1066: Harold’s Demise

Last night was the first year of the EDBAG DBA campaign based on the Norman invasion of England. The campaign map looked like this (dots are capital cities).

Red - Scottish Isles - Dave
Light Green - Norse Irish - Mark
Yellow - Pre-Feudal Scots - Terry
Dark Green - Vikings - Bob
White - Vikings - Jonathan
Pink - Anglo Danes - Bruce
Orange - Normans - Chen-Song
Dark Blue - Normans - Barry

With Jonathan away, we determined he would hole up in his capital and withstand sieges for this year. We then began by declaring war simultaneously. The end result was:

Scottish Isles at war with Norse Irish
Norse Irish at war with Scottish Iles and green Vikings
Pre-Feudal Scots at war with white Vikings
Green Vikings at war with white Vikings, Norse Irish and orange Normans
White Vikings at war with green Vikings, blue Normans and Pre-feudal Scots
Anglo Danes at war with blue Normans and orange Normans
Orange Normans at war with blue Normans, green Vikings and Anglo Danes
Blue Normans at war with Anglo Danes, white Vikings and orange Normans

Armies were then placed:

Scottish Isles at Isle of Islay
Norse Irish at Dublin
Pre-Feudal Scots at Perth
Green Vikings at Chester
White Vikings at Oslo (inactive)
Anglo Danes at London
Orange Normans at Hastings
Blue Normans at Rouen

Varying the DBA campaign mechanic slightly, all moved were recorded in secret and reveal simultaneously. Turn 1 saw the Anglo-Danes, Pre-feudal Scots and Norse Irish elect to defend the realm (as per the HoTT rules).

In the north, the Scottish Isles crossed the sea to fight the Norse Irish in Dublin while the green Vikings moved to Waterford and besieged it. The green Vikings also sent a contingent north to assist the Scottish Islanders.

After a dual littoral landing cause quite a mix-up right by the Norse Irish camp, the green Vikings arrived, sacked the camp and knocked off two Norse-Irish psiloi to end the game. The green Vikings also liberated Waterford and the Norse Irish fell back on their capital in Limerick.

In the south, the blue Normans besieged Caen unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, the orange Normans wailed into London and beat the Anglo-Danes in bloody battle. The Anglo-Danes fell back to Winchester to defend their capital with London flying an orange flag!

Turn two saw a rematch between the bloodied Anglo-Dane and orange Norman armies in Winchester, with the Anglo-Danes falling before the orange Normans and becoming a vassal state. But this victory would prove costly for the orange Normans later. Again, there was no love for the blue Normans as their siege of Caen continued to be unsuccessful.

In the north, the Pre-feudal Scots landed at Trondheim but were unsuccessful in their siege. In the west, the green Vikings (with a contingent of Scottish Islanders) attacked the Norse Irish capital, turning the Norse Irish into vassals.

The fall continued to be dramatic. The Pre-feudal Scots and blue-Normans were again unsuccessful in their sieges. The orange Normans rushed back to Hastings to find the green Vikings landing. The Normans summoned their Anglo-Dane vassals while the Vikings invited help from the Norse-Irish, Scottish Islanders and blue Normans (yes, four allied contingents eventually arrived—what a mess!).

Although the eventual contest was closely fought, the weight of the Vikings (11 units plus nine allied units) eventually bested the six Norman units and three allied units and Hastings was green. The map now looks like this:

At the end of the autumn, the dispositions were (and I stand to be corrected as Viking ruins are not necessarily definitive):

Scottish Isles at Dublin, 0 prestige, 10 stands left.
Norse Irish at Limerick, 0 prestige, 4 stands left, vassal of the green Vikings until twice more defeated.
Pre-Feudal Scots at Trondheim, 0 prestige, 10 stands left, must return across the waters for winter (dice roll required).
Green Vikings at Hastings, 8 prestige, 8 stands left
White Vikings at Oslo (inactive), 0 prestige, 12 stands left.
Anglo Danes at Winchester, 0 prestige, 4 stands left, vassal of orange Normans until once more defeated.
Orange Normans at London, 1 prestige, 3 stands remaining
Blue Normans at Rouen, 0 prestige, 9 stands remaining

Before the next meeting, each army must replenish its troops (one for each city plus two for your capital to a maximum of 12) and the Pre-feudal Scots must roll to return across the water for winter. The white Vikings were inactive so are limited to a 10-stand army for 1067.