The Norse Kings of England

Responses


Sematary: Thanks, i'm glad you are enjoying it. Luckily things get to remain at least mildly interesting for a little while.


Herbert West: I can understand why it doesn't, its unnecessarily complex, especially since you can just be an unholy jerk of a Christian ruler and it amounts to the same basic principle without as much wild AI expansion into your non-Christian realm.

Tanzhang- I'd be less worried about the pagan hordes and more about the Christian ones. Do we really need France conquering Norway to Christianize the half-pagans? As to being a half-convert, I think its more along the lines of a convert who doesn't really do the whole church thing.

Tommy4ever- That will be a challenge, I look forward to the civil strife that will surely emerge.

Moltke- Belief is hardly important in CK or Ck2. I'm just glad I don't have a million neighbors who dont need CB's to attack me.

Dr. Gonzo - I was a bit surprised no one beat me to the punch honestly. At least until the patch came out and it became nasty hard to win without mercenaries (which I did in fact use)

Morsky- I'm also a fan of the old Norse traditions of pillage and burning, something Harald was perfectly adept at.

Should have the next update shortly, where we come to blows with those Norman usurpers.

With his victory on the ford of Wear left the Saxon force in shambles. Godwin Haroldson very little real support among the remaining nobility. Only Essex in the south east and Northumbria remained loyal. The Cornish and Sussex armies were crushed by William, and now the Normans marched on the new Saxon King Godwin in Essex. It was a race south for Harald, who immediately returned to his march leaving the Northumbrians to themselves. And while Harald would become ill from his wounds on the journey, the army slowed for nothing. In June of 1067, Harald and his army met Gyrth of Norfolk at Woking. Gyrth was the last great supporter for the house of Harold Godwin and had marshaled an army to halt whoever arrived to claim the throne first. And while William became delayed trying to capture fortresses and ferret out Saxon raiders, Harald engaged in his second battle.

This fight would be less dramatic than the first. Gyrth, with Edwin Haroldson (the new king's brother) at his side, faced off against a Viking army five times his size. The result was a not-surprising route. Eadric and his Midlands forces once again found themselves arriving too late, and surrendered rather than face death at the hands of the again victorious Norsemen. The Norse also captured the lord of Lancaster, Eadwin, whose choice was the stark one between turning coat of execution. Now healed from his wounds and illness, Harald Sigurdson gladly welcomed this new force to his army and turned to face his greatest threat yet, the army of William of Normandy. The Bastard Duke was a fearsome warrior and led an army of twelve thousand men and horse. When news reached him that the Vikings had come so far south, he mobilized his force and marched east, prepared for one final battle to decide the fate of England.


The Normans arrived at the manor of Tottenham where Harald was waiting. Outnumbered by nearly half, the Vikings formed their walls and prepared for the slaughter. In a field, with no great support of nature or geography, it had all the makings of a slaughter. William's heavy cavalry and superior numbers would break open the Viking shield walls with ease. But again, luck and timing were on the side of the Norse. William had arrived with an army of mercenaries, both heavy cavalry and a variety of archers. It was in this second group of troops that the key to Harald's salvation would lay. A group of Harald's mercenary archers crossed over in the night before the battle, as was not uncommon among those paid to fight for other another man's glory. William, not a fool, put these men with his front line to shower their former allies with arrows in the morning and then be cut down or cast aside when the battle was over.

These men were not the turncoats they appeared. Their mission was simple, play the part of money hungry mercenaries who had seen the way the wind was blowing, then strike at William when he least expected it. For the mercenaries it was a win-win. If they killed William, unlikely as it was, they would be hailed as heroes. If they never had the chance, at least they would end up on the winning side. What followed was a bizarre moment in history. As the armies lined up across the field one Norman knight road out to taunt the Viking forces. By legend, this knight began to recite the famous Chanson de Roland , a tale of the Franks defeating countless hordes of Muslim invaders. When a warrior of the Norwegian army rode out to meet him, the juggling knight cut him down. It must have been quiet the spectacle, and it succeeded in one thing. William removed his helmet to get a better view of the skirmish, and that gave the assassins their moment to strike. While the army was watching the jester at the front, the eyes, and arrows, of Harald's mercenary infiltrators turned around. In a moment, the battle was over. England had been won with only a few dozen deaths: those mercenaries unfortunate enough not to run after the assassin's arrow pierced William's eye, the warrior slain in the opening duel, and the bastard Duke of Normandy.

William was succeeded by his son Robert, a 13 year old boy at the time, and the army set sail for Normandy to ensure his succession, not before some irate knights put dozens of the freemen archers to the sword in retaliation, and then made their own attempt at Harald's life. The attempt failed, and put the victor on edge. The suspicions were well founded it would soon seem. While Harald set down to capture the south from the last loyal Saxon nobles, his son in Norway was plotting his own rise. When news of his brother's death came home to Norway, Olaf Kyrre sprung into action. He began undermining the power of the nobles left behind to guard the realm and replacing them with more devoutly Christian earls, loyal to Olaf. One such ally of Olaf, Jon, Earl of Telelmark, was arrested and imprisoned by Harald in England. By December Jon was joined by Baron Eadulf of Sceon whose attempt at preventing the arrival of Harald and his army in Westminster was met with force. By May Saxon power was shattered in the South and Harald crowned himself King of England. Now it would only be a matter of time before the remaining rebel lords gave way.

Responses

I got incredibly lucky killing William. I figured, what's the worst that could happen? There was no way I was winning the battle, I tried to avoid it for as long as possible but he came gunning for me. I just so happened that my assassin arrived on the very day he finally reached me and the battle began. Just about wet my pants.

Morsky- Unfortunately, the Normans hold on to that claim for a while. I'll give you a little spoiler. During a rather difficult time in the near future a norman woman named Maude attacks me to put her son on the throne. I felt it was historically appropriate if exceptionally annoying.

Saithis- Indeed. Luckily the army you start out with in Stamford Bridge is a lot bigger than the army you can actually raise, so even if/when Curthose gets involved he'll not have that behemoth of an army to use.

loki100- Thanks, I figured something must have to happen during the battle, and history is full of idiot rulers taking off their helmets or raising their visor's just in time to take an arrow to the face.

NRDL- Glad you enjoyed it, unfortunately Harald has to get a lot less cool and a lot more brutally oppressive in the near future.