Faction Overview: Scotland, by Awesome Eagle
By Awesome Eagle
Greetings Commander and welcome to the Land of the Scots. We have been expecting you for years but now that you have finally come we, The Scottish People, are ready to march the highroad to Victory! But before we commence our conquests, I must give you a briefing on our Lands, army and current situation, so that you are better prepared for the journey ahead. Tell me if you found this helpful or not or if you would change anything I put in here.
Contents:
Our Lands
Scotland is OUR land! Our seat of power upon which all our fortunes rests, resides in Edinburgh. This is our Capital and our only lands at the beginning of our campaign, but this can soon be rectified. Surrounding our current lands lays 4 easily accessible rebel strong holds. To the north lies the castle stronghold of Inverness, to the south lies to village of York, to the south south west lies the castle stronghold of Caernarvon and to the south west, across the Irish sea, lies the village of Dublin. All of these rebels can be quickly brought to heel and your power and command over the country side will be massively increased.
However, there is a grave threat to our kingdom. The English peoples that reside in London and Nottingham are a serious threat to our fledgling nation. They claim ownership over the land that they know naught about, having been only on this land for some 14 years whilst we have been here for a centuries. Thus to secure our safety and to ensure prosperity to our great new nation we must dispose of the vile upstarts. In capturing these lands for us and our kinsfolk we will receive new and prosperous lands that will fill our coffers and our armies.
Our Armies
Without the Scottish army, there would be no Scotland. The Scottish people are widely renowned for the skill and ferocity of their soldiers. Since our capital is a township that gathers our only source of income, it would be unwise to replace it as a castle. It is often better to wait to capture Nottingham, a half developed castle, than to develop one from the start. Scotland’s best troops are recruited from castles.
Infantry
Scotland is famous for its infantry and it will serve an able commander well. From our castles we are able to recruit:
- Highland Rabble – mere peasants armed with knives, excellent cannon fodder.
- Highlanders – Wild warriors from the highlands, armed with a shield and an axe.
- Highland Nobles – Clan leaders of the highlands, armed with a deadly 2 handed sword and some chain mail armor, Good solid infantry that can be relied upon in battle.
- Highland Pikemen – Brave men armed with long spears, very good against cavalry, vulnerable to missiles due to being unarmored.
- Noble Pikemen – Brave men armed with long spears, wear fine armor and are well trained, very good against Cavalry.
- Noble Swordsman – Nobles who prefer to fight on foot, Armed with a sword and a shield and wearing very expensive armour, Can be relied upon in battle.
Cavalry
Whilst fielding a small choice of cavalry, they can be nonetheless effective. The basic choice of cavalry for Scotland can be augmented by the acquisition of the Knights Templar or a St John’s Chapter Guild. These Guilds respectively allow the training of the respective cavalry unit for use in the Scottish armies. From our Castles we can recruit:
- Border Horse – Light cavalry, used to raiding and skirmishing, handy for flanking and chasing routers, will melt away against an armored foe.
- Mailed Knights – Basic heavy Cavalry, heavy armor, good charge, able to be used in close combat role.
- Feudal Knights- Dominate the battlefield, knights are nobles who have been trained as warriors since birth, armed with a heavy lance and strong armor, have a powerful charge.
Missile
While not as adept at archery as the English, we Scottish realized a long time ago that archers are a much needed force on the battlefield. Thus we have produced a small but capable force for use in Battle. From our castle we are able to recruit:
- Peasant Archers – Peasants levied into the army, armed with hunting bows and a small shield, carry a knife for close combat but should avoid it.
- Highland Archers – Highlanders armed with a bow and an axe, can be very useful in support roles.
- Noble Highland Archers – Elite archers, trained from youth to use the bow, armed with a bow and mail armor, carries an axe for hand to hand combat and can be used this way proficiently after out of ammo.
Militias
Building a barracks building in a city allows the recruitment of several different types of militias. These units are merely townspeople armed and sent onto the battlefield. Whilst poor fighters on the battlefield, when stationed in a town/city a number of the units receive free upkeep. The militia units are:
- Town Militia – Peasants and commoners levied with only a little training, equipped with a short spear and a small shield, won’t survive long in battle.
- Spear Militia – Commoners and peasants levied with some training, equipped with a spear and a large shield, somewhat useful against cavalry and flanking.
- Scots Pike Militia – Lowland scots that have been levied into a pike militia, given training and equipped with a pike, very useful against cavalry, vulnerable to archers.
- Heavy Pike Militia – Wealthy commoners who have been levied, trained and equipped in heavy armor, Toughest militia units available and excellent against cavalry.
- Merchant Cavalry Militia – available when a town acquires a Merchants guild these are merchants equipped with horses and the finest armor available, however they lack training and are only useful in mopping up rebels and routed units.
Siege
Siege weapons can be built when you construct a Ballista maker in a castle or city. These weapons allow armies with them to immediately assault a settlement without having to wait the regular 2 years to build siege equipment.
- Ballista – A giant crossbow that hurls huge javelins that can take down small walls and piece any armor.
- Catapult – A catapult throws large rocks at walls and troops, does a lot of damage to both.
- Trebuchet – Result of the evolution of siege machines, very powerful machine that hurls huge boulders and even throw rotting cows.
Our Situation
The Scots exist only through the force of our arms. Over many years we have established our lands in and around Edinburgh. Over this time we have recruited many troops and we have a massive army for a one province nation. This starting army allows us but also requires us to quickly expand out influence over the surrounding regions. The vile English lie to the south, ready to conquer new lands for themselves. We must beat then and establish our dominion over York as soon as possible.
Currently commander, we have 2 field armies and a garrison. The Garrison resides in Edinburgh but is not really needed and the troops stationed there can provide good reinforcements for our other Armies. Our Garrison consists of: King Malcolm and his loyal bodyguard, 2 battalions of town militia, 1 battalion of spear militia, 1 battalion of highland militia and 1 squadron of Border horse.
The first of our Armies lies to the south east of Edinburgh. This army is ideally situated to attack York. This army consists of:
Prince Edward and his loyal bodyguard, 1 battalion of spear militia, 1 battalion of highlanders, 1 battalion of Highland archers and 1 squadron of Border horse.
The second of our armies lies to the north west of Edinburgh. This army is ideally situated to commence the siege of Inverness. This army consists of: Edmund Canmore and his loyal bodyguard, 1 battalion of spear militia, 1 battalion of highlanders, 2 battalions of highland archers and 1 squadron of Border horse.
We also have a very small navy. This will be useful for transporting until across the seas but will need some reinforcement before taking on a hostile enemy fleet. This fleet is located next to the crossing from mainland Britain to Eire.
We also however have agents that are loyal to Scotland and will do anything to see our land prosper. The first is the Cardinal-Brian The Peaceful. This man is a cardinal in the pope’s college and with some clever use; he can even become the new pope one day and look with favor upon his homeland. The second agent is the diplomat Patrick MacDougall. This man has a talent for diplomacy and you would do well to use him to his utmost. The last of our agents is the spy Fearghus Campbell. This man thrives in the shadows and will be very useful in the campaigns to come.
Our Religion
The Land of the Scots is also the Land of the Christians. Ever since the spread of Christianity to Britain during the Roman occupation, we have thought less and less about the old gods and put our faith in one God. Thus we are Christian and we can build churches in our settlements. Not only are these beneficial to public order in the settlement but they will also slowly turn the populace into Christians also. Being Christian means we can go on a holy crusade and even as the pope to call one on a city of our choice. The pope typically calls a crusade on the Holy City of Jerusalem and we should answer the call and send an army to the holy land. This can give us a toehold in the east and allow unrestricted expansion in new theaters against a Muslim foe.
Mods
Scotland features in many modifications. Two of the most well known are the Retrofit Mod, which balances out the statistics of the units and gets rid of some minor bugs, and the other modification is known as the Mongolphobia Mod. (Editor’s note- some mods such as Stainless Steel also drastically increase scottish power via the removal of pikemen’s secondary weapon. This means they are far more deadly than the originals – EoJ)
Thus, Noble Commander you have been briefed on our mighty nation. Now lead us to VICTORY!!