Battle of Hereford 1055

Some time ago in issue 365 of Wargames Illustrated there was an excellent article about the battle of Hereford 1055. I won’t go into the full history which is covered well in the article by Pete Brown. The particular interest in the battle is the opportunity to use a wide range of dark age figures in one battle. The other benefit for us is there is fairly little real detail known about the battle so we were free to fill in any details we fancied. The key protagonists were Aelfgar son of Leofric a Mercian Earl exiled by King Edward who fled to Ireland returning with a sizeable force of mercenary Dublin Vikings, this augmenting his small Housecarl retinue. He then joined forces with Gruffyd ap Llywelyn, who would one day become the first King of Gwynedd. This unlikely alliance marched on Hereford in October 1055. King Edward’s Norman nephew Ralph de Sudeley had been made Earl of Hereford and had spent the previous years attempting to develop the Local Saxons into a more Norman style army. Specifically mentioned is the fact that some of the Saxon troops were forced to fight on horseback which they weren’t very comfortable about. The only other named character we included was Bishop AEthelstan of Hereford who for our battle has taken to the battlefield to encourage the defending Saxon forces.

So from this point we made everything else up as we felt .........this was a large and bloody battle so I apologise for so many photos 🙂

The overview of the battlefield

The bulk of the Saxon Forces around Hereford

A view up towards Hereford the poorly trained Saxon cavalry in the foreground

A close up of Hereford where one of the residents is putting on a show for the locals.

A better view looking down the battlefield 

Ralph de Sudeley in the foreground with his ‘Norman’ forces facing off against the hordes of Welsh

The Dublin/Irish Vikings

Aelfgar and his small retinue of Saxon Housecarls

The battle now begins with a general advance 

Both sides seeking to get some terrain advantage, the meadow/poorly drained area will slow movement but only slightly, we agreed three objectives the bridge, the cross and the church at Holme Lacy. There was an unspoken extra objective for the welsh/Vikings to get into Hereford itself

According to the limited history of the battle the Saxon cavalry were reluctant infantry so we ensured they had a lower than average morale, despite this they charged straight towards the enemy in front of them

Close to the cross the Real Norman knights have also decided to charge headlong at the welsh

Closer to Holme Lacy the Normans look on as Welsh Berserkers charge down the hil

The knights smash into a horde of welsh

Looking from behind Holme Lacy the welsh light cavalry is causing havoc in the Norman battleline

The reluctant Saxon Cavalry charge into the Irish 

A sense of the wider battlefield developing

The Saxons commanded by AEthelstan slowly move forward happy to use the meadowlands as cover

Everything is starting to break up to the right with individual units slugging it out in combat

After a couple of turns of combat the knights have broken through the welsh....this could be decisive in the same turna second horde of welsh flees the field

Strong Saxon Forces in front of Hereford

....but the Vikings are getting closer as the skirmishers out front are brushed aside

The Norman cavalry having made a break through is then ripped to shreds by a pack of Wardogs, who knew that wardogs are most effective against cavalry !

Ralph de Sudeley has galloped up to capture the cross but is surrounded by welsh light archers

Despite their initial reluctance the Saxon cavalry is making some headway agains the Vikings 

A unit of welsh light cavalry attempts to hold the far end of the bridge but they are chased away by skirmishers with javelins and short bows

Oh dear it was bound to happen the Saxons gallop off

A view down the battlefield, much of the Saxon army not yet tested

Gruffyd and a single welsh warrior (female) charge in against Ralph

The Vikings and Aelfgar’s small Saxon retinue have now reached the meadow, will the Saxons have the strength to hold them back ?

Closer to the cross another welsh horde is crashing into the Saxon flank

Vikings on the bridge !

True to his later nickname Ralph the Timid flesh the field !

But the Saxon Housecarls holding in front of Hereford haven’t noticed and they remain in place

The defence line is finally starting to break and the only force remaining in front of the city gates is a regiment of levy townsfolk

At Holme Lacy the Normans have control with crossbows keeping any further welsh advance at bay

The bridge is being hotly contested but Athelstan is on the scene to hold the defence together

The Vikings do break through but only have enough time for a single round of combat and the townsfolk hold

A final view of the battlefield you get a sense of the blood which must have been spilt and the carnage as these are the only troops remaining as darkness falls it will no doubt take many years for the blood to wash away from the meadows.

A tremendous battle, fierce and bloody fighting as befitting a Dark Age battle. Technically it was a draw with the bridge contested and one objective each. Historically Ralph’s force didn’t do so well and abandoned the field leaving Hereford at the mercy of the welsh. 😀

Dark Age buildings

I have had some buildings waiting to be completed so rattled through these after the cavalry from last week. The benefits of having a bigger battle planned this would augment our coming Hereford battlefield

A simple shed from Rendra

This was a 3d print I had picked up at a show ages ago, you can see the print lines but they don’t show at a distance, the benefit of this building is I recon I can use it from 700 ad to present day so a very flexible piece of terrain

Finally something I bought specially for the game but also for future Dark age games, they are better versions than this MDF model by sarissa but actually it does the job, I have weathered it a bit

You’ll be able to tell soon what it looks like on the battlefield as we played this Sunday gone.

Al Andalus : Raid on Castile

Need to think of a better way of linking these battles, they may form into some sort of narrative at some point but at the moment the various City states will be skirmishing along their borders. Here we set up a little scenario with the predominantly Christian forces of Castile under Ferdinando I being assaulted by the forces of Toledo under King ibn al-Mamun.

Muslim Forces of Toledo rush onto the field

In the centre of the battlefield is a small isolated guard, if they can be overwhelmed before the Castile reinforcements arrive victory will be theirs

King al-Mamun’s son ibn Ismail al-Mamun urges his forces forward

Light cavalry is sent down the right flank

More troops seek to exploit the broken ground on the left

Arghh what’s this some of the Castile heavy knights arrive in their rear !

Led by King Ferdinando himself 

The heavy Christian knight prove too much and soon clear a path through the Toledo force

Then turn north where they are tricked into charging into rough ground

al-Mamun himself charges forward to assault the central guard only to find they are the dreaded crossbowmen

Supported by his remaining horse archers his repeatedly charges in.....

But to no avail and he along with his remaining force is driven from the field

A jolly little battle and as always a different challenge for each force, but a chance to get my al Andalus figures on the battlefield. As I was clearing up I thought it might be nice to get the Arab forces out for a parade, quite happy that I am making good progress 😀