The Forging of the British Empire - an M2TW SS6.4 AAR

[Me, Myself and I]

This AAR will involve the English faction. Being British myself (Welsh, to be specific), I find myself best able to empathise with this faction.

Game: M2TW
Mod: Stainless Steel 6.4
Era: Late (Starting Date 1220)
Campaign AI: Gracul
Submods: Permanent Watchtower
Campaign Difficulty: Very Hard.
Battle Difficulty: Very Hard.


I’ll establish a slightly alternative version of history early on in the AAR, to explain historical discrepancies with the mod. Most notably the dates of birth and coronation are somewhat different to reality.

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. London, 19 August 1220

I am Henry. Last year, I was crowned king of England.



I am, of course, a Catholic. I am not the most pious man in the world, not by far. I believe in, and worship, God, but I find some of the rhetoric preached by the Bishop of Rome to be a bit far-fetched. I believe in the divine power behind sovereignty, and in the right of conquest. The Pope’s latest efforts to diminish and restrain the rights of King seem more focussed on increasing the power of the Papacy than on doing God’s work.

My ancestor, William the Conqueror, set out from the small duchy of Normandy to conquer the entirety of England. Since William’s great conquests, England has diminished in power somewhat. Our country became inclusive, and as such our intelligence on other nations is incomplete at best.



When I came to power, I ordered the Lord High Steward to compile a report of our standing amongst other nations. Though they manage to stay away from being absolutely terrible, our rankings are nothing to be proud of.



I wish to carve out a legacy to surpass even that of the Conqueror’s – I want to establish an empire, based from these Britannic isles – a British Empire. Of course, one must not embark upon such a journey alone. My amazing and beautiful wife, Eleanor, is my constant companion in all my efforts. We have three children together: Edward, Margaret and Edmund.



Edward, the eldest, is by now a grown man. At 21, he has earned some small reputation for chivalry. He is loyal to the kingdom, but has not shown any great promise as a commander. As such he will, for now at least, remain in London as an administrator.



Margaret is our second child. She has already shown much aplomb in her diplomatic efforts within the city of London. At 18, now is the time for her to go out in the world and negotiate on my behalf with other nations. I know Eleanor will be particularly sad to see Margaret leave, but it is her time.



Over past years, the Kingdom’s military has been greatly decentralised, to the point that actions beyond our borders are practically impossible. I have ordered that all our forces converge to Nottingham. It will take some time for our full might to be gathered, but when we are ready we will be an impressive force.

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. 1220-1222

Before taking on any large nations, we must focus our attention on bringing as many independent lands as possible into the fold of the British Empire. One of my generals, Gregory Dudley, has been given the task of bringing western Ireland under our rule. Gregory already served as the governor of Dublin, so he seemed the right man for the job. He took only a small force, and the Irish were able to muster a surprisingly large army, so as soon as he set up siege lines he came under attack.

Spoiler for Battle of Galway: 

Battle report filed by Gregory Dudley, March 1221.

I had grievously underestimated the Irish hate of the English. They assembled a great army, with significant contingents of both infantry and missiles. Their one weakness was in cavalry, they had but one unit of the light Hobilars.



The army I had was, truthfully, not fully up to this task. Outnumbered almost three to one, we were a varied army. I had my own elite bodyguard, contrasted with a unit of militia-grade archers and mid-level spearmen. We also had a unit of Irish soldiers who had joined up to fight for the Kingdom of England.



When the Irish came sallying out, we dropped our siege equipment and withdrew to take up a defensive position. Thinking themselves invincible due to their superior numbers, their cavalry raced ahead. Their overconfidence soon cost them, as I led my bodyguard in charging against them.



Though we had won an early victory against their cavalry, the rest of their army continued to march along. I led my bodyguard around the rear. In their overconfidence, the Irish made a crucial mistake. They had failed to leave a rear-guard to defend their archers, so we charged without mercy.



Soon the vanguard of the Irish army reached our lines. Our infantry charged out and met them in a great clash of steel. Even in this clash our men were outnumbered, but our infantry had the advantage of superior discipline and were able to hold their own.



Our repeated charges of their archers culminated in the killing of their captain, causing the rout of the remainder of their archers!



The Irish Kerns demonstrated surprising tactical skill – while our spearmen were engaged with the Irish infantry, our Kerns kept racing around the rear and charging, darting in and out. Soon they were able to break a number of the enemy units! Some of them tried to rally, but our archers and javelinmen were able to stop their advance.



This relentless barrage by our missile troops caused the Irish to rout, for good this time! They tried to run back inside their castle but I was waiting with my bodyguard. We rode them down, without mercy.



The battle was over – and with us as the victors!



I called up the infantry and we marched in and occupied the castle. I made sure the men avoided doing too much damage to the castle, and that as few civilians as possible were harmed.

My son came of age in 1222. Edmund has proven to be an intelligent lad. He has taken up governorship of York, and my wife Eleanor is already hunting for a wife for him.



A small Kingdom standing alone cannot succeed. And so we must seek out allies. I sent diplomats to the mainland to do just that. We achieved alliances with the Kingdom of Norway, the Crown of Aragon and, most importantly, the Papal States.



My daughter, meanwhile, has been gaining great success on the continent. She is being recognised far and wide for her skill in diplomacy. Indeed, some have gone so far as to call her a ‘Diplomatic Weapon.’



We had been working on close contact with His Holiness the Pope. At his request, we started training men of the cloth in a number of our towns.



The Pope was so pleased with our work that he has bestowed upon me the title of Defender of the Faith!



Finally, I felt we had secured sufficient international to support the beginning of our conquests. The armies had gathered by now and I have started leading the army north. The barbarian Scots of the North will finally be conquered – by us.

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. 1223-1225

We opened hostilities with Scotland by besieging Aberdeen. I had brought with me a significant siege train, so we assaulted immediately upon our arrival.

Spoiler for Battle of Aberdeen: 

Battle report filed by King Henry, April 1224.

The Scots’ main army were away raiding villages along the French Coast. The only garrison in Aberdeen was the bodyguard of the governor, Prince Donnchad. Donnchad was the heir to the Scottish throne. Though he was only 25, the man had accrued some reputation as a commander – but even more for his cruelty. Donnchad was also somewhat vain, having hired a biographer to write the story of his life. I intend to make sure it will be a short story.



The army I brought was large, more than 2000 men. To go into detail of the army composition would be pointless. Let it suffice to say we brought overwhelming force.



Donnchad rallied his bodyguard and they formed up positions in the centre of the town. It would seem they wanted to do honourable battle, or some such nonsense. Only a fool would waste the lives of good soldiers on such a foolish concept as honour, so I sent a unit of mangonels around the city. They were able to find the range, and make fire rain down upon Donnchad and his guards.



Eventually the mangonels ran out of oil. I sent the catapults to breach the gates for us.



Our men marched into the city. We filled the streets. It was impressive indeed.



Our archers opened fire. Thousands of arrows rained down.



Most of Donnchad’s men were killed either by fire or arrows. Donnchad and one of his guards survived, however, and charged our men.



Donnchad was by this point heavily outnumbered. Our men soon killed him, though he gave a good account of himself.



The battle was soon over. Aberdeen was ours!



We occupied the town peacefully enough. I let the men have the gold from the town hall, and the town administrators were expelled. The populace had stayed inside during the battle, rather than fighting us, and I wished to repay that favour. I wanted to send a message that peaceful submission will earn rewards.

We did not stay in Aberdeen long. Indeed, not long after taking the town, I installed a small garrison and I led most of the army in sailing south to Edinburgh. I sent a small contingent, led by one of our generals – a man known only as Jasper – to take Inverness.

We arrived at Edinburgh to find a Scottish army stationed outside the city. I decided to use this army to our advantage. If we attacked this army, the garrison of Edinburgh would doubtless come to their aid – and, if we could eradicate them in the field, the city of Edinburgh would be undefended, ripe for the taking. I did not bring our full force, because I did not want to scare the Scots into taking up refuge inside their walls, forcing us to undertake a costly siege. And so, I led our army inland, and we attacked!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Battle report filed by King Henry, July 1224.

The army we attacked was fairly large. They were also well-balanced, with strong groups of cavalry, archers and infantry.



Our plan worked – the garrison of Edinburgh came out to aid their countrymen. The garrison, such as it was, consisted of the bodyguards of the nobles resident in the city.



One of these nobles was Alaxandair, the Scottish king himself. A fairly strong leader, Alexandair had a reputation for chivalry and no small ability as a commander.



The other Scottish nobleman was Eideard. I was struck by the similarity between Eideard, son of the Scottish King, and my own son Edward. Apart from this fact, there was nothing noteworthy about this man – well, to be more accurate, this boy.



Our army was larger than the Scots’, but we did not outnumber them as vastly as we had at Aberdeen.



As we drew near to the Scots, they attempted to attack us. They knew they could not match the range of our English longbows, so they charged towards us. Our siege engineers were the first to find the range, but were soon joined by archers. Rocks, burning oil and arrows soon flew down on the Scots. The barrage was truly incredible.


Incredible. I’ve already used the word, but it seems so fitting. An army of over a thousand Scots raced to our position. Not a single one made it to our lines. A few of their archers managed to get some shots off – but, at the end of the battle, to their thousand dead bodies we lost five soldiers.

Soon, the garrison of Edinburgh arrived. They too experienced the fury of an English rain.



The Scottish King was amongst the first of the casualties. He was burned alive by boiling oil – not a pleasant way to go, if such a thing exists.



Eideard fell soon after, with almost a hundred arrows sticking from his body.



The scene of the battle was immense. The ground was littered with dead.



It took us many hours to clear the dead from the fields. The outcome of the battle was not in question – this was a clear English victory.



Each unit of our archers use specially marked flights for their arrows, to identify the kills. Every unit performed well – not a single archer unit killed fewer than a hundred Scots. The infantry killed none, however – the longbowmen did not leave them any.



We marched in and occupied the city. The civilians submitted to us meekly enough.

I do not wish to seem arrogant, but I dare say the people are beginning to recognise me as a budding commander.



To the north, Jasper’s army arrived at Inverness about two months after our victory at Edinburgh. They assaulted the castle immediately on their arrival.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Battle report filed by Jasper, September 1224.

Domnall, the middle son of the former Scottish King Alexandair, had been left in charge at Inverness. He had only his bodyguard – doubtless the Scots thought an attack unlikely so far inside their borders. Such ideas were proven false, of course, by our attack.



The army at my command was small, but more than sufficient for the task at hand. Beside my bodyguard I had about 300 spearmen, and a unit of catapults to gain access to the castle.



I moved up the trebuchets, and they destroyed the gates for us.



I then brought the catapults inside and they sent great boulders wrapped in burning oil-soaked cloth hurling towards the Scots.



Once we were out of ammunition, we surrounded the remaining Scots.



We soon killed Domnall. Once he was dead, the battle was over.

We were victorious!



We occupied the castle with little fuss.

Inverness was the final Scottish holding. With all their lands conquered, Scotland can no longer be considered to exist as a unified nation. The Kingdom of Scotland is but the first nation to fall by the wayside in our path of conquest!



I remained in Edinburgh for a time to keep the populace in line. Eleanor came up to join me, and she was… somewhat impressed with my newfound status as a ‘conqueror of nations.’ She was so… impressed… that, 9 months later, our fourth child was born! Philip is somewhat of a medical miracle, or so our physicians say, as Eleanor was fifty by the time of the birth.



The first five years of my rule have been, in my view, a solid start. We have unified almost the entire Britannic Isles – only Wales maintains their independence, and I am leading an army there now.



We have also acquired a number of friends over the past five years. We have alliances with Norway, Aragon and the Papal States. We have no formal enemies – except for the fact we have stated we do not recognise independence, which pits a number of nominally independent nations against us.

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. 1226-1228

After a long march through the Scottish countryside, and a short boat trip, we arrived in Wales. The Welsh obviously had word of our coming, and had amassed a large army. We attacked them outside the castle of Caernarvon.

Spoiler for Battle of Caernarvon: 

Battle report filed by King Henry, June 1226.

The Welsh army was fairly large, with about one and a half thousand soldiers. Unsurprisingly, a significant portion were the famous Welsh Longbowmen. They also had strong infantry, including well-trained swordsmen and spearmen. Most notably – and thankfully – they had no cavalry.



A unit of welsh spearmen had stayed behind in the castle of Caernarvon, but I have no doubt they will come to their countrymen’s aid when we attack.



Our army was strong – mostly mixed between heavy cavalry and longbowmen, but we also had a group of infantry.



When they got word of our arrival, the Welsh moved to attack us. This was a mistake on our part, because we were able to set up on high ground and prepare for their coming.



While they advanced, I led my bodyguard against the Welsh reinforcements.



Their reinforcements were wiped out swiftly. I returned to the main battle, where a missile duel was taking place. The Welsh had better archers than the Scots did, but they were still not good enough and our archers held the upper hand. This was cemented when I led my bodyguard, along with the rest of our heavy cavalry, in charging against the Welsh Longbowmen.



Soon enough we had them routing off the field of battle – or trying to. We pursued, and let none escape.



After the battle we were able to march unopposed into Caernarvon, and we occupied the castle.

With the Pope’s approval, I allowed a group of theologians to set up a guild in London. I have also ordered the construction of a large cathedral. London will became our religious capital as well as our administrative one.



As well as our priests, our diplomats have also been working hard. They have secured two new alliances for us – with the Portugese and the Teutonic Order.



By now we have unified the isles of Britannia. An Empire, however, can only be forged by conquest and so now we must look across the sea. Our logical next target must be the French. They are only a short trip across the Channel, and if they were left alone they would be able to attack us with nigh impunity.

Furthermore, the French have failed to secure any alliances whatsoever with other nations. We shall teach them the lesson of why this was a mistake.

[Treaper]

You are writing very impressive, continue with it

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. 1229-1230

Our army gathered near Winchester, in the county of Hampshire, southern England. After a short trip across the Channel, I led a small force inland and we assaulted the French town of Rennes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Battle report filed by King Henry, June 1229.

Rennes had a sizable garrison. They had almost 500 spearmen, as well as the well-equipped bodyguard of their commander.



Their leader was a man named Junien Gaudin. He had a reputation for chivalry, as well as loyalty to the French Crown. Loyalty is an admirable trait. Unfortunately, Junien is loyal to the losing side of this war.



My own army had rough parity of numbers with the French garrison. We were a well-balanced army with infantry, archers, siege equipment and, for cavalry, my own bodyguard.



I ordered the mangonel crew to move close to the town – as close as they could get without coming into range of the civilians manning the arrow towers.



The French soon retreated to the centre of their town, beyond the reach of the mangonels. While the mangonel had been distracting the French, I sent a unit of catapults to the side of the town to forge an entrance for us.



I led my bodyguard into the town. We managed to catch a unit of their spearmen before they joined the rest of the army in fleeing.



Our infantry moved into the town. The French general, Junien, soon charged out to meet them. Our infantry surrounded him and his bodyguard.



Junien’s guards were well-trained, and they fought well. Our men took many casualties but soon, Junien was killed and his bodyguards surrendered.



Our archers opened fire on the centre of the town, where the remaining French spearmen were massed. They charged out, and our infantry surrounded them.



When I led my bodyguard around some side streets and charged their infantry, they routed. The battle was soon over.



We occupied the town.

In light of our peaceful occupation of conquered towns, people have begun to call me King Henry ‘the Chivalrous.’ I never thought this would be an epithet applied to me of all people, but in truth I rather like it.

After the battle, I joined up again with the many army and we set sail to Angers, capital of the region of Anjou. While we had set in siege lines, and waiting for equipment to be prepared, I received news from Britain. My eldest son, Edward, has adopted a son! The man’s name is Miles, and he is almost as old as Edward. Miles had apparently proved himself fighting a small rebel group in Scotland. I am told the adoption is a mere formality, but I felt it worth mentioning nonetheless.



Not long after his ‘adoption,’ Edward sent me further news about his family – he has married! His wife’s name is Matilda.



Matilda is a Sicilian princess. She met one of our diplomats in Italy, and then travelled to London where she and Edward met. I have yet to meet her, but in her letters Eleanor, my wife, tells me that Matlida is a nice woman.

The marriage has secured an alliance between us and Sicily. The Sicilian Kingdom has similar roots to our own. They, too, have their roots in Normandy – the Pope called on the Normans to overthrow the Muslim emirate of Sicily. It is good that our two nations are forming close ties once more.



Another messenger arrived at our siege camp. This man was a stony-faced representative of the Pope. He is less than pleased with our French conflict. He has ordered us to cease hostilities, under threat of excommunication.



Our nation is not yet strong enough to fight the Pope. He is clearly not bluffing here – if we anger him, he will deploy the full mechanisms of the Papal States against us. He will order our allies to betray us, call a crusade against us – God knows what else. We will have to play along with his orders for now.

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. 1231

My eldest son Edward married last year. Edmund, my other adult son, has also been busy. He has been gathering an army and they sailed across the channel to the region of Flanders. Technically, F landers fiercely maintains their independence so any action there does not breach the Papal ceasefire. Despite this, the French have a claim to the region – indeed, they had an army in the region. Thankfully, Edmund arrived at the city of Bruges first, and attacked a small Flemish army – luring out the garrison as well.

Spoiler for Battle of Bruges: 

Battle report filed by Edmund Plantagenet, August 1231.

The army we attacked was small, about 200 spearmen.



They were reinforced by the garrison of Bruges, an army roughly the size of our own. They were mostly well-balanced, though their cavalry contingent was somewhat small.



Our army was strong, and varied. We had Longbowmen and Spearmen from Wales, Gwent Raiders from the border between England and Wales, and English knights. We also had two units of militia archers.



We first dealt with the army outside the walls. Our infantry engaged them while I led my bodyguard around the rear.



The first army soon melted. We turned our attention to the second, larger Flemish army. Their crossbowmen strayed ahead, and our cavalry charged them.



Our archers dealt with the enemy cavalry without incident. Soon, their infantry reached our lines. Our infantry engaged them, while our English Knights charged their rear, causing a rout.



The Flemish pikemen continued their laborious advance. They did not make it to our infantry lines, as they broke under the barrage of arrows our archers unleashed.



Before too long, the battle was over. We took relatively few casualties, but hardly any of the enemy survived.



After the battle, we kept marching and occupied the city of Bruges.

Edmund is demonstrating some ability as a commander. He has written to me and indicated he wishes to be more heavily involved in our military actions in the future .



Our diplomats, travelling ever further East, have established an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Kiev. I have no great conflict with our Orthodox brethren – indeed, of late, I am beginning to prefer them to the Pope.



Not long after Edmund’s victory, he came under attack. He was making a tour of the countryside when he came under attack by an army from the HRE – the Germans have attacked!

Spoiler for Second Battle of Bruges: 

Battle report filed by Edmund Plantagenet, November 1231.

The German army was strong and balanced. They had large groups of infantry, missiles and a respectable cavalry corps.



They were led by a man named Hildebrand von Eichstatt. Hildebrand is somewhat of an unknown quantity.



My own army was the force that took Bruges. We were relatively unchanged since the battle earlier in the year.



When I heard the Germans were brining an army, I sent word to the city. The garrison of Bruges, a small force hastily put together since our last conquest, came out to reinforce us.



I led my bodyguard in sweeping around to charge the German archers.



On the other flank, our cavalry charged against their light infantry.



The German general was nowhere to be seen. We soon discovered he had gone to attack our reinforcements.



Hildebrand fought well, and killed many of our soldiers. Eventually, he fled, but I caught up to him.



Once I had killed their commander, the Germans routed. We finished them off. We suffered heavy casualties but won the battle.



We took a number of prisoners. I had them executed. We are a long way from reinforcements, and I do not want the German Kaiser deploying these same forces against us next year.

Furthermore, the French have besieged our new town of Rennes.



Somehow, the Pope does not consider this to be a breach of the ceasefire he enacted. He has, effectively supported this military action by the French. The French and Germans both have armies near Bruges, so Edmund has taken up governorship of the city to defend it. The only good news is that the Pope has maintained our alliance, at the expense of his alliance with the HRE. I had been away south, intending to attack the independent region of Navarre in the Pyrenees. We are now racing back to defend Rennes.

Our holdings in France are far from secure. This does not negate the fact that, so far, we have done well. We have unified Britannia, and conquered two rich regions on the continent.



News on the diplomatic front is a mixed bag. Our allies outnumber our foes: Sicily, Norway, Aragon, Kiev, Portugal, the Teutonic Order and the Papacy have all declared for us. Unfortunately, quantity is not the only relevant factor – France and Germany, our two enemies, are the strongest nations in Europe and they are fiercely committed against us.

[Me, Myself and I]

Diary of King Henry Plantagenet. 1232-1233

As soon as word reached me that the French had attacked, we raced to the town of Rennes. I was worried we would not make it in time and so, in the interest of expediency, I sped ahead with the cavalry. It was lucky we had made full speed – as soon as we arrived, we were attacked by two French armies.

Spoiler for Second Battle of Rennes: 

Battle report filed by King Henry, June 1232.

The first French army to attack us was also the smallest. They had about 450 infantry soldiers, but fewer than a hundred cavalrymen. They had no missile troops whatsoever.



This army was led by a man named Gautier Capet. A fairly distant cousin of the French King, Gautier had a reputation for decent command ability.



The second army was somewhat larger, and better balanced. They had two members of the French nobility with them.



The leader of this army was Gaston Talvas. Gaston had a reputation as possibly the finest commander in the French military. He was not particularly in favour with the royalty at this time, which was why he did not submit to Gautier Capet in the first army.



The second noble was Baldwin de la Tour. A fairly young man, he had apparently been taking under the wing of Gaston Talvas. He had not yet been tested much in battle and, according to rumour, not the bravest of French nobility.



Our army was significantly smaller than the combined French forces. The most significant portion of our army was our cavalry. The only infantry we had were some mercenaries, as well as a small group of out infantry that had stayed in Brittany.



The enemy attacked us at night, and we were outnumbered. Our only chance was to defeat them in detail – take on the armies one at a time and crush them. I led our cavalry in a charge against the infantry of the first army.



We then clashed with their cavalry.



Their general survived the clash of cavalry and charged our infantry. He was a good fighter, but had little chance against hundreds of soldiers.



Soon, our men felled their commander.



We then turned our attention to the second army. I sent multiple units of our cavalry to deal with their French counterparts.



We killed Gaston Talvas in this battle, and with the death of this commander – somewhat of a legend to his army – the rest of his cavalry broke.



Their infantry managed to reach our lines. Our infantry charged out to meet them, and I led the cavalry in charging their backs.



Finally, we were victorious. It was a costly battle, but we won.


I had the prisoners executed. When we inspected the dead, it turned out that Baldwin de La Tour – Gaston’s second in command – had survived and fled the battle. Doubtless we will meet him again.

Soon after the battle, the French attacked me again and I was forced to withdraw. We will deal with them when I have joined up with the infantry of our army. The French have also since besieged Bruges.



The new year of 1233 brought with it a great number of diplomatic dispatches. Two of them were particularly significant, both involving the Germans. Besieging the French city of Rheims, they have declared war on France – forming something of a ‘war triangle’ between the three of us. The Germans also allied with the Crown of Castile. All the Iberians have now chosen a side – the Portuguese and Aragonese having declared for us, and the Castilians on the side of the HRE.



It was not only news the new year brought. The infantry arrived and re-joined our army. We counterattacked the French.

Spoiler for Third Battle of Rennes: 

Battle report filed by King Henry, April 1233.

The French army was strong. Most notably – and worryingly, for us – their cavalry was exceptionally strong. While my cavalry was much reduced following the battle of the previous years, the French had no fewer than five units of their elite Feudal Knights. The one positive side to this is that if we defeated this army, the cavalry we face in later years would be much impoverished.



Our army was back to something resembling full strength. We had fewer cavalry than I would have liked, but our strong archer corps was back. I had also been joined by Andrew Lambert, an up-and-coming general in our army.



I sent some of our cavalry against the weaker of their French counterparts.



Our archers and mangonels started firing on the French. In a disastrous turn of events, one of the mangonels’ shots fell short. A barrel exploded in the middle of our archers. The smell was horrific – it almost made me feel sorry for the French we usually used our mangonel on.



Not all our missiles went like this. Most hit the French – their cavalry were almost finished by the arrows. We finished them off with a charge of our own cavalry.

The French infantry reached our lines soon after. Our infantry charged out to meet them.



They soon routed. Our mangonels began firing again, wanting to make up for their earlier mistake.



We won the battle – but with significant casualties. The best of the French cavalry is now gone.



We took a number of prisoners. I ordered them all executed – I did not want to fight them another time.

In the spirit of going on the offensive, I sent a small army by sea to Caen. They were able to bypass the large army between Rennes and Caen, and assaulted the French castle, capital of Normandy!

Spoiler for Battle of Caen: 

Battle report filed by Captain Hubert, August 1233.

The French armies were mostly out in the field and they had left very little in the form of a garrison here. The only soldiers here were the bodyguard of the governor, a man named Pepin Itier. Pepin is loyal to the French crown and has a reputation for significant skill in command – and for his cruelty.



The army at my back was not large, but was enough for the battle before us. We were mostly spearmen, but also had a unit of catapults.



The catapults cleared a path into the fortress. There was little in the way of resistance.



Our catapults opened fire on the French general.



This soon roused Pepin to battle. We surrounded him with our spearmen.



Pepin fought well but before too long we killed him.



The battle was soon over – and finished in our favour.



We occupied the castle.

This victory puts us just over the edge – we now control the largest empire in the world!



The previous two years saw us win a number of victories over the French. Pressed by the Germans from the East, they are withdrawing our forces from Bruges to defend their lands. Further good tidings came from the Germans – they wish to focus their attentions on the French, and practically begged us for a ceasefire! We were able to counteroffer and demand a healthy donation to our royal coffers.



Things are looking up for our fledgling empire. Though our conquests over the past two years have been small – indeed, we have only taken the region of Normandy – those lands we do control have been made much more secure.

[Scottish King]

Youre making nice progress in Northern France. Now to hold them and develop them to steam roll the French away!

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

Great to see an AAR attempting to forge a British Empire. Although I can't believe it is a Welshman doing it...

The style reminds me of Skantarios' AARs, which were a great success. Good luck.

+rep