenders of Riverwood were unable to break through Stormcloak ranks, instead being forced to take cover behind cracked wooden shields or under thatched roofs. The sheer volume of fire rendered such approaches useless. For the better part of the day, Imperial forces dwindled under the unrelenting rain of arrows, being reduced in numbers to a shell of the force originally sent to defend the village.




Imperial Town Guard braving the storm of arrows behind their fallen comrades

The arrows eventually stopped, as the Stormcloaks had finally run out. Those lucky enough to survive the storm braced for the final charge. Some men simply stared at the field of corpses blankly, their minds broken by the sight of so much death. The commander of the garrison had been killed early in the day, leaving behind the men to stand and die at their posts. The town square littered with arrows and corpses would prove the final graveyard for the Town Guard of Riverwood. Drawing his axe, Galmar rallied his warriors for a final charge against the defenders.





The Final Charge at Riverwood

Within minutes the battle was over. The surviving militiamen were no match for the Nord warriors, and they were wiped out with great ease. Only a single man from the garrison avoided being wounded, captured, or killed. He was found under a pile of corpses babbling nonsense to himself, driven insane by the destruction around him. Of the entire garrison, only 37 men in total survived. The brutality that came with taking Riverwood shocked even the Stormcloaks, who expected the garrison to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds. Being forced to kill their own countrymen over such an insignificant village provided early foresight that this war would be neither short nor easy.



Casualty report from the capture of Riverwood

While barely fitting the description of a battle, the capture of Riverwood would be called “the Riverwood massacre” by Imperial loyalists who would argue that the battle was in fact an atrocity committed by bloodthirsty Stormcloaks. Privately, Jarl Ulfric was said to have admired this move of turning a military defeat into a propaganda victory, and in subsequent battles, Imperial forces would show a much greater reluctance to surrender. With Riverwood now secured, the Stormcloaks turned their attention north, with the armies of Jarl Ulfric and General Avulstein continuing their attacks on the more strategic positions of Whiterun and Fort Greymoor respectively. The main Imperial army in the region, under the command of General Giovanni Olin was forced to choose between defending the fort and the city. The Imperial commander delayed in his decision, allowing for both Ulfric and Avulstein to lay siege to their respective targets.

[Alwyn]

I'm enjoying reading about the reactions of both sides to the events, such as the Stormcloaks who were shocked by what happened at Riverwood and the description of the same events by Imperial loyalists. I'm looking forward to more!

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I'm enjoying this very much. I like the little touches such as the lone uninjured survivor of Riverwood - who, it turns out, was only uninjured in the physical sense. Like Alwyn, I think the different accounts of the battle at Riverwood are well done, and I particularly like that you show the Imperial version having consequences for Imperial morale.

[Jogen The Conqueror]

Hi All! Thanks for the feedback and kind encouragement. As a heads-up there's going to be some spoilers from Skyrim's story (even though it's more than six years old at this point), as I imagine some events may not have necessarily changed in the new timeline.

Decisions



The axe came down and Roggvir’s head tumbled off his body and into the basket.

This war makes murderers of us all. Legate Rikke thought as she looked at the residents of Solitude gathered to watch the execution.

Some looked away in horror, some cheered on the executioner, and others were transfixed as a life ended, one of thousands that would die in the coming months. The deed needed to be done, of course, as abetting the murder of the High King of Skyrim had to have consequences. From what she’d heard, Roggvir had opened the gates to allow Jarl Ulfric out, leaving Torygg’s broken body behind as the gathered Nords watched in shock.

I bet those pointy eared freaks knew this would happen when they made us turn our backs on Talos. She thought.

She knew what the patrons of the Winking Skeever would be discussing that night. Leaving the grisly scene behind, she made her way to Castle Dour. Out in the courtyard, raw recruits practiced with wooden weapons. Per Imperial regulations, they were twice as heavy as the real things. Rikke remembered her own early days as a recruit. She was naïve back then, never imagining that she would be raising her sword against fellow Nords. Opening the door to the keep, she made her way inside.

She found General Tullius bent over the map of Skyrim he’d probably been staring at for hours after she left. His brow was furrowed as he studied the flags representing Imperial and rebel territories. He had reports scattered all over the table and she could tell right away that the news was not good.



“It’s done?” he asked.

Rikke nodded.

“An unpleasant business. If only the man who started this whole rebellion was on that chopping block instead we’d save thousands of Nord lives.” He stopped when he noticed her sour expression. “I know he was your friend, but I doubt he’d allow himself to live on as a prisoner.”

“I know what must be done… The Ulfric I knew would not sacrifice so many lives for the sake of his own ambition. Now that he has the Jagged Crown…”

“If his scouts hadn’t discovered the ambush we planned at Darkwater Crossing, we could have ended this war before it started.” Tullius lamented.

Rikke turned her attention to the map before them. “What news have you heard from the front?”

“Not good.” Tullius shook his head. “The rebels won a victory against a legion outside Helgen. Both Fort Greymoor and Whiterun have come under attack by different armies, one of them led by Ulfric himself.”

A messenger ran into the room, handing a sealed report to Tullius. He saluted and left the room. Tullius broke the seal and opened the scroll before dropping the report on the table.

“Riverwood has fallen. Nearly the entire garrison was killed while barely leaving a scratch on the rebels.”

“By the nine!” Rikke started. “I mean, the eight.”

Tullius studied the figure representing the army of Giovanni Olin, which was camped outside Whiterun.

“And to think we caught a lucky break when Balgruuf declared for us… What’s the count on that, by the way?” he added.

“Only three Jarls raised their banners for Ulfric: Valdimar of Winterhold, Laila Law-Giver of Riften, and Skald the Elder of Dawnstar. All the rebel Jarls represent the Old Holds in eastern Skyrim. The rest of the Jarls here in the west, sided with us.” She paused to think. “What do you know about General Olin?”

“Not much. He has a reputation for being a solid commander, not too brilliant but not too shabby. That being said, I doubt he’s going to be a match for Ulfric.”

“I’ve also read reports that Skald the Elder is planning to move out from Dawnstar to reinforce the garrison at Fort Dunstad. The start of the war is going as badly as it possibly can.”

Tullius paused for a moment. “Fort Greymoor or Whiterun. We’re going to lose one of them, which would be preferable to hold on to? Maybe there’s a chance we could reach General Olin with a messenger in time.
”
Rikke thought about this. “Well Fort Greymoor is obviously of greater military value, but Whiterun offers more political value. With Jarl Balgruuf out of the picture, Ulfric will have one less opposition vote if he were to call a Kingsmoot. Now that he also controls Riverwood, the entire Hold would be under Stormcloak rule.”

Damn you Ulfric. She thought.

“Either way, it’s clear we have no choice. Get a messenger, and be ready to ride south to the Capital yourself. We will need reinforcements from Cyrodiil. I was hoping to nip this rebellion in the bud, but we’re in for a long war.” With that Tullius retired to his study, leaving Rikke alone in the map room.

She left the room, relaying orders to a messenger before making her way out of Castle Dour. She knew her presence would cause quite the stir at the Winking Skeever.

I don’t care. She thought. I need a damn drink.

Image Sources:
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/R..._Execution.png
https://forums.spacebattles.com/thre...243914/page-17

[Alwyn]

Nicely done, I like the use of Skyrim screenshots and enjoyed the reaction of Rikke to the news from Riverwood. It sounds like the Imperials are losing ground, I wonder whether they will decide to prioritise the defence of Fort Greymoor or Whiterun, whether the messenger will get through to the capital with the request for reinforcements and what will happen in the Winking Skeever.

[Jogen The Conqueror]

The Rebellion Grows

There is little in the way of confirmed facts about the figure known as “the Last Dragonborn”. Most scholars concur that he was a Nord known by the name of Ragnar, but there are plenty of conflicting accounts, contending that he could have been anything from an Imperial, to a Bosmer, to an Orc, and even a Khajit or an Argonian. The gender of the Dragonborn is also up for debate as there are also accounts suggesting that the Dragonborn was a woman. The legends surrounding the Dragonborn are also numerous, some of them outlandish beyond belief, such as claims of the Dragonborn marrying a Hargraven or entering the Shivering Isles and meeting Sheogarath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. The Dragonborn was also said to have been a member of the Companions, the College of Winterhold, and even secretive organizations like the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves’ Guild.

Despite the wide range of possibilities, it is known that the Dragonborn ended up joining the Stormcloak rebellion and playing a pivotal role in some of the events of that war. He is not believed to have participated in any major battles during the initial phase of the “Lightning War”. His first action would come several months later at the relief of Whiterun, but the events leading up to that battle highlight that there were plenty of other figures who played important roles in the war. One mission that the Dragonborn is believed to have participated in was the retrieval of the Jagged Crown prior to the outbreak of hostilities.

One of the earliest skirmishes of the war, the mission to retrieve the crown took place at the ancient tomb of Korvanjund, where High King Borgas was said to have been buried. Galmar Stonefist himself led a handful of troops, with the Dragonborn among them, to the tomb. There they encountered a similarly sized squad of Imperial legionnaires, defeating them in close combat and fighting their way into the tomb. If the reports can be believed, the Stormcloaks came under attack by draugr and even defeated the undead corpse of King Borgas himself. The battle was said to have cost the lives of several Stormcloaks, but the Dragonborn distinguished himself fighting against both the Imperials and draugr, causing him to be given troops to command.


Stormcloaks fighting at Korvanjund

Following the mission to Korvanjund, Ulfric had possession of the Jagged Crown which gave him some legitimacy when he raised his banners in rebellion against the Empire. The Jarls of Winterhold, the Pale, and the Rift joined Ulfric in rebellion while the western Holds all sided with the Empire. General Tullius was sent north from Cyrodiil to command the northernmost legions and co-ordinate the war effort with loyalist Jarls. Only Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun remained neutral, refusing requests from General Tullius to garrison troops in Whiterun and refusing to join Ulfric’s rebellion. On the eve of the campaign to seize Helgen from a group of bandits, Ulfric sent the Dragonborn to deliver his war axe to Balgruuf, demanding to know his loyalties. After much contemplation, Balgruuf refused the axe, sending it back to Ulfric and declaring his loyalty to the Empire. General Giovanni Olin was dispatched to the area, tasked with defeating rebel forces in the Hold of Whiterun, expecting an attack on either Fort Greymoor or Whiterun, but not both.

Meanwhile, as the Dragonborn had been unable to join the first major battle at Helgen, he remained behind to garrison the castle and raise forces to march on Whiterun in conjunction with Ulfric’s attack, but the speed with which Whiterun was taken precluded him from joining that battle as well. Following the victory at Riverwood, the regional Imperial army under General Giovanni Olin marched west to attack the army of General Avulstein, which was besieging Fort Greymoor. This played directly into the hands of Jarl Ulfric, who alongside Galmar’s victorious forces from Riverwood quickly stormed Whiterun, placing the politically and strategically important city under Stormcloak control. For Avulstein’s part he was under orders to retreat in the case of an Imperial attack and left without any issues, though he did take some casualties from bombardment by mages from the Arcane University on the retreat.

The fall of Whiterun to the Stormcloak rebels was of such a surprise, the stunned garrison could only offer scattered resistance. The forces of Ulfric and Galmar easily stormed the city, taking about 40 losses and wiping out the small number of guardsmen defending the gates. Barely being able to don his armor in time, Jarl Balgruuf died fighting in the Dragonsreach alongside the remaining guardsmen and his Housecarl, Irileth. Although Ulfric would have preferred him captured alive, Balgruuf refused to surrender, taking several Stormcloaks down with him.





The Last Stand of Jarl Balgruuf

With the Jarl of Whiterun and his Housecarl lying dead in Dragonsreach, Ulfric paused to enjoy his string of victories, but he also awaited the Imperial counterattack that he knew would come with great fury. He made plans to weather the coming storm and prepared the next campaigns of the war. With the summer almost over, the Imperials prepared to bring their gigantic war machine to bear on the rebels in Skyrim, hellbent on halting rebel progress.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

The poor Dragonborn keeps being left out of battles, doesn't he? At least he got a chance to fight for his chosen side at Korvanjund.

I really like your description of the bombardment by the mages. That's a great mental image!

[Alwyn]

I'm enjoying this and look forward to seeing the consequences of the involvement of the Dragonborn in the civil war as well as the events at Whiterun.