How does one take an historical event and put it onto the tabletop?
If we are to call our games "historical" and present them as an even that happened, or may have happened, there are a number of factors to consider in the translation of history to the tabletop game. The game must:
- be based upon plausible history, best as we have it,
- work with our table, time and tiny tin limits,
- be a balanced game, with both sides able to achieve their victory conditions; that being said, the most likely outcome should be the historical one.
In this example, I'm working with the following Limits:
1. Table. I'm keeping it to my 3x4' office table which is just adequate and never needs to be cleaned off for others [as opposed to the dining table!].
2. Time. About two hours, start to finish, is doable.
3. Tiny Tin. My 25mm early medieval miniatures are more than enough. Based upon the Table and Time above, I can field 4-6 Units, around 50-60 figures a side.
For the plausible history source material, I turned to the excellent volume by Paul M. Remfry [hereafter "PR"] Medieval Battles Wales 1055-1216 v2p1
I have found it to consistently assert evidence-based likelihoods, which is usually the best we can get. There's lots of poorly informed opinions out there, but PR gives such evidence as is available and doesn't over state a case. I appreciate this restraint on his part, and hope it inspires young archaeologists and historians in the future to answer the many open questions that are lingering. My copy was not difficult to obtain from him:
The battle in question is Hereford in Wales, October 24 1055. PR presents no less than nine [!] versions of this battle from various chronicles, some very brief, some much longer, grouping them by date and likelihood. He gives us a chance to consider which account seems most likely to be true but also analyzes them himself. This is a good representation that I favored from p.13-14:
From these, I decided to work with the following "most likely" facts:
- Two leaders, Earl Aelfgar and King Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Wales
- A largely Welsh force of the King, a "well equipped army of all his kingdom" with the possibility of 18 shiploads of Irish with Aelfgar.
- Opposed by one leader Early Ralph "The Timid", nephew of King Edward "The Confessor" and a 'mighty host' including Normans and French.
- The Saxons "arrayed forces and prepared to fight" 2 miles from Hereford
- The Welsh "without delay attacked them with well-ordered forces"
- Ralph and his Normans and French fled as battle was joined, and/or there was a bitter fight after which the Saxon force fled, losing 400-500 men.
- The Saxon "fleeing" may have been precipitated by their Leader [!]
- The Welsh followed so closely the two miles to the fortress of Hereford, that they were able to enter and destroy it.
Thoughts:
- The Saxons arrayed their forces in open battle a few miles from their castle.
- - Ergo, they must have thought the Welsh force could be defeated in open battle.
- The Saxons fled, perhaps after a brief struggle, perhaps after a bitter one
- - The size of the Welsh force may have been much larger than they thought - after all, it was raised by the King of Wales from "all his kingdom".
- This may have caused their flight to Hereford in an effort to save the castle as the field battle appeared unwinnable.
- - This would explain why the leaders led the retreat - it is more important to save the strategic asset [the castle] than a tactical asset that can be replaced [a field force]. Let us not accuse them of cowardice when those who live on the borderlands are more likely to be veteran campaigners with "the long view"!
So the category of battle here is "a fighting retreat", requiring some forces to escape [to save the castle] while they delay an overwhelming force of Welshmen that has surprised them, original reports likely indicating a more modest raid.
Arriving at this decision joggled a memory in my "something wanted always buried" brain, and I turned to Neil Thomas' "One-Hour Wargames" for a scenario about a retreat that I couldn't quite remember. This book has not only been the most-used book I've owned, but it is also the best bargain at a measly $15 or so!
After a bit of page-turning, I found it: #9 "Double Delaying Action".
Red needs to exit three of six Units [50% of the force] off the table. Blue needs to exit two Units off the table. ALL must exit by the road, which is an interesting condition that suits the history perfectly - the Welsh need to harry the Saxons closely so that they can gain entryinto the castle.
My logic for picking this scenario is that:
- it is an equal force per side
- Earl Ralph initially planned to fight a battle...when he saw the immense size of the Welsh force [imagine it is several times larger, and off the south end of the table], he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and began evacuating his force.
So makes sense from the history, and will be an interesting challenge. In this case, it may be said to be a clash between the entire Saxon force and the Welsh vanguard.
Translated onto my 3x4' table [1' wider than the book], it looks like the below:
The River has a ford to left and the bridge to right, where the Roman Road is. Those fellows, always on a building project.... The two armies are just laying on the table, NOT set up, waiting for their Kodak moment.
Now, with a scenario, and 5-6 Units in mind, which fits the One-Hour Wargames size limit, what do the forces look like?
Earl Ralph "The Timid", aka Saxon / Norman / French. I imagine this as a levy force from the area and the castle itself. Therefore some professionals with some levy to prevent what appears to be a raid from Wales:
The Army of Ralph "The Timid" in terms of "Chainmail" rules, by Gygax / Perren
"Knights" [in quotes as it seems Ralph was working on developing this force]
1 Leader, Ralph "The Timid" [I love writing that...!]
10 Heavy Cavalry, Impetuous, [on the hill]
2 x 16 Levy Heavy Infantry "Select Fyrd"
12 Dismounted Knights, Armored Foot
16 Garrison Mercenary Archers, Heavy Infantry, Bow
4 Hunters, Light Infantry, Bow
TOTAL 336 points
The invading Welsh:
Two leaders, Earl Aelfgar and King Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Wales
10 Teulu, personal bodyguard, Heavy Cavalry
6 Servants, Light Cavalry, Javelins
2 x 10 Archers, Light Infantry, Bow
1 x 24 Heavy Infantry
TOTAL 318 points, + a second Leader
The force selection is based upon a variety of sources, from Ian Heath's "Armies of Feudal Europe" to this article by the redoubtable Daniel Mersey [CLICK].
On the table, this will look like...
Ralph "The Timid" and his "not so timid" dismounted knights, occupying camp.
Earl Aelfgar and a force of Welsh spearmen:
King Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Wales and his mounted Teulu, bodyguard.
OK, so the coat of arms is really William Marshal...sue me.
Now, we are ready to fight!
The question is, will the historical outcome be the "most likely" outcome?
Very interesting, thanks for all of the work that went into sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm! It is our pleasure here at "Spear to the Strife" to insure visitor satisfaction at every level - I hope you enjoyed your stay, and "Come again!"
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Very interesting 👍
ReplyDeleteThanks! At first I thought your ID was "Tales from the Shred HQ" and that it was an Army joke... haha!
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