Holy dust. Hey to get like , men, press randomize. Welcome to ArcadePreHacks. Our objective is to create a different gaming experience for our users using pre-hacks. Game players who find it hard to play some games can come to arcadeprehacks. Username: Password: Lost your password? Register here. Sep 26, Plays Strategy Rating: Currently 4. We developed a distinctly unique online strategy game, enabling the target audience to play an educational re-enactment of the English battles and the Norman conquest.
Offering a multiplayer option on top of this was key, giving players the chance to test their mettle against friends or other players. The game puts you in the thick of the action with direct control over every arrow barrage, cavalry charge and defensive stand taken by your armies. Mini-games add to the tension of resolving issued commands, and a striking visual style using dramatic animation delivers a distinctive portrayal of Medieval warfare.
The game depicts a factual representation of units, troops, numbers and formations, all accurately depicted as they would have been in real battle. Rather than just relying on factual statistics, victory also depends on the morale of your troops, which played a crucial role on the 11th century battlefields.
The following calculations illustrate on how I arrived at a scaled view of the Saxon frontline. Calculation: 80 metres divided by 1. Such a table is too narrow for our game but clearly illustrates how tight this battlefield really was.
More calculations needed…. On the basis that each Saxon warrior is standing shoulder to shoulder with his neighbour in the shield wall the total number of actual troops in the front rank would have been about men I have worked on the assumption that each man needs 60cm of space — around 2ft. The historical records talk of the ranks as being so tightly packed the dead remained standing up!
Such a frontage of troops means that there would have been at least 6 ranks of Saxons facing the Normans. So on our scaled map I need men facing the Normans in the first rank.
However, my figures are not based in tight formation. Each of my figures is based with three of his mates on a 5cm x 5cm base so each man occupies 2. By multiplying the figures by 2. As far as the depth of the battlefield is concerned we will need to illustrate the top of the hill, the hill itself and the valley where the Normans mustered.
The Hail Caesar rules give bows of this period a range of 18 inches 45 cm — using our ground scale this means these bows can shoot 45cm x 2.
Given the real battle started with the Norman Archers shooting at the shieldwall we should keep the forces a minimum of 60cm apart. This way the archers will have to advance into range when they want to shoot.
As far as the Saxon Line is concerned I reckon 60cm of depth from table edge to front rank would be sufficient to denote the ridge at the top of the hill. The base edge of the Saxon line will be the point where the hill falls away. Further reading on the battle suggests that the hill in front of the Norman varied in gradient from 1 in 8 to around 1 in We can use an average of a 1 in 10 slope. The flanks and reverse were much steeper By making the slope 60cm in depth I can create an elevation of 6cm — enough to suggest a gentle slope and prevent the figures sliding down.
A further 80cm on the valley floor provides a table depth of 2 metres. The battlefield needs to feature the slope — a small rise in the slope part way down the Saxon right flank the hillock , the London road more likely a track running across the battlefield, and the marshy ground in the valley.
Using the kitchen table as the main support I constructed a sturdy 3. Sitting astride the boards was a hill slope constructed from timber earlier in the week. Once my teddybear throw 2 stitched together was thrown over and a few trees added the table was good to go. All of the troops on both sides bar any Saxon reinforcements will start on the table in their deployed positions. Then came the very pleasant job of putting out all the figures. Standing back and looking at the finished article was a very proud moment.
Indeed when my gamer's arrived they were pretty impressed and very keen to get things underway. We agreed in advance that play would take place between 10am and 4pm — with food and drink being available as and when folks wanted. In the period of a couple of months England witnessed three of the most bloody battles of the Dark Ages and English society was changed forever. The throne was seized by his son in law, the most powerful Earl in the kingdom, Harold Godwinson.
His conation sparked two others to react. Similar preparations were made by William, Duke of Normandy. His claim, also tenuous was based on the promise that Edward had bequeathed him the throne and was supported by oath from Godwinson.
Whilst the Saxon king was fighting in the North William the Bastard invaded the southern coast of England near Pevensey. With victory still ringing in his ears, Harold marched his forces south to meet this new threat. A couple of weeks later the forces were to meet on the road leading out of Pevensey marshes on what was known as Senlac Hill. The focus of our game will be to re-enact this engagement as best we can in both a methodical and fun way.
One of my concerns when putting together this project was that the battle might just end up as an attritional maul with little tactical and strategic planning so with a bit of artistic license I have endeavored to create a scenario where both sides can fully participate and have a chance of winning. Designed very much as a team game — ideally with three players a side.
Two players will play the lead protagonists, William and Harold, and these will control and command the central divisions of each of their armies. The remaining players will play the divisional commanders on the left and right flanks of their respective armies. The Saxons await on the hill. The Rules. For this refight of the battle we used the Hail Caser rules produced by Warlord Games. Inevitably I tweaked the rules to fit with the scenario.
The stats for each unit will be lifted directly from the Army lists provided by Warlord Games for this period. Player sheets appear at the end of this guide. The Objectives.
Were Harold to escape he could raise his dragon banner elsewhere in the country and prolong the resistance. Ultimately William does not have the sufficient man power to engage in a prolonged campaign. This is a fight to the death. Unless Harold is killed the Normans cannot win the game.
As soon as Harold is killed the entirety of the Saxon army will rout and it is game over. Harold just needs to break the Norman Army on his shield wall. Harold wins a major victory if the Norman Army is broken.
Should William die his half-brother, Bishop Odo, will assume command but all units will suffer -1 to their morale for the remainder of the battle. If Odo and William die the Saxons may also claim victory.
The Armies. Both armies were said to be of comparable size with estimated numbers ranging from to Using the excellent Osprey series book on the battle of Hastings I have decided to use their listed order of battle for the two sides, for the purposes of this game we will assume that each army consists of around troops.
This count works well with the forces I have available for the game with some x 28mm figures painted per side and gives a ratio of approximately 1 to The Saxon Army was comprised entirely of foot and the historical records report that these were all infantry.
It is unlikely that Harold had any formed archer units and certainly no cavalry. We also know that Harold had a unit of his personal bodyguard Huscarls with him. These were most likely to be found in the centre protecting the king and the standards.
His infantry would have been drawn from two sources, the Thegns landowning Saxons with quite possibly good military equipment and training and the Ceorls local farmers and peasants with little or no equipment and training. These two types of troops would have been mustered by the King at the time of war in what was known as the Fyrd. From an organizational perspective the Saxon forces were organized into bands of approx. To keep things manageable in the game the Saxon Army will consist of only three types of Warriors.
S Sling armed Skirmishers. All units will be two ranks deep with a frontage of 25cm. We have more information pertaining to the Norman Army with many records stating that it was a combined force of Archers, Infantry and Cavalry.
These will be split into three divisions — Bretons on the Left, Normans in the centre and French on the right. The Norman Army. Unlike the Saxons the Norman forces will consist of a few more different troops types, again all will be standard sized with a facing of 25cm note that each cavalry unit will consist of 10 horsemen. Birds Eye View - just before kick off. Lets Fight the Game!! A short write up followed by pictures Having outlined the objectives and house rules of the day I announced who would be playing on which side.
As the host I decided that I wanted to play the role of Harold and I knew Mark also wanted to stand behind the shieldwall. This left Alastair, Glenn and a newcomer to our games Steven to take the role of the invaders. Both sides then broke to discuss their strategies. Our game at Fulford demonstrated very clearly that a bad order can have devastating effects on defending troops. Only if the opportunity presented itself would we come off the hill.
Ours was to be a very static defence. The Normans kicked off proceedings and made a general advance up this slope. It soon became evident that the Normans were going to try and pin down our right flank and throw their centre and rightflank against the Saxon line — it looked like I was going to be the target.
Early on in the game the Norman archers came up against the limited number of Saxon skirmishers. Some rather fortuitous dice rolling by yours truly routed a lead archer unit.
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