Part 4.1 - Ireland
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TheKaspa: It took me a few minutes to figure out why you said my Elrond...I'm actually thinking of referring to our Duke as Elrond now. And yeah I hope Wessex can be inherited soon too. In my Welf game I waited a very very long time to inherit Hungary. So we will see how long it takes, hopefully it works out in my favor. If I manage to hold it for long enough I may look into trying to take the Duchy of Cornwall so I can try and find a Cerneu to put there.
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mike the knight: It could be, but I'll let this one play out the old fashioned way, no point inheriting Wessex right now anyways. Strategically it'd be hard to hold, but hopefully by the time it should be inherited the Emerald Isles will be in a position to hold it forever.
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Stuyvesant: I actually will consider stabbing him in the back. Whenever I see his name though I think that van Haarlem guy founded Harlem and the Harlem Globetrotters lol. As far as expensive boats for the Welsh, I don't think they'll use their boats, pretty sure they arrived through Scotland instead.
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Part 4.1 - Munster
The first battle of the war was a victory for our side sending the forces of Leinster's King to flee north to await reinforcements from the Hollanders and the Welsh. I let my men continue laying siege, but I know its only a matter of time before a large host of soldiers shows up and could potentially destroy me.
Due to going to war over false claims on the Petty Kingdom of Leinster, our ruler, as
TheKaspa calls him Elrond, loses his Just trait.
I think the fact that we lost that trait means our dude's nickname should change from "the Just" to "the Deceitful" "the Liar" "the Unjust" but the game allows him to continue to be called the Just even though we all know he is not.
My forces then capture Leighlin, but before I am able to celebrate the victory, forces from Duke von Haarlem of Holland shows up.
This was the Battle of Ferns where the Hollanders were trying to lift that siege. They originally outnumbered me by a mere 100 men so it was a very even fight. The problem is Holland attacked me from there boat. Meaning they were at an extreme disadvantage with only half morale.
I'll have to remember this little dynamic for now on as it definitely changes strategies. But needless to say due to Duke von Haarlem's mistake in attacking from the beach my forces successfully repelled them at Ferns.
With the siege of Ferns won, I finally give chase to the Hollander's. I caught them in Kildare, the Crovan held County of Countess Sabd laying siege. Duke von Haarlem once more tried to win a battle. But this time, he was at a numerical disadvantage. And our mercenaries crushed his men leaving only 733 behind, as well as capturing Bishop Frans, of whom I'll have to ransom at some point to help out on our financial situation.
Oh it should also be mentioned after the occupation of Leighlin shortly after the beginning of this war we had Carlus mac Fergus, the Duke of Leinster's son as a hostage.
I give chase once more to the routing Hollanders and catch them in Gowrie further slaughtering their numbers. It was reported at that time the Duke of Holland had retired back to his boat and sailed back to Holland to try and recruit more men.
I leave my forces in Gowrie to siege and occupy and kick back and relax awaiting the sieges to finish.
As I wait the Crusade for Italy is won by the Teutonic Order.
If the Teutons keep winning these Crusades and such, they're going to end up with a patch-work Empire and I'll be highly annoyed by that.
While being annoyed at the rise of the Teutons I go and look at Hungary curious to see if the Mihaljevic's had usurped the Kingdom yet. The answer I get is no. In fact the Mihaljevics in the Duchy of the Pecking Pests have just been chilling. They haven't done a dang thing since we left. No wars going on, no nothing. Guess all those wars I led them in had a toll and they've decided to take a nap for a while.
But anyway, I click on the Kingdom of Hungary that looks like its down to OPM status now, and discover that the Arpads had retaken the throne under King Odon Arpad. I'm pretty impressed that the Arpads were able to kick the Piasts off the Hungarian Throne, now only if the Mihaljevics would do the same.
Another interesting thing is that the new Imperial Capital is in a County that we used to control. Yes, Varazdin is now the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
January of 1026 begins with the occupation of Gowran and the subsequent sieges of Clonmacnoise and Kilkenny. The county of Kilkenny gives me brief pause as it makes me wonder if Kenny was killed there.
This set of occupations leaves us with needing to capture Dublin's holdings. So I march my men north to meet with the remaining Hollander forces of 163 men. They're easily repelled and slaughtered, and apparently Elrond did a large amount of the slaying as he gets 100 prestige for his incredible tally of confirmed kills.
I then have a decision to make. I can sit in Dublin and continue laying siege, my warscore is now at 98, but we need 100 for Petty King Fergus the Liberator to surrender. At first I decide to siege.
Until I notice 1400 Welsh soldiers finally land in Leinster. A victory would push us to the required amount and I'd get a chance to taste the blood of a Kingdom I had built what was it? Almost 150 years ago?
So south my men march and engage in battle at Enniscorthy.
The Duke of Cornwall was the first to turn and flee and with the collapse of the Welsh center so to did the remainder of their host.
The battle was won and Fergus the Liberator surrenders to us finally after nearly four years of war.
I allow things to quiet down a little bit in our land and before I form the Kingdom of Ireland, Elrond discovers a pretty painting from a monk. I go back and forth on whether I want a painting in my court. Doesn't seem to be all that great of a thing to do. But I decide that based off of Elrond's traits that it makes sense to buy the damned thing.
Besides another 30 prestige isn't a bad thing anyway.
My Steward brings in a tithe of 27 gold, pushing me above the 200 needed to form Ireland. Thus, I go to my screen and click on Create.
We're no longer just a Petty King, but rather a true King, now it is time to unify the Island.
But first I try the diplomacy way of things by seeing if Oriel will swear fealty. They say no. I'm surprised by this because I was thinking they were an OPM. After I declare war however, I quickly come to the realization that they hold two provinces up in Scotland as well.
While waiting for my armies to gather once again, I discover that we now have a Grandson named Indrechtach. He is the one that could be future King of Ireland as well as future Duke of Wessex. The one year old boy has much promise, and a bright future if everything continues to work out alright.
I then march my men to Dundalk, under the leadership of Elrond's cousin or Brother, or whatever relation the Count of Argyll is to him. Once we arrive at Dundalk in Oriel we are met by the forces of Oriel which match our own levy size.
The Battle of Dundalk is very even, not a battle I enjoy watching as it seesaws back forth for a few seconds when I notice something highly disturbing. My men are being slaughtered. I watch in what should have been horror, but instead was surprise and to be honest I laughed and laughed a lot as Ireland's men were one by one put to the sword.
1700 men killed, all due to ineffectual leadership on the part of the Count of Argyll. What makes this situation worse is it gives Oriel 52 warscore points and well we may not recover from that.
Elrond takes the news of the massive defeat horribly. He locks himself away fearing that Sauron is ruling Oriel, and is about to unleash the dark forces of Mordor upon the world.
Thus, seeing no other answer to the current situation and well not wanting to be captured by Orielian Orcs, Elrond dies on January 2, 1028, barely six months into his reign as King of Ireland.
You know, sitting here thinking about it, this situation is reminding a little bit of the Aarif the Cruel situation when we played the Caliphate. Gains a higher title and falls over dead very quickly. His son takes over in a very precarious and awkward situation.
Time to see if the new King Fergal de Wexford can lead Ireland to greatness, or if he'll allow Oriel to further disgrace the newly forged crown.