The Dark Ages campaign - some musings

 The original campaign rules included some detail that I can't use in a solo game.  The main one was a system to provide some ability to create alliances and exert influence over other players.  Each ruler would have had points of influence allocated based upon the battles won or lost, and their personal ability to rule.  These were to have been used to maintain loyalty in their populations and sub commanders, or to create unrest in other player's home provinces and to influence other players policies through agreements.  

The idea was that a strong successful leader would be able to 'lean' on neighbouring players and if he managed to 'outbid' them with influence points to force through treaties and agreements.  The effect would be cumulative so a long reigning king with a high influence rating should leave a relatively stable country to his successor.  I say 'should' as a proportion of spent influence points would be lost on the death of a leader to represent the personal nature of kingship.  This would have been useful in the current situation in south west Wales as the attack on Devet would probably been replaced or offset by player negotiations and agreements.  In the original campaign the Welsh Princedoms were threatened by Mercian aggression and would have had an option to set up non aggression and support agreements which would have possibly left a small princedom like Devet less exposed.

Historically Devet (or Dyfed or Ceridigan depending on the source) had a tough time of it, Formed in the mid to late 8th century it was ultimately swallowed up by Seisslywch in the 840's to form a larger political entity under Hywel Dda.  Before that it may have been a client state of Seisslywch as there is an interregnum possibly due to Viking or Mercian attacks after which a new royal line appears which may have had links to their northern neighbour through marriage.  it seems to have been a thing with the Celtic kingdoms as the Scots and the Picts eventually merged through intermarriages rather than military conquest.  

In my mind, in this solo variant the conquest of a province doesn't automatically mean occupation and boots on the ground.  Instead it represents an extension of influence as much as conquest, although I haven't really thought it through in any great detail.  This gives me an option for these one sided battles. The threat of unresistable force exerts a lot of influence (well war is the extension of politics by other means as Clauswitz told us) so I could simply surrender control to Seisslywch.

In the far North I realised that I have missed an option and a playing faction.  So lets all say hello to the Norse the Norwegian Viking faction.  They have a toe hold off map in the Shetlands and historically raided and settled the North and Western Isles, Parts of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the North west of England.  At the start of the campaign, some areas are not under any player control which was originally intended to provide the Norse with options beyond ripping straight into Pictia.  Their first game action will be to attempt to occupy and settle the Orkney's.