Our excellent campaign has lately changed pretty drastically into a very political almost "Diplomacy" type scenario, where the players basically have control over Salisbury's political actions since old failing sir Amig is in charge while Lady Ellen is sent to Amesbury abbey to deliver a child (fathered by a roman PK from Dorset). Things have been tense with the Saxons, but they have managed to get away with only paying tribute to Wessex, and getting majorly raided by Sussex (the Saxons burned the martial monastery one of the PK's had been building for the past decade and devastated the eastern parts of Salisbury, but got severely beaten back).

They are a bit pissed that Wessex didn't help vs Sussex and they managed to severly shame Wessex (well, prince Cynric) to not take tribute until after harvest (and pretty much only for protection from Sussex). "If King Cerdic to be "be a Briton King" he's gotta act like one" kinda deal.

However, Salisbury is in between the anvil and the hammer, coffins nearly bled dry and themselves and Salisbury really in need for some libra (and to pay that Saxon tribute) so they completely on their own decided to get some good will with Cornwall and go off as Mercenaries (with the best knights "for free") for the summer invasion of Jagent (seen a long way off). And they got a pretty good impression from prince Mark and King Idres (which could/should change of course).

Now for the crux, I have never really done much with neither Cornwall nor Jagent. I'd like some ideas and flavor.
What would the size and character of the armies of Idres and Jagent be like? (and soon Dorset) Come to think about it, what would the sizes of Wessex and Sussex's armies be like?

I'd like some help on the flavor on the siege of Jagent castles. What are Jagent knights/warriors like? I feel uncomfortably blank on them. Are they more like picts? Just picts who act like logrians, the opposite? neither?
2 of the PK's have old family hate picts (which swayed the opinion in favor of helping Idres as opposed to Jagent). Who WOULD aid Jagent to make the battles a wee bit easier? I guess their neighbours to the north. We can already count out Dorset, since they in good ole roman fashion play the barbarians out against each other (with the Dorset PK's extra help of course, he's very "diplomatic") and wait for the cornish invasion next year (working on Wessex aid there). Now I have no idea how this will all end, besides it'll be fun. But some extra ideas would be great. And just WHEN or HOW would Levcomagus dare to strike? Would he? He really hates the PK's after some lesser run ins. And how would Ulfius see that, he's a good ally and friend with Salisbury and a pretty honorable lord (at least so far in the campaign).

I'd really like to find and emphasize the similarities and the differences of the cornish and the jagent picts to what the PK's are used to (cymri, "britano-romans" and saxons).

One of the things I'm looking for is for them to get the feeling that whoops, the picts are "Logrians" and the Cornish are not...

While we are at it, how to make Wessex (and Cynric/Cerdic in particular) more into Logrians? :) Besides using lots of run-over knights.

What are Jagent knights/warriors like? I feel uncomfortably blank on them. Are they more like picts? Just picts who act like logrians, the opposite? neither?
(at least so far in the campaign).


Why should the Jagent warriors be picts? Do you have sources? When I think about Jagent I get the impression of an typical old cymric settlement with some roman buildings and perhaps some city walls.
It is even possible that Jagent ist an old roman "Isca", I guess I can recall a text or map with that kind of name.

It's a change introduced in the Book of Knight's and Ladies.
In order to make saxons and picts available to players earlier, two of the regions of logres were given altered histories and settled by picts and saxons. Jagent was settled by pictish mercenaries loyal to Uther, and rewarded with their own land.

I would use:

Jagent: Civilized Picts. Knights with squires. Footsoldiers marching in order. Maybe with toned down warpaint (also for the knights).
Cornwall: Uncivilized Almost no knights. Lots of skirmishers/warriors. Archers (firing at knights!?).

Jagent: Civilized Picts. Knights with squires. Footsoldiers marching in order. Maybe with toned down warpaint (also for the knights).


Of course! As is suggested in K&L



Cornwall: Uncivilized Almost no knights. Lots of skirmishers/warriors. Archers


Sounds like just the enemies (and landscape) where I would want some superior scouting force, maybe capable of night time attacks, ambushes, etc...
Someone good at, say, Stalking.



(firing at knights!?).

Archers are a bane to horses, not the riders. Try it.

Archers are a bane to horses, not the riders. Try it.


I'd say that by being a bane to horses, archers become a bane to the riders. Take away the mounts and knights are reduced to footsoldiers. :'(

It's a change introduced in the Book of Knight's and Ladies.
In order to make saxons and picts available to players earlier, two of the regions of logres were given altered histories and settled by picts and saxons. Jagent was settled by pictish mercenaries loyal to Uther, and rewarded with their own land.


All right. Got the book, but could only remember saxons settling in Windsor.

thanks.

I always envisage the Pictish mercenaries who settle in Jagent as being a take on the great barbarian conspiracy of 367 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Conspiracy - when Bristol was raided.

Jagent (Somerset) until the levels were drained was a county beset with lots of low flooded inlets and marshy land. Imagine a marshy landscape with low levels of water and treacherous areas, where the locals know the safe paths across the marsh. The player characters may not. A man in armour can probably drown in a foot of water, coupled with sucking mud beneath it. The mud and fast tides at Weston Super Mare are famous. It's always good when a player suddenly comments that if they fall off the bridge (in armour) that it might not be such a good idea, since they've read the drowning rules. Low punt type boats may be useful to get across terrain like this.

(Obviously if the players come from the East - across Salisbury plain then Somerset is not so wet or marshy immedieately, but it is by the time you get to Glastonbury. Drop a bit further south and there is a reason why villages are called Isle Brewers and Isle Abbots or Burrow Bridge. Or send them North for the delights of Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole - During the Dark Ages the Legend of the Witch of Wookey grew. Some said King Arthur came over from Avalon and slew her, others that the Abbot of Glastonbury sent Father Bernard to exorcise her, and he turned her to stone by sprinkling holy water on her.).

Bridgwater is still technically a port despite being some miles inland, and until the 17th century was a resonably major port. (There are rumours of all sorts of smugglers tunnels, one set which may have been recently found). Picts could have brought their building techniques with them from Scotland - want to frighten your players, then have them invade a pictish sacred compound of tunnels leading to a shrine. I've crawled thorugh souterrains - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souterrain - in Orkney and Shetland and whilst these weren't especially big, I'm not sure I want to have fight small, wiry, men with javelins in them, intent on hurting me.

In the Iron age the local built wooden tracks across this marshland - http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/aburnham/eng/sweet.htm which were probably still used into the medieval era.

Greg took on board some of my (historical) comments for the Tribal Picts portrayed in the Book of Armies. There are comments that the picts used their "plaid cum tartan" cloaks as camouflage for ambushes, hiding benath them and then popping up to shoot at the last minute. If you've seen WW2 movies of the pacific war with Japanese soldiers in "spider holes" which is a roofed hole, then Picts could employ these as well.

Marshes - well reeds really. These can grow as high as you like. Remember Hereward the Wake hid in the fens of EAst Anglia for many years. Somerset is still known for it's basketwork. Given Pictish ambush skills, then think of some of the traps used in the Vietnam war and how they might be employed on trails through 6 foot high reeds in the summer. Again, given Picts are sneaky and love ambush then have them engage in the psy war - kidnap tail end charlie on the patrol, and then float him across the wter that evening on a wattle panel to the camp. I'd throw a basket of adders into a camp as well.

Aside from the Picts I'd throw in a waterborne monster or two as well: nothing like a water leaper to upset knights.

One thing I would decide upon is Glastonbury and what you intend to do with it. I personally like the mists of Avalon concept where it phases "in and out of reality" depending upon the religious beliefs of those who want to find it.

So what has Cornwall got ?

Mercenaries - paid for by Cornish tin and a trade network that extends to the mediterranean. Mercenaries of all sorts and flavours. If you want to be exotic then why not throw in whatever you fancy as something special - Arab Archers, Irish Light horsemen, French heavy infantry, Irish Pirates. Or an exotic dancing girl from Spain to liven up those evenings...

Chris

I'd really like to find and emphasize the similarities and the differences of the cornish and the jagent picts to what the PK's are used to (cymri, "britano-romans" and saxons).

One of the things I'm looking for is for them to get the feeling that whoops, the picts are "Logrians" and the Cornish are not...

While we are at it, how to make Wessex (and Cynric/Cerdic in particular) more into Logrians? :) Besides using lots of run-over knights.




Encounter Military "advisors" or Tax Collectors (or both together) from Logres ? Evangelical missions - historically there were abbeys at Glastonbury, Muchulney and Cleeve.

Chris

Thanks, I used and prepared some of these suggestions for Idres Jagent campaign. Although I made parts of the cornish army more "civilized" and knightly than recommended above. Also in the GPC, the gossip sections mention prince Mark's nice clothes and continental fashions.

However, the PK's ran into trouble on patrol, a troupe of war-hardened veteran knights from Clarence (always fighting with Gloucester) kicked their ass and they had to rely on one NPC and their squires to save them, so injured they were, they missed the whole Jagent campaign, but the cornish army just crushed them anyhow.

The year after, the PK's actually switched sides (well, one of the major PK's is from Dorset) and made some good political moves and managed to aid Dorset in stopping the cornish onslaught - all with the help from the Dorset PK who had been spying out the formations, number of guards for siege equipment and other tactics of Idres army. I don't know how they do it, but sometimes they really stick with the GPC plan :).

After this, things took quite a turn from GPC as the PK's maneuvered Salsibury and Wessex into a joint strike to plunder the Sussex city of Magouns, just as Port comes from the continent and takes Chichester right next door. Oops ;)
Of course, this fit well with the Sussex Saxons sending raiders into Salisbury to take Queen Igraine hostage, using other raiding bands burning and plundering some PK manors as a decoy.

I love this game

Of course, Jagent knights (including an abandoned PK) will most probably have something forever against Salisbury because they openly sent aid to Idres. However, the PK's will probably escape this wrath since they missed all the fighting.

Also, they discovered that the Sussex army contained a large contingent of traitor knights from Levcomagus. How interesting :)

That's a great set of developments.



Of course, Jagent knights (including an abandoned PK) will most probably have something forever against Salisbury because they openly sent aid to Idres. However, the PK's will probably escape this wrath since they missed all the fighting.


I imagine those Jagent knights with hates (or strong feelings that aren't strong enough to be passions) wouldn't be so discriminating. They might assume that because the players are salisbury knights, they are enemies.

Yes, of course. It will probably stay on that level. However, it won't be "personal".