Pro Deo Et Rege- The Norwegians AAR
This AAR can also be found in the AAR forum.
This is an after action report using the mod "Pro Deo Et Rege".
Kongeriket Norge(Norway)
The year is 1080. It is the reign of King Olaf. He is young, energic, and ambitious. His goal is become a legendary conquerer that would be known throughout Europe and beyond.
After careful planning he decided his first target would be Scotland. The Scots were a weak and divided people which made them easy prey for Olaf. After forming a sizeable army he landed in Scotland and beseiged the capital, Dun Eideann.
After a long siege, the Scots amassed a small force to attack Olaf. However, the Scots could never gain a victory because their forces were divided into 3 armies. Therefore, the Norwegians could destroy each army, one at a time.
The Battle of Lodainn
The Norwegian army was at full strength and was led by King Olaf who was a capable commander. He had fought in many previous battles and was popular among his men. Most of the Norwegian soldiers were infantry armed with spears and axes. However, there were 360 archers who could decimate enemy formations with ease.
The Scottish armies were poorly led by Captains Mael Bricin and Seumas and Etmond mac Donnchada. Both captains were bad commanders and Etmond had never even seen battle. The Scots also were understrength due to a long siege and had only 120 archers. In addition the Scottish force was half the size of the Norwegian army.
King Olaf's ease at the sight of battle calmed many of his men who were about to fight for the first time.
Soon one of the Scottish armies appeared.
The Norwegian archers soon opened fire and fired a series of volleys that devastated the advancing Scottish force.
The continuous hail of arrows finally forced the Scottish army to retreat.
The Scottish army was butchered. The line of Scottish corpes was at least a quarter of a mile long.
As soon as the first Scottish army fled the other two moved towards the Norwegians to prepared to attack. The Scottish plan was for their archers to fire on the Norwegian left flank while the Scottish infantry and cavalry would attack the Norwegian right flank. However, Etmond, who had never battle before, failed to notice that the Scottish archers would be left unguarded against a cavalry attack.
King Olaf noticed that the Scottish archers were vulnerable and decided to defeat them before they could seriously damage his own army. Olaf then lowered his lance and personally led the Norwegian cavalry in an attack against the Scottish archers.
The Scottish captain tried to lead an orderly retreat though his forces fled once he was killed.
Meanwhile, on the Norwegian right flank Etmond ordered the remaining Scottish army to attack.
Upon seeing the Scottish attack, King Olaf charged Etmond's bodyguard.
The sight of King Olaf's bodyguard scared the Scottish infantry and they began to retreat.
Olaf's bodguard soon collided with Etmond's and a brutal fight ensued.
Etmond was terrified of battle and soon fled. His remaining bodyguards followed behind him
However, Etmond's cowardice did him no good. As he fled Olaf's bodyguard's captured him.
Soon the remaining Scottish forces were in full flight.
The battle was over. The Scots had lost 89% of their force while the Norwegians suffered only 20 casualties. The battle had been a debacle for the Scots. More Norwegians had died from friendly fire then Scottish soldiers. The battle of Lodainn was not a battle, it was a massacre.
Over 100 Scots were captured including Etmond. Olaf had no mercy and ordered them to be executed. The Scots were appalled by the executions especially since Etmond was only 14 years old.
Suddently, another Scottish force appeared. The fight for Dun Eideann was not over yet....
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