The Forgotten Vikings - A Vinland Narrative AAR

[Macke11]

Hello! This is my second AAR (third if you count my co-op AAR with TheRealUnknown), so if you like this one, please take a look at them if you haven't already done so. For this AAR I'm using all major DLC:s and the mods Extended Timeline, Rosetta, The Idea Variation and The Tenth Idea. I don't know what the goal for this AAR is, but I guess it is to repell the European colonisers and seize most of North America. Maybe also invade Europe. Hopefully you enjoy it!

Table of Content:
Part 1 - Two Expeditions and a calm period 1337 - 1340
Part 2 - The War and a new Jarl 1340 - 1345
Part 3 - The terrible Jarl 1345 - 1358
Part 4 - A Different Paniya 1358 - 1365

Prologue
Hello and welcome to Vinland, the land of the forgotten viking colonists who reached Newfoundland around the year 1000 AD! I'm going to tell you the story about these last remaining vikings and their struggle to survive in a hostile world. At the time where we start the story ,Vinland is quite stable though, but they do still have some problems to solve, like their economy.
The year was 1337. The Vinlander Jarl Erikr Eriksson was a great strategist and warrior, had skill in the art of diplomacy and wasn't really bad in administrative matters, though it wasn't his best side either.

Erikr was a firm follower of Njord and spent quite a lot of effort in colonising. He had decided that the colonising policy of Vinland should be trading with the natives.

The province of Placentia (later Jarl's Land) east of the capital province Vinland was the only part of the nation not directly controlled by the Jarl but instead by landed veteran warriors (the Nobles).

Here are my current ideas:

 

[silentsam5]

Subbed

 

[Macke11]

Thank you!

 

[atwix]

subbed. Awaiting the first Igritte general beyond the wall! Err, sea.

 

[Macke11]

Thank you! I appreciate your support very much!

 

[atwix]

one tip: your screenshots look fuzzy, and the text also.

Consider using mods to alter the quality, or a image file batch resizer to improve quality.

gfx overhaul: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=381321692

better font (great white font, ideal for screenshots and aar):https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=378830868

batch image resizer: http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

screenshot upload site that allows clicking on the images in the forum to enlarge them: http://postimage.org/

I just post it here info wise, no 'need' to use them.

 

[Macke11]

Thanks for the tip! As I've already played enough for a few parts (wich I will be posting today and the coming week), the pictures are already fixed without gfx overhaul or any such mods. Though, of course I could try to use the upload site you gave as example, as I can understand you might want to zoom in and see details and such. As I'm quite new to Writing AAR:s, I really appreciate constructive critics and tips.

 

[atwix]

no problem. And yeah, zooming in is handy, as it can reveal details your are curious about.

nitpicking comment: leave some enter spaces between screenshot comment text and the screenshot itself also.

I'm curious.. What government type and what sort of tech group are you?

 

[Macke11]

I'm an elective monarchy (maybe I should have picked some kind of tribal government instead, but as 300 years have gone since the vikings first arrived here, they could have stabilised themselves in the new land) and Barbarian Tech Group (+30% Tech cost, -1 monthly monarch power).

 

[Macke11]

Part 1 - Two Expeditions and a calm period 1337 - 1340
Erikr had been ruling strong in Vinland for ten years now, so he was a quite stable ruler without pretenders. He might have used his battleaxe to secure his position as Jarl, but that just showed the people of Vinland how great of a leader he was. 16 of January 1337, the Jarl decided to fund an expedition to find Europe and see how the continent had evolved the last 300 years.

Some years earlier, explorers had found Greenland, controlled by the Kingdom of Norway. Through these norwegians some information about the Capital Akershus reached Vinland, but not much more. The military of Vinland was controlled by Erikr and his apprentice Matthew Schouboe. The Jarl was inpatient and liked to attack the enemy straight on, while his apprentice was the other way around, patient and was quite good at using bowmen.

In february 1338 the explorers had not returned yet and Erikr couldn't stop the rumors about the failed expedition. Mid may he decided to send en expedition to create a colony on the island Piktuk on the western side of the Cabot Strait. The small Group of settlers was led by Arne Bildt, a childhood friend to the Jarl. Arne decided to not disturb the natives and live there in peace.

In june the Jarl would make the biggest change to Vinland since a long time ago, he would advance the society and introduce lots of technological reforms. This would two years later lead to the adoption of the longsword, which had come from Norwegian Greenland.

Five months after the colonising began, the natives on Piktuk rose up against Arne and his settlers. Only the leader and a few settlers fled back to Vinland and survived. Back in Vinland Arne got a new mission, he would be sent to Mingan, to the North of Gulf of St. Lawrence. Meanwhile, the Jarl took care of some internal matters like trying to change the culture of the people in the colony Unama' Kik in the South. After being in Mingan for a half year, Bildt decided to abondon that colony because of the arctic climate. When he returned a second time without any progress, Erikr became a bit upset, but their friendship would continue despite this. The colonist would now be sent to the province of Etchemins, to the absolute west of Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In September 1339 Erikr funded another expedition to find Europe. In december he abandoned the cavalry regiment as Vinland wasn't threatened and the unit just used money from the treasury. 30 October 1340 the explorers returned to Vinland and told the Jarl that they had found some islands that they thought were quite close to Norway.

 

[Rabbit Burgher]

What mod(s) are you using, sorry? Also, cool AAR so far.

 

[Macke11]

I'm using Extended Timeline, Rosetta, The Tenth Idea and The Idea Variation. Also, Thank you!

 

[atwix]

hmm, you can take a decision to become western just like that? Seems strange.. You have been away from Europe for 300 years

 

[Macke11]

It's because of Barabarian Tech Group actually symbolizing the tribes that were around when rome fell. When they reach a certain Tech level they can change to western. The only thing I had to get from when I started was 100 administrative Power....

 

[silentsam5]

So far so good. Is the expedition decision a part of Extended Timeline?

 

[Lunarc]

Subbed!

 

[Macke11]

So far so good. Is the expedition decision a part of Extended Timeline?

I Think the expedition decision is a part of Extended timeline if you play norse, but I'm not sure.

Subbed!

Thank you!

 

[Macke11]

Part 2 - The War and a new Jarl 1340 - 1345
After the return of the explorers nothing big happened for two years. For the vinlanders it was clear though that something important was about to happen, as the army of 4000 infantrymen led by the Jarl had been moved to the other side of the Cabot Strait. At the end of march 1342 a very capable military minister was appointed to help the army during the war that soon would come.

19 August the same year the war against the tribe of Mikmaq began. The, actually, outnumbered viking army marched to fight the enemy in Eskikewakik, as the natives on Piktuk had told them the province was called. The Forests of the province favoured the tribe, but the vikings had superior morale and discipline and were commanded by Erikr, a great commander and fighter. The 28 august the battle began. It didn't start out very well for Erikr, as he had to cross some water to reach Eskikewakik, which left his troops vulnerable to the arrows the natives fired at them.

As soon as the troop reached land though, the Jarl personally led a charge, swinging his battleaxe above his head and screaming "For Odin!!!". The charge was devastating for the Mikmaq forces and made the enemy general thunderstruck.

This meant that he wasn't able to organise a counterattack for a while and the slaughter of his forces could continue.

When he finally reacted to the enemy attack it was to late, as the morale of his forces was about to break. The general saw this and tried to intensify his counterattack even more, but that still didn't change the fact that his army was starting to flee the battlefield.

Soon his entire force broke and fled east, to the vinlandic colony from where the vikings had attacked. Erikr had lost a bit more than 600 men and his enemy almost three times those numbers. The Jarl and his army followed the fleeing enemies east to Unama'kik. The natives became pushed back to the tip of the southern peninsula of the province and there they were besieged. Soon the army understood that they would face a certain death if they continued fighting, either starvation or a viking battleaxe, so they surrendered.

The Jarl soon marched west again to defeat the remaining resistance, but it would take 291 days Before the garrison of Eskikewakik gave up. When the war ended, the army and colonisation had cost Vinland so much money that they were in debt. The plundered treasury of Mikmaq helped solving this problem quite easily though.

In september 1343 reports reached the Jarl that the people of Unama'kik were starting to speak the Norse language and the Guilds were introduced in Vinland. In january the following year some new military equipment reached the nation through the norwegians on Greenland. 4 October 1345 the great Jarl Erikr Erikson died from an arrow while he was inspecting the army garrisoned in Eskikewakik. The native who killed him was quickly found and executed. Back in Vinland Erikrs brother Paniya became the new Jarl. I will say you that there was a reason to why Erikr had been Jarl from the beggining and not his brother.

 

[silentsam5]

Can you show the development of your provinces? I'm quite interested in how much base tax, production, and manpower you have.

 

[atwix]

Its a pity the vikings/norse units don't have their own unit pack.

I would love to see dual wielding axes on barbarians dressed in fur on those screenshots

I second the question above, and I wonder... You are NORSE religion right? And what deity? Thor?