Medieval II: Total War Part VI

"Honour and Glory await England!"


- His Royal Highness, King Toby of the House Robin, The First of his Name, King of England, Scotland and France, Protector of Wales and Ireland, Prince of Aragon and Doge of Genoa

Current affairs


In the year of our lord, 1282, The Kingdom of England is divided into eighteen areas, which are ruled by either cities or castles. There are fourteen capital cities and four castles. London remains the political centre of the empire. There are seventeen male members of the Royal Family who have come of age. the Royal Family consists of multiple house. House Norman, descended from William the Conqueror and is currently led by George the Cuckold. House Roose, led by Charles. The current King comes from House Robin descended from Morcar the Wrathful and currently led by his eldest son King Toby.

England is currently the largest country in Europe in terms of area and population, and second only to the Mongols in wealth and military size. The English are currently at war with Venice, Denmark, Spain and Portugal. Venice is considered the most dangerous threat, as it is the third strongest power in Europe. While the English armies go unchallenged on land, the Venetian and Danish navies control the seas. Military efforts are divided into three Campaigns. The south-west front is led by King Toby himself as he fights against the Portuguese and Spanish in unison. In the north, the armies are led by a coalition of nobles against Denmark. the south-east front is led by Robin Robins, the king's youngest brother against the Venetians.

Domestically, two more members of Henry's cable have fallen. Morcar the Wrathful passed away while visiting the Irish and Leonard died while down south. This is a worrisome situation for the British Isles. The last governor of London is also ageing, and it is feared that he will die before any are able to take the threes place. while there is no worry of the islands actually rebelling against the King, the lack of anyone to enforce his will could pose a problem. Neither Godwine or Robin wish to return and claim their father's territory, and Leonard left no descendants to take his place.

Events


At the fall of France, two cities were under siege. Antwerp in the north by the Danish, and Marseilles in the south by the Venetians.With the end of the French threat,  units that had taken serious casualties were being sent back west in order to recruit new soldiers, while newly trained troops were heading to the fronts. The English armies present were divided into three parts. the smallest was as a garrison for the freshly conquered town of Dijon. Half of the army went with Robin down south to Marseilles. the other half went north to lift the other siege. They were to be led by Edgar, younger brother of George. Meanwhile, Toby would march south to link up with his forces heading to Portugal.

The North


Before reinforcements could arrive, the enemy armies decided to lead an assault on Marseilles and Antwerp. Edgar defended Antwerp valiantly, despite being outnumbered 3 to 1. While he took heavy casualties and lost a third of his men, he was able to repel the assault by holding the Danes at the gate. reinforcements arrived soon after, but at first mostly composed of siege equipment that arrived in anticipation of the coming assault.

Actual soldiers appeared soon after. However, even by combining their forces, too many of their units were depleted. Fearing another attack that they wouldn't be able to repel, they were forced to call from reinforcements from nearby towns. When they arrived, they were finally able to send the veterans away from the front and give them time to find more members. This delayed any action in the north for a significant amount of time, as they tried to deal with the logistics of shuffling soldiers and nobles around.

The situation at sea didn't help at all. The enemy navy was too strong for England's. They had numerical and technological superiority. This prevented the transfer of any troops over the water, which would've been a significant time saver. Instead the soldiers were forced to march constantly. Ports were constantly blockaded which significantly cut into the trade income necessary to fund the armies. Luckily, due to England financial advantage, they were eventually capable of building enough to forces them to retreat. The army has finally moved out and entered Denmark. However the pope threatens the King with excommunication if he attacks the Danish over land for the next while. Thus, progress has stagnated.

The Southeast

Jasper in Marseilles decided to sally forth. He faced the near opposite of Edgar's situation. He outnumbered the enemy, but his forces were mostly composed of untrained militia men and peasant archers while the Venetians had a professional army. Nevertheless, he was able to drive the enemy away. He lost about a third of his forces. Unfortunately for him, the he was soon under siege again by yet another army.

This time, Robin was in position to come to his rescue. Proving himself worthy of his brother's name, He defeated an army twice the size of his own forces, without taking significant casualties. Seen as a hero he entered Marseilles and saw what happened to Jasper. Jasper had turned into a paranoid dysfunctional man, who was doing more harm to the city than good. Years of attempted assassination attempts and the stress of the constant threat of uprisings had taken its toll. the The city was turning into a hellhole. He managed to convince Jasper to leave the city, and left his cousin by marriage, Robin of Berwick, in charge of city. He hoped to take Jasper to war, where he could face a heroic death in battle without harming more of the people.

Together, they headed east to Venetian lands when they ran into Genoa, only lightly defended by the Doge of Venice himself. They quickly lay siege to the city, hoping to be able to attack it before reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately, an army did arrive, led by a family member of the Doge. They were forced to engage in battle. During the battle, the Doge came out of the city to reinforce his ally. Robin was able to take out the crossbowmen with a cavalry charge from behind and his own missile units. He killed the Doge's relative before he went after the Doge. While the bodyguard put up a brave fight, they eventually fled. The whereabouts of the enemy leader is unknown. While he did not die in the battle, he was not found in the now defenceless city. Angered at the missed opportunity, Robin took a page from his brother's book and had the city sacked in revenge. Now what's left of his forces must decided whether to hold or abandon the city while a Venetian siege army approaches.

South-West

The war against the Portuguese was long and hard. They were the current lords of the kingdom of Aragon, holding the city and castle of Zanagoza and Pamplona. While they were reasonably defended, the true challenge was crossing the Pyrennes mountains and getting to them. Toby was still far behind his forces, and reinforcements were coming from the north as well. Eventually, the army made it through, while Toby linked up with the reinforcements.

The first army laid siege to Zanazoga, unaware that a Portuguese army was coming from behind. Toby showed why he had earned the crown and managed to slay most of the army before they were able to get to his assaulting army. It was a glorious victory, as he was outnumbered and lacked a significant cavalry force. It was there that he learned of the joy of using catapults on enemy soldiers. He had all the prisoners executed for opposing him, before continuing to Pamplona, the seat of Portuguese power. After a siege and a night assault, He claimed victory. In a moment of cruelty that had become expected of him, he ordered his soldiers to exterminate the population of the castle. Thousands died as he solidified his rule and his reputation as a brutal, merciless conqueror. His enemies now tremble at his name. It is believed that due to his sense of justice, Toby performs many of the executions himself and he uses assassins to eliminate those that could potentially bother him.

Once his other army finished their siege, he claimed the title "Prince of Aragon" to show his commitment to keeping his new lands. He intends to march further into Spain,  and continue his reign of Conquest, and surpass William the Conqueror as the greatest commander the English had ever seen. He is military genius, a competent ruler who inspires dread in any who would dare oppose him.

The Borders after the recent conquests

Medieval II: Total War Part V

Robin's Rise

While the continental part of the English empire was in constant battle, the islands were relatively peaceful. There were only two governors for the four kingdoms. None of the citizens were being sent to fight wars, and taxes kept flowing into the treasury. there were two senior members of the Royal Family who actually lived on the island, but three would soon come of age. 

Toby, Godwine and Robin were the three sons of Morcar Robins, Grand Duke of Scotland and Ireland. While they were nice enough lads, living with their angry alcoholic father was enough to change them. Toby knew that unless they all left their fathers care as soon as possible, they would become exactly like him. On his sixteenth birthday, Toby left Edinburgh and travelled to France. He knew his family's connections would help him, and soon enough, he was placed in charge of a small task force with the purpose of eliminating rebels and vagabonds that terrorized the countryside. It was not a glamorous position, but he did manage to prove himself in battle against the rebels. He rose in prominence as a brilliant commander, but still had much to learn. He was soon deployed against the French. The war effort was in shambles and disunited. There was no clear leader and all the generals were attempting their own strategies without coordination. While the early days of the war had gone well, progress had stalled. Allies of the French like Venice and Spain had also declared war on England. King Louis was travelling with the French army to defend Bordeaux, currently under siege. Marseilles was constantly under assault, and the last French city was too heavily guarded to siege. But Toby saw an opportunity to turn the war around. In a risky maneuver, he took the entire garrison of Angiers, and took it to to Bordeaux. He realized he could engage Louis and his entourage in a decisive battle. He could cripple the French war effort. 

He attacked the French King as he attempted to defend a strategically important bridge. Despite the limited space to deploy, he distracted the King with a squad of Infantry sent to attack the French forces across the bridge. While outnumbered, the advantage was negated by forcing the French troops into a bottleneck. Toby's archers whittled away at the enemy while they were engaged. When the English established a foothold on the other side of the bridge, Toby's Cavalry charged across and overwhelmed the enemy. The sheer force of their charge broke the enemy lines, and the enemy routed. Louis and his heir were killed in the fight, and their army had dispersed. The French were finished as a military power. Their castles and cities were cut off from each other, with all their soldiers were trapped under siege and could be taken care of whenever the English willed it. Toby gained enough respect and authority to be declared the commander of all English Military forces.Another perk was his marriage to one of King Robert's daughters. With his new powers and prestige, he had his brothers retrieved from Scotland and brought to him. 

The brothers all shared a talent for command. While Toby was indisputably the best of them, Godwine and Robin were not far behind. Apart from that and their hatred of alcohol, the brothers were all different.

 While Toby loved his brothers, his father had left a mark on him. Whispers of his cruelty grew louder each day.  He executed any prisoners he captured during battles and did everything he could to turn the battle in his favour. He had any who disagreed with him flogged and others tortured. He was born a conqueror and destroyed any foe he met on the battlefield. He was rumoured to be the best English general since William the Conqueror himself. He was admirably rational, and a master of logistics. While he was above average at bureaucratic matters, he was poor with taxes. He saw that the trappings of power were necessary if he wanted to keep his authority so always picked the most expensive trappings for himself. 

Living in their brother's shadow, Godwine and Robin had each found their own niche in life. Godwine was the most religious of the three, and always acted the way he thought was religiously proper. he was also quite sociable with people and was always eager to make new friends. Robin focused on athletics and was the healthiest of the three. He was also the smartest of the three on average, but lacked Toby's political knowledge and Godwine's faith. The brothers also differed in looks. Toby had the face of the average English man, and didn't stand out. Godwine was a bit rough on the eyes, while Robin was incredibly handsome and literally striking to behold. 

A New Era

While the Robins had begun their rise to power in Western Europe, King Paul was wrapping up his crusade. He sold his newly conquered lands to the Pope, disbanded his templar forces, and begun the journey home. He had taken a small part of the navy when he had left with him, but didn't expect too much trouble on the way home. After all, it's not like anyone would dare to attack the leader of the strongest nation in Europe. Unfortunately for him, not all his enemies were foreigners. His old rival for the throne, George, son of Rufus, still sought revenge. George saw how foolish Paul was being, and knew that this would be the best chance he had for vengeance. In an act of treason, he bought the aid of Venice in ridding himself of his foolish king. He gave them Paul's position and let them set up an ambush. The Venetians attacked Paul at sea and destroyed his ships. Paul and his conquering army sank to a watery grave. Paul had taken his strongest supporters with him so the death of his army was also the death of any chances his son had of succeeding him as King. Thus ended the reign of King Paul the Malevolent and his dynasty.

While it was a tragedy for some, it was an opportunity for others. Paul was relatively young for a king, and as a result there was no clear heir. While his son was technically next in line, the old arguments about bloodlines erupted once again. George and Walter were once again possible candidates. When a civil war was about to break out, Toby saw his chance. He used Paul's death as a rallying cry for justice and honour and took his men to the French capital. He assaulted the city and slayed the last French King, Henri the mean, and then his heir. Technically, due to the order of deaths, Toby had slain 4 kings in combat so he gained the nickname Kingslayer. Toby left one of his relatives on charge of the city before he returned home victorious. The English people rallied around him and started chants of "King Toby the Kingslayer". As effective head of the military and with the support of the people, he had his wife declared Queen of England and took the title of King for himself. He also took the French crown for himself. In a grand coronation ceremony, he became known as "King Toby the First, High King of England and France, Lord of Scotland and Protector of Ireland". 

Where do we go now?

It was a glorious time for the English, but there was still much work to be done. Their French rivals had been dealt with and their people and culture exterminated. Their allies were still at war with England. Spain and Portugal lay to the south-west, ripe for conquest. Denmark had recently been repelled in the North, but were readying for another attack. Venice lay to the east, and were in the possession of the second largest army on land, and the by far the largest navy at sea. The Pope had almost excommunicated the King, and the Holy Roman Empire was planning something. The English were over extended with their armies scattered. While their Kingdom had grown so had its armies. The cost of all these soldiers was immense. the treasury barely replenished itself every year, and all that money had to go to upgrading settlements or recruiting soldiers. If they lost any income, the economy would break. The English were isolated and had no one to trade with.

Fortunately, there were positives. Short of the Mongols, the English had the largest army, treasury and empire Europe had ever seen. Their enemies would soon know the consequences of messing with Brittania.

Current Borders of the English Empire. 

Medieval II: Total War Part III

Note: Won't make any sense unless you read the rest. Names are assigned in game.

The families of Rufus and Robert


After Robert's death, there were many arguments over who would be the next king. This was the first time a situation like this had occurred in English history. The throne was technically supposed to pass to the oldest son of the King, and if he was too young, it would be the kings brother. However, there were a few problems since Robert was never supposed to be king. His deceased older brother Rufus had had two children before his death, George and Edgar. The law was unclear about whether George should reclaim his rightful place as King of England. Another issue was that when the crusade had started, Walter had been too young to become heir, so his adopted cousin had been chosen as a successor for Robert until he returned. But now that he was old enough, shouldn't he take his father's crown? Finally, there was prince Paul, the chosen heir. He was not related by blood, but of the three he was the only one who had actually led an army and commanded any authority. Thus, with Henry's support, he was able to wrest control of the crown from his adopted cousins and was crowned King of England.

Being passed over again had an undeniable effect on George, eldest son of old King Rufus. he was not even aware that his uncle Robert had died until he was invited to come to Crown Prince Paul's coronation ceremony. George became even more introverted than before. He was already cold hearted from losing his father at an early age. He had turned inward and was a quiet man, which turned him into a poor speaker. He never showed any emotion and it seemed like he wore a stone mask over his face. His predicament in life forced him to become an underhanded and severe man in order to maintain any power he possessed, an action he personally despised. A religious yet rational man, he patiently waits for an opportunity to present itself and get his vengeance on the rest of his family, especially the bastard usurper Paul. The worst part is that despite the talent for combat he inherited from his Grandfather, his French mother makes others question his loyalty in the war on France. He feels utterly alone, since his brother Edgar is almost his opposite.

Edgar never had to deal with the same issues as his brother, as he was never a candidate for the crown. He shares his brother's knack for command. He discovered that he was gay at a young age, and grew deeply ashamed. he represses his feelings, which turn into an uncontrollable rage which he tries to control with alcohol. When he he governs, he does so with an Iron fist and a lack of justice, punishing everyone. He shares his brothers reputation as people to be feared. Edgar is friends with his Brothers in law, Davy and Aston. Nobles promoted to the Royal Family, they are loyal and grateful to their new family. Aston took over the governing of London and the rest of England after Auncell's death due to his excellent bureaucratic skills, while Davy commands a task force in southern France in the name of the king.

While the "sons of Rufus" all get along reasonably well, the same cannot be said of Robert's immediate family. King Robert took his immediate family with him when he departed for the crusade. Along the way, young Walter came of age, while his older sisters married to Jasper and Michell, two men who greatly aided Robert in his Crusade. In fact, Robert treated Jasper like a favoured son, which instilled some jealousy in Walter. Jasper was obviously an idiot who got by on being brave in battle and having an extraordinarily intelligent wife, who happened to be Walter's sister. Jasper was so well liked by the king that he was left to govern Marseilles when the rest of the army departed. Michell, on the other hand, acted as Robert's personal assistance seeing that his will be done in the cheapest manner possible. Even if he did not respect the man, he was still very loyal.

  Walter had always tried to follow his father's legacy of chivalry and battlefield prowess, and in fact had become an expert at defending against sieges. He had always wanted to impress his father, and was incredibly angry when Jasper was chosen as governor of Marseilles rather than him. Still, he acted as a charismatic gentleman. He excelled at social events and speeches. Walter was always able to acquire money from his Father's entourage to pay for extravagant and expensive tastes.

Medieval II: Total War Part II

Note: Most of this is just descriptions of the personalities of the characters based off their in-game traits, not anything found in the game itself. the actions are based off what I did with them. The game is mostly about war.


The History of the English Royal Family


The Kingdom of England starts off with King William the Conqueror, his three sons Rufus, Robert and Henry, and a daughter. . William wished to finish uniting the British Isles and conquering the kingdoms of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish. He also wished to secure his ancestral home of Normandy against France and wisely recognized that the French were a greater threat. William was an amazing tactician and strategist, who was feared by his enemies. His sons were incredibly loyal to him. He trained his son Rufus to be his successor from an early age and they shared a dream of a United Great Britain.   The King departed England for France with Robert and Henry. He took the regions along the coast in order to secure England from coastal invasion. He made an alliance with the French and married one of their princesses to Rufus. William's daughter soon married Auncell of Berwick

Auncell was the second oldest man now in the family. The King trusted him absolutely due to his loyalty. Rufus left him in charge to govern England while he was off at war. Auncell never commanded during battle, but he became an excellent administrator. He supplied his brother in law with soldiers and the money to continue to fight. Auncell had homes built in London and Nottingham for himself as he travelled between the two. He was quite content with his lot in life, since he held much of the political power in the nation while everyone else was away. He died about 10 years after William.

Crown Prince Rufus, heir to the English throne, spent most of his life uniting Britain. He felt that he lived in his father's shadow for most of his life. he was more of an extension of his father's will then his own person. He was the one who declared war on The Scottish after conquering Wales. He simply did not share his father's aptitude for battle, and always lost a significant percentage of his forces and needed time to recover after every battle. While he managed to take the Scottish Capital of Edinburgh, he had to be saved by his father when his army was under siege. Rufus already had a low self esteem, and that was the final straw. When his father died of old age during the Scottish campaign, the newly crowned King devoted all his attention to his fathers dream. He made the ultimate sacrifice and died in battle fighting the Scottish King and his heir to the death, only 4 years after his fathers death. While his army managed to win the battle without him, it left the newly conquered Scottish territory without a governor, as Rufus' oldest son, George, was still too young to take his fathers place. His army was disorganized but remained loyal, and conquered Ireland in his honour.

This left the Kingdom in an awkward spot. At the time of Rufus' death, the Heir apparent was his next oldest brother Robert. Unfortunately, William had left Rob in charge of a crusading army before he left for Scotland. Thus, Robert was stuck in Central Germany trying to reach the crusades when he was crowned King. He was forced to abandon the crusade and make his way back. This took years, leaving the kingdom with only Auncell and Henry. Henry took advantage of the situation, and "adopted" two of his younger friends, Paul and Charles, and had Morcar and Leonard marry his daughters. He sent Morcar to govern Scotland and Leonard to Wales. Before he left for the rich coastal town of Rennes to govern in peace, his brother returned from his crusade to Caen. For a few short years, they ruled together, with Henry acting as his trustworthy advisor.

Henry was unquestionably loyal to his brother and extremely religious. He was a drunk and a gambler. although, as a governor he was fair and just. Due to his poor speech giving skills, he knew he could never be as popular as his brother and would never be king.  He considered himself better than most people, and managed to convince his brother to name his adopted son Paul as heir to the throne. He thought he would be able to manipulate Paul, despite the younger man's greater ability to command. Afterwards, he spent the rest of his life living in luxury as the governor of Rennes, one of the richest trading cities in English possession.

While his brother played a game of thrones, Robert was happiest leading an army and had no confidence outside of battle. He was never trained to be a king, and always felt uncomfortable doing it. He was terrible at diplomacy, managing to get the Spanish to declare war on him for no real reason. When the Pope called another crusade a few years after he returned from his failed one, Robert jumped on the chance. He made Henry build a him a fleet to take him to Tunis. Meanwhile, Paul prepared an army for invading the Spanish. Robert then departed English lands, never to return. He was chivalrous for most of his life, and gained a reputation as a skilled and chivalrous general on the battlefield. Unfortunately, his personal life was horrible. His wife cheated on him, at first secretly and then openly while he was on crusade. He lost all authority as King. His wife's betrayal turned him into a cruel and austere man. He hired assassins to kill foreign enemies and soon became known as King Robert the Killer. In an attempt to please the French he gave his crusading spoils to them. His ineptness led his brother to break the alliance with the French and invade them. While they quickly conquered Northern France, this destroyed the English reputation and led to Venice declaring war. Robert, along with his only son and his two sons-in-law were forced to invade Marseilles, one of the richest French trading cities. he was forced to defend it for years before he could attempt to travel back to English controlled lands. He died before he saw his beloved kingdom again. Robert was a tragic figure, who had a crown he had never wanted forced upon his head, and he saw himself excommunicated from the church he loved so much because of his brothers actions. He never truly got what he wanted.

Medieval II: Total War

When Steam had their Black Friday sales a while back, every game seemed to have some ridiculous discounts that I'd never be able to find anywhere else. One of the best deals I saw was the Total War Megapack, normally  sold for $50, something which I'd always consider way too expensive to buy even if it did come with 4 games, for only $12.50. Even though my computer can't run the newer ones, my friend said I might as well take advantage of the deal since it 75% off. So I got the pack which came with: Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, Empire: Total War and Napoleon: Total War, along with all their expansions. I decided to start with Medieval II, mostly because I misremembered it as being the oldest of the four, forgetting Rome came out a few years before.

So I started it up and unsurprisingly enough, the game ran at about 8 whole frames a second even with all the graphics set to the lowest possible and nothing else running on the computer. For comparison, go to this Link to see the difference between 15, 30 and 60 fps. Despite the slowness of the game, once I got out of the tutorial I really started to enjoy the combat and almost forgot it was atrocious to watch. the battles of the tactical map were extremely fun to command, as you line up your hundreds of troops and then watch them fight the enemy. I managed to win my first seige, although i suffered extremely high casualties. I had a grand total of 4 archers left. Not 4 units of archers, literally four men. When a unit comes with 75 men a piece, you can see how much I sucked. I decided the only way to get better was to keep playing the game. I started a short campaign playing as England. I got hooked and spent the next few days mostly playing the game.

The campaign map is turned based as opposed to real time, and includes up to sixteen different factions. To win the campaign as the English, you need to control 15 regions and eliminate the French and the Scottish. I got to work and learned how to play the game and how to command my men, what units worked best against which, the importance of morale, and most importantly, how badass Cavalry units are. If you use them properly, they're the strongest units in the game. they can beat almost anything if you used them properly. foot soldiers are losing a melee and are outnumbered? Cavalry charge. Archers are chipping away at your troops? Cavalry Charge. the enemy cavalry is charging you? Cavalry Charge. As long as you hit them from the side or behind, your horses will slaughter the enemy and force them to rout. Later on, once the French started to use heavy infantry (basically armoured knights), you can see how easily those can fight everything to a standstill .and how one unit of those can hold off 3 or 4 times their number in light infantry. they're also much harder to charge with your own cavalry.

As I played, I discovered one of my favourite features about the game; the Royal Family. Each faction has a Royal family where the males act as governors of Towns and Castles during the campaign, and Generals on the battlefield. You need to use them as governors in order to recruit new soldiers for your army and build new buildings in towns, otherwise the towns only provide income. You also need them on the battlefield since they can affect the course of battle, and also act as an extra unit of Heavy Cavalry. They each display 4 ratings which impact how important they are, which are ranked on a scale of 1-10. the first is Command, which increases morale on the battlefield. Chivalry/Dread increases your own units morale, or lowers the enemies, respectively. Chivalry is better for governors, while Dread is better for war. Loyalty is the chance they have of rebelling, being bribed, and also affects the amount of unrest in lands they govern. Kings have authority, and if they have a high enough score it'll keep low loyalty family members from rebelling. Piety is how religious they are, and whether the inquisition will get them.

Maybe its just me, but as I got family members, they seemed to develop a personality depending on how I used them and seemed to tell a story. they got traits which affected their stats and made sense.  For example, I had one character who had three children. he got traits such as alcoholic and angry. As his children grew up, they all get traits which said they abhorred drinking. I thought this was a clever touch on the games part. Since this was my first campaign, I grew quite attached to some members of the family, and hated some others. each character seemed to tell his own story if I thought about it, and just made the game more fun and exciting to play.