Chonicles of the Red Raven: Danish AAR

[Spong]

Hi guys, I'm reall enjoying my current Danish campaign (this will be my third, though the others were incomplete), mainly because I am keeping a log, but also because I have modded a few aspects of the game. Also for the first time I am playing with the battles on hard instead of medium. Thought I might post my log up here for you guys to enjoy.

edit: this is an update, that old campaign got deleted and this is the new one with my modified version of the game, a new notebook and fraps for screenies .

Few notes first of all:

1. Terminology;

to make it more flowery I have referred to some factions with elaborations of their names (some may be a bit far fetched like the Caliphate of the Moors) its just to spice it up a bit as we already know M2 isn't 100% accurate and I didn't want to start referrin to the moors as Almorvids as lots of people might not know what I meant.

The Papal States is frequently referred to as the Papacy, likewise the HRE is referred to sometimes as 'Germany' sometimes as 'the Empire' and sometimes as its full name 'The Holy Roman Empire', this is because I didn't want to do abbreviations in the main text like HRE but typing out the holy Roman empire or The Papal States each time seemed a bit of a chore, likewise HRE armies are often referred to as 'Imperial' or 'German'. Likewise after a point I start referring to my own faction as The Scandinavian Empire when i think it is befitting to refer to it as such, after my ruler declares himself an emperor, after this it may still be referred to as Denmark on occasion. also there are references to nordic or norwegian troops, this is mainly for viking raiders, norse axemen, norse archers etc.

many family members are referred to as 'Princes', this is if they are descended from a member who was formerly king even if they are not currently heir, the heir is frequently entitled 'crown prince'. Also captains and other generals are frquently given elaborate names such as 'Sir', Baron, Duke, Earl etc. to add flavour

Finally, some knights and generals are reffered to as nobles or chivalry, but not very often.

2. The opening section contains a made-up account of some military reforms my faction leader is supposed to have enacted at the start of the campaign, this is to reflect how i choose to organise my armies in game and give my alternate take on medieval history (as per the game) a bit of flavour. also these reforms don't take effect until i get my hands on sword staff militia, obudshaer etc. before that its mainly swordsmen and spear militias etc.

3. There aren't many screenies at the moment because i mistakenly thought i could print screen of windows media player movies i had captured in fraps, so for my early battles i simply don't have many screens. I have taken alot more for the battles to come though...

4. Its rather long, especially the intro, be forewarned this might not be your bag, baby.

Hope some people enjoy it.

and so...

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Chronicles of the Red Raven



King Knut II sits on the throne of Denmark at the age of 40 years old, and rules from the capital city at Arhus.
Swiftly after taking control of his fledgling realm Knud has set about enacting new and revolutionary methods of organising his forces, while the kingdom is relatively young the impact of these new measures will not be fully realised for years to come, but will have a significant impact on the efficiency of Denmark's future armies, campaigns and conquests, and ultimately the longevity and success of the Kingdom as a whole.

The basis of these new methods centres firmly round the traditional fedual system employed by many other contemporaries. Namely that Nobles and Knights hold land in return for military service to the king and are also obliged to provide further soldiers by sub-letting portions of their alloted land to members of the lesser classes.
Therefore, by law, Knut decreed that every knight must provide (equip and pay for) a man-at-arms ( a swordsman of the lesser nobility or a professional, paid axe-wielding soldier) and a soldier armed with a missile weapon (at this time the options being a bow or crossbow), therefore, for every body of knights within the realm (whether mounted or otherwise) there would be a corresponding body of supporting infantry consisting of men-at-arms and archers or crossbowmen. The way in which this rule varied when applied to the greater nobility; the barons, dukes, earls, princes and other peers, was that each of them was entitled to his own personal bodyguard comprising a body of household knights (universally fielded as cavalry), furthermore they were required to provide a single body of infantry (most often this would be a unit of professional, paid men-at-arms equipped with two-handed axes) and, as with the knights, to also provide a body of missile troops.

The organisation of city forces and militias was somewhat different, Knut understood the need for locally raised and maintained garrisons but could not afford to maintain the necessary forces for long.
He therefore introduced a system which in many ways mimicked the fedual system applied to knights. The system meant that the Bishops, wealthy merchants and landed classes were required to provide militia duty, most often as heavy cavalry, and while not required to provide a pair of soldiers each as per the chivalry (this created inconsistencies when applied to the city forces), they were, in effect subject to a tax which was directly funneled into the provision and maintainence of militia units (under the administration of the city council and governor).
This sytem was organised accordingly; the Clerics and Merchants forming individual units of cavalry which commanded allocated companies of foot, these were divided into bodies of militiamen armed with either the spear or svaerdstav and the others armed with crossbows. Earlier on they were more typically armed with the spear and formed smaller companies of between 150 and 300 spearmen, as soon as the economy began to grow, however, it was fairly common for these miltias to be re-equipped with the svaerdstav and munitions grade plate armour. Furthermore as the need for greater protection and policing grew with the size and success of the cities, so too did the standardised size of the companies, firstly to a single company per town of around 600 svaerdstavs and 480 crossbowmen, then later the svaerdstav arm increased to twice that (1200 svaerdstavs) but still supported by the same number of crossbowmen and cavalry.

These overall bodies of troops were termed The Danish National Guard and they were commanded by a captain elected by the town council from which they originated.
These companies were, for the most part, not required to serve outside their own region, however, Knut enacted a clause which enabled the companies to be called out for such actions, and sometimes (though not always) placed under command of a knight or noble on a temporary basis, and during this term of service they would be paid for by the King's own treasury. If, when not commanded by nobility, during this 'away service' the elected captains were killed in action, then a council of war comprising the entire clergy and merchant cavalry of that company would all vote on who, from their number, would assume command.
The Companies were a highly effective force, for the most part due to their fierce civic pride and loyalty.

A seperate organisation of troops was the King's personal forces, these were collectively known as the King's Royal Guard but comprised smaller organisations, these being; The King's Royal Household Knights (a unit of the king's personal guard cavalry), The Royal Huscarls (a unit of axe-armed infantry with a viking heritage), and the Norweigan Archers of the King's Guard.
This meant the King, as per his own methods, provided his own retinue in the same manner as the nobles and the cities, however, his retinue forces were about twice the size of the noble retinues except for the cavalry, and this unit was still substantially larger than the norm.
Additionally there were various ancillary forces such as the artillery trains that accompanied many forces, and each city and castle was required to have a pair of trebuchet (in a single unit) for its defence. Also the employment of various mercenaries were quite common, and there were no restrictions or limits on this, save that they were not permitted to be used in place of the decreed forces as specified previously.
Furthermore, the accomodation of the Knightly orders was well facilitated, Knud decreed that they were to be under the same rules as his forces and this seems to have been well recieved, their requirements were variable depending upon whether their chapter houses were based in cities or castles, and therefore they were required to conform to the requirements of that city or castle, often replacing the role of the merchant militias in cities (though not usually the nobles in castles, instead providing a supplementary role to other nobles).

Finally, Knut created a supplementary force which would eventually come to take a primary role in later military actions, these being the Obudshaer companies, officially known as Royal Obudshaer Corps. Initially they consisted entirely of Obudshaer infantrymen and were formed in large companies, usually comprising four quarter-companies of 150 men each, thus most Obudshaer companies consisted of at least 600 men and this was in part due to their role as supplementary to feudal forces, they were a powerful and fierce arm of elite halberdiers and their uses included the garrison of castles and service in field armies, they were effective both offensively and defensively. They were extremely loyal troops of a similar quality to the Royal Huscarls and answered only to the king, unlike the Huscarls, however, these sworn-in troops could be (and frequently were) placed under the command of a single hand-picked and entrusted noble or knight. Wheras initially the idea behind the Obudshaers was to bolster feudal armies and provide a core of disciplined and loyal infantry that the king could rely on in the event of a baronial or civil rebellion, it grew to pass that these companies formed the central force of Danish armies around which feudal forces would be added in order to provide a supporting role in battle; the missile troops providing ranged support and cover fire, the cavalry providing mobile support and flanking manouvers and, most importantly, the heavy infantry of the dismounted knights and nobles providing a means of plugging gaps in the main Obudshaer line and to cover the flanks of the slow-moving columns.


Having at last wrested a stable Christian realm from the pagan Viking lands, King Knut II of Denmark began to look beyond his own borders and in 1080 AD orchestrated events that would culminate in the forging of an empire. Under instruction from Knut, the young Prince Charles marches south from his camp outside Arhus, and in the summer of that year laid siege to the castle at Hamburg. This act marked the beginning of the War of the Raven.
In the following months King Knut himself leaves Arhus and marches south to join the siege, meanwhile forces under the command of Sir Haakon, leave their camp on the isles east of Arhus and head towards Hamburg to reinforce the coming attack. The following winter, Knut hires 300 Welsh mercenaries to supplement his forces. Haakon's reinforcements are late.
By the summer of 1081 the siege preparations are complete and the full army assembled. On the morning of June 18th the troops are drawn up and the castle garrison awakes to the sound of war drums.

Siege of Hamburg, 18th June 1081.

Knut deploys his welsh mercenaries and spearmen with battering rams to the front of the line with a reserve of equal size at their rear, in total this centre comprises around nine hundred men, he places four hundred and eighty archers on the left flank in dispersed formations to provide covering fire for the rams, Knut and Charles take up their position on the right flank with their cavalry bodyguards.
The archers advance to within around two hundred yards of the castle wall to draw fire from the towers and begin their volleys of flaming arrows. Shortly after this the three rams simultaneously move in good order up the hill towards the gate hoping to disperse the incoming fire amongst them, the lead ram is set alight by fire arrows and the crew are forced to abandon it and fall back behind the other rams who continue to advance towards the gate. The rearmost ram also bursts into flame almost as soon as the first ram collapses but it is too late for the defenders as the middle ram reaches the gates. In a strange twist the enemy spearmen on the other side of the gate order it to be raised, presumably in an attempt to advance out and combat the ram team but as the Danish spearmen prepare to receive a charge the rebels hesitate and begin to pull back, seizing this opportunity the Danish captain orders his soldiers to charge and the Danish and Welsh spearmen surge forward in pursuit of the rebel troops as they attempt to escalade a tower inside the castle walls. In complete disarray the rebel spearmen turn and flee before a single blow is exchanged but at the same moment a second column of rebels begins to march down the main street towards the gatehouse to contend with the Danish incursion. The Danes abandon the chase and turn to face this new threat, with no time to form up the soldiers dash towards their enemy in a disorderly mass. With an almighty roar and a crash the two mobs meet, spears smash on shields and a bloody scrum ensues. The rebel captain is killed within a short time, pierced by three spears, but the brawl continues neither side prepared to give way, eventually the superior Danish numbers prevail and the rebels are forced to turn and run back towards the castle courtyard. The Danish infantry pauses in the corpse-strewn street to reform ranks, meanwhile Prince Charles spurs his horse and manoeuvres his cavalry through the gatehouse, the still fleeing first group of rebels has now taken refuge near the houses on the left of the gatehouse and Charles ensures they play no further part in the battle by hunting them down mercilessly with his guard, as the rebel archers descend from the walls to reinforce the courtyard they too are caught by Charles' cavalry and are slaughtered. By now the Danish infantry are converging on the castle courtyard and they far outnumber the rebel troops who prepare to receive the attack, the rebels make a desperate last stand but are ultimately overwhelmed and slain to the last man.

Shortly after the castle is secured Prince Charles takes his retinue east towards Magdeburg and lays siege to that castle in the following winter. By the winter of 1082 preparations to take the castle are complete and Charles conducts his assault.

Siege of Magdeburg, 21st October 1082.



Having noted the successful tactics of his father at the siege of Hamburg the previous year, Charles follows suit and equips his spearmen with rams, placing them centrally in his line, he deploys his archers in dispersed blocks on the left flank and advances them first to exchange fire with the garrison. The rams are moved forward simultaneously, though none of them are set alight, nor do the garrison attempt to assault them this time. The lead ram arrives at the gates and begins to break them down. After a short while the gates buckle and splinter, casting the rams aside the infantry swarm into the castle and engage the first unit of town militia which meets them there. The archers on the walls descend in an attempt to withdraw to the courtyard but they too are engaged by the Danish spearmen who are far better equipped and trained than the rebel units, despite this, the rebel militia put up a tough resistance and one unit of Danish spears loses its nerve and begins to retreat from the gatehouse, most of the rebel militia and archers take the opportunity to withdraw unchallenged to the central courtyard while Charles attempts to rally the fleeing spearmen. One unit of militia stays in the bottleneck and fights on, but is quickly surrounded by greater numbers and forced to retreat. The Danes give chase but are met before the courtyard by the rebel mail-armoured knights who ride headlong into the mass of spearmen, they cause many casualties but many more knights are unhorsed and hacked down or speared from their saddles, rebel. archers and militiamen join their knightly peers in the melee, nearly all the rebel cavalry and their captain are slain and the survivors withdraw to the rear. It is now left for the infantry to slug it out in the wide street. By now Charles has rallied the fleeing spearmen but does not commit them to the assault, instead he keeps them in reserve and marches his cavalry bodyguard through the gatehouse and rides into the fight. Seeing this the rebel knights also return to the struggle with swords drawn, both sides cavalry are unable to bring their lances to bear in the cramped confines of the castle streets. Due to the mass of infantry both cavalry units push as far as they can but ultimately engage piecemeal, the infantry do most of the work. The rebel cavalry quickly falls, the infantry have had enough by this point and rout towards the centre, Charles' cavalry are able to surge forward now, closely followed by the infantry, and run down the fleeing militias. When they reach the courtyard the militias turn on the pursuing cavalry but it is now far too late and it is not long before they are completely overrun.

The years 1083 to 1090 mark a relatively peaceful lull in the war, during which time Knut's political manoeuvres mainly comprise trade agreements with many of the major powers including France, the Kievan Rus, Scotland, England. Milan, Sicily, Venice, Spain and the Byzantine Empire. However, following the siege of Magdeburg, Knut needed to establish security along his new eastern borders and in that year established an alliance and trade pact with Poland. In 1087 he put into action a plan to heighten this security and to simultaneously improve Papal relations, firstly by establishing a second alliance and trade pact with the Papacy but this was furthered in the summer of 1091 when a small raiding party was dispatched to the rebel castle at Stettin to the northeast of Magdeburg, Knut hoped to capture the castle as a gift for Pope Gregory. In the same year the recently martially inducted French noble Raoulet Poitevin was sent northwards by sea towards the Norwegian province of Oslo where he landed with his forces that winter.
In the summer of 1092 the raiding party arrived at Stettin and prepared to attack, meanwhile to the northwest Lord Poitevin laid siege to the castle at Oslo. The ensuing battle was one of the bloodiest of the war.

Siege of Oslo, 4th May 1092.

Poitevin chose not to use rams but brought along ballistae for the siege, which he deployed opposite the gatehouse, immediately to the left of his artillery he deployed his forces in one huge column of infantry with axe-armed Irish mercenaries and Nordic light troops armed with hand axes to the front as shock elements to spearhead his attack, this was followed by spearmen, he deployed his mercenary crossbowmen to their left flank in dispersed formations so that they might skirmish and snipe the defenders. He began the attack by ordering his ballistae to open fire on the gatehouse, the gates themselves were soon destroyed but Poitevin wanted to eliminate any possibility of incoming fire from the towers and ordered the battery to fire on the towers on the gatehouse and along the left hand wall where the bulk of the rebel troops were deployed, he then ordered the artillery to use up what little ammunition remained by firing at the infantry on the walls in order to thin their numbers for the coming melee. Overall this barrage lasted several hours during which time the crossbowmen where able to use all of their ammunition.
Once the artillery barrage was complete, Poitevin ordered his infantry column to advance towards the gatehouse and engage the rebel light troops inside. The melee that followed was an incredibly brutal push of close quarters fighting in which spears, axes and daggers were all used to lethal effect, the Nordic troops on both sides were highly skilled, very brave and both refused to give an inch of ground. The fighting lasted the rest of the day during which time the Danish were able to slowly push the rebels back to the central courtyard of the castle but every yard was bitterly contested. The daggers and hand axes proved to be the better weapons under such close conditions with the spearmen and Irish two-handed axmen suffering most with little room to use their larger weapons effectively. Poitevin's cavalry intervenes and enables the infantry to make the final push into the courtyard and destroy the remaining rebel troops. Of the 1,381 Danes and 961 rebels deployed only 751 Danish remain to secure the castle having suffered 630 casualties.

Poitevin is noted to have written in his journal after the battle that ;'"it seems that any engagement involving heavily armed but lightly armoured troops on both sides will inevitably result in high casualties for all involved"

Raid on Stettin:







In the summer of 1093 the raiding party attacks Stettin which falls easily, Knut is able to enact the second stage of his plans for greater eastern border security and furthering of relations with the Papacy by donating the castle to the Pope the following winter. The raiding party that took Stettin leaves via sea and heads north towards Stockholm, they arrive in the summer of 1095 and find an unfortified village with few defenders, and the rebels are easily crushed. This small skirmish which passed almost unnoticed marks the final engagement of the War of the Raven which lasted from 1080 to 1095 during which time Knut was able to expand his territory and unite the Scandinavian lands under his rule, freeing the Nordic peoples from brigandage and robbery in the process. Knut is declared Emperor of Scandinavia and is coronated by the Danish cardinal Halstan.

From 1096 to 1112 the Scandinavian Empire enjoys a period of relative peace, however, during that time, in the years 1101 and 1102 a German attack on Magdeburg is repelled. This places the Scandinavian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire at war for the fist time and though this does not trigger any further conflict until 1121 it is considered by many to be the catalytic event that leads to the later Northland Wars between Denmark and the alliance of Germany and Scotland.
During the winter of 1102 Emperor Knut II dies aged 62, his son Charles is crowned Emperor Charles I at age 41, he then moves from Magdeburg to Hamburg to his father's royal residence and inherits his huscarl and Nordic archer bodyguards.

Siege of Magdeburg, 12th April 1102

The German forces begin to advance with rams, towers and ladders as the heavens open, the lightning flashes illuminating the army as it creeps forward. Charles’ archers and towers release fire arrows toward the lead ram as a team of ladders rush past it trying to reach the walls as quickly as possible. The ladders reach the left-hand wall as the ram reaches the gate, meanwhile the siege tower idles along behind, now drawing much of the fire from the Danish defences. Charles orders the mercenary spearmen guarding the gateway to form schiltron in anticipation of the German cavalry, soon afterwards the portcullis is smashed down and at the same moment the siege tower reaches the walls to the right of the gatehouse, the Nordic infantry stationed there prepare to receive the attackers as they escalade the ladders inside the tower. Meanwhile the infantry on the left wall are now fighting off the militia who are scaling the ladders, the inferior peasant levy stands little chance against the ferocious axmen and are hacked to pieces in short order. The flaming arrows of the Danish garrison soon set alight to the siege tower with the attacker still inside. At the gatehouse, instead of the expected cavalry assault a mix of crossbowmen and militia troops are held back by the mercenaries. Realising the siege tower poses no further threat Charles orders the Nordic light troops down from the wall to reinforce the gatehouse as the bulk of the German forces are now concentrated on the ladders and gateway. The siege tower collapses killing a huge number of German militia and peasant troops. Soon afterwards the Nordic light infantry arrive at the gatehouse, by now this is the focal point of the battle and the axmen cut a gory swathe through the crush of German militia spearmen, many of the lower militia and peasants are now fleeing for their lives. Its not long before the inferior quality of the German levies shows through as the casualty count causes them to break from the gatehouse into an open rout. The lull in the fighting gives the troops at the gatehouse time to regroup and reform as the German captain attempts to rally together some of his spearmen to lead them on a second wave of attack. The new attack is received by the mercenary spearmen who pin them from the front as the axmen charge into the flanks, this immediately causes heavy casualties and a great deal of morale damage to the harried Germans who soon turn from the fight to flee once more, almost simultaneously the second wave who scaled the ladders are beaten back by the knives of the archers – the mercenary spearmen and Nordic light troops pursue their attackers out of the gatehouse and into the open fields. The German captain falls with an axe in his back.


In 1109 the King of Scotland is excommunicated by the new Pope Pisanus of Venice, wishing to seize the opportunity Charles prepares an invasion force. The Northland Wars begin in the summer of 1113 when the invasion force led by Duke Skapti Slembe lands near Inverness but the fleet and army are both wracked by storms the following winter. Skapti continues to march north and is met before Inverness by an army led by King Edmund of Scotland, the already weakened Danish army stands little chance against the onslaught of the Scots, Skapti is killed and his army broken, the survivors return to what remains of the fleet and head back to Denmark.

In 1116 Scotland and the Holy Roman Empire form an alliance which threatens the Scandinavian Empire's security immensely, especially given the recent occupation of Antwerp by Scottish forces.

In the summer of 1119 Lord Toraren Burmeister lands near Inverness and besieges the castle expecting a tough fight ahead. The following winter ferocious storms hammer the region, when the Danish forces move to attack they find the castle with no garrison, the Scottish King and his guard have mysteriously disappeared, the castle is taken peacefully.

In the winter of 1121 Scottish emissaries bring proposals of a ceasefire in exchange for the return of Inverness to Scottish control, the proposal is flatly refused and Scottish forces move to besiege the castle. At the same time a German army arrives at Hamburg castle and lays siege there.

In the winter of 1122 the Emperor Charles I dies peacefully. Emperor Halstan I is crowned at age 51. The German forces besieging Hamburg assault the castle.




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to be continued...

[Metzgershund]

Nicely done! I love the journalistic style approach! Could you maybe start posting screens of the map of your kingdom as you go along and post battle screens? That would make it much more enveloping. Again, nicely done!

[Goatbuster3000]

Nice, spong! I seen one of your other AARs and liked the style. Kind of like a timeline. Pictures would also help by giving the story more detail. Keep up the great work!

[Spong]

thanks guys!

as well as continuing to play so i have something to write about i'm also writing up a second version of this that is more fleshed out rather than a straight list, I'm still going to keep this one going though.

More soon.

[Spong]

Bump because of the edit, update and new version generally.