[SS AAR] England: Truth, Beauty

[Dorkules]

This will be my first ARR. I've already started a bit, but nothing interesting has happened.

Stainless Steel 6.1
faction: England
Rules: No ADOPTIONS, i hate them because they make the game incredibly unrealistic.
All princesses marry generals of royal descent, and all princes marry princesses of royal descent.
Only royal blood is fit for kings.
Level: Very hard/Very hard.
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Chapter 1:
forging a new kingdom

William the Conqueror
England, 1087 King william the conqueror has taken control of England and forced out the saxons.
Now England is ruled over by French speaking lords who don't even consider their English lands as their most important holdings.
King William's main goal is to manifest his dynasty and to keep peace within his family. His three sons will undoubtebly fight for the throne once he dies.


Robert of Normandy
Robert is the eldest son of William the conqueror, but he is not the heir of England.
He governs the king's French lands and he has recently taken the city of Rennes, adding the lands of Brittany to the king's subjects.


Domnall
Domnall is a son of the Scottish king who married Adela, William's daughter, as part of the treaty of York in which England and Scotland entered an alliance.
Scotland's hand was forced to sign the document, as England's forces heavily outnumber those of the Scots.
This way Scotland can battle for lands without having to worry about the English. Domnall has sworn allegiance to the king, and has already subjected Wales.


William Rufus
William Rufus is the prince of England and will become king once his father dies.
He is an ambitious man with no interest in forging alliances and security, he is therefore often squarreling with his father.
He is married to Constance Capet, daughter of the French king. Their union has to provide a son in order to manifest the royal family.
Without it, Rufus' brothers might battle each other for the title of prince.


Henry of Winchester
Henry is the third son of King William and secret favourit of the king. Though not much of a warrior, he is a good planner and administrator.
He has been granted the title duke of Winchester and governs the city of london when the king is away.
==============================================================================
England, 1087. Logbook of Laurence Cranmer, diplomant in service of the crown.

Princess Constance of France has given birth to a daughter, and William Rufus has named her Agatha.
This is the current situation:




The Royal army has begun it's assault on Dublin, but even though the assaulting army heavily outnumber the defendants.
These Irish defend there city against what they call the 'English Bastards Of Satan' and they will give their lives to defend it.
After to years of siege, Captain Edward has proved himself too incompetent to stand a chance of taking Dublin, so king William has ordered Domnall to take control of the siege.
The benefits for Domnall are plenty. Success in this battle would grant him te title Lord of Ireland.





King Brian of Ireland was a mere clanleader who had given himself the title of 'king' and his bastard son the title of 'prince'
He was unrecognised by any great power and his influence doesn't even cover the whole of his tiny island. Nevertheless, he is a ruthless opponent.


Trade rights have been agreed with Ireland by myself. An alliance is not in the minds of either side.
Doubtlessly, the Irish will attack Dublin at some point, wheter we own it or not.
I played the friend to the Irish king, hopefully postponing the day when Ireland attacks Dublin.
King William does not want to be the reciever of an Irish attack, but he doesn't mind giving the first blow.
Once the time is right.

Meanwhile, Domnall continiued with the siege of Dublin. His tactic was to make the Irish attack him and
sally from their town. That way, the weight of the English army could be used in advantage.


Domnall was succesfull in the battle. Being a strong follower of the code of chivalry, Domnall fought with
the men himself, losing many of his bodyguard, but also swinging the battle in his favour. Domnall was granted the title of lord of Ireland, and has become an important figure in the royal family.
The Scotsman will not be underestimated, Lord Domnall of Ireland is no pawn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The most wonderous news has spread through the whole country! The prince's son is Born.
Edward will surely wear the crown one day.
As if that was not enough, Robert of Normandy has been granted a son as well,
the boy has been named Henry, after his uncle.
However, the tiny Henry is an unwell child, and he is not expected to live long.



Henry of Winchester himself has married. The wife is the daughter of a Yorkish lord, whose allegiance was needed
for the security of the area.



The King wishes to expand his domain further. The lands to the north are owned by the Scots, our allies.
No point in attacking them now, we shall wait untill their attention is elsewhere.
To the south lies France, we have a marriage alliance with them. The king has pondered an attack on
Iberia, but it has been found too inconvenient. The treasury is not particularly rich at the moment.
So we move east, to the Cities of Antwerp, Bruges and Groningen.


It would seem that Norway has taken Groningen and, much to the king's surprise, Scotland has taken
Bruges. "we must take Antwerp before that is taken too. These rebel cities are being taken like the money of my kingdom.
I will personaly lead an army to take the city."


A spy has been found in Dublin, a spy in service of King Brian. He was discovered when he tried to enter
the barracks of the english forces. but he forgit that he was wearing a green cape and had a large shamrock
painted on his chest. The drunken spy was executed.
The precense of the spy is a sure sign that Ireland plans to attack.


"Jesus H Christ! The pope won't shut his holy arse! Do this, build that, recruit him, blablabla"
"look at this!" He shows the letters to his ill son





More breeding news!




Robert has named his second son Henry too! Mainly because his eldest son will surely die soon,
according to the doctors.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
News from Ireland: Irish foces have been spottest just behind our borders by a watchtower that can see for about 200 miles.
The forces shouldn't even be there, as Cork has entered open rebellion.
Ireland shouldn't be thinking of attacking Dublin when they have only a single tiny castle left
unfortunately, Domnall cannot take Cork, for that would leave Dublin undefended.
And the army is being retrained and is in no condition for a fight.



Meanwhile, King william has begun the assault on Antwerp, his army will keep the rebel forces at bay while
he waits for more reinforcements to take the city.
It would seem that the king came just in time to take the city, Scottish and french forces to take the city.
"Though they are our allies, they do not help us in this siege!" William Rufus writes his father,
"Their greedy paws are set on this city and they are too proud to ease our fight with the rebels.
watch as they sit and wait for us to take the castle and then to turn back, with disappointment etched
on their faces."


"I also wish to inform you that the royal family has received two new members. Domnall has now got a son and
your dear Henry has got a daughter. now take that city and thank your stupid allies!"



King William had done enough reading of letters and fought it was time for a good fight.
"Killing," he thought, "is a good remedy for hatred of your children"



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For the complete gallery (I left a lot of things out like rebel killings, merchant acquirements,
party chrashing, balloon blowing and Robert snorting cocaine) just go to the complete
gallery here: http://img131.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=0001v.png

And yes, I don't do a lot of realtime battles, don't have a lot of time for it.

P.S. The profile photo's are form the series "the Tudors", I plan on using them some more,
maybe using screenshot and a storyline.

[Imperator Romani]

Great AAR. Plus rep, and keep it up.

[k_Apollo]

Great AAR. Plus rep, and keep it up.

I did the same . Indeed, cape it up.

[Dorkules]

Chapter 2
The will of power

A crusade has been called to Cairo! It is not sure which faction used it's influence over the pope
to start the crusade, though roumors suggest that it was the Templars, their power must be
growing.

King William has decided that England will join the crusade, if only to gain power.
He has also decided to take advantage of Norway's desperate situation as they are being attacked
by both Scotland and Denmark. Groningen will be easy to take. But William is becoming too old for
heavy battles, so he let a minor nobleman lead the onslaught.

In more breeding news, Domnall has received a son and he has named him Aubrey of Scotland,
highlighting his Scottish status.

In a meeting with the highest lords of England, William Rufus put his fist down and ordered the
lords to choose which one of them who will lead the crusade. If they couldn't choose they would
draw straws. Going on a crusade had it's advantages, mainly power. But death was a more likely
outcome.

Lord Darnley
Out comes Gregory Darnley, lord of Exeter. He had relatively low power in England and he was publicely
discrased because his wife had fled to France to pursue her secret love. He was brave enough to take on this crusade, without having to draw straws.

So after collecting some royal troops he officially joined the crusade and hired every mercenary
and scumbag in search for firgiveness for their crimes and set off. The plan was to sail to Iberia,
cross it on foot and pick up another boat there.

Two more royal sons and two royal daughters are born, giving every family member 4 children apart from
Robert, who has three.

Groningen is taken with ease! The Kingdom of Norway is surely dying. Their king died some months
ago, and his only son is left fighting three enemies. One of which, Scotland, has been excomminicated.

After taking Groningen, the king drew up a new plan. The goal: Hamburg. The first step of this plan
was an alliance with HRE. Then Denmark could be attacked freely.

Darnley has reached Egypt! He lands close to the piramids with a determined army and a sword
in his hand.

Darnley immidiately attacks Cairo where a Spanish army was only miles away. He had just beaten them
to it. The Spanish army will be able to see the smoke rising above Cairo.

The battle is quick and decisive.

Though severely wounded, Darnley becomes the hero of the crusade and gains titles and power.
And England is in the pope's favour. Hopefully, William can use that to England's advantage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gallery for this chapter here: http://img95.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=0080.png
I've left a lot of stuff out, but none of it adds anything to the overall story anyway.

Next Chaper: King william the conqueror dies (well, in about ten years of gameplay)!!!!! And a new Heir has risen.
think you know who it is? take a guess.

Nope, you guessed wrong. no, not that one either. just wait.

[Dorkules]

Chapter 3
Struggles within

The King's plan to take Hamburg is being played out accordingly; our spy has infiltrated the castle.

Just as the final steps are being taken, a runner storms into Groningen and shows the king a scroll
sent by the boastfull Scottish king

Norway has been eliminated, her lands divided between Scotland and Denmark. Soon after, Scotland
is reconciled with the pope. The Scottish king dies some years later.

Disaster! The force the king has sent to besiege Hamburg is ambushed by a rebellious German lord
with a name that sounds like 'Von Claw' (sounds like a supervillain in a James Bond movie)!
His army wasn't strong enough to defeat their English foes, but the battle has weakened the English
forces to such a degree that taking Hamburg will be a lot harder than origionally thought.

In the year 1120 things take a decisive downturn. Matilda, consort of England, dies.
Now that the crusade is officially over, Lord Darnley is stuck in Cairo with an army that has
started to demand pay and with city whose inhabitants are rebelling left, right and center.
The arabs have entered open revolt against Darnley and his army,
and the Fatimid forces are ready to take back their city.

Because of the huge costs of maintaining Darnley's army, the crown has gone effectively
bankrupt.

King William dies in his sleep! And there could not have been a worse time for this to happen!
The kingdom is bankrupt and soon to be at war with Denmark. William Rufus tries to take control
of the kingdom before a civil war breaks out but, with an economical disaster and a dead king,
all hell breaks loose. The power vacuum left open by william the conqueror seduces Rufus' rivals
to try and seize the throne. Robert of Normandy claims the throne for himself, as the eldest son
of William. He has the lands of Normandy, Brittany, Antwerp and Friesland behind him. He refuses to
swear allegiance to Rufus and gathers his personal army to march on Nottingham, where Rufus resides.
Henry of Winchester has little support and is too young to be a serious contender for the throne.
But then, whilst Robert and Rufus prepare to fight each other for the throne of England. Someone else
takes advantage of the confusion and unfolds his own plan.

Domnall, lord of Ireland, sets his scheme in motion. First he bribes a pirate admiral to attack Robert's
ships before he and his army can board it. The ships sink in the English channel. Robert can do nothing
but sit and watch.
Domnall then calls upon his own lands of Ireland and Wales and plays into their hatred of these 'French kings'. Then he calls upon his brother, the king of Scotland to send an army. With his support, the crown of England will be placed on a Scottish head.
Soon he has gathered his army and he marches for the throne for his wife, with himself as king.

The whole kingdom is soon divided between pro-williams and pro-Domnalls. Fighting breaks out everywhere, and William Rufus is in no state to keep order. He has his support in southern England,
but Domnall has Wales and Ireland, and in York Domnall's supporters outnumber those of Rufus.
And heaven's forbid, what if Scotland invades England on Domnall's behalf, just when England
is in her most dire state?

As Domnall arrives outside Nottingham a runner darts out of sherwood forest. As the messenger sees
the army, he tries to flee but he is soon captured by Domnall's forces. The messenger holds a letter,
carrying the Scottish seal. Domnall tears it open;
It would seem Domnall was betrayed by his own brother. In the letter, the Scottish king warns William
Rufus of Domnall's plan and says that he is more comfortable with a French king on the English throne,
than with his own brother, who would undoubtebly try and seize the Scottish throne as well.
For he is my brother, and therefore has a rightfull claim to my throne as well.

Domnall tears the letter apart. He has never been this furious. But all is not lost, this letter has not
fallen in the hands of Rufus' supporters. Domnall decides to pretend he has Scotland's backing.
He'll just have to set his sights a little lower.
Domnall and Rufus meet in Nottingham. Domnall tells Rufus he has a far greater army than Rufus,
so he had better listen to his demands. Rufus can be king, though one with little authority. But his young son will not be heir to the throne 'that will go to me, and my family, for as long as I shall live.'
Rufus cannot believe his luck. He can still be king, surely once he becomes king he will gain authority
once time wears on. And then he will be a powerfull ruler.





For now, the country is stable. The Civil war has not helped the treasury however, which is still pathetic


Meanwhile, in Cairo.
"my lord, we cannot hold this city for much longer. The people are rebelling and the Fatimids have
huge armies at their disposal which are surely on their way. The longer we stay here, the thinner your
army gets. It's numbers are dwindeling, and it's costs are too high."
"well what do you want me to do!" Lord Darnley shouts back, "We need outside help, and there isn't
a single army that can help us." "my lord, the Spanish army is not too far away, returning to Spain,
what if we grant them the city and we look for a more defendable place elsewhere?"
"But surely the city will have fallen back into Fatimid hands before the Spanish army can get here!"
"we have no other choice, my lord"




Meanwhile, the attack on Hamburg fails. The Danish soldiers sallied out an gave the English a
lesson on Viking warfare.




Back in the middle east, Spain has lost Cairo to the Fatimids, but as the Spanish army was on it's
way back to Cairo, they might try and take it back. Lord Darnley has set his sights of Gaza, a strong
castle, that is well garrisoned by the fatimids. The Fatimid sultan resides there. But they are no
match for Darnley's crusader army.


the castle is taken, giving Darnley an excellent position from which to defend.

And it looks like he will have to defend it, against enemy forces like that.

But in order to stay alive, Darnley will need funding for his army. He knows where to get it, but it's
not going to be pretty. Jerusalem is defended by a small garrison, he has decided to send a small
part of his army to take it, and then sack it. Sacking the holy city is not exactly chivalrous, but
once again he has no other choice.

Meanwhile, back in Europe
Prince Domnall decides to attack the Irish. He wasn't allowed to attack under William the Conqueror,
but under Rufus he can pretty much do whatever he wants. The Irish have one sizeable army just
outside Englands borders. Domnall will attack this army while a second army from England attacks
galway.




Rufus' daughter Agatha has become 14 years old and apparently at that age you kick your
daughter out of the house and tell her to marry someone. A good old custom.

Or maybe she left for a different reason, maybe her father had problem with this:


=======================================================================

Will Domnall kill the Irish and become even more powerfull?
Will Agatha marry some hairy Lithuanian guy and become a
very unhappy lesbian?
Will the Danes invade England?
Can Darnley survive the fight against the caliphate in Gaza?

gallery: http://img53.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=0083.png

[messiah]

Very nice! +Rep!

[uzi716]

LOL...nice

+rep

[System]

Great Thread .

[Dorkules]

Chapter 4:
Survival of the fittest

Rather then let the English forces enter Jerusalem, the Fatimids storm out.

The Fatimids fight bravely, but they are overwhelmed by Darnley's force.



Jerusalem is taken, and the coffers are filled with much needed cash. But for Darnley, the guilt
is very great. He never meant to sack the holy city of Jerusalem and strip her of her riches.

England would never be able to keep Jerusalem. The region is entirely islamic and Fatamid forces are
situated all around the city. Therefore the city must be given to an ally with the means to uphold and
defend the city. Our diplomat can only enter negotiations with one of two powers, Portugal and Genoa;

A quick look at their financial statistics shows that Genoa is better equipped to deal with Jerusalem.
So the papers are drawn up and an alliance is forged with Genoa giving them the holy city.


May the union of the king of England and the doge of Genoa last for many years to come
and may these two powers provide each other with assistance in the outremer.

Back in England, King William may have a throne to sit on but it might as well be a stack of hay.
He has very little authority and few supporters at court.


Prince Domnall starts his annihilation of the Irish kingdom. The second army starts the siege of
Galway, which is garrisoned by their king and a militia unit. So no problems there.
At the same time the prince attacks the only reasonable Irish army just outside the English borders.


Then the pope wrote an angry letter demanding that the English lay off the Irish. Obviously he
feares a more powerful England.



Domnall laughed at the pope's demands and tore his letter apart. Galway is taken.


The pope writes another angry letter. Domnall won't be invited to his birthday party.

The prince decides to finish off the Irish army






Back in the Outremer, the dreaded battle of Gaza has begun; A large Fatimid army has besieged
Gaza led by Salim al-Mahdi, a general who cares only about pride, and is afraid of losing it.



Lord Darnley sees his forces on top of the wall prevail against the enemies who climed the wall whilst
Darnley commanded the ground forces to hold the Fatimids inside the gateway so that the Fatimids are continuously sprayed with boiling oil coming from the gatehouse.


Whilst some of the victorious forces on the wall help out Darnley with holding the Fatimids from entering
the city, the rest climb down to the outside of the castle by using the Fatimid siege works. They
plan to attack the fatimids in the back.



The Fatimids flee en masse after being butchered from both sides.

Darnley has one bodyguard left and he takes of to take out some more routing enemies.

There he meets the enemy general Salim al-Mahdi, who has no bodyguards left.
Everyone else has fled the battle and Darnley faces him head-on.

Salim does not flee the battle, instead he keeps fighting, on his own.
His rage and the knowledge that his pride is cracked keep him fighting, and he takes down Darnley's
last bodyguard. Darnley realises too late that he is fighting a man who has chosen death above
disgrace. And then:

Darnley dies at the hands of the enemy general who he had just beaten.
But Salim is not done yet; As he sees the English storming out of their castle rushing to avenge
their fallen general, he charges into them.




Salim charges fights, runs back and charges again. He wants to take as many Englishmen with him as possible.
It took ages for him to die.

But die he did

Gaza is saved, but Darnley is dead. Leaving his army without a leader.

Meanwhile, Denmark makes a pathetic attack on Groningen wich is quickly taken care of.



In Ireland, Domnall though he had finished of the Irish, but he hadn't counted on an outsider tasking
up the Irish crown on the basis of adoption. So Domnall attacks Cork the last remaining Irish settlement,
in the hope of taking the Irish crown for himself.


Just as Domnall was about to finis of the enemy, the pope got another hissy fit and and demanded
we leave the Irish alone.

A dangerous smile played across Domnall's face. It is as if the pope has handed him the dagger to
strike the final blow at the king personally. Excommunication will surely strip the king of the last
little power he has. Domnall will be king in all but name. He attacks Cork.



The pope excommunicates king William II, lowering the king's popularity to such a degree that
he has absolutely nothing to say



Ireland is destroyed.

A jihad is called on Jerusalem! Genoa will surely lose their city to one of the muslim factions.



In the outremer, the late Darnley's army is weakened to such a state that Gaza will fall if they stay, so once again England will give a settlement away
to the faction with the most money who they can talk to on short notion. This faction turns out to be Kievan Rus. So once again papers are drawn up
and an alliance is forged.


This giving-away-cities-tactic is becoming impopular in court but it's a choice of losing Gaza to
the Fatimids and losing their army, or losing it to an ally who might be more lucky.

Then, a crusade is called upon Jerusalem as well!

Poor Genoa was excommunicated some years before and now has a crusade and a Jihad called upon
them. Jerusalem will surely be the ground for some epic battles. But as King William II is excommunicated, England cannot take part.


Because of the crusade we have to break our alliance with Genoa. France is more important right now.


What a sight!

Our army that left Gaza is of to find a castle with few defences. First, Kerak is
assaulted but the chances of coming out victourious against Karak's soldiers is slim so the siege is lifted
They are of to Medina instead, wich might have fewer units.


Egypt takes Jerusalem and now has to defend it against the European armies that are marching in.

In London, a citizens uprising has begun against the useless, excommunicated king.
For Domnall, this might be the right time to take William's crown. But he doesn't want to take action yet.
The time is not yet right.


our diplomat in the outremer forges an alliance with the Turks, since the Templars aren't remotely
interested in one and England needs a powerfull friend in the holy land.


Denmark makes a serious attack on Groningen this time

England may have more men to defend the city, but they are poorly equipped in comparisson
to Denmark's though swordmen and axemen. Domnall takes an army composed from the two armies
that defeated the Irish and Takes of to Groningen. He also takes his daughter Cecily on board.




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Galleries:
http://img23.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=0068.png
http://img232.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=0084.png

Hope to update soon

[Dorkules]

I'm putting this AAR on hold, the poker's finally picking up! And who wants to play a cool game when you can play another cool game and make money!

I'll probably finish this AAR at some point in the not too distant future...