Opposing Sides: King Harald Sigurdsson, Viking King King Harold Godwinsson, English King The Situation The Battle of Stamford Bridge was the last Viking battle on English soil. It marked the end of the Viking era in English History. This battle was overshadowed by The Battle of Hastings just three weeks later. In September of 1066 King Harald Hardrada, King of Norway and the Earl Tostig, the renegade brother of the English King Harold Landed their Norse army and sacked the coast of England near York. After securing the Viking base at Ricall, Harald marched two-thirds of his force, about 5,000 men) to Stamford Bridge for a council with local leaders. It was a hot day and the force shed their armor and weapons and relaxed along the slow moving, shallow River Derwent. Discipline was lax and no scouts were posted. Unknown to the Viking force King Harold of England was force marching an army of 4,000 men towards an encounter with the Viking army. The English arrived without warning and the Vikings were taken completely by surprise. Part of the Viking force was relaxing on the west side and the bulk of the force was on the east side of the river. While it is true that part of the English force arrived on horseback, fighting from horseback was not the current mode of warfare and so it is very probable that the English all foot on foot. It should be noted that accounts tell of one lone Viking holding the bridge single handedly killing as many as 40 men before a spear thrust from below the bridge pierced him. Objectives Vikings - hold the bridge and the ground around it until reinforcements can arrive to help. English - Crush the Viking force and drive them from the table. Orders of Battle Viking King Harald Hardradi, C in C (rate above average) Earl Tostig, sub-commander (rate average) 2 units Huscarls/Berserkers 5 units Huscarls w/axes 4 units Huscarls w/ spears 3 units Bondi w/hand weapons 2 units Bondi w/spear Rate 5 of the Huscarls as elites, all other as regulars  English King Harold Godwinsson, C in C (rate above average) 6 Housecarls w/hand weapons 3 Thegn w/hand weapons 3 Fyrd w/ spear 2 Fyrd Archers Rate 4 of the Housecarls as elite and 2 Fyrd as militia, all other as regular Special rules The Vikings, because of their relaxed state, start as all disordered. The river is class II and is fordable everywhere, all other terrain is class I Reinforcements for the Vikings consisting of Eystein Orri, Commander 2 Huscarls w/axes 2 bondi w/ hand weapons All rated as battle weary from the forced march to get there. Huscarls are rated Elites. The reinforcements will arrive upon the appearance of the Stratagem card in the fourth turn or later. Insert the Stratagem card at the start of the shuffle for the fourth turn. Upon its appearance the troops enter at the south edge of the table. Editors Note: This was one of the most fun and interesting battles that I played in a long time. Our game group was thoroughly entertained!! Rob C. Back to Piquet Dispatch Vol. 1 Issue 4 Table of Contents Back to Piquet Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Piquet, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com