Aethelstan - Notes

Anno Domini 852 - Din Eidyn, Fib, in the Kingdom of the Picts

The field of Din Eidyn was one of maybe three or four of the most intense battles in MTW I have ever fought. Two of those were against the Mongols in various guises - the obligatory bridge in Kiev, and once in Trebizond on a hilltop as the English. The other, and perhaps the single best I've had, was as the Byzantines in Spain, where 700 of my byz infantry and Trebizond archers fought their way up hills against 3000 Spanish and won with 13 odd guys left.

Din Eidyn is sort of like that. The Picts just keep coming and coming, and I keep mowing them down. And it was only really this army that could've done it. Yes, I've got other, better upgraded armies, but not by much, and Aethelstan is Aethelstan, after all. In all, there were probably five or six waves of Picts that came over that hill - maybe more, as it was a bit hard to keep count after a while. Celtic warriors, mostly, with a few armored spears to keep things interesting. Lots of Pict crossbows as well, which were easily neutralized by my roving bands of horsemen. The first wave was the worst, being as it was almost ALL Celtic warriors, but later it got progressively better as he sent reinforcements in bit by bit instead of putting them in a group.

Tactically, the whole thing was pretty uncomplicated. My initial setup involved lining my troops up in sort of a U shape with wings to either side, to try and make a central killing zone. My cavalry mostly hid in a forest off to one side. As it happens, my setup mostly didn't work as well as it could have, because there were simply too many Picts. Later waves were more straightforward - I lined up my troops, he came over the hill, I charged and slaughtered, then mopped up with cavalry. And I just kept doing it and doing it until he finally stopped.

And with that victory, it's essentially all over for the Picts.

Aethelstan vs Drosten - Pre-battle setup. And there's me, outnumbered more than 3 to 1.

Forces pre-battle - Traded out the catapult for more horses. There's also another horse in reserve, should I have needed it.

The Pictish first wave - Yeah, it's kinda scary when they fill the entire screen like that.

After the first wave - Not all the survivors are visible, but you get an idea of the carnage.

The Pictish second wave - Now you can see all the survivors except maybe 6 or so. I got ripped to shreds, but he got hurt more.

Waiting for the fourth wave - Stiiiiill coming.

Waiting for the fifth wave - Demented Energizer bunnies, were the Picts.

Post-battle carnage - You can see most of the survivors here, except a few off chasing guys. There's a trail of bodies leading up the mountain, as well, from routers.

The Survivors - Didn't lose a group, but I came pretty close at a few points.

Post-battle - Notice how if you suck in that army, you only gain 1 valor. People like Lord Swithnoth, well, he's always been the man.

Anno Domini 868 - Dorcic, West Saexe, in the Kingdom of the Saxons

And thus ends Aethelstan. He lived from 799 to 868, which by the standards of the Dark Ages would have made him positively ancient. During his lifetime he accomplished about as much as any of my generals has ever accomplished, decapitating the Mercians, the Welsh, and the Picts pretty much singlehandedly, not to mention beating down the Vikings on a couple of different occasions. It's only to be expected from the only good Prince my royal line has ever produced, I suppose. I've NEVER had a bunch of royals be this abysmal, but here's Aethelstan, who comes along at the very hour of Saxon need, and leads them to victory. Straight out of a movie, it is. The whole thing just begged to be written down, so here we are. And let me say that Aethelstan has probably been the easiest character I've ever had to write. After I established how I thought his character was going to go, it was like the game conspired with me to write him - The very year after I decided he'd probably be the one running the kingdom due to the suckfulness of the king, he picks up Pride and then Envy for vices. His very first fight was in a pouring rainstorm, as was the second, and after I decided to have him fight in the rain as a matter of course, the game started giving me rainstorms every time he fought. Only the prisoner vices are really my fault - In every battle Aeth fought in, he took a lot of prisoners, and there was usually a pressing reason why the opposition shouldn't have 500 guys back, so they all went under the knife. Thus two, maybe three thousand prisoners got butchered by Aeth.

Almost none of my other generals did anything like this. Unique, you could say.

In the interests of being fair, I should note that the final text is straight out of the game.

A few pictures and things.

These four pictures are of Aethelstan at various points in his life. The first is in 815 after the First Battle of Dorcic. The second, from 836, is after the Battle of Offa's Farm where the Mercians were destroyed. The third, from 853, is from after Din Eidyn and the slaughter of the Pictish armies. The last, from 867, is Aethelstan right before death.

Also, we have replays.

Aethelstan 1 is the First Battle of Dorcic in 815.

Aethelstan 2 is the Second Battle of Dorcic in 816. Patience is required for this one, because there's about 10 minutes of 100% speed before it starts. *shrug*

Aethelstan 3 is Offa's Farm.

Aethelstan 4 is Luel and the destruction of the Welsh.

Aethelstan 5 is Din Eidyn. If you watch none of the others, watch this one.

Aethelstan 6 is Moray and the destruction of most of the rest of the Picts.

Aethelstan 7 is the Orcades and the very last death of the Picts, which I didn't feel compelled to write about because it wasn't much of a battle.

Aeth's Fort is something I didn't write about, the destruction of the last Mercian rebels after Offa's Farm, and the first of Aeth's many fort assaults.

Aethviking is Aethelstan versus the Vikings in 843.