Before I start, I apologise to all those experienced DBM players
who are about to pick great big holes in this article and the
attached DBM scenario. This is my first attempt at a DBM
scenario so please be gentle on me. Like many I got into DBM
after starting with DBA. DBA is a nice easy set of rules, even
my 6 year old son has started to play and won more games
against his dad than I am prepared to admit - to be fair though
- he does get coaching! There was however the desire to
'graduate' to something a little bigger and even though there
are various 'big battle' variants of DBA on the 'net', DBM
seemed to be the natural path to take. The choice on which
army to expand on, Norman or Saxon, was easy as I do not
like painting horses - a Saxon army appeared to be the way to
go. But things don't always go the way they are planned and my
Norman army is as complete as it's ever going to be.
As with most gamers, there is the tendency to research our chosen army and the period in which they fought. However, no matter what period or rule set we play, nearly all of us recall the invasion by William the Bastard in 1066 and the unsavoury end of Harold at Hastings.
The glory of 1066 is nearly always given to William and his invasion in the South. Although William's invasion certainly led to the eventual conquest of England, the campaign that is often forgotten is the invasion by Harold Hardrada, King if Norway, in the North. Even though he didn't know it at the time, Hardrada's attacks in the North effectively laid the foundation for William's victory in the South.
Following, raids against the regions of
Scarborough and Holderness, Hardrada turned his sights on
York, the capital of Northumberland. Landing approximately
10,000 men at Riccall, on the River Wharfe, Hardrada
marched towards York. At the village of Gate Fulford, he was
met by the combined forces of Earl Morkere and his brother
Eadwine. Although both armies were of a similar size the
experience of Hardrada's army was the telling factor in the
battle. After suffering great slaughter, the remnants of
Morkere and Eadwine's army retreated to York where they
were to surrender themselves.
Leaving York, Hardrada encamped near the Derwent River at a place called Stamford Bridge. Here, in a relaxed atmosphere Hardrada's army waited for hostages to come from York. The casual state of the army suggests that the last thing any of them expected was the sudden appearance of the army of Harold Godwinson, King of England. This is one of those moments in history where the opponents both have the same first name, so to avoid confusion the Norwegian Harold will be referred to by his last name, Hardrada.
The sizes of both armies is in doubt, but it may be assumed that Hardrada's force would have been of a similar size to the force used at Gate Fulford, about 10,000. Determining the size of feudal armies has never been an easy task and Harold's army is no exception to this r ule. Historians and contemporary writers have put forward figures ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 men.
Whatever the size of his army, Stamford Bridge was Harold's finest moment as a commander, it was a victory that secured the North of England from future invasion. For Hardrada, it was an unparalleled catastrophe. Stamford Bridge is considered to be the heaviest defeat suffered by any army of the Viking era. All that was left of his army was sufficient to fill only 20 of the 300 or more ships that originally landed at Riccall.
As I said in the introduction, this is my first attempt at presenting a DBM scenario and many experienced players will possibly pick great holes in it. However, as a battle for DBM, Stamford Bridge presents an interesting set of problems for both commanders.
Terrain
The battlefield is bisected by the Derwent River, which can only be crossed at the bridge. The river itself is sluggish and reedy with the immediate banks being formed by sandy flats. Open plains gently slope down to the sand flats. On the western side the plains rise to form a low ridge about a mile from the river. Surmounting the ridge is the small village of Gate Helmsley. The road passes through this village, crosses the river at Stamford Bridge and exits on the eastern side of the battlefield. The only other feature is a small ploughed field 600 metres east of the river and to the south of the road.
Deployment
Hardrada's army is split in 2 parts, a small contingent being camped on the western side of the river while the main force is camped about 1 kilometre from the bridge, on the eastern side. The main problem for Hardrada is that he is caught unprepared by the appearance of the English. Hardrada's camp should be placed 'off table' with the first command placed in column on the table edge at the beginning of the second turn to reflect this problem.
The English advance is in column along the road from York to Gate Helmsley, the ridge concealing its movement.
Objectives
Hardrada will need to hold the bridge and reinforce the outpost on the other side. His main objective will be to push the English army away from the Gate Helmsley and capture the high ground.
As a first objective Harold must defeat the small force on his side of the river as quickly as possible and then get elements across the river to attack Hardrada's main force.
Armies
Using a DBM scale of 256 men being represented by 1 element and adopting the figure of 8,000 men for the size of Harold's army, then it would be represented by 32 elements, not including command elements and baggage.
The bulk of Harold's army is going to be Huscarles and Fyrd. Florence of Worchester refers to many thousands of heavily armed and well trained troops, possibly Harold's Huscarles.
However, Norwegian chroniclers have mentioned the existence of mounted javelinmen and West Saxon cavalry as well. These units were mainly used in the pursuit after the main battle and the small number of stands reflects their minor role.
| Unit | DBM Type | No. of Elements |
|---|---|---|
| Huscarles | Irr. Bd(O) | 12 |
| Select Fyrd | Irr. Sp(O) | 16 |
| West Saxon Cav. | Irr Cav(I) | 2 |
| Mounted Javelinmen | Irr LH(I) | 2 |
In addition to these basic elements there are also three command elements which will be required along with their baggage. Little is known about the command structure of Harold's army. Most of the men would probably have fought under their local Lord but the question of whether Harold's brothers Gyrth and Leofwine had sub commands under him has not been determined. Here I have listed them separately from the army list, with players splitting the commands as they wish.
| General | Harold | Irr Bd(S) | 1 |
| Sub General | Gyrth | Irr Bd(S) | 1 |
| Sub General | Leofwine | Irr Bd(S) | 1 |
Hardrada's army is certainly a mixed bag. It could hardly have been called Norwegian as the army contained Flemings, English, Irishmen, Orkney Islanders, Scots and Hardrada's own Northmen. An army of 10,000 men would be represented by 43 elements, including command. Baggage elements are not required as the main camp is 'off table'.
| Unit | DBM Type | No. of Elements |
|---|---|---|
| Hardrada | General Irr Bd(S) | 1 |
| Huscarles | Irr Bd(O) | 8 |
| Hird | Irr Bd(O) | 13 |
| Tostig | Sub General Irr Bd(S) | 1 |
| English Rebels | Irr Bd(O) | 3 |
| Flemings | Irr Sp(O) | 5 |
| Malcolm | Sub General Irr Wb(S) | 1 |
| Scots Cavalry | Irr LH(O) | 2 |
| Thegns | Irr Wb(S) | 2 |
| Archers | Irr Ps(O) | 2 |
| Scots Spearmen | Irr Aux.(X) | 5 |
Once again the vagueness of the Feudal period comes to the rescue of a scenario writer. Contemporary writers fail to mention a specific size for the small command on the other side of the river. For this scenario the command consists of 2 elements of Huscarles with 6 elements of Hird, all taken from Hardrada's command. The above list does not include the relief force sent from Riccall late in the day. This force would consist of 5 elements of Irr Bd(I). They are only regarded as inferior to reflect that they had left their armour on the ships and were exhausted when they arrived on the field. Neither does the list include a separate Irish command, instead they have been incorporated into Hardrada's command as either Huscarles or Hird.
Conclusion
The actual battle at Stamford Bridge demonstrated not only his abilities as a battlefield commander but also his grasp of strategy and his capability for fast action. When playing this as a game the English commander will, no doubt, need many of these skills. However, unlike Harold, you will also need good dice rolls.
There are a number of issues relating to the Battle of Hastings that have been argued by historians for centuries and I hope to look at those issues next time. One issue that is often raised is Harold's ability as a commander and when we return, next issue - God or Editor permitting [same diff really - oh all right, part two will be in issue #9! - Ed.] - we will see that the talents listed above had not deserted him by the time he fights William at Hastings.
Sources
Barker P, & Bodley Scott R, DBM, Army Lists; Book 3, Wargames Research Group, Devizes, 1994.
Freeman E A, The History of the Norman Conquest of England, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1875.
Lemmon C, The Campaign of 1066 in the Norman Conquest, Eyre & Spottswoode, London, 1966
Logan H R, The Norman Conquest, Hutchison University Library, Oxford,1965.
Wood M, In Search of the Dark Ages, BBC, London, 1981.
Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #8
To Kriegspieler List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1999 by Kriegspieler Publications.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com