Bo'ness Dynasty Pt3 - King Maine McCinaed 'the reveler' of Lothian

(This is an AAR for Crusader Kings III. Year 867 start with the Earl of Fife - renamed to the Bo'ness Dynasty.)
Pt1 - High Chieftan Drystan
Pt2 - High Chieftan Cinaed of Lothian

Trained as an adequate bargainer, Maine made is name as the life of the party. A dear friend to vassals, foreign rulers and wandering knights, Maine's feasts brought many to Edinburgh and most stayed to add their sword or skills to the glory of Lothian. Under Maine's rule the Bo'ness line strengthened in number and power with most finding desirable matches around the banquet table and landed titles flowing from continued expansion throughout Ireland, England, Norway and Denmark.  

Although the Bo'ness family tree grew greatly, Maine himself had only one daughter, Anna, through his early years. Maine's dearest held the family hopes of alliance with France together with early betrothals to Armagnac, but by the time the marriage proposal came to fruition Aquitaine had split from Francia, taking Armagnac with them. Adding to the strife, the Bouchard rulers were swayed to Messalianism, a new heretical offshoot of the Christian faith. For this they were hounded and purged through holy war, leaving Anna stranded without a husband. Before Maine could bring her home, Anna's elderly father-in-law, Duke Bouchard, forced another marriage to the young genius, dashing hopes of future children and alliances. This would not do. Maine plotted to bring her home through any means to keep the Bo'ness heir safe. Soon Duke Bouchard died to mysterious circumstances.

With Maine approaching 40 and still no male heir to the throne, the marriage to 'Anna the wise' was annulled under suspicion of infidelity. Maine's 2nd wife, Alix de Trainel (also gifted with a marvellous intellect) soon lifted to become a magnanimous host of the ever more impressive feasts crowding the halls of Edinburgh. 2 more daughters graced the family line, but concerns were finally laid to rest when Adam, heir to the Lothian throne, was born with Maine over 45. Alix continued to have children, leaving 8 to share the heritage left behind by the time Maine died.

With lineage secured, Maine's final years were devoted to becoming a King in his own right. The kingdom of Alba had flourished in large part to the growing power base of Lothian, but increases in land and levees for Maine also meant increases to his leige. Coupled with King Cinaed V's tight relationship to the Bavarian King, he held a dominant position fielding almost 14,000 men at the height of his power. Another concern was the tanistry elective process limiting kingdom candidates to only those of the Ailpin house; it couldn't be ousted by Bo'ness candidates no matter their standing. An exit strategy had to be found. 

Maine's opening came with the mysterious death of King Cinaed V to a spider bite, succeeding to King Conchenn. While the new liege had lower prestige and less alliances, he could still field 8,000 souls if needed. Maine's troops had grown to over 6,000, but was unsure how the generally reliable family alliances would hold since all swore fealty to Alba as well. With additional alliances garnered through his children to Wessex and as far-flung as Florence, Maine pressed for independence alone as Conchenn returned from raiding Ireland. The Lothian elite were also bolstered by mercenary warbands to field over 17,000 once raised. As Alba's levees returned to their lands, the Retinue of Hengist and other warbands tore into Gowrie, demolishing the standing army and laying siege the capital. Unable to recall Lothian levees, King Conchernn's army depleted to a measly 4,800 that even his own mercenary hires could not recover from. After the first month the campaign had largely been won, leaving only a few harried skirmishes and sieges to seal independence.

Shortly after breaking the shackles of Alba, the Kingdom of Lothian was announced with all lands from Edinburgh to York under rule as well as holdings in Ireland, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. As the embarrassment of Alba's sudden fall from dominance over the northern realms sunk in, King Conchernn switched primary titles to the Kingdom of Norway to signify where his power base now lay. Alba is no more.    

Maine's drunken excesses finally took their toll as the obese king revelled his last feast. King Adam may be young, but has his own destiny and domain to lead now.  

Bo'ness Dynasty Pt2 - High Chieftan Cinaed of Lothian

(This is an AAR for Crusader Kings III. Year 867 start with the single title of Earl of Fife and the start of the Bo'ness Dynasty.)

Pt1 - High Chieftan Drystan

Cinaed took up the mantle of patron to the Bo'ness line amidst the turmoil of Viking battles for Scotland (Alba) and Northern England. With internal bickering between sons of Ivar the Boneless, other nations descended onto the confusion to tear out a piece for themselves. Cinaed helped himself to most of Lothian to surround his new capital at Edinburgh. Other regions of Ireland and Northumbria also came under the control of the Duke of Moray to add to Alba's dominance of the northern lands. 

In between local skirmishes and clams on the mainland, Cinaed also strengthened his presence on the Nordic coastline to completely supplant the Danes all the way to the Finnish peninsula as well as all mountain passes over into Swedish lands. 

Mercia moved in on Danes holding York to put even more pressure on established viking conquests. Cinaed also saw the opportunity to move in and take the prized capital of York, but missed the opportunity to compliment it with the fertile lowlands around Leeds, with the West Riding capital ceding to Mercia. Spoils were split on the Lancastrian coast as well with Cinaed holding Westmorland and the rest falling to an expanding Mercia. 

All was not happy families within the Alban Kingdom as easy Danish targets dried up. Strife started with the Earl of Lennox declaring rightful ownership of the Irish lands of Oriel, held by Cnes Bo'ness along with her norwegian estates in Traendalog. Mormaer Tadg from Atholl supported the claim to add vastly superior numbers to the equation and tore through the local Oriel defenses. With no formal alliance to assist, Cinaed changed tack and found an avenue to claim Lennox itself through somewhat dubious heraldry. He pressed the claim immediately and swept through the midland holding with ease and pushed into Atholl while their forces were preoccupied overseas on the nordic coast. As they pinned Cnes's troops into a final pitched battle, word reached Flaithbertach Neill that his domain is no more and, as a landless lord, his claim to Oriel is no longer valid.

Even though a few more petty claims over Danish lands rounded out the Cinaed's reign as one of expansion, the internal fractures of Alba hinted at an independent future for the Bo'ness line. 

Bo'ness Dynasty Pt1 - High Chieftain Drystan

 (This is an AAR for Crusader Kings III. Year 867 start with the Earl of Fife - renamed to the Bo'ness Dynasty.)

Drystan is the earliest known landholder for the Bon'ess Dynasty. Although there is no record of his early life or even how he came to hold the Mormaerdom (Earldom) of Fife, Drystan is likely to have come from Gaelic tribal lands between Edinburg and Linlithgow during the time of viking raids and great upheaval.  

Under the Kingship of Causantin II of Alba, Drystan had relative independence and sought a path to take over Edinburg to claim his homeland. With Ivar the Boneless raiding from the west and Jorvik pushing up from York, Drytan's meagre army could not hold claim for long on the Lothian capital, and eventually fell to Danish hands along with Northumbria. Disheartened, Drystan looked to Linlithgow instead. 

Both Sterling and Linlithgow were held by fellow vassal MacMuirdach. Although internal fighting was not unheard of, MacMuirdach held double the lands and could command almost 1000 tribesmen. Through marriage of Drystan's youngest son into the line of Prince Rhodri 'the great' of Gwynedd, the alliance yielded almost 2000 men to call upon and press the homeland claim. Stirling would fall 5 years later.

With Danish kings vying for Ireland, a small window of opportunity opened to allow Drystan to pinch Oriel from one of the smaller invaders. Alba also allied with Meath to control the top of Ireland until Bjorn 'Ironsides' headed west and dominated. 

Alba turned back to the mainland and forced claims on Strathearn's heart, taking Glasgow from the independent Kingdom. Drystan followed in on the weakened Cumbrians to pick up Kyle and surrounds, leaving Carrick and Galloway to fall soon after to Ivar the Boneless, giving continuous land from east to west across Scotland.

As a more established Earl and finding favour with Moray, Drystan continued tussels with smaller independent Danes on the Nordic coastline, gaining foothold in Bjorgvin and pushing north all the way round to Raumsdale. Enough land was gained to usurp the Vestlond title and elevate Drystan to High Chieftan. 

As an ill-fated holy war between Alba and The Isles was drawing to a close, Ivar the Boneless succumbed to injury and left his nation shattered between siblings. With Lothian falling to Jarl Godfrid separate to The Isles, Drystan pounced on the opportunity to take entire duchy in one bold claim. Calling on all allies and additional mercenaries the weakened Danes fell to a 4,500 strong army, but before the final sieges ran their course Drystan succumbed to old age. His dream of ruling from Edinburgh came 3 months later for the Bo'ness line. 

Darkest, Darkest Dungeon - The Hamlet, The Ruins

The Hamlet

Much work to do. Once a bustling hive of activity, the hamlet offered little in service. It, too, had felt the harsh sting of my lineage’s demise. Boarded up and left to time’s grasp. Rising above the rooftops our mansion silhouetted the sky with exposed beams like festering claws. No place to stay anymore.

We need fresh souls to infuse life into this dilapidated estate, and for that, a restoration of the stagecoach network is my first priority. With deeds and crests of sovereignty, the veins of commerce were once again revived.

Canouville was the first to alight into our bleak domain, an aspiring Vestal with judgemental vigor. Raoullin also made the journey, but his proclivity to plague made for an awkward commute. Our assembly is enough to embark upward into the ruinous remains of my bloodline.

The Ruins

With limited provisions we set out to my ancestral home. Gothic architecture rising above once demanded respect, now webbed in neglect it portrayed a more sinister abode. Leading the way through the grandiose entrance, I halted at the sight of candles bracing a raised altar beneath a muralled monk. Lit candles. Apprehensive we scanned the foyer, but skeletal remains adorning the windows only indicated a prior, more murderous occasion.

Ever east through creaking door to a corridor festooned with derelict shelves of vellum and decaying plaster. Still nothing, but the tension eats into Dismas and I as we exchange nervous glances. Of note, an unburned torch held aloft, poised for a task long forgotten. We will give it purpose again.

Up ahead, a strongbox placed proudly in the vaulted chamber drew our gaze while a rabble of bones lurched toward us in animated fits. “To Arms!”

Raullin, silent as ever, reacted first with a puff of emboldening vapours to break my shocked condition and keen the senses. Dismas drew and fired forcefully, splintering bone and exploding whatever foul mastery held its frame together. “Back to the Pit!” He raged. I followed with my own critical smite to blanket the floor with unholy remains. They CAN be fought, they CAN be beaten!

Our attention turned to the reinforced chest. Surely no sober logic leaves this prize so openly on display? A trap? Dismas dared the lock with well-seasoned expertise and proffered up coin, scriven records of land grants and an unlikely shovel. “We’ll be needing that” announced Canouville, scouting the upcoming passageway. True enough, a crude jumble of stones and debris stood tall, defying our advance. Protruding corpses of unknown labourers mocked our attempts to clear the rubble, but with grim determination and spaded steel we overcame the obstacle.

Lying in wait, a brace of skeletons lumbered toward us, backed by a masked cultist. Grapeshot peppered them all as Dismas took command, urging us into the fray. Raoullin let loose a blinding flask of fireworks toward the surprised acolyte while I zealously accused the leading skeletons; “Destroy. Them. All!” My words ripped through what fabric of control bound the bones together, leaving one in a clattering heap and the other wavering. Delivering holy judgement upon the stunned cultist, Canouville’s call boomed bright to rip clear the mask and expire the eyes behind it. The remaining soldier of bone took a grave slash toward our group, catching Canouville off guard. Dismas closed with knife in hand, but skilled execution in bloodletting offered no assistance in felling the calcified corpse, leaving the fatal blow to my own hand. A faint hope blossoms.These creatures seem poorly constructed and easily overpowered by zealous might.

Through the portico into another ruined expanse. No ambush or assault, but a choice of paths for consideration. We head East, more through comforting routine than strategic merit.

The torch, our lifeblood of sanity. Slowly ebbing into shadowy cocoon.

Darkest, Darkest Dungeon - Reynauld the Crusader

Reynauld the Crusader

As the stagecoach wheels clattered along the cobblestones leading to our venerable house, I held the note loosely, hoping that the pored-over words would shake into a more enlightening alignment. The lanterns held back the darkness, but offered little comfort to my wandering mind. Memories of playing in the cavernous halls of that old house flooded back.

An unearthly howl pierced the night and broke me from my reverie. The startled horses bucked out and couldn’t be contained by the driver’s whip. We left the road to an even bumpier excursion before clattering to a halt minus a wheel and our means of locomotion. Dismas and I were unscathed, but alone as the coach driver scurried after the fleeing mares, a torrent of cursing that trailed into the blackness.

“I guess this means we are on foot?” Queried Dismas. 

We left the luggage for a future return and headed East. Ever East. The hamlet is just ahead.

A grizzled thug stepped out to block our path, but we were in no mood to talk. Dismas, good with a knife, opened his veins while I landed a pommel strike to daze him for a moment. He recovered quickly though and still managed a slashing uppercut that caught my brow. Move quicker or die. Dismas dispatched him with ruthless efficiency to bring the tempo back to an eerie night’s walk. The gold will help, if only to make the tavern that much more enticing upon arrival.

Ever East.

A disheveled tent came into view, but no movement betrayed its owner. Possibly the lowlife bleeding out back on the road? Dismas wasted no time in claiming the additional gold and misappropriated onyx. 

Another ambush! We’ll send them a message that the rightful owner has returned and there is no place for these vermin. Dismas was quick to shoot, but the grapeshot missed both the larger, whip-wielding brigand or the fusiler toward the back. I landed a stunning blow to curtail the bloodletter’s flaying, but couldn’t escape the blanket fire that erupted into the night. Back to the knives for Dismas as we focused on the heavy-set villian to drop him quickly. The whip was our concern, but a point blank shot drove me away before returning with my own justified strike. Prodigious size alone does not dissuade the sharpened blade. 

Pelted with blanket fire, Dismas and I took shelter behind the fallen mass, but the rain of shrapnel didn’t cease. Exploding through the bloodied carcass, we set upon the rifle-clad bandit with steel. As the fiend fell, a faint hope blossomed. 

Portraits, deeds and crests of my heritage lay with the fallen, but I will make something of them in time. More gold to be relieved too, but the hard-won chest held nothing but blight. 

My return was not met with adulation. These squalid lands, these corrupted hovels are mine to rebuild, but the populace remain ambivalent. I, too, fear they may be right. Stress rises when I see their downcast husks.

Darkest, Darkest Dungeon - An Unwelcome Letter

An Unwelcome Letter

“Ruin has come to our family. “

“You remember our venerable house? Opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor. I lived all my years in that ancient, rumour-shadowed manor, fattened on decadence and luxury”

“And yet I began to tire of conventional extravagance. Singular, unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous and unnameable power.”

“With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on sworly workmen and sturdy shovels.”   

“At last, in those salt-soaked crags beneath the lowest foundations, we unearthed that damnable portal and a deluded evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth, but we were in a realm of death and madness.”

“In the end, I, alone, fled laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity until consciousness failed me.”

“You remember our venerable house? Opulent and imperial.”

“It is a festering abomination!”

“I beg you, return home! Claim your birthright and deliver our family from the ravenous, clutching shadows of the darkest dungeon!” 

YASD by way of XCOM

Rookie Smith: First mission of the campaign he allowed an alien to flank him and critical hit, dropping Smith in one shot.    

Captain Medina: Guarding side door when floater came up over the 2 story building. Medina and Bernard  open fired from overwatch, but missed. Floater took aim from 15 paces and critical hit for 9 leaving Medina in a pool of blood. Traumatized, Bernard emptied the clip into it and brought it down.

Colonel Mason: Took a bold step in the raid against Alien HQ but stirred up a nest of Crysalids. The squad took down one, but 2 managed to get through and rip him apart before we could bring them down.

Rookie: While rescuing civilians he bravely stepped in front of another to fend off the last of a Crysalid wave. We are no match with them in hand-to-hand combat. Gutted. 

Colonel Williams: Long serving sniper took a muton grenade in the opening exchange. Her cover was also reduced to rubble, allowing a 2nd muton plasma shot to take her out before she could react.

Colonel Van Damme: Gifted assault trooper who served well as front line subduer. Attempted to gain good position on the outside of a window against the initial target when she startled a berserker, 2 elite mutons and 2 mutons. A muton grenade removed the wall, then a critical shot by an elite muton and a berserker charge took her down. She remained critically wounded, but the berserker and elite mutons kept the only other medic at bay for one turn too many.

Colonel Sanchez: Extremely gifted sniper made the ultimate sacrifice.

Strathearn Dynasty Pt.4 - King Kenneth IV the Blind of Scotland

King Kenneth IV the Blind of Scotland
As the first King in the Strathearn Dynasty, Kenneth's reign marked the culmination of Muiredach's dream. They were still small fry compared to the European powerhouses, so there was still much to do outside Scottish borders. The control of Ireland is the next goal on the table.

A generation of sowing Strathearns into potential seats of power had only reaped one county leader, so Kenneth turned to another strategy; bring in claimants, win them to his side (with possible Strathearn blood ties), then gift them their title through the pointy end of a stick. Oriel and Tyrconnell succumbed to this strategy while also becoming vassals of Scotland. With 1/2 the Duchy of Ulster under Scottish control, the title was created and then used to attack Tyrone, who also fell quickly. Although Ulster county itself was led by Countess Eua, a Strathearn descendant, poor marriage choices meant that her rule would be the last for the Strathearns, so she too was forced to bend the knee and join the Scottish Kingdom. All the southern duchies of Ireland were also contested by Scottish claimants at some point, but they continued to evade Kenneth's machinations and remain independent.

Even though the wars were swift, Kenneth's reputation for staying behind grew into rumours of cowardice. When a rebellious Malcolm Dunkeld of Gowrie took leave of his senses and strived for independance alone, Kenneth saw an opportunity to lead the burgeoning Strathearn Guard himself. With almost 2000 men under his direct control the outcome of the battle for Gowrie was never in doubt, but as Kenneth led the final assault, he took a viscious slash that dislodged his helmet and almost decapitated him. Bleeding, he stayed in the fray until victory was complete, but the damage was done. He would lose an eye and bear the scars of battle to his grave. No longer would the King be seen as craven, but instead was to be known as Kenneth the Blind.

In his 40's, Kenneth's kingom was looking in control. Minor claims into English territory went the same way as the southern tip of Ireland, with more luck of increasing Scottish land going to existing earls and Dukes rather than outside claimants. The potential death blow for Strathearn dominance came from within as Kenneth's only son 'little Kenneth' passed away, exposing a severe lack of rightful male Strathearn heirs within the electorate Duchies. Kenneth considered many options to bring his brother, the king of Denmark, to the throne, but eventually settled on a more wide ranging solution to change the succession law for females to claim the throne if no male heirs were available. Many of our line rejoiced at the change, while the Island and Lothien Dukes cried foul. Their names were soon to be removed from power anyway.

With somewhat of an impasse in Ireland with the independent dukes happy to keep slaying each other, and England seeming to miraculously come back from wave after wave of internal splits, Kenneth turned south for territorial expansion. Far south. While the Pope had proclaimed a crusade to Darum (near Jerusalem), there were still holy wars raging on the Iberian peninsula. Kenneth set sail with eager troops and laid claim to Granada to help rip apart the Andalusian Sultanate. Over 5000 set sail, and barely met more than 1500 troops on the field of battle to make good their claim. Cultural and spiritual differences took their toll on any hope of making productive use of the land, but it served as a convenient place to hide away heretics and claimants outstaying their welcome at court.

Succumbing to illness, King Kenneth the Blind finally departed at a venerable 55. His wife had borne him another son when both were in their 40's, so King Archibald took over at only 10 years of age with Kenneth's doting wife, Queen Eilionora, acting as regent.

   

 

Strathearn Dynasty Pt.3 - Duchess Aufrica the Wise of Albany

Duchess Aufrica the Wise of Albany
As Aufrica took the matriarchal position at the head of the Strathearn Dynasty,  her two ambitious sisters acquired land also in the gavelkind succession. Fife went to Bethoc, while Flora took Moray up north. The sibling rivalry would stir ofen during Aufrica's reign, and both sisters spent a good portion of their lives behind bars to curtail their scheming. Without any direct control there were fears that the Strathearn line would peter out in those two branches, but both countesses managed to find suitable matches that would accept matrilineal descendants. However, the prolifeartion of girls in the next generation would continue to be a problem.

Aufrica married into the Babingberger line to set up a loose alliance with mainland Europe, but was under no illusions that the Dynasty required a legitimate heir to the throne. Even though Queen Finnguala currently reigned, a male descendant would be the only true way that Scotland would accept such a new lineage. Duchess Matilda arrived first to take the female count to 10 from 10 progeny, but Kenneth arrived next spring with his twin sister Ada to finally bring hope to the Strathearn line.

Poor luck and indecisive breeding also plagued the Lothiens to the South. Their Duchy claim backtracked though their tree to Gille-Crist's wife, and hence enabled Aufrica to make a play for the title. The Queen and other gentry up north ignored the young Duke of Lothien's pleads for help as the Strathearn Guard took them apart. Lothien had previously extended themselves by claiming the Duchy of the Isles, and this was to be their saving grace as they managed to squirrel away the majority of their holdings under that secondary title. Stirling Castle and Dunbar, the jewels of Lothien, still found their way into the clutches of Strathearn's Duchess.

With the Duchy spread clear across the breadth of Scotland, the power now belonged solely in Aufrica's hands. Queen Finnguala had passed on her crown to an inexperienced Godfrey a Muirebe, whose lack of leadership further put him in a weakened position. She bullied him into conceding Argyll and Caithness before attemting to relieve him of the crown itself. As Kenneth was still only 14, a plot hatched to bring Ingram Dunkeld to the throne. Even though it undid some of the work to extracate the Dunkelds from their position of power in the Scottish highlands, Ingram was the weakest of the candidates with no personal heirs and a 60 year old wife. He jumped at the chance to don the crown, but there was no doubt where the Scottish might now came from.

  
King Ingram the puppet. No love, no heirs, no control over his vassals. Soon to be deposed.

Kenneth was handed the Lothien Duchy as he turned of age, but with the Saxon populace objecting to Scottish rule, most troops were unavailable for him to wield. Aufrica continued to do the bulk of the work to depose Ingram and install Kenneth as the first Strathearn King of Scotland.

With only minor scuffles to deal with at home, the Dynasty turn their sights over the waves to Ireland. Some groundwork had been laid with Domnall's injection into Ulster during Muiredach's reign, but the female curse had spread there too, leaving only a generation of Strathearn blood to call upon. Kenneth had taken an Irish bride as the plans for the Puppet King were unfolding, and with her came the rights to claim the Duchies of Connacht and Meath. Other claimants were catered for in the halls of Strathearn to cover almost every part of the green isle.

As Aufrica slipped in and out of illness, Henry, her youngest, was her final bullet in the game of genetical warfare. Sizing up the Kingdom of Denmark, they accepted a betrothal to the young King's sister before he sucumbed to repeated assasination attempts. This cost Aufrica dearly in the sight of her peers and contributed to her worsening mental state. She slipped away from court as Otto, her husband, took over as regent in her final months.

Henry, atop the throne of Denmark, saw off the Polish threat that was plaguing the nation with help from Kenneth and Otto's combined forces. 2 sons, 2 Kingdoms. A testiment to Aufrica the Wise.      

Strathearn Dynasty Pt.2 - Duke Gille-Crist of Albany

Duke Gille-Crist of Albany
Gille-Crist has high ambitions; to become great among men. With no real conflict on the horizon it seemed a good enough goal to aim at through festivals, feasts, and great hunts. As the years ticked by, Gille-Crist's parties became more and more spectacular, eventually surpassing even the King's illustrious events. Gille-Crist has the presence of a King, but not the title.

Scotland had 3 duchies at the time; Albany, Lothien to the south and Moray to the north. Lothien remained allies through Gille-Crist's brother-in-law, so Moray was the only real alternative for internal gains. Gille-Crist had been the chancellor used to fabricate some of Muiredach's claims, so he had no hesitation in sending out Fergus de Tullabardine to see what he could do in Moray. Maybe he could even find a way to get into the Duchy itself?

As the festivals and hunts continued, finally Gille-Crist succumbed to a hunting accident that maimed his arm. This took the shine off organised hunts as an avenue for fame, and shortened his reign to achieve greatness. Festivals remained a yearly event though, and Gille-Crist became loved among the peasants and gentry alike for his magnanimous generosity and kind-hearted nature. 

Moray's claims were finally found, but if another could be found for the County of Ross it would mean a clean sweep of the Duchy come battle time. As the new century rolled in Gille-Crist could feel time running out, so he initiated his Moray claim and called up the troops. With superior numbers and Neil Rodriguez (the marshall's talented son) holding the middle, the pitched battle of Buchan settled the debate.

Countess Finguala of Moray, although seething over our recent conflict, had other plans in place. She called for Gille-Crist's support to change Scotland into an elected monarchy; a plot that offered an even quicker way to the throne. Gille-Crist accepted and the King duly agreed without the need for bloodshed. As the King's chancellor and land holdings through the middle of Scotland, Gille-Crist was level-pegging with Prince Malcom Dunkeld for the right to wear the crown. A closer step indeed.

Countess Finguala had not finished. Her next claim was for the Kingdom itself! The ramifications of an unsuccessful plot were huge for Gille-Crist, but Moray was certainly in a more precarious position than the Dunkeld's and would likely lead to more opportunities of election. With Gille-Crist's support, the Crown was handed over immediately.

Without the protection of the crown, Prince Dunkan's holding of Gowrie was able to be pressured for amalgamation into the Duchy of Albany. As Gille-Crist's final act, he saw the fall of the once great Dunkeld line before passing away at age 47. Could this happen to the Strathearns too? Possibly. And with no sons in the family tree they are vey much exposed.

Strathearn Dynasty Pt 1 - Count Muiredach of Strathearn

This is an AAR detailing a playthrough of Crusader Kings 2 starting from a single dynastic character. I have a soft spot for Scotland, so this first one is based there.  

Count Muiredach of Strathearn
As the Count of Strathearn, a small province in the middle of Scotland, I had a lot of work to get my Strathearn dynasty established and stable, let alone dominating Europe. First things first, a good wife with good breeding potential.

With kids on the go the dynasty is looking a little more secure, but with only one province I can't really do much on my own at the moment. I don't even have the troops to hold a siege, let alone win a stand-up battle. Regardless, we're certainly not going to be a dynasty of note with only a single county to rule. Plans are put in place to drum up any claims at all (even if I need to make them up myself). Fife next door is the first target as it doesn't have any real ties to the Dunkelds who hold the Scotland throne at the moment, or the Lothien dynasty to the south. The Earl of Lothien is also happy to accept a marriage betrothal with my heir to give ourselves an alliance of sorts.

Ulster is the next focal point as a gateway into the north of Ireland. We manage to line up another marriage to their eldest daughter, but her younger brother is currently the heir to the independent county. He had a slight accident that night though. Unfortunately the perpetrators were caught and leaked our involvement, which brought about a reciprocal poisoning attempt. Might have been a bit soon with the knife, as the betrothal still needs to be validated in a couple of years. Anger subsided by the end of the year when the old  Earl of Ulster passed away and left my son's bride in control.  
 
With the years passing I finally get my Lothien bride, and with it a strong ally to go after Fife. The fabricated claim had been in place for a while and Lothien's support (even though it needed a little pampering) was the last piece of the puzzle. The Mac Duibs didn't stand a chance with their 400 strong against our invading 2000.

With Fife added to Strathearn, there's the opportunity to create the Duchy of Albany. Even though it covers Gowrie, the existing seat of the Scottish kingdom, it had been let in decline over the past century. It solves a current problem quite neatly though. With Gavelkind succession, there was the potential that we would only hand over 1 province to our first heir, Gille-Crist, with Lorenzo pocketing Fife along with his grip on Ulster. I don't want to go back to being a 1 county leader, so a Duchy allows us to keep the forward momentum going. At 58, Muiredach was unlikely to see out the several years of fundraising to establish the Duchy, but as luck had it he fought off 2 illnesses to see the Duchy complete.

Duke Muiredach of Albany. Nice ring to it. King Muiredach sounds better though. The Duchy allows us to press claim on the mountains of Atholl, and with fresh leadership devoid of Dunkeld family ties it's a pretty easy decision to grab it. We called on Lothien again, but they, too, had Lothien ties that kept them on the sideline. No matter. With 2 provinces to draw troops from we had the advantage ourselves. Rather than forcing a fight, both sides were happy to trade sieges. Once again with 2 provinces, the sieging race was heavily stacked in my favour and took less than a year to bring them into line. 

Scotland wasn't without external pressure as a William-the-Conquerorless England pressed for a claim to Cumberland. They fought off several internal splits to complete the deal, but the real concern was our inability to meet their numbers on the field. 3000 to ~2400. England is definitely going to be a big pain in the future.


At 62, Muiredach finally passed on, leaving a somewhat smooth transition to Gille-Crist and the next chapter in the House of Strathearn.

 

Vintage display ensures Woking victory

Woking 2 - 1 Dover Athletic (Blue Square Bet South Playoff Final)

Woking taught Dover Athletic a lesson at Kingfield Stadium this afternoon.

Striker Leighton McGivern gave Woking the lead with a real poacher's effort in the 21st minute. An error from Dover's Tom Wynter allowed centre-back Adam Doyle to score a good header from just inside the six-yard box. Striker Adam Birchall had a chance to score from the penalty spot for The Whites on the 38 minute mark but missed his spot-kick.

He was able to make amends for his miss however by scoring an accurate finish after 77 minutes.

Talented manager Veeyar Bones has been at Woking for 7 months, having joined them in October 2010.

Attendance: 3,705

Bones praised by Woking faithful
Fans of Woking were justly proud after the team gained promotion from the Blue Square Bet South.

Fans and pundits alike were unanimous that the person responsible for the team's success was Veeyar Bones.

One fan commented that with Bones at the helm he felt that anything was possible.

Starting unemployed, I joined Woking at about October with the promotion candidates languishing down in 15th. Cleaned up the Back-room staff and brought in one or 2 players to turn the season around, with a comfortable 2nd in the league and an easy 5-2, 2-1 finals campaign to get the promotion. Now to clean house with the players to get the finances back on track.

Civilization V - Flawless Strategy

After beating Civ V fairly comfortably on King, I cranked it all the way up to Deity to see what strategies were going to work, and whether the AI improved any more from a pretty lacklustre showing so far. The plan was to go for a diplomatic Greek victory on a duel map so that there were less city states to deal with. I had tried a number of starts, one going pretty well against Siam until a couple of city-states were mysteriously annexed without being attacked (is there a buyout once you get them past allied?). I had also noted that even on duel maps, the space allocated for each player's expansion is more or less the same, so the game doesn't compress that much apart from making the world a bit easier to totally explore.

In the new setup, I chose archapeligos to limit the land mass for the AI expansion, and add another AI as well as a couple more city-states. There was a danger that I may not be able to control all the city-states, but I was a little afraid that some might be culled or absorbed into the AI monolith.

I needed to restart a couple of times to get a feel for the archapeligo layout, and to look for a start that I thought would take me to the end (plus being one of the more enjoyable parts of the game, starting out afresh with optimistic hopes of what the fog would reveal). Finally settled on a small river with 2 fish, marble and silk in sight. Turned out later to also have 4 fish in total as well as whales. Really was an ideal location in terms of special squares for the capital.

With a good idea that I'd be on an island by myself, I went immediately for the worker and left the initial warrior to mop up any barbarians. Milked a couple of them for added XP, but eventually swept the island clear. I'd rushed calendar first to get the worker occupied in opening up the resources, then pushed through fishing and optics to get my lonely warrior out and about.

On the next island over was England, but I noticed a peninsula projcting toward me that had dyes on it. My settler was enroute to a somewhat ordinary 2nd site on my island, so I diverted him to the peninsula to pinch the resource. My philosophy is that any new happy resource is worth a city, a legacy tactic from Civ4 that still seems appropriate.

With me in their back yard, England wasn't exactly chummy. By the time I had my 3rd city placed back on my continent, England was amassing at the borders. I'd scouted a fair bit of the map through an early trireme and had met most of the city-states, but none close were militaristic AND providing a resource I didn't have. England had also bagged 2 allies by this stage and had 2 main cities (~12,8) with 2 new ones on a seperate island.

It was a little suprising that Siam led off the combat, but both of us were significantly down on England's score. I'd jumped in on Siam's request, but soon was alone after Siam bailed at the first chance. My peninsula city was regularly surrounded, but I always seemed to have enough to pick off the melee units with only 2 land units and the trireme. The peninsula worked in my favour as there was only space for 2 units at a time to progress down from London, and one space was holed up by an archer unit. This forced wave after wave of units into the water for a simple trireme cleanup. After about 50 turns we still had control of the peninsula city and had killed at least 1 unit a turn for the entire battle with our 3 units. England sued for peace a couple of times demanding I give away just about everything, so it may not have dawned on the AI that I'm actually pretty happy with the current war. I'm raking in the experience, I'm not in any real danger, and I know that England is spending the majority of their Deity bonuses on making units.

Seeking some allies I signed up one of the city-states, but it turned out to be a poor choice as it simply made an them easy target for England to pick on instead of me. England had just researched their longbow archers for additional devastation, but unfortunately didn't support with a serious melee army. Once the city-state had wiped out the solitary melee unit in the attack, the rest of the archers ringed the city and rained arrows from afar. The ring couldn't let any other units in though, so the City-state sat at a near-destroyed state for the rest of the battle (another 50 turns or so)

England finally came to their senses and gave very favourable terms for peace. I'd contemplated continuing the war, but the appearance of cannons was more a deciding factor in signing than the promise of 20 gold per turn.

With so much fish and the Colossus of Rhodes, I'd been highly cash positive throughout the war and had managed to snag a couple more city-states onto my side. Now with peace through the land I teched hard to education, then back to the technology dregs to push exclusively for the United Nations. England went on an expansion spree at one point, settling any outcrop of land to take them out past 9 cities. I'd contemplated restarting the war to puppet the 2 colonies on my island, but Siam wasn't interested in starting up hostilities again and I'm sure I'd have lost something somewhere else (likely one of the city-states) in the process. We settled for puppeting one of the hostile city-states that happened to provide ivory, the only resource I needed from England.

By the time I finally got the Scholasticism bonus from the Patronage social policy, I had all 6 remaining city-states allied away. Scholasticism more than doubled my research, which was by that stage par with the AI anyway. We hit Globalization by the late 1850's and had a capital primed to build the UN in 11 turns.


Once I had built the UN, I'd prepared for war as I was expecting some fireworks from the AI now that I was so close to victory. Alas the AI was happy signing up for more research while the final 10 turns of the game ticked by. The rigged election in 1878 proclaimed me diplomatic winner with little fanfare...

Overall I'm fairly happy with he game. The start was excellent and it certainly felt like the long battle in the middle should have wiped me if the AI had any tactical awareness. If I'd known how powerful scholasticism was to this type of strategy I'd have pushed a little harder to get it earlier and possibly had the UN by the late 1700's. The game was running really slowly toward the end (much slower than even some of the larger maps) so I'm not particularly looking for a repeat outing any time soon.

Now that I've got that game out of my system I feel better about checking out the modding sections. I have a partially complete huge map of Australia to polish up and release, but I'm more keen on modding up an enhanced AI, a storymaker / exporter, a random terrain generator, and a per city happiness mod.

Veeyar - Space Ranger

Got into the mood for another AAR and decided to try it as a blog again. Veeyar - Space Ranger is my latest epic adventure into the world of Space Rangers 2.

One thing I've been struggling with in Andy Preece: Retired is that I'm not sure whether it's better in reverse chronological order like a blog, or chronological order like a book. The Andy Preece one made more sense as a blog because that was part of the aesthetic I wanted. This new one though has more of a story feel to it, so it probably would be better as a book.

Problem is though that it's really hard to set up a blog back in chronological order. A couple of hours googling and experimenting didn't reveal a proper solution. Ideally I'd like the blog to be in chronological order and the blog archive to read like an index of chapters. In the end I found a little trick with modifying the posting dates allowed it to appear as if it was posted on the 1st January 3300. This made the archive behave a bit better too, but every time yo touch the post you need to keep aligning the year as it drops the millenium and century for more realistic values (read: it re-interprets the date as a 6 character string rather than keeping the value as a date or long. Sloppy, sloppy. That's what caused the millenium bug problems.)

Boatmurdered

Dwarf Fortress just had a new update and it got me to poke around the net for info on some new issues. I happened across a large co-op AAR done up in the SomethingAweful forums and repackaged for easier reading. Boatmurdered was an interesting read, but when StarkRavingMad took over it became hilarious.

Barrow promoted!

Finally got round to pushing the last couple of games to the end of the season. I had some good talent brought in on loan, and Hadji mid-season set the formation for the remainder of the season as 5-3-2 with a counterattacking style. I'm impressed by the new version of 5-3-2 in putting the midfielder on attacking runs too. You can flood the box easilty with 5 man crossover runs onto the 2 central defenders. Id have thought it would cramp up but the new engine keeps the guys active. It's not a goal frenzy for the AttMid either. Lots of lovely passes from all 5 players with ample space for the wing backs to cross in. As in FM07 it has problems with a DMid formation, or another 5-3-2 box, but I couldn't get my usual 4-3-1-2 working at all.