The valiant deeds of King Arthur - A King Arthur AAR by King Arthur

[Till]

(This AAR is about King Arthur - The Roleplaying Wargame , a Total War knock-off in a fantasy setting with RPG elements.)

Uther Pendragon and Excalibur (or some other sword - i'm not a weapon nut)
​

We open the story with the death of my father, Uther Pendragon, last king of Britain. Actually, let's move on from the details of his death - they are too... painful to bear thinking about. Let's just keep in mind that i had nothing whatsoever to do with his demise.

Merlin and Excalibur
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Now, to the pressing matter of my legacy. Apart of being the heir to the last rightful king, i also pulled a magic sword out of a stone. Only the legitimate ruler could achieve that, both because Merlin the Wizard said so, and because i was the first to have a go at it, and i am the legitimate ruler. So there.

Me and Excalibur
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Incredibly, the other leaders of Britain defied me and set up their own petty kingdoms. I'm stuck with a few grunts in Cornwall. I'll have to convince the other rulers to bow to me. The magic sword will come handy there. Well, if it were magical. Turns out Merlin was stretching the truth a little, and the sword no longer has any magic. Bummer. I'll hang on to it for the time being, anyway.

Cornwall. It's so...small.
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As i already mentioned, i'm currently in Cornwall, where i grew up under a foster father. His son, Sir Kay, doesn't mind getting his hands dirty, so he gets to lead my army.

Cornwall is conquered so quickly that i didn't have time to finish a battle painting, but it looks like we'll get one soon:

What a one-sided account!
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Now, it may look like helping King Mark would be the right thing to do, but there's the matter of Sir Kan. Sir Kan has long been my enemy, telling lies about my character and deeds wherever he can. He even insinuated that i had something to do... no, let's not spread his falsehoods for him.

King Mark is known as a generous man, and i fear he may have taken Sir Kan as a guest. If that's the case he has no doubt fallen victim to Kan's silver tongue and instigated all kind of treachery to leave King Idres no choice but to attack.

I make my decision by conducting a auspice with a wise duck in a nearby pond:

King Arthur: "Quack if Sir Kan and King Mark are responsible for the conflict, and roar if they are not"

Wise Duck: "Quack"

There you have it, just as i feared.

I march for King Mark's army, but winter interrupts. After dwindling my thumbs for a few months, my men finally decide it's not too cold for fighting anymore, and we meet King Mark in battle:

The battle happened mostly in the woods, so it was hard to make a proper painting. This will have to do for now. Don't ask me which guys belong to us - Sir Kay handles those matters.
​

The battle is won by superior tactics: For every enemy weapon, one of our soldiers is ordered to impale itself on it, making it thereby useless and its wielder easily dispatched by our superior numbers.

A glorious victory!
​

While King Mark has been slain in battle, Sir Kan appears to have fled just in time. The rascal. His whereabouts soon become obvious, however, as another scandalously slanted news report reaches me of Sir Kan's schemings:

Somebody (Kaaan!) really has a bone to pick with poor King Idras. He even gave me a proper magical sword for killing King Mark!
​

Comments and suggestions regarding strategy are welcome, but remember: I am the king! I decide what's for dinner, and i'll have the head of whoever suggest Brussels sprouts.

Misunderstood king Idreas reigns in the south, while devious king Bertram and Sir Kan plot our downfall in the north. (We are in the west.)
​

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Excellent.

I will be reading!

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

All I said is that pulling swords out of some metamorphic rock shouldn't be considered a sensible method of establishing a government, and suddenly I'm accused of having a forked tongue?

Love the title, btw

 

[LightSpectra]

I played the demo of this, up until the part where you have to fight the mythological monsters by the lake. Couldn't win that battle no matter what I did.

 

[Maniacal]

I so wish I had time to play this before I left :/

Sir PrinceScamp reporting in for duty M'lord.
Also M'lord Till, its twiddling your thumbs, not dwindling (dwindling means shrinking).

 

[Rub'Rum]

I just got that game this week for the mid-week special. Seems like I might actually like it more than Total War. I'm just a little worried about replayability (I know it has paths you can choose but still... You just always start every game ever in Cornwall since there's only the campaign and that's it). That being said, the amount of geekery with filling your Round Table with knights, levelling them up, giving them fiefs and items, text-based quests, your morality changing and giving you access to different units, etc. Cool stuff. Angryjoe had given it a glowing review and also said he had liked it better than Empire Total War (Napoleon wasn't out at the time).

I'm about there in my game too, just started. I was going to attack the southern guy, but wholly crap he has a huge army of levelled up dudes.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Also M'lord Till, its twiddling your thumbs, not dwindling (dwindling means shrinking).

Challenging, or worse - correcting the words of your King?

Good to see such respect in 'his majesty's' court.

 

[Till]

The magic sword - now magic for real!​

Before i can start making plans on how to best deal with King Bertram, an advisor appears, telling me that my sword has lost its magic. As if i didn't know. Is he implying that i wouldn't know because i don't use my sword, because i don't participate in the fighting, because i draw battle pictures? How dare he? Off with his head!

Back to his message: It appears i have to find the woman who created it, the mysterious Lady of the Lake. A wounded knight in a nearby abbey is said to know her whereabouts, after having searched for her for over a year.

I decide to seek him out before he dies on me. On the way i'm stopped by volunteers who want to join my army after hearing of my tactical masterclass in the last battle.

As i get to the abbey, the abbot won't let me near the knight unless i find a cure for him. I'd rather just burn down the abbey and question the knight (though not necessarily in this order), but i am beginning to suspect that i got a raw deal in my last quest. It seems King Mark would have been willing to serve under me, if i had helped him. He was one heck of a fighter, killing 3 or 4 regiments mostly on his own. Instead i got a sword. Hmm.

It might be worth the hassle to help this guy, just so that he can serve me as henchman. As it turns out, a druid can cure him, but is getting bullied by marauders. Nobody marauds in my kingdom but me! After teaching the marauders a lesson, i bring the druid to the knight. He is most grateful and offers to join with his forces for just 1000 pieces of gold.

While these knights are not round table material, they were quite the bargain! Must have been desperate to get away from that abbey. Can't blame them.
​

A true mercenary! We should get along brilliantly. I sign him up. Oh, he also tells me that the Lady of the Lake can be found in a lake.

The location of the Lady of the Lake. Not seeing the lake there, but i suppose that's why it took Sir Garath, for that is his name, over a year to find her.
​

King Bertram's army looks too strong for the moment, so i decide to go for the lady right away. Once there, i am sent on a merry go around through the woods until i finally find her island. Along the way, i promise to honour the Old Faith, whatever that is.

Once on the island, an army of ugly beasts comes into sight. Fortunately, this being Britain, it's foggy and i can ambush them:

The ambush. Note the three regiments in the background. Sir Kay assured me that this was a wise setup.

This time it's easy to tell who's on our side: The guys getting beaten up by the big ugly brutes.

Our guys are the ones in the less awesome armor.
​

This time i try a novel tactic: keeping my men alive. While i win the battle handily, there are still some kinks to be worked out. For instance, i found out that my archers like to shoot at my own men as much as at enemies. As consequence, i had them drop their bows and charge the enemy. That'll learn them.

After defeating the monsters, who apparently came from a huge forest in the north, i finally get to meet the Lady of the Lake and the true motive behind Sir Kan's snide comments finally becomes obvious:

It's not about the sword, isn't it? You are just jealous of me getting to meet the lady!
​

I was a bit distracted during the following events, but eventually i'm informed that the sword is now magic again, which means peasants will now pay me taxes and i can recruit soldiers without having to rely on volunteers. If there were any evidence required that the peasants have no business governing themselves, this would be it.

While i recruit replacements, messengers keeping appearing with news and suggestions. The first is to capture a proper city and create stronghold, using the magic in Excalibur. Apparently there are only two viable candidate cities: London and Viroconium.

London and Wessex. We will have to deal with Wessex to get to London.
​

Both are still in other hands than mine, so we'll get to fight either way. London controls only one province, which might make it easier to conquer. However, we would have to pass through either of two powerful kingdoms to get there. And by passing through i mean conquering, or doing some forked tounge diplomacy, which i am not too good at.

Viroconium. Not visible: its giant armies.
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Viroconium controls another province and looks like it could put up a fight. Not much harder than what it would take to reach and conquer London, though.

So, fellow knights, which one shall be our Camelot? (We'll conquer the other as well, of course! In due time.)

As it happens, Viroconium is fought over by three sons, and we might be able to recruit one against the others. We also hear from trouble in Wessex, which lies on route to London. I suspect some sort of mischief could be played there to make its conquest easier.

While you contemplate this i'll be off to make sure King Bertram and Sir Kan receive their day of reckoning!


===

Edit: You dare stick your neck in here, Sir Kan? Just wait, soon it will be lifted of the burden of having to carry your head with its big mouth!

Sir Scamps, the thumbs were twiddled so much, they started to dwindle. You couldn't know, you weren't there when that crushing boredom assaulted us relentlessly for months. A lesser king would have gone mad.

 

[Captain2]

I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't name this "A King AARthur tale" or something but other than that I'm impressed

subscribed

 

[Omega124]

Sir Omega reporting for duty. Send me wherever combat is needed, and you don't want to get your armour stained in blood.

Anyways, I say we take London. I heard it's a beautiful city, and will be a cradle for the new western culture for generations to come. I can't even remember the other city.

 

[Maniacal]

I say we march upon London!

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

After defeating the monsters, who apparently came from a huge forest in the north, i finally get to meet the Lady of the Lake and the true motive behind Sir Kan's snide comments finally becomes obvious:

It's not about the sword, isn't it? You are just jealous of me getting to meet the lady!

I assure you, 'King,' the Lady will be more impressed with my 'sword.'

 

[Till]

Not quite in London yet​

By royal decree, Sir Kay is now known as Sir Scamp. He continues to be responsible for leading the troops into battle. Sir Gareth is renamed to Sir Omega and will serve as the arch wizard.
(If anyone else wants a knight, post and i'll allocate slots as they come available. First come first serve!)

King Bertram of Summerset and Salisbury has divided his forces into two armies. I kick of the campaign by attacking the smaller one. Sir Scamp has been telling me of this new idea of his for a while now, and i decide it is time to put it to test. It is called formations and suggests that my men will fight better, if i have them walk in certain shapes.

I immediately suggest either a sword or a battleaxe shape, but Sir Scamp tells me that these would be too obvious, and i should try a wedge instead. How a wedge would strike fear into the hearts of hostile troops i don't know, but i have given up questioning the motives of people who will only pay me taxes if i carry a magic sword.

Wedges moving towards rectangles and blobs.​

The wedges and superior numbers do their work, and the battle quickly turns into a rout. We lose so few men that i can attack King Bertram on the next season. We has a stronger army, but i have full confidence in our wedges.

As it turns out, the battlefield is rocky with wide plains. Our archers cheer at the sight, and spread out on higher ground instead of forming a wedge like everybody else. What is it with them always being subordinate?

Our soldiers join the battle at their leisure. Some need to train sprinting.​

While the rest of the army marches against King Bertram's army, the archers lay fire on it with devastating effect. By the time the two armies meet, King Bertram is too weak to counter our wedges with squares, or whatever it is that you are supposed to use.

Sir Kan was not to be found among the bodies, so he must have made his escape yet again. Blast it!

Strangely enough, King Bertam does not yield after the battle, despite having lost all territory. He even offers to buy out his captured knights! Oh well, with no means of getting reinforcements, it's just a matter of time until we catch him.

While the army recovers, we hear news from West Mercia. It seems that the local king needs help with defeating monsters from the North. West Mercia lies on route to London, so i decide to help him out, just so that his subject see how incompetent he is, which might shame him into swearing vassalage to me.

The battle against the northerners (a druid called them "Unsidhe") was by far the most difficult one yet. Those Unsidhes used archers and wedges as well! And their soldiers were much better trained on average.

We may have the numbers on our side, but even the worst of those Unsidhe is more than a match for our strongest soldiers.​

Luckily, they were tactically inept otherwise. They foolishly surrounded almost our entire army, which was moving in close cohesion because ordering individual troops around is a hassle.
The army took a severe beating, especially the archers, which were almost wiped out entirely. Little did the Unsidhe know that they were just delivering my punishment to those rebellious troublemakers.

When losses started mount up, i remembered that i had send three regiments of cavalry to capture a nearby tower at the start of the battle. I needed a proper place to have tea, should the battle drag on.

They were send into the rear of the Unsidhe and picked off their regiments one by one. Sir Omega decided that now would be a good time to use his magic, and summoned dragon's breath until the battle was won. I did make some battle paintings, but some servant must have forgotten to fetch them from the tower where i drew them. Another head to be separated from its body.

Replacing the losses of that battle takes almost half a year, which means thumbs are again at risk of dwindling from twiddling.

While waiting i find out where King Bertram's last stand is... a small tomb north of King Idras' lands. Sir Kan must have left him already, since soon i hear word that the king of Wessex has declared war on poor king Idras:

An accurate report for once Sir Kan must still be recovering from the latest setbacks!​

While i am (well, it's Sir Scamp really) still gathering soldiers, i hear that the king of West Mercia died while trying to emulate my exploits against the Unsidhe, and that his kingdom now is in disarray.

Excellent. Looks like we will take the route through Merica to London. However, our plans are interrupted by two other events. First king Idras dies and make me the heir of his kingdom, thus proving once and for all that i had always been right in my assessment of his character.

West Mercia. London is the south east.​

King Cynric of Wessex immediately ceases his campaign against Dorset once he hears the news. The wuss.

The second interruption is a quarrel between brothers. Either offers to join the round table if i help, so let's take a look. There is Sir Balan who is hiding in a castle and yet still requires help to defend himself.

And then there's Sir Balin who just requires assistance to compensate for his brother's advantage of having a castle. Obvious choice i think. We are going to help the less useless brother.

Sir Balin seems to prefer form over function when it comes to castles.​

Other than his golden warriors, Sir Balan's army mostly consists of archers. Good thing i have multiple cavalry regiments, who love sticking it to archers.

Sir Scamp suggests that the cavalry attacks the archers from the rear, just as our wedges meet theirs. A good plan, but getting the timing right seems like too much work, so everybody just charges the enemy as fast as they can.

Footsoldiers scrambling to catch up with the cavalry.​

The cavalry gets too the archers first and wrecks havoc, but is without backup. Sir Balan rushes to the aid of his archers and the cavalry can't disengage.

By the time the rest of our troops join the battle, one regiment of cavalry has been wiped out. That's about the amount of our losses, as we win the battle and Sir Balin joins us.

Sir Balin and his golden warriors.​

I notice that he seems to have loyality issues, but luckily there is a beautiful woman who is willing to marry any knight for a few thousand pieces of gold. She gets to marry Sir Balin, who seems most grateful.

Spoiler current knights :

Sir Scamp

Sir Omega

Sir Upforgrabs
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Our My kingdom
​

 

[Maniacal]

Excllent, we shall be in London before next winter! We shall show those bloody Saxon foreigners what true Britons are made of!

Although I strongly recommend using the cavalry to flank the enemy as our infantry engages their line of infantry.

OOC: You know, I NEVER use cavalry formations in games. Dunno why, but they never really seem that useful.

 

[Omega124]

An arch-wizard? You have the wrong person, I'm a sword person through and through.

Anyways, I'd suggest someone else besides Scamp leading the battles. Let someone else have a chance, like me!

 

[Till]

I will have no such insubordination young knight! You are an more than competent mage, but you are not best suited to lead an army. Sir UpforGrabs leads the second one, and once we have enough income for a third, i'll consider giving you one.

 

[cardgame]

Sir cardgame here, volunteering to serve under your Rightful command, King!

 

[Omega124]

Was I drunk the night I met you? Because when I was a kid, and talked about becoming a mage, he just slapped me and gave me a sword, and I never talked or thought about it ever again. I never knew I had actual magical talent.

 

[Till]

The road to London​

To get to London, West Mercia has to fall. We wait until the next spring before invading with two armies. Sir Scamp and Sir Omega lead the main forces, while Sir Cardgame commands a smaller army with elite troops.

King Edward of West Mercia has three armies: One is larger than any of ours, one is about the size of Sir Scamp's and Sir Omega's, and one is smaller than either of ours.

King Edward's armies in West Mercian.​

This brings up a new problem for us, as the trusty tactic of winning by attrition no longer works. Any victorious army would get picked off by the remaining army of King Edward.

So i endeavour to heed the tactical advice of my knights for once, even if it means more work.

In the first battle Sir Scamp and Omega attack King Edwards main army. The battlefield is hilly with patches of forests, and has a church and village has remarkable features.

The battlefield with out men getting into position.​

King Edward enters from the north of church and village, while we come from the south.

Sir Scamp sends the cavalry into the woods, ordering the units to cycle king Edward from the West. Meanwhile the Infantry advances towards the area between church and village, where i expect the armies to met. The archers and Sir Omega with light infantry climb the hill east of the church.

Things go mostly according to plan, with our infantry meeting the bulk of King Edwards forces in the forest between church and village. He tries to send some light cavalry up the hill to deal with our archers, but they die in the arrowfire before reaching them. The archers are then free to pick off enemy archers and reserve troops. Sir Omega is free to employ his deadly dragon's breath spell, which kills almost half of the soldiers in enemy regiments.

Archers getting roasted by dragon's breath.​

Which is a good thing, as the cavalry bungled its mission. They were detected before they could complete their flanking mission, and were engaged by enemy spearmen. Outch. Things would have looked dire for them, were it not for Sir Omega, who repeatedly halfed the numbers of spearmen.

Still, we win the battle handily, losing less than 10% of our men!

The last stand of a West Mercian knight.​

While Sir Scamp and Omega are thus fighting the main host of King Edward, Sir Cardgame meets the second largest one. We are slightly up against the odds here, but i hope our quality troops and newfound penchant for tactics will see us through.

The battlefield is eerily similar to the one which hosts the other battle. Probably an effect of being so close to the magical Deepwood, from where the Unsidhe come.

Sir Cardgame must have exchanged notes with Sir Scamp and Omega, as he tries to duplicate their tactic. However, things don't work out. The enemy charges us long before any unit is in position. Our cavalry is kept from flanking by spearmen. and our infantry is busy with the incredibly strong heroes of the other side, and in danger of being flanked.

The enemy reaches us before we can sort out our lines.​

The enemy's numerical advantage means that he has men to spare to chase after our archers, and i begin to worry.

However, the archers save the day. By relinquishing their formation, they can outrun the chasing infantry, which has no cover. They get chased over half the map, but eliminate their pursuers in the process. If that army had contained cavalry, we would have been in deep trouble.

Archers getting chased by infantry.​

This way they can return to get rid of the spearmen obstructing our cavalry, which then attacks the enemy infantry from the rear, which turns the battle in our favour.

Cavalry comes to the rescue!​

We suffer some losses, but not enough for the remaining West Mercian army to become dangerous. Sir Cardgame replaces losses, while Sir Scamp and Omega complete the conquest of West Merica in the following season.

The conquest of London

London anno... King Arthur 1.​

While our main host replaces the losses from its last two battles, Sir Cardgame begins the assault on London.

There are three accessible routes into London, and he decides to send the cavalry into the western one, the infantry into the central one, and the archers through the eastern opening.

The idea, i suppose, is to finally make this flanking thing work. King Offa sends his men down the central road, where they clash with our infantry. This allows our cavalry to circle the enemy, using a side road, and come up behind the enemy archers. They flee past the point where the infantry fights, but this moves them in range of our archers. Caught between hammer and anvil, they are quickly smashed to pieces.

Our cunning battle plan.​

King Offa sends reinforcements to keep our cavalry from attacking his infantry in the rear, but they have to move on a road which is completely covered by our archers, and die before reaching their targets.

Things suddenly look dicey for the archers, as a regiment of axemen somehow made it towards them without Sir Cardgame noticing. Luckily Sir Cardgame has a load voice and can shout "withdraw" load enough for the archers to hear it. This shouting thing is a tactical revelation. Knowing how to do that would have saved Sir Scamp and Omega a huge headache back in the battle against King Edward.

The archers withdraw and finish off the axemen with their bows, before going back to decimate the remaining reinforcements of King Offa. This leaves the cavalry free to come to the aid of the infantry, which wins the battle. We now own a stronghold!

Lots of things happening at the same time​

Having a stronghold allows us to do all sorts of awesome stuff. For instance, we now know how much taxes and food we collect, and can set the tax rate! We can also do research and build new facilities in our stronghold.

I begin with an academy, which will do research for us, so that we can focus on smashing heads and expanding our kingdom. Speaking of which:

Our kingdom. I always thought Britain was larger, but maybe i have just grown a lot...​

The conquest of London and West Mercia must have made wimpy King Cynric of Wessex wet his pants, as he offers to become our vassal for 30.000 pieces of gold. A hefty sum, but we have plenty of money to spare, and i don't enjoy fighting cowards.

Having dealt with Kong Cynric, i receive news that King Cadeyrn of Viraconium has declared war on us. This is a bit of a shocker as he claimed to be our friend up to this point. No doubt the work for Sir Kan! Grrr... when i get my hands on him....
Looking at spy reports from Viraconium, the bit of a shocker turns into a dragon of a problem, as i find out that Cadeyrin commands the tree largest armies in all of Britain! This will get hairy.

Viraconium.​

Just after i think i can finally call it a day, two more messengers arrive, either trying to shout louder than the other. From what they say i take that Merlin has returned, and wants us to form some sort of alliance with the mighty King of Wales. I also learn that there is an "evil" (sporting, i say!) knight called Sir Caradoc in West Mercia, who captures and imprisons knights for fun.
He managed to catch the nephew of the Saxon King, who would make a grateful ally if we got him his relative back.

With all this happening, i almost forgot that former King Offa of London is still around. He appears to have holed up in East Mercia.

East Mercia under King Offa's thumb.​

So, decision time!

We have to decide in which order to tackle our military problems:

- Merlin and forging an alliance with the Welsh
- Caradoc and forging an alliance with the Saxons
- Conquering East Mercia and finishing off King Offa
- Conqering/repelling Viraconium

I'm heavily leaning towards seeing what Merlin wants from us, before going after Sir Caradoc, both because Sir Caradoc seems like a men after my own heart, and because the Welsh have excellent soldiers. The few regiments we have played a huge role in the conquest of London.

As for what to research, i am open for suggestions (though i will ignore them if i don't like them!). We can either try to improve our economy, or upgrade one of our unit types.

There are also two new knights up for the taking:

Spoiler knights :

 

[Omega124]

I'd say go to Merlin. The Welsh are powerful, and allying with them would be useful. Plus, maybe he could teach me spells I would had learned years ago if it wasn't for my ***hole of a father.