BRAVEHEART The Campaign

Introduction

Edward I‘s tomb in Westminster Abbey is inscribed with the epitaph ‘Scottorurm Malleus’ – Hammer of the Scots.

The Scottish Wars of Independence were triggered in 1294, the Scottish nobles, resentful of the humiliating rule of Edward I via his puppet – King John Balliol of Scotland – eagerly agreed to make common cause with France and joined then in a war against England..

Edward I was initially caught off-guard by this alliance but he acted quickly and moved to settle the rebellion north of the Tweed. To the Scot’s nobles anger, King Philip of France failed to live up to his side of the agreement – which called for an invasion of England should Edward move against Scotland – and the struggle did not last long.

After a brutal siege and massacre of half the population of Berwick – Scotland’s largest town at the time – Edward moved north to Dunbar. An attempt to break the siege of Dunbar ended in disaster for the Scots when the smaller English force routed their stronger foe.

With the imprisonment of most of the Scottish nobility – including King John Balliol – and the complete annexation of Scotland by the English crown, Edward thought that the affair was over. He haughtily remarked upon leaving Scotland in 1296 that he was ‘good rid of shit’.

He would not be rid of the Scots for long …..

The Players

Each player is given control of a key campaign character. Some characters actually represent families and as such if a family member is killed in battle they will then represent another member of that same family from then onwards. Some characters represent individuals, if killed in battle they are out of the campaign!

Additionally players can take control a number of minor families in the campaign, as vassals, these may or may not be natural allies to your main character. All such families will swap sides a number of times during the campaign – as might the main characters – however, this additional complexity is designed to add to the mix.

The Characters

The Bruces		John Sears	The bitter struggle between the Bruce and the Comyn factions for control of Scotland defined the conflict. Robert the Bruce was determined to win the Scottish throne - that was in his mind – wrongly denied his family after King Alexander III’s death in 1286. Bruce’s changing allegiances during the early phase of the conflict (1297-1304) suggests that his main priority was possession of the crown, not national independence.
The Comyns		Phil Hardy	The Comyns were the most powerful members of the Scottish ‘War Party’ and strong supporters of the exiled King John Balliol. This made them not only natural enemies of the Bruce but also implacable enemies of the English. They led the rebellion against the English after Wallace’s defeat at Falkirk in 1298, and made reluctant peace with Edward in 1304 after the English king agreed they could keep their lands. The family had two septs, the Black Comyns and the Red Comyns, John ‘The Red’ Comyn was murdered by Robert the Bruce in a Dumfries church in 1306.
William Wallace		Mike Newman	William Wallace rose from relative obscurity and turned brigand in 1294, his murderous guerrilla war against the English culminated in the sack of Lanark in 1297. Suddenly the invincible English looked invincible no longer. Wallace joined forces with Andrew Moray and between them they fanned the already smoldering discontent and sporadic resistance . Wallace was knighted for his efforts, declared ‘Guardian of Scotland’ and carved a niche for himself in history. He was executed by Edward I in London after his capture in 1305.
Andrew Moray		Dave Vallance	Andrew de Moray was a young knight from one of Scotland’s leading land-owning families in the north. He joined forces with William Wallace to lead the rebellion in the early years of the war.
King John Balliol		Rupert Worrell	The once and future king of Scotland? As the campaign begins Balliol is in exile in France, he is supported by the Comyns and acknowledged by Wallace. The Bruces would serve under him for as long as they need to organize his overthrow in their aim to gain the thrown for themselves.
King Edward I		Steve Cast	Edward I was one of the leading monarchs of the Middle Ages, applauded for his work in the areas of justice, innovation and chivalry. However, his view of the Scottish War was that of a rebellion, not a war between nations, the rebels forfeited their right to mercy. A battle hardened veteran of the Montfortian rebellions of 1263-1267, Pope Urban IV’s crusade in 1270 and the Welsh wars of 1277, 1282-1283 and 1294-95, Edward was a capable military commander and a brilliant mobiliser of men, equipment and victuals. He died in 1306.
King Edward II		Graham Horwood	Edward II was the son of Edward I, he relied upon court favourites to run the war in Scotland and as a result the fortunes of the English suffered.

All Characters have a durability of 4 except Moray & Balliol who have durability of 3.

The Minor Nobles

Angus		Loyalty: Comyn	Durability 3	Lennox		Loyalty: Bruce	Durability 3
Argyll		Loyalty: Comyn	Durability 3	Mar		Loyalty: Bruce	Durability 3
Atholl		Loyalty: Bruce	Durability 3	Mentieth		Loyalty: Bruce	Durability 3
Buchan		Loyalty: Comyn	Durability 3	Ross		Loyalty: Comyn	Durability 3
Dunbar		Loyalty: Bruce	Durability 3	Steward		Loyalty: Bruce	Durability 3
Galloway		Loyalty: Comyn	Durability 3

The minor nobles provide the player characters with the resources to put their schemes into action. Noble families all owe allegiance to either the Bruce or Comyn factions when fighting for the Scots and they regularly changed sides, to win the campaign players need to ensure that these nobles are strong enough to help their cause but not a liability when they change loyalties!

Campaign Map

View campaign Map from <HERE>

Winning the Campaign

Success in the campaign is simple, the players need to achieve the following victory conditions.

English Victory:

English Decisive Victory – This is achieved if there is no Scottish King in Scotland at the end of the campaign. This can be achieved by killing any Scottish King in battle, note if King John Balliol does not return from France then he does not count as being as Scottish King!

English Marginal Victory – If the English faction controls the majority of the nobles at the end of 1314, then they have a marginal win.

Scottish Victory:

Scottish Decisive Victory – If Edward II is killed in Battle the Scots win. To loose one king (Edward I) in battle would be regrettable, to loose two kings in this manner would be a national disgrace! Oh yes, you also need to have a Scottish King in Scotland.

Scottish Marginal Victory – If the Scottish faction controls the majority of the nobles at the end of 1314, then they have a marginal win, else it is a loss.

All players that are part of the Scottish faction at the end of the campaign are awarded victory points for the factions success or failure.

Character Victory

Wallace Victory – If Wallace is alive and the Scottish faction gains any type of victory and a Scottish King (Bruce, Comyn or Balliol) then it is a decisive victory for Wallace. If there is no Scottish King then it is a Minor victory for Wallace.

If Wallace is dead, then he may still claim victory if the Scots claim a victory.

Moray Victory – If Moray is alive and the Scottish faction gains any type of victory and John Balliol or Comyn is King, Moray has a decisive victory, if Bruce is King then it will only be a Minor Victory.

If Moray is dead, then any result is a loss.

Balliol Victory – If the Scottish faction gains any type of victory and John Balliol is King, Balliol can claim a decisive victory. Balliol alive and well and living in exile is a Minor Victory. Any other result is a Loss.

Troop Pool

Unit	Troop Type	Durability	Unit	Troop Type	Durability
Douglas	Infantry	4	Lancaster	Infantry	4
Campbell	Infantry	4	York	Infantry	4
Graham	Infantry	4	Northumberland	Infantry	4
Barclay	Infantry	4	Durham	Infantry	3
MacDonald	Infantry	3	Westmoorland	Infantry	3
Lindsay	Infantry	3	Cumbria	Infantry	3
Fraser	Infantry	3	Wales	Infantry	3
Grant	Infantry	3	Irish	Infantry	4
Keith	Cavalry	3	Lancaster	Knights	4
Etterick	Archers	2	York	Knights	4
Norse	Infantry	3	Durham	Knights	4
French	Knights	4	Hoblars	Cavalry	4
			Lancaster	Archers	3
			Wales	Archers	3

Initial Deployment

The Scots

Bruce is deployed at Annan

Galloway is deployed at Galloway

Wallace plus the Douglas & Barclay Infantry are deployed at Fife.

Moray plus the Fraser Infantry are deployed at Moray

The Grant Infantry are deployed at Strathspey.

There is no Scots King, Balliol distributes Action points

The English

All Nobles not in the Scots Faction are deployed in their home areas.

Cumbrian Infantry are deployed in Lothian

Nothumberland Infantry are deployed in Mentieth.

Four Feudal Levy Units are deployed in England.

Edward I is in London, Edward controls all Action points