King Harold Godwinson, crowned less than a year before had just completed one of the most remarkable military marches in history.. Not only had he and his army of Saxon household mercenaries (Huscarles) and thegns (select fyrdmen) marched north from London, his capital, to York, seat of power in Northumbria, a distance of 190 miles in four days, they had also totally destroyed the invading Viking army of the legendary Harald Hardrada and the rebel brother of the king, Tostig Godwinson. That battle (Stamford Bridge) virtually ended any threats to his kingdom in the north. The south was a different matter.

After celebrating in the Saxon manner (drinking, carousing, etc.), word had suddenly come north that William of Normandy with an army of thousands had made landfall in the south of England. Harold forcemarched again, back to London in four days and less than a week later stood facing the second invading army in less than a month. The Battle of Hastings was about to decide the fate of England.

The armies that faced each other that October morning were vastly different, yet they looked much the same.

Saxons

The Saxons were an infantry army by and large (though they travelled by horse, they very rarely, except in pursuit of a routing enemy, fought on horseback), depending on their solid ranks of close-packed Huscarles wielding deadly two-handed axes. These men were of exceptional morale, hardened to combat and, like their Viking descendants, fought to the death rather than surrender.

Harold had marched north with probably close to 4,000 of these troops, but the costly battle with the Vikings had cost him at least a third and more likely closer to one-half. So the forces he had available at Hastings were not only greatly depleted from battle, but tired from the long marches.

The select fyrd were present in much larger numbers. These were land-holders, thegns and freemen who were trained to fight, armored in chain-mail, like the Huscarles, or leather, some of them, also had just participated in the victory at Stamford Bridge. Most, however, had not marched north and were quickly called to join their king at Hastings. They fought with spear, sword and javelin yet stood, like the Huscarles, shield to shield in the age old shield wall defense.

Finally, there was the great fyrd, a motley collection of peasants, farmers and tenants, less trained and ill-armed who were called to each local battle to defend their district, shire or earldom. They could not be relied on to any extent, yet provided what missile fire the Saxons possessed and added bulk to the front ranks of the better armed fighters. At Hastings, many had already gone home before the battle, figuring the king already had enough men!

Normans

The Normans were, on the other hand, a cavalry army, made up of knights, retainers, close-order foot and archers. The knights wore chainmail, just like the Saxon heavy infantry and carried the same style kite-shaped shield, The Norman knights and many of their mercenary allies fought with couched lance., Others of their allies, notably the Bretons still clung to the javelin as their primary cavalry weapon. These heavy cavalry depended on their shock effect to batter through an enemy and put him to flight. Failing this,, they were known to have simulated a panicked rout, causing their enemies to break ranks and pursue them, only to have their much faster mobile troops wheel around on signal and devastate their disorganized victims, If this still didn't work, they would use a combined arms attack (as at Hastings) with archer fire to disorder their target, infantry to soften it up and cavalry to push through.

The knight was a formidable opponent, indeed. The major shortcoming was that they had a bad tendency to disobey orders and charge the nearest thing in sight and the feigned withdrawal, if not planned out correctly could easily lead to disaster. The foot were used mainly as cannon fodder, and if caught unsupported, were often butchered. The archers, some say, are what turned a defeat into a victory at Hastings. As long, as they directed their fire on a flat trajectory, they did little damage to the closely packed English ranks. Once the angle of fire was directed to fall onto the heads of the Saxons, though, it was a different story.

The Normans were not used to defeat, although they did lose, at times. They were descendants of the Vikings as well and as such were reckless and dangerous to the extreme. William felt that he had been promised the crown of England, and as such, he preached a holy crusade against Harold and had the Pope's blessing and banner, no small thing ,in those days. His men were motivated, though, not so much by religious fervor, but by promises of land and wealth ... and also by the knowledge that to be defeated was to die.

Long Struggle

The Normans historically formed into three battle groups, with cavalry, infantry and archers assigned to all three. These groups attacked the Saxons frontally, but in piecemeal fashion, which is one reason why the victory was in doubt until nightfall and Harold's death. The Saxon Huscarles are extremely hard to crack and being uphill of their opponents doesn't hurt, only judicious use of archer fire and infantry assault combined with the Norman knights in a tight wedge formation will really do the damage against them. The Saxons have an open hand in this game. Historically they sat and took it all day, except for the ill-fated pursuits against the faster cavalry. Perhaps a timely assault off the hill into the Norman foot could have told a different tale?

This, then is the scenario. Try it and see if history could be changed, or if it had to be as it was. This particular game should have at least two generals per side and preferably three, (at least for the Normans). The Saxon sub-generals could be given personal standards, but since they simply didn't move far or initiate any large scale independent actions, they should instead be joined with a larger unit for a "follow me ..." type of situation.

More Hastings

Introduction
Historical Battle of Hastings
Wargaming the Battle of Hastings