Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tom Rus
sel
l’
s
SWORDS
St
amford
Br
idge Endoft
Vi
ki
he
ngAge
AHi
Be
gi
ll
nni
N e
ngoft
a r
heNor
Ha
ma
s ti
nConque
s
n
ts
gs
5.3 Map Edge The Primary Unit's base Combat Class is decreased (A
Units may not leave the map for any reason during any phase. becomes B) according to the following:
If a Unit is required to retreat off the map as a result of Combat, • -1 if target is in Shield Wall
they suffer a Step-Loss instead. • -1 if Attacking Wing is in Shield Wall
12.2 Rivers
Rivers are impassable, except at a bridge or ford. Units do not
project an EZOC across the impassable hexsides and therefore
cannot attack. tinybattlepublishing.com
12.3 Trenches
Trenches are a hexside feature. Units attacking across a trench
hexside do so at -2CC.
Background
Though the Conqueror would not land on English shores for
three more days, he was both a catalyst for, and primary
The Battle of Stamford Bridge, fought on 25 September 1066, is beneficiary of, what transpired at Stamford Bridge.
in some ways typical of battles from its period, in that two
armies stood in a line and bashed the hell out of each other. The English Succession
Warfare of the period was a bloody affair, and this battle was no Before the Conquest, rule of England was-- at least in theory if
different; there were heavy casualties on both sides. The story not always in practice-- not a hereditary right passed down from
goes that of the 300 ships the Vikings brought to Britain, only father to son. Rather, upon the death of a King, the witena
twenty-seven were needed to carry the battle's survivors back gemot ("meeting of wise men") would elect a successor. This
home. The losses sustained by the English were no less was markedly different from the way things were done across
catastrophic, and I would argue that this would be a decisive the sea in France and the "confusion" that arose between
factor in the Battle of Hastings, fought less than three weeks Harold and William of Normandy-- either real or feigned for
later. political reasons-- may have been a major factor in the events
of 1066.
That being said, we don't know quite how catastrophic the
losses were; we're not even sure how many men each side Further clouding the issue, much like the Holy Roman Empire,
fielded. We don't know much about the battle at all. We know the English Throne did tend to be a family affair. Edgar the
that two armies met at the River Derwent, one headed by Peaceful (r. 959-975) was succeeded by his sons Edward the
Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, and the other Martyr (r. 975-978), then Edward's brother, AEthelred, who was
by Harald III of Norway (with some "help" from Harold's brother between ten and thirteen at the time of his "election". (Clearly,
Tostig). We know that Harold won, and that both Harald and the witena gemot picked the right man for the job.) History gives
Tostig died. And really, that's about it. The historical record is AEthelred the unfortunate cognomen "the Unready", and sure,
dubious at best. Our three main contemporary sources are the I'm pretty sure anyone who is asked to rule a kingdom before
Icelandic historian-poet Snorri Sturluson, born thirteen years and/or while he's going through puberty would not be quite up
after the battle, the anonymous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the for the task. But that's actually a later mistranslation of his Old
Bayeux Tapestry. All of these are heavily biased and come from English cognomen, unraed, or "badly counseled", which is itself
a period in which history was largely indistinguishable from, and a pun on the name AEthelred, which means "noble counsel".
as mutable as, mythology and propaganda.
Ready or not, AEthelred ruled until 1013, when he fled the
What we do know quite a bit about are the reasons why the Danes led by Sweyn Forkbeard. Sweyn ruled as King of both
battle was fought, and it doesn't take much guesswork to suss England and Denmark for seven months, dying in February
out the motivations of the four men who made the battle 1014, at which point AEthelred retook his throne, holding it until
Tostig's Rebellion
As with the previous exile of the entire Godwin family, Tostig did
not go gracefully but immediately began plotting to reclaim his
position through force. While his brother Harold was being
elected as Edward's successor, Tostig had fled to his cousin
Baldwin V of Flanders, who gave the rebellious Godwinson a
fleet of ships. Lacking the manpower to pose a credible threat,
Tostig contented himself with harassing the coast until Harold
mobilized men and ships to bring him to heel.
But then there's the story, for example, that the Vikings had He gave battle to William on 14 October 1066 at Senlac Hill,
been so relaxed that they had left their heavy armor back on seven miles from Hastings. Defending from the higher ground
their ships, as it was unsuitable for the noonday heat. Did this and deploying his men in a shield wall formation was a sound
really happen? I don't know; I have a hard time believing a tactic. Had his men been disciplined enough to hold their
bunch of Viking warriors would be lounging around in enemy positions, instead of breaking formation to give chase, Harold
territory without any armor. At the same time, wars are fought may have won that battle. If not for the nearly forgotten Battle of
by humans, and humans are capable of some incredibly stupid Stamford Bridge, the outcome of its more famous cousin might
things. have been quite different.
Sol
o
f
rie
ndl
y
60
mi
nut
es
i
ntr
o
l
eve
l
In1066, Ha roldGodwinsonwa st
hel a
stAnglo-Saxont obecrownedKi ngofEng-
land,andpr ettymuchnoonee ls
ewa shappya boutit.Whil
ehewa spre pari
ngf or
theinevitableNorma ninvasi
on,hegotwor dthathisno-goodlit
tl
ebrot herTos t
ig
hadpe rsuade dNorway’
sKi ngHa ra
ldHa rdr
adat oinvade.Harol
d-wit
h-a n-
or ushed
Nor t
ha nds urpri
sedtheVikingsatStamfordBr i
dge,winningabloodyba t
tlethat
costhims omeofhi sbe s
tme n.Heha dtoma keduewi t
hwha thehadl eftwhe nhe
me tWi l
lia
m ofNor ma ndyne arHasti
ngs.Andwea llknowhowt hatturne dout..
.
Thisspec i
alfol
ioeditionofSt amf ordBridgea ndAHi llNe
a rHa st
ingsrepublis
hes
theoriginalYaah!game sthatintroducedt heShi e
lds&Swor dsseries
.The sehave
beenupda tedtobec ompa t
iblewit hthecur r
entve rsi
onofthes eri
esrul
es, pr
ovid-
ingamor erefi
nedpl aye xperi
e ncewi t
hmor eoptionsforeachside.Als
oi ncl
ude d
istheessaythatoriginallyaccompa ni
edt hega me sinthef
irstis
sueofYa ah!,“
A
TaleofTwoHa rr
ys”,providingf a
s ci
nati
ngba ckgroundma t
e ri
alonthedyna sti
c
str
uggl e
st hatcul
mi na t
edi ntheNor manConque sts.
SHIELDS&SWORDS
Tom Rus
sel
l’
s