We have included Wessex in the game start up and we need to be certain aboput what it is. Simple enough to look up a little of the history of the kingdoms and earlydoms of Wessex. A goiod starting point. Interestingly, King Henry IV was the early of Wessex before he became King of England. By extention, then, Henry V is/was the earl of Wessex (more on this later).
It begs the bigger question of whether or not England existed in pre-1419 Aberration? I think its fair to say that we have to have the Norman invasion. Maybe they did or did not establish a kingdom the same size as William in RL. But at some point the thing has collapsed. The collapse may have happened in the 1200s, or perhaps more recently. Either way, that part of Great Britain known as England remains fractured, with one province owned by Wales, one by Scotland, one by Normandy, one by Brittany and two by York and three by Wessex.
My preference is that the kingdom the Normans created initially mirrored RL. When 'England' in RL lost its traditional Norman possessions, instead they fought harder to retain these, and were successful, sort of. The cost was the loss of Northumberland to Scotland and Cornwall to Brittany.
Then let us posit that in the mid 1300s this Normandy/England had a successional crisis or civil war which caused it to become divided into Normany on thre mainland and Wessex on the island. This new independent Wessex controlled 8 provinces. It kept it together for about 40 years before being hit by yet another series of rebellions over succession. This time the Percy family in York won indepedence with the backing of the Scots, taking with it four provinces in total, the Normans recapturing Kent and Anglia for themselves. Wessex was left as a small single-province minor, controlling also Wales.
Enter the recent history of Wales in the other thread. Owain relieves Wesex of Wales, and they are down to two provinces. (He also takes one from York, well done, boyo!). Soo after, the average Henry of Wessex (England's Henry IV) dies and his skillfull and energetic son Henry II of Wessex (RLs Henry V) comes to lead Wessex and things start to look better.
Henry II sense the weakness in the troubled house of Normandy ruled by the ineffective William Lodbrooke, and turns on him, capturing Kent, and fending off their Breton allies. He then courts Brittany to form a new alliance and with their backing goes after York and Scotland, recently stung by the loss of the Lowlands to Wales. He crushes them and takes back Bristol. Things are looking up for Wessex.
Accordingly, at games start Wessex looks like the following:
Three province, Wessex, Kent and Bristol (sorry if the names are wrong). They have a dynamic monarch and general with great stats. They are in an alliance with Brittany and Normandy. They have just secured a significant royal marriage with the daughter of William Lodbrooke, say. The shame is that Henry II will soon die (maybe a few years later than in vanilla). But not before having had a son who will one day grow to have a claim on Normandy when the last of the Lodbrookes passes on. They might pass on this claim or else challenge Brittany for it. (The ai would always pass, but a player might bite the bullet, or the crossbow bolt). Wessex, because of its Norman past, should it inherit Normany, could gain French culture, the only nation in ABII that could have Anglo-Saxon and French.
Thoughts?
It begs the bigger question of whether or not England existed in pre-1419 Aberration? I think its fair to say that we have to have the Norman invasion. Maybe they did or did not establish a kingdom the same size as William in RL. But at some point the thing has collapsed. The collapse may have happened in the 1200s, or perhaps more recently. Either way, that part of Great Britain known as England remains fractured, with one province owned by Wales, one by Scotland, one by Normandy, one by Brittany and two by York and three by Wessex.
My preference is that the kingdom the Normans created initially mirrored RL. When 'England' in RL lost its traditional Norman possessions, instead they fought harder to retain these, and were successful, sort of. The cost was the loss of Northumberland to Scotland and Cornwall to Brittany.
Then let us posit that in the mid 1300s this Normandy/England had a successional crisis or civil war which caused it to become divided into Normany on thre mainland and Wessex on the island. This new independent Wessex controlled 8 provinces. It kept it together for about 40 years before being hit by yet another series of rebellions over succession. This time the Percy family in York won indepedence with the backing of the Scots, taking with it four provinces in total, the Normans recapturing Kent and Anglia for themselves. Wessex was left as a small single-province minor, controlling also Wales.
Enter the recent history of Wales in the other thread. Owain relieves Wesex of Wales, and they are down to two provinces. (He also takes one from York, well done, boyo!). Soo after, the average Henry of Wessex (England's Henry IV) dies and his skillfull and energetic son Henry II of Wessex (RLs Henry V) comes to lead Wessex and things start to look better.
Henry II sense the weakness in the troubled house of Normandy ruled by the ineffective William Lodbrooke, and turns on him, capturing Kent, and fending off their Breton allies. He then courts Brittany to form a new alliance and with their backing goes after York and Scotland, recently stung by the loss of the Lowlands to Wales. He crushes them and takes back Bristol. Things are looking up for Wessex.
Accordingly, at games start Wessex looks like the following:
Three province, Wessex, Kent and Bristol (sorry if the names are wrong). They have a dynamic monarch and general with great stats. They are in an alliance with Brittany and Normandy. They have just secured a significant royal marriage with the daughter of William Lodbrooke, say. The shame is that Henry II will soon die (maybe a few years later than in vanilla). But not before having had a son who will one day grow to have a claim on Normandy when the last of the Lodbrookes passes on. They might pass on this claim or else challenge Brittany for it. (The ai would always pass, but a player might bite the bullet, or the crossbow bolt). Wessex, because of its Norman past, should it inherit Normany, could gain French culture, the only nation in ABII that could have Anglo-Saxon and French.
Thoughts?
