Deciding on a project

Top row, Left-right: A replica of the Seax of Beagnoth, and a drinking horn, Bottom row: Leather scabbard

Items from author's own collection

The first stage of recreating my battle is actually deciding upon a battle to recreate, it has to be something that really interests me and will be fun to research, I am not happy with just recreating the battle, I need to learn about it and understand it, after all this is not a Space Marine chapter fighting against Space Orks on a fictional world, these are real battles fought at real locations, or real reasons, and most importantly, real people were killed. At the time of typing this I have already decided which battle I am going to recreate, however I wish to show the process of deciding so I shall discuss some of the battles that I pondered before deciding upon the battle I eventually settled upon.

History is rich with battles that can be recreated, and the classical and medieval periods are no exception, so trying tbattle o find a battle to recreate on the tabletop was not going to be easy. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of battles and conflicts to choose from in every corner of the world. Hail Caesar and Swordpoint both cover battles from the Bronze Age through to the War of the Roses, that is literally nearly 5,000 years of battles to choose from. Some of these battles are epic conflicts where thousands of men fought and died, others are small skirmishes between a handful of men. Some are battles whose name has gone down in history, others are long forgotten and no one now remembers. Below will be a list and brief history of the some of the battles I considered, and an excuse to ramble on about history for a bit followed by my thoughts and which one I eventually chose.

The battle of Tollense Valley (Circa 1500 BC)

The battle of Tollense Valley took place around three and a half thousand years ago in the Tollense Valley in North Eastern Germany during the Bronze Age. The battle site has yielded bones and and equipment all along the river that runs through through the valley. Literally thousands of bones from all over Europe, have being recovered indicating to archaeologists that the battle had at least 140 participants but in recent years experts think this may have even numbered in the thousands. 

The battle of Tollense Valley interests me because of the mystery of it, no one knows who the people were or why they fought on that day three and a half thousand years ago. I personally find it the saddest battle I have ever heard of, because to the people at the time this would probably have been the equivalent of the Somme or Paschendale in importance. It would have been world changing for them, a significant event for  and yet we no longer remember anything about it.

The battle of Bigbury Camp (54 BC)

Bigbury Camp near Canterbury, Kent, UK
Photograph taken August 2019 by Tzekkaz

Bigbury Camp is situated near the medieval city of Canterbury in Kent UK, it is credited as being the site of the only battle won by Julius Caesar's forces in his ill fated and ultimately unsuccssful invasion of Brittannia in 54 BCE. The sight was an iron age fort inhabited by the local Britons. The site was used by Julius Caesar's forces afterwards as a basecamp for their exploration of southern Brittannia. It is thought that the Britons went off to found the settlement that would one day become Canterbury.

Bigbury Camp gets a mention as in the Summer of 2019 (back when we could go out, remember those days?) My family and I went back to Canterbury to visit friends, the friends took us for a walk through the Bigbury Camp site, I, rather embarrassingly have to admit, despite originally coming from the Canterbury area and being interested in history, I had not heard of the battle, nor knew of the location. It was the first time in my life I had stood on the site of a battle, a place where Julius Caesar himself stood, I was awestruck by it. Thus Bigbury Camp deserved consideration as a battle to recreate. 

The battle of Ashdown (871AD)

The 8th January 871 AD the Anglo-Saxon army of Wessex led by King Aethelred and his brother Alfred had already suffered a defeat at Reading, by an army of the Danes led by Halfdan and Bagsecg. The armies met and clashed again at Ashdown. This time the battle went very different. Aethelred stayed and prayed whilst Alfred took his men and seized the hill. They fought the entire Viking army. A group of Danes tried to flank Alfred's force, they encountered Aethelred's forces advancing behind the hill. The fresh Anglo-Saxon force pushed the advantage and the Danes were defeated and routed.

The battle of Ashdown is great as it shows the already considerable strategic skills of Alfred, who at the time was only 23 years old. By the end of 871 he was king of Wessex and would go on to to great things. The battle reads like a battle from The Lord of the Rings, the beleaguered defender on the hill, hoping they can hold out until reinforcements arrive. The reinforcements arrive at the last minute and the tide of battle turns and the day is won for the army of Wessex. 

The battle of Brunanburh (937 AD)

The combined alliance of Dublin, Scotland and Strathclyde led by kings Olaf Guthfrithson, Contastantine II and Owain fought against the army of Aethelstan King of England. Aethelstan had attempted to expand into Scotland and his enemies combined in an attempt to stop him, ultimately they failed and Aethelstan was triumphant. This battle is sometimes seen as the battle that saw England created as a single country for the first time.

The battle of Stamford Bridge (1066 AD)

Earl Edwin and a Thegne advance towards Stamford Bridge, 25th September 1066 AD

25th September saw the Anglo-Dane army of King Harold Godwinson, Earls Edwin and Morcar face the Norwegian forces of King Harald Hardrada and Harold's brother Tostig at Stamford Bridge. A large proportion of the Viking army were off foraging for supplies when the Anglo-Danes attacked the Norse in the morning, the battle raged on throughout the day and by the end of it the Vikings had been defeated and around merely eight percent of the original Viking force returned to Norway, this is often cited as the day the age of the Viking ended. 

 The last two battles, Brunaburgh and Stamford Bridge are both epic battles, they appeal to me for different reasons. Brunaburgh because I love the idea of this army of allies drawn from a number of countries in a desperate attempt to curtail Aethelstan's expansion of England. Stamford Bridge is more of a choice because I feel it lends itself to some interesting terrain projects and a custom scenario.

Choosing a battle to recreate was going to be hard but after I looked at them closely, Tollense Valley was a no, there really is not enough history to research, lot of potential if I wished to create my own reasons and characters, but at this time, that was not something I wanted to do. I quickly abandoned the idea of Bigbury Camp and Stamford Bridge, though they appealed to me, for just starting out in historical wargaming, the idea of creating iron age hillforts or rivers and bridges alog with everything else was just too much. This just left Ashdown and Brunaburgh, strangely between the two, this was an easy descision, Brunaburgh, could be fun, with a number of different regional forces but the idea of the 21 year old atheling Alfred holding the hill against the Danish vikings and the last minute reinforcements felt truly dramatic and the stuff of legends. Ashdown is between two of my favourite historical factions too, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. With the battle decidedd upon it was now time to begin my research into the battle of Ashdown and work out what was needed for the project and te timeline of events. This is going to be a project different from anything I have ever done before.

photography: Tzekkaz

Earl Edwin and Thegne painted by Tzekkaz
Earl Edwin and Thegne produced by Footsore Miniatures
Seax of Beagonth produced by Deepeeka
Drinking Horn produced by ?
Hail Caesar produced by Warlord Games
Swordpoint produced by Gripping Beast