Tribunus
The Hansa
The magnificence of the Royal Navy could be witnessed in full as 21 warships, including the royal flagship, the St Elizabeth II, sailed through the waters of the Channel towards the Baltic sea.
As the Navy gets further north - and the inevitable word of an English fleet reaches the Hanse - the Royal Navy begins to watch for a fleet from the Hanseatic League.
Mowbray of Nottingham
Re: The Hansa
Spotting roll:
1-5 = No ships are spotted
6-10 = A minor fleet is spotted (10 ships)
11-15 = A major fleet fleet is spotted (25 ships)
16-20 = A group of merchant ships are spotted
Roll: 12
There must have scouting ships out in the North Sea and the Baltic, because soon enough a great Hanseatic fleet is spotted. Ships from all over the League can be spotted - Lübeck, Hamburg, Danzig, Visby, Riga and Reval just to name a few - carracks all, 25 in total.
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
The Fleet:
1 Flagship (Stanley is Here)
20 Carracks
Stanley:
+1 Battles
Center: 1 Flagship
6 Carracks
Left Flank:
7 Carracks
Right Flank:
7 Carracks
Orders:
The Fleet assumes a wedge formation, with the center being the point of the wedge and the two flanks fanning out in formation to the side. The fleet will drive a wedge through the heart of the Hansaetic fleet, using a combination of round shot and grape shot to pummel the enemy warships. Should the fleet manage to push all the way through, they will swing into two halves, with one going right and one going left, and they will rake the enemy fleet with constant broadsides before closing in to board.
OOC:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ing-army-rules
Royal Navy has +4 due to being badasses, it's in the second contentbox of Barry's OP.
Mowbray of Nottingham
Re: The Hansa
Battle of the North Sea
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
The day started well, with the wind blowing in Stanley's favor. The two great fleets raced towards each other, their painted side bristling with cannon, their figure heads looking dazzling and the sail cloth fluttering in the wind. It was a silent approach, save for the creaking of the ships, the sea lapping against their hulls and the faint breeze in the air. It would not remain so for long.
It would not remain so for long, for soon the ships were incredibly alive with activity. Men swarmed the rigging, guns run in and out, boys flooded the decks carrying gunpowder and shot for the guns, buckets or nails, arrow head and lead bullets were also in great demand, as the Royal Navy swept forwards in its wedge formation, the Royal Flagship to the very fore.
The silence of the day was destroyed in great, shaking blasts of cannon, the terrible scraping noise of hull against hull and the great cracking sounds of cannonball punching straight through timber. As the ships pushed on through, the black smoke already cloaked the sky, as the English started firing grapeshot, it seemed to take on a red tinge as the blasts of arrow heads, nails and bullets turned Germans into literal red mist.
The Hansaetic Fleet reeled from the shock - never before had they encountered a fleet such as the Royal Navy, with her purpose built warships and military innovations. Their own fleet was mighty, but the carracks of the Hanse were simply armed trading vessels, and they soon felt the terrible difference in strength as they clashed with the pride of the Lord Stanley.
The hammering of cannon and the screams of the dead and dying, the crash of the rigging and the great clash as the ships collided filled the noon air, and suddenly the English had pushed clear of the Hanseatic fleet - to the horror of the Guild Captains, the English swung back around and swept their unprotected sterns with terrible, raking blasts of grape and roundshot. What the Germans had though was relief turned into an even more terrible kind of hell, and once more the English swept down upon their panicking foe.
It did not take long after that, as the English proceeded to sink half of the enemy fleet, through a combination of gunfire and ramming. What had been a fierce battle quickly turned into a massacre, as the Hanse-men desperately attempted to disengage from the Royal Navy, who hounded them all the way.
The Royal Navy would have hunted their foe well into the night, had disaster not been struck by one of the final German cannon blasts of the day. It struck high in the rigging of the Saint Elizabeth II, and broke off a piece of the top mast, which fell to the deck below, and struck the Lord Admiral hard upon his cranium.
The flagship's decision - having been in the fore of the enemy pursuit - to wheel back and break off their pursuit finally ended a vicious battle that had been fought from early morning to late evening. Lord Stanley, totally comatose and with a broken skull to boot, lay in his cabin, tended by the ship's physician. The decision was thus made, by a council of the fleet's commanding officers, to return to England with their near fatally wounded Admiral.
Capo
Re: The Hansa
Sir Richard Herbert arrives after several days of travel to the royal fleet. Once within sight of the flagship, the cog upon which he sails hails and submits the proper flags, indicating that friends approach. Herbert wore a simple doublet of wool and a cap, and soon was climbing aboard. He anticipated a meeting with the admiral would occur forthwith.
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
Approaching the fleet, Herbert would be able to see the fierce damage of heavy fighting, stained decks, damaged hulls and scorched paint. Regardless, the fleet was in good order and it sailed onwards, though they had to keep a slow pace to keep steady with the flagship, whose mast had been damaged in battle.Originally Posted by Pontifex Maximus
Herbert was left waiting nearly an hour, though a helpful knight told him that this was mainly due to the fact the Admiral had been grievously wounded in combat and his wounds were being treated, rather than any intentional rudeness.
Finally Herbert is ushered into the Admiral's cabin, a grandiose affair for such a cramped space, and is greeted by the sight of the Lord Admiral, pale and with a skull swaddled in bandages, lying in his lightly swaying hammock. He looked unwell, but alert. "You are, sir?" The voice was fatigued and slightly cracked from minimal use, but strong.
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
With Stanley awake (albeit still wounded) the Royal Navy made land in the docks of Copenhagen, and the Lord Admiral soon sought audience with the King of Denmark.
Mowbray of Nottingham
Re: The Hansa
The English admiral is received at the Danish royal court in Copenhagen Castle. Since few in Denmark bothered to learn the tongue of the British Isles, an interpreter had to be brought in. So Admiral Stanley and his closest retainers found themselves in front of King Hans of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig. He calmly observed his guests before speaking a few words to his interpreter, who translated.
"His Royal Highness Hans of the House of Oldenburg welcomes his foreign guests from far-off lands in the capital of the Kalmar Union. It is not often that his kingdom is visited by such a grand fleet, whose purposes are yet not known. His Royal Highness hopes that the English fleet only comes with good intentions."
Capo
Re: The Hansa
Herbert inclined his head, if not in recognition of the man's status then as admission of the man's wounds. "I am Sir Richard Herbert." he said "I have offered my services to the King for service within the Royal Navy in this most intrepid expedition against the Hansa. Having heard news of your recent victories, costly though they were, I was inspired to lend whatever aid I may in the cause." He finished "I am at your disposal, my Lord Admiral."
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
Stanley nodded thoughtfully. "I see, what are they saying of the battle in England?"
Capo
Re: The Hansa
"the King seems to hold the status of our struggle in high regard." He ventured "Though I daresay widespread commentary has been dashed somewhat given the rebellious uprising against the King and his mother by the Dukes Clarence and Gloucester."
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
Stanley nodded idly. "We are sailing for Denmark, to seek passage through the Straights and to resupply and repair. From there, we'll hunt out the last of the Hanseatic fleet, and shell Lubeck - as Plympton was shelled long ago." This time though, he had brought the fused shells used by the Royal Army in France. Lubeck would be shelled with explosives, of the kind used in the Battle of Varna, nearly 40 years before hand.
Capo
Re: The Hansa
So Lubeck shall not be spared the full ferosity of the English capabilities. "So it would appear that the Hansa are all but defeated, then." Herbert replied "A very notable accomplishment, my Lord." he said by way of congratulations. "Though I am sure you are aware of a much graver threat to the Realm than the Hansa?"
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
Stanley frowned. "I would not imagine so, they have ships left somewhere. We were outnumbered before, but it is even now, though it is imperative we arrange resupply and repair in Denmark, else we won't be fit to meet a fully resupplied Hansa fleet in battle."
Stanley's head cocked in an interested fashion. "Indeed I am not, I have had no recent news in some months."
Capo
Re: The Hansa
"A pretender to the throne will soon seek passage across the channel." Richard started "the Lancaster pretenders once again threaten the Realm.It is only a matter of time before they set sail. It is all anyone in England can talk about, besides the imminent battles between the King's Uncles and his Woodeville kin."
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
Stanley bowed, he was up and about again, though still bandaged. "His most Royal Highness need not fear, the Royal Navy is only this far north for one foe, and that is the treacherous merchants of the Hansa. What we seek, Your Grace, is the right to resupply and repair in the ports of Denmark and access through the Straights, that we may continue onwards to defeat the remainder of the Hanseatic fleet, and to deliver a crippling blow to their capital of Lubeck."
OOC: +5 Charisma
Stanley started up, surprised, before settling back down again. "He has moved swiftly then, for when last I stood in England, Lancaster was in distant Bar." The last remark brought an exclamation of surprise. "Clarence has rebelled?"
Mowbray of Nottingham
Re: The Hansa
After the interpreter had delivered the admiral's words to the Danish king, his councilors gathered around in heated arguments back and forth while King Hans listened in silence. After a while the king raised his hand and spoke, which was quickly translated over to English.
"His Royal Highness wonders what the English Royal Navy offers in return for letting a foreign war fleet sail through his waters and anchor in his ports. Though you may swear to come with peaceful intentions, words are wind to hide a Trojan Horse."
Capo
Re: The Hansa
"Clarence, Gloucester, Hastings, Bourchier...and more. Many lords of the realm have rebelled." Herbert explained. "Each has their own grievance, most to do with the feeble regency of the Queen and her cronies. I take no sides, it matters to me not." Richard concluded "But we cannot long ignore the realities of the King's weaknesses. That is where I believe we might, my Lord Admiral, may make a permanent mark for ourselves in the annals of history..."
Tribunus
Re: The Hansa
Stanley looked at Herbert curiously. "And what would that be, Sir Richard?"
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