[SS AAR] Balt, Bath, and Beyond : A Danish SS 6.1 AAR

[ScottinSF]

AAR Intro and "hello"

Hi all, I see there's another freshly started Danish AAR here, but This AAR will be quite different from that one because the other author is playing a different version and with different goals.

I am playing on Stainless Steel 6.1 without the optional additional components installed. I am not binding myself to any special rules, but I will follow my normal gameplay and documentation styles, which I will outline below:

• Generally, I don't like to start wars, but if someone attacks me it's on, and I'm relentless in taking as much of their territory as I can.
• I give short shrift to the battles. Generally I give the stats before and after, and rarely if ever take screenshots of them. I'm a competent battlemonger but the logistics of each battle don't interest me that much.
• I'm not much into creating fiction, roleplaying, or character studies. I'll weave some of that into my AAR to make it coherent & hold it together, but it won't be a driver of gameplay.
• I'm interested in the history of the factions and want to include that to make the story as realistic as possible, but again that won't drive my gameplay.
• Every ten turns I'll toggle_fow and document what is going on in my neck of the woods.
• As I start this particular AAR I've already played and documented quite a bit of it, turn-by-turn. Your input won't affect my in-game decisions because I'm playing well ahead of where I am writing.
• I'm not trying to win any competitions, it's just that I document my games in wordpad meticulously so I thought I might as well share what I have...

[ScottinSF]

Balt, Bath and Beyond
A Danish SS 6.1 AAR

A little history

To understand what is happening, it's important to know what has happened so far to bring us to where we are.

Historically, the Vikings (which include the Danes and the Norwegians), traveled far and wide sacking and plundering, but also settling. In this image you can see that they by the beginning of the game's timeframe (1080) they even settled the homelands of the Novgorod and Kievan Rus factions, as well as part of the British isles:


The official history of Denmark:
The Danes were united and officially Christianized in 965 AD by Harald Blåtand, who learned Christianity from Viking posessions in Normandy. The son of Harald, Sweyn Forkbeard mounted a series of wars of conquest against England, which was completed by Svend's son Canute ("Knud") the Great (by the middle of the 11th century. The reign of Canute the Great represented the peak of the Danish Viking age. King Canute's North Sea Empire included Denmark (1018), Norway (1028), England (1035) and held strong influence over the north-eastern coast of Germany. Following the death of Canute the Great, Denmark and England was divided.

Canute II (King Knud in our game) raided England for the last time in 1075. The imposition of the tithe on Danish peasants and nobles to fund the expansion of monasteries and churches and a new head tax had brought his people to the verge of rebellion.

Alternate history (what happened outside the game):
Canute II and his brother, Prince Benedict, fled to St Albans Priory for sanctuary. After several attempts to break in and then bloody hand to hand fighting in the church, Benedict was cut down and Canute II was killed at the base of the main altar 10 July 1086. And there the Benedictines buried him, and he was canonized (made a saint).

The death of St Canute marks the end of the great Viking Age. Never again would massive flotillas of Scandinavians meet each year to ravage the rest of Christian Europe. Denmark was thoroughly Christian. Denmark underwent a transition from a patchwork of regional chiefs with a weak and semi-elected royal institution, into a realm which more reflected European feudalism, with a powerful king ruling through an influential nobility.

In 1080, King Knud is still alive and we will take a different path from what the real King Knud took.

The neighboring factions, in clockwise geographical order.

Our Neighbors: Novogorod and Kievan Rus:
I will now plagiarize the early history of the Russians from various sources... Rurik - a red-headed Viking - thus called the RUS (red) was probably born in Denmark. Son of King Haarik, Rurik led the invasion into what became "RUS-SIA." (or land of the Red). He founded a kingdom with Novgorod as its center. Two of his companions, Askild and Dir, continued southward to Kiev and settled there... In the ninth and tenth centuries, Christian Orthodoxy made great inroads into Eastern Europe, including Kievan Rus'...In the 11th century the Great Schism took place between Rome and Constantinople, which led to separation of the Church of the West, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1054, Yaroslav, the Rus ruler of Kiev-Novgorod divided the kingdom among his three sons. In our game, one of these parts is a minor tribe, and the other two are Kievan Rus and Novgorod.

Our neighbors: Lithuania
The last pagan nation in Europe was Lithuania, which held out against Catholic and Orthodox Christianity. Lithuania and surrounding tribes are considered the "Balts", after which is named the Baltic sea. This inspires part of my title for this AAR, "Balt, Bath and Beyond".

Our Neighbors: Poland
Most Scholars agree that the original Slav homeland lay within the boundaries of modern Poland. The founding of Poland in 966 came about as a result of the concerns of Mieczyslaw I, chief of the Polanie, raised by the establishment of the Holy Roman (German) Empire of Otto I (962). He decided to marry daughter of Boleslav I of Bohemia, and accepted Christianity for himself and his people, thus preserving their independence. In 1000, an independent Polish Church organisation was set up with the agreement of Otto III. Thus the Polish Church could turn directly to Rome, and the Pope, for protection and would not fall under the influence of the Germans (HRE).

Our Neighbors: Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor. The first Holy Roman Emperor was considered to be Charlemagne, crowned on 25 December 800. The Holy Roman Empire's main weakness was that its parts were stronger than its whole, as princes and kings wielded power rooted in their own provinces.

Our Neighbors: Norway
Norway, like Denmark, was a Viking tribe that grew to hold sway over a large region. Olaf Haraldsson was probably the first King of Norway to extend his rule to the inland regions of eastern Norway, and to have ruled more or less the whole of the present-day country. After his death, Olaf was revered as a saint. He became the patron saint of Norway, and by the end of the century, Christianity was the only religion allowed in the country. After Olaf's death, Norway was ruled from Denmark, as part of the "North Sea Empire" of King Canute the Great. However, Canute was the last Danish king to rule Norway for more than three centuries, and already in 1035, Olaf's son, Magnus the Good took the throne. So Norway can basically be considered a former vassal of Denmark.

Our neighbors: England
In the late 9th century the Saxon king Alfred the Great created a network of fortified towns across his kingdoms called burghs. If the Danes attacked all the local men could gather in the nearest burgh to fight them. Bath was one such burgh. By the 10th century Bath was a flourishing, although small, community. In 973 Edgar, the first king of all England was crowned in Bath. From here I get the other part of my title, "Balt, Bath and Beyond."

There were Viking attacks on England at the end of the 10th century. ultimately Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark conquered it. Canute the Great, Sweyn's son, became king of England, and it became part of Canute the Great's North Sea kingdom.

In 1042, Canute's successor Harthacanute died without leaving a male heir and the Saxons again came to power with the accession of Edward the Confessor. Edward also failed to produce an heir, and this caused a furious conflict over the succession on his death in 1066. His struggles for power against the Earl of Wessex, King Canute's Danish successors, and the ambitions of the Normans whom Edward introduced to English politics to bolster his own position caused each to vie for control Edward's reign. Harold Godwinson became king, in all likelihood appointed by Edward the Confessor on his deathbed. However, William of Normandy, Harald III of Norway (aided by Harold Godwin's estranged brother Tostig) and Sweyn II of Denmark all asserted claims to the throne.

The English defeated and killed the Harald of Norway and Tostig and the Danish force at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, but fell in battle against William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066. For the next five years he faced a series of English rebellions in various parts of the country and a half-hearted Danish invasion, but he was able to subdue all resistance and establish an enduring regime.

In my next post, I will start the actual game in 1080 AD.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

Nice start, ScottinSF, with all this background work. +rep

If you want your AAR to be moves to SS AAR sub-forum (its proper place imo)ask it here.

[stormer]

Good start +rep

[ScottinSF]

1080 AD
In 1080 Denmark has been reduced from the "North Sea Empire" of Denmark, England and Norway to just 3 settlements, as seen below. King Knud's kingdom unites the North Europe and Swedish landmasses and is surrounded by lesser Viking tribes, the most notable being the kingdom of Norway. King Knud has made unsuccessful incursions into England, trying to regain it but the cost of war was too much for many of the Vikings and they rebelled from the Danish kingdom. Now Knud must recreate unity among the Vikings under the Danish umbrella. Only with the Vikings unified can the Danes prosper. King Knud knows that his friend the King of Norway has similar ambitions to unite the Vikings under the Norwegian flag, which would come at the Danes' expense. At the same time, the Holy Roman Empire is gaining strength to the south, and though they have not shown any interest in the Viking lands, it is good to be prepared.


The capitol Arhus (westernmost settlement) has a port, grain exchange, some roads, and a town hall. This is interesting, because in vanilla Kingdoms, the capitol is Roskilde, on the island. The towns Roskilde and Lund (center and east in the empire) only have a palisade and town watch. Centuries from now Roskilde will be nothing more than a suburb of Copenhagen, and Lund will be a suburb of Malmö. Knud's son Prince Karl governs Lund, and the young general Erik Jarl is governing Roskilde. The King has a daughter, Princess Ingrid, at Arhus.

King Knud has hired Svend the spy to take stock of the Viking tribes and find out the best way to reunify them. This spy is currently on a mission north of Lund. There is also Harald the Cardinal, a descendent of the Viking who Christianized the Danes, and a merchant known simply as "Toke".

Svend the spy heads north to encounter the small Motte at Skara, and continues north. The Cardinal and Princess head south from Arhus together down the peninsula, and encounter nothing remarkable, just the familiar walls of independent Castle Hamburg. Toke lights out for some opportunities in European amber, which will take about 2 years to get to.

The Danish longboats have mostly been reduced to scrap in the wars with England. Admiral Jon, commanding the lone remaining fleet of longboats, heads deeper into the Baltic Sea. He checks in on the small Motte at Stettin from shore, and continues East along the north shore of continental Europe.

After this survey, King Knud is concerned that the Danish kindgom as it stands is not well-defended. There are no mottes or castles, only three relatively undefended towns. To make things worse, all the immediately neighboring settlements are mottes or castles. In this case, the best defense is indeed a good offense, so King Knud relays a message to his son Karl to assemble an army to take the castle at Hamburg. If successful, this will anchor Denmark on the mainland and provide a facility from where to train top-quality soldiers for the defense of the Danes. The best forces that Danish towns can currently muster are spear militia men, so all three towns start finding men who are willing to fight for the defense of their country as spearmen.

King Knud is determined not to repeat his past mistakes, so he orders Roskilde and Lund councillors to construct grain exchanges and has Arhus peasants start clearing land, so that trade and farming may increase and help fund Danish defenses - no more punitive taxes on the peasants.

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

ScottinSF...

Indepth background, well written, solid graphic arts, +Rep. Keep it coming Congrads. on your first Rep Circle!

[ScottinSF]

This legend will help orient you, the reader as we go through a period of settlement discovery.


1081 AD
In 1081, King Knud's esteemed council of Nobles tries to persuade the king to invade insignificant Skara instead of Hamburg. They feel that unifying the Danes takes precedence over proper defense. They offer 2500 florins if King Knud conquers the settlement in 15 years. No dice, though. The King wants Hamburg so he can defend Denmark, and he tells the council that he'll see about Skara after that.

Sven the spy continues north to independent, formerly Norwegian Castle Oslo. It looks to him like infiltrating Oslo is a risky, 50-50 proposition, same as Skara was. So he heads past Oslo toward the Norwegian border. Possibly he can build up his skills spying on the Norwegians. A Norwegian merchant isn't likely to kill him.

In Arhus, another longboat fleet starts construction. This fleet will be used at first to ferry our new diplomat around to the British Isles to seek trade, alliances, and other diplomatic goodies.

In the south, Toke the merchant has heard about slightly more profitable silver near Hamburg, so he heads in that direction, bypassing the amber deposits. Admiral Jon has transported Prince Karl and the garrison armies of Lund and Roskilde to the area just north of Hamburg, where they wait for the spear militia from Arhus which are still coming by land.

1083 AD
In 1083 Prince Karl's army discovers salt mines in the area near Hamburg. A messenger tips off Toke and he leaves his silver mines and establishes trade at the more profitable salt mines. Karl's army then beseiges Hamburg, and starts building rams and ladders. Princess Ingrid and Cardinal Harald wander further south into HRE territory, unable to find any settlements of consequence.

Sven the spy tries to read a Norwegian diplomat's secret papers, but is discovered and put to death on the spot. Our new diplomat, Esbern of Soro, hastily makes for Norway with the new longboat fleet from Arhus, commanded by Admiral Bo. He's in the vicinity of the murderous Norwegian diplomat as I type this.

Admiral Jon is freed up from transporting armies, and King Knud directs him to explore the south coast of Sweden and the other lands of the Baltic to assess the current prospects for Viking unification. Jon's first discovery is a new wooden castle at Kalmar. Admiral Bo meanwhile heads west and checks up on the Norwegian town of Eikundarsund.

1084 AD
Diplomat Esbern, in Norway, initiates trade with the Norwegians through their murderous diplomat. Admiral Bo heads back along the Norwegian coast to pick him up afterwards, so that they may continue their trek to the British Isles for more diplomacy. To the south, Princess Ingrid gets directions to the HRE settlement of Nuremberg and heads there to initiate trade at a minimum. She asks the peasant girls on the route about Nuremberg's bachelor governor Max, but they say he would be unlikely to marry her, as he prefers slavic brunettes.

Admiral Jon heads further east along the Swedish coastline and spies the Viking town of Nykoeping. He asks locals there about these new settlements he's seeing, first Kalmar and then Nykoeping. According to them, this is the last settlement on mainland Sweden that the Danes were unaware of. The Danes already know about Uppsala, further north, and Visby on a nearby island. They even know about the Gulf of Finland and the towns on the north and south sides, Turku and Reval, thanks to Viking raiding parties. (note: these towns were revealed at the beginning of the game because holding them is one of the victory conditions).

Prince Karl's army is done building seige equipment, and they are ready to attack Hamburg. The enemy's statistics are slightly in favor, because some of their men are higher quality, though they have half the men we do.


After an incredibly bloody battle in which well over half Price Karl's men are lost, the Danes occupy Hamburg. Nothing in the castle needs repair, but there is only a bowyer to recruit units, so only peasant archers can be trained to defend the castle. Population is stagnant in the wake of the war. Prince Karl's army starts building a mustering hall, and retraining.

In Arhus, another merchant is in training, and King Knud permits construction on a brothel. He hopes this will attract the seedy elements that can be tapped for spying. King Knud asks the councilors of Lund and Roskilde to implement basic agriculture in the form of land clearance, and to train a few more spearmen both towns where possible. The three companies of garrison spearmen in Arhus start making their way east toward Lund, to stage for an eventual attack on Skara, as requested by the council.

[ScottinSF]

...Thanks...

Thanks to those who are repping me, I just hope that my turn-by-turn updates don't get too tedious for you. I see that most AAR's usually ignore what the spies and merchants are doing, and what's being constructed or trained in each town. I documented all this to help build my strategy and keep track of all the pieces of this complex game, so it feels like to not include it now is like throwing it away. My next update or the one after will hit the ten-turn mark, depending on how much time I have to translate my notes into a single post, or two.

[LlamaD]

Well, Gl then. Nice start so far. (But put some eye-candy on....after all, this is SS)

[Yoda Twin]

Nice AAR, are you aiming to retake all of previous Viking lands?
Also + rep

[ScottinSF]

Thanks,
No, I'm playing without particular goals for conquest... and am doing what makes sense at the time. For example, the Vikings had part of England but attacking it doesn't gain many points in the eyes of the pope.. attacking non-Catholics is easier, and I have a few of those to my east, some of which never were Viking or Viking-settled. The historical context is important because it informs the game start position and past events can be referenced to to give flavor to current plays.

I've actually already played up to a point where I have 19 settlements (I wont tell you where or what year, that'd complete the spoiler).

I've got to still translate a lot of my notes into more of a storyline, and I'm also working on an important (non M:TW) meatspace project at the same time, and maintaining another blog in connection with that project too: the Seismic Challenge.