The Great Summer Army

[FerdiadITA]

I was thinking about change the things a bit.To move the year as the 871A.D. to have the chance to include the scandinavians invaders(called as The Great Summer Army).
Summer army won't be a proper faction,will take position where actually is Zendar(East Anglia).
Actually I came up with three possible ways:

-Just make some raiding bandits called Summer Army Raiders or something similar.
-Giving to the Summer Army Zendar and make some huge parties of raiders going around like bandits.
-Giving them Zendar and a couple of villages and castles,and give them some lords parties(basically a faction with less power).

I'd like to know if you like the idea or not,if you have suggestions or which way you would see this implemented.

 

[pentagathus]

Erm I don't know anything about modding but im guessing it isn't possible to change a respawn time.  If it isnt then I would go for the small faction idea.

 

[Adorno]

... include the Scandinavian invaders.

I'm all for it 

Never heard of the Great Summer Army.
But having googled it, it seems that they met with another army
(Great Heathen Army) and then campaigned together.
Long story short - it seems most historically correct to 'just' make them a group of bandits
perhaps letting them own only Zendar. Nothing more.

Have you got any ideas as to how they should be equipped? Armour, weapons etc...

 

[FerdiadITA]

Basically they'll have their own troop tree.And will be equipped basically as the Danes,I think.But I haven't checked that well yet.

 

[Adorno]

Their own troop tree. That sounds good.

Having read a bit more, you might consider renaming it to 'The Great Heathen Army'.
Besides the fact that Heathen Army sounds really cool,
it seems The Summer Army was defeated in 871 and in:
"873 - The 'Great Heathen Army' of Vikings returns to York from where they attack Mercia.
They capture the Royal capital at Repton and spend the winter there."
http://britannia.com/history/saxontime3.html

You could consider giving them a single, strong castle with a village.
Making them a little, but strong faction - (following the tradition of strong
marauding parties like the Black Knights or Bear Clan from EGII).
Just a thought.

 

[FerdiadITA]

The Great Heathen Army was the first Dane army lead by Ivar The Boneless and the other Lothbrokson brothers.Which actually is represented by the Danes faction.
And The Great Summer Army landed in Britain in 871,not defeated.And was the final hit to the kingdom of Mercia,which felt in 874.

You could consider giving them a single, strong castle with a village.
Making them a little, but strong faction - (following the tradition of strong
marauding parties like the Black Knights or Bear Clan from EGII).
Just a thought.

Yes,more times I think about that and this seems the best way to implement them.

 

[Adorno]

The Great Heathen Army ... is represented by the Danes faction.

That sounds reasonable. Forgive me my ignorance.

You could consider giving them a single, strong castle with a village.
Making them a little, but strong faction - (following the tradition of strong
marauding parties like the Black Knights or Bear Clan from EGII).
Just a thought.

Yes,more times I think about that and this seems the best way to implement them.

That sounds great. It would give nice variation to the existing factions.
Did I mention it's a great mod? It is 

 

[HardCode]

You could always create a town or two, or a town and castle, for them. Just keep them hidden. After a certain point in the game, then make these towns/castle visible and start spawning their parties. The "certain point" can be checked something like once a game week in a trigger. But then you'd have to move the mod's starting date back to the beginning of 871 ... to give the player 6 game months before they appear.

 

[Adorno]

I saw that feature in the warhammer 4000 mod.
It would give meaning to the landing of 'The Great Summer Army' and
it would move the balance of power in the way it historically did.

 

[FerdiadITA]

Yes,that would be great,maybe something less than 6 months.I'll see what I'm able to do.

Edit: here's alittle quote from the wikipedia,just to let people know what we're talking about(first referred army is the Great Heathen Army):

Having gained experience across Europe, the army arrived in Britain in late 865, landing in East Anglia. Under the command of Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless, with the support of Ubbe Ragnarsson, it aimed to conquer and settle England. This may have been in response to the death of their father, Ragnar Lodbrok, at the hands of Aelle II of Northumbria in 865.

In late 866, it conquered the Kingdom of Northumbria, followed in 870 by the Kingdom of East Anglia. In 871, the Great Summer Army arrived from Scandinavia. This reinforced the Great Heathen Army, enabling it in 874 to conquer Mercia. The same year, a considerable section settled in the conquered territories, followed by a further section in 877. Halfdan moved north to attack the Picts, while Guthrum emerged as the war leader in the south, and in 876 they were joined by further forces and won the Battle of Wareham. However, Alfred the Great fought back and eventually won victory over the army at the Battle of Edington in 878, achieving the Treaty of Wedmore.

 

[Adorno]

Thanks I needed that 

You should consider - later on - to write down a concise background story for the mod,
so the player could read it when starting a new game.
The feeling of being a part of history is after all the best thing about historical games 

 

[FerdiadITA]

I'm already working on it,as on an additional storyline.

 

[Mr_Breeze]

Consider "…the Great Summer Army arrived from Scandinavia. This reinforced the Great Heathen Army… " and "The Great Heathen Army ... is represented by the Danes faction."

Is there really reason to make a new faction or sub faction or even mass bandits to add this bit of history to the game? I think it would better represent the situation to just spawn some reinforcements of sorts to the Danes/Great Heathen Army. Just do some sort of event to let the player know what’s going on.

If you wanted to add more depth and create another faction I would suggest using this.. “Halfdan moved north to attack the Picts, while Guthrum emerged as the war leader in the south,” as a setting and creating a northern and southern Danish Faction.

I’m just speaking for personal interest though. That’s just what I would rather see. It’s your mod and you get to set up your dream situation. I’m just swinging through checking it out.. Looking for a faction list and map that I haven’t seen yet.. that should be stickied.

 

[Adorno]

I think it would better represent the situation to just spawn some reinforcements of sorts to the Danes/Great Heathen Army. Just do some sort of event to let the player know what’s going on.

Isn't that similar to introducing the Great Summer Army (GSA)?
Besides, strategically GSA was very important and without that reinforcement the Great Heathen Army would propably have lost.
It's an interesting event and underlines the theme of the game 'Viking Raiders'...

... creating a northern and southern Danish Faction.

Historically interesting, but perhaps not as much fun with two (similar) Danish factions.

I guess its all a matter of history vs. gameplay 

 

[Mormegil]

If the Norwegians are to come in later, we'd end up with 3 very similar factions. That, plus the fact that currently Wessex and Mercia are, in fact, identical, would be a kick in the nuts to gameplay.

 

[FerdiadITA]

Summer Army won't be a faction,not really.At most it will have four lords and a city a castle and a couple of villages.Not exactly something powerful,but still something that could create troubles to the saxons.
Regarding the equipment,I looked some images of Scandinavian vikings,and they had more fur armor then the Danes.
When I'll add the Norwegians and the Irish,thanks to Ubberdorc there'll be new items that only Norwegians will use,to keep them as separate identities.
Btw,if someone has any pics of Scandinavian vikings,please post them here.

 

[Adorno]

Try looking through the images in this link:
http://www.ask-vikingekampgruppe.dk/uk0005.html
It's from the homepage of ASK the oldest Viking Fighting Group in Scandinavia.
It's very serious and the data should be very reliable.
It's in English.
Some pictures

 

[FerdiadITA]

Thanks a lot,those pictures(and the site)seems absolutely useful(hence this is Ubberdorc's territory).