Chapter 4

Dark Age Wargaming

Wargame designers who focus upon the Middle Ages have similar problems to those confronting Ancient period gamers – specifically the huge breadth of an epoch lasting from the fall of Rome in the fifth century AD to the rise of firearms in the fifteenth. Breaking the Medieval period into two sub-sections, each covering the more interesting aspects of the epoch, is the best way to proceed. The first of these is the Dark Ages, covering Western Europe from 600 to 1000.

The Dark Ages was defined by the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This was caused by irresistible pressure from barbarian tribes, which lacked political and military sophistication, but whose huge numbers were enough to overwhelm the Roman Empire – for, as the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin once put it, ‘quantity has a quality all of its own’.

The new barbarian kingdoms suffered something of an inferiority complex in relation to the civilization they had conquered; a culture relying upon tribal solidarity and a heroic culture based around a chieftain’s warband, certainly could not compete with the intellectual and military glories of the Roman Empire. The new regimes did however embrace Christianity; and the Roman Catholic Church provided both a link with the past, and a source of much-needed unity. For Christianity provided some essential social and political bonding agents: it insisted that the poor should respect their lords and masters; and also that the ruling nobility should feel compassion for, and more importantly protect, the poor.

These twin obligations fitted the existing economic and political conditions rather well. The absence of the Roman monetary system meant that power was based upon the control of land by groups of warlords and their retinues; the most powerful of these men became kings, who controlled their realms on the basis of interlocking obligations: the poor respected their masters, and the nobles protected the poor. All had a duty to worship the Christian God. This system of interlocking social obligations on the basis of real estate, became known as feudalism.

The Western European military systems had two different approaches, both of which were based around the concept of the noble’s retinue. The Frankish kingdoms in what is now France and Germany developed cavalry forces, but the English Anglo-Saxons relied upon a nobility that rode to the battlefield on horseback, but fought on foot once they got there. I have chosen to focus upon battles in Britain, the kingdoms of which largely relied upon groups of infantry equipped with long spears and shields, and operating in close formation. These so-called ‘shieldwalls’ were not especially well drilled, but had tremendous endurance.

The major threat to the Saxon kingdoms (and those of the Picts and Scots who fought in a similar style), came from Scandinavian Viking invaders, who tended to rely upon infantry fighting in slightly looser formations than their foes. These moved more rapidly than their Saxon opponents, and their impetuous charges had a tremendous shock effect.

My wargames rules for the Dark Ages can use the basic principles of the Ancient rules described in the preceding two chapters. There are however some differences in the troop types selected, and in particular how they operate, which are stated below:

1. INFANTRY

This category covers all foot units equipped with long spears and shields. They are assumed to operate in close order formation, and bear some resemblance to their Ancient predecessors. They do for example have a tabletop movement allowance of 6”, and the tightly packed shieldwall is assumed to give similar protection to armour in Classical times. The Dark Age infantryman’s lack of training is simulated by making his combat strikepower rather less than his Ancient forebear.

2. WARBAND

This class covers impetuous troops such as Vikings. Their loose order is depicted by allowing them a movement allowance of 9”, and the power of their impetuous charges reflected by allowing them to enjoy a bonus on all combat dice rolls. They do however enjoy rather less protection than the stolid shieldwall infantry, and therefore suffer casualties at the normal rate of unarmoured troops.

3. SKIRMISHERS

Some troops, usually adolescents or peasants, were equipped with javelins and ordered to skirmish at a distance, avoiding hand-to-hand combat wherever possible. They behaved exactly like their Ancient equivalents, and are treated accordingly.

4. CAVALRY

The extent to which armies in Britain used cavalry in the Dark Ages has given rise to much animated historical debate, and will doubtless continue to do so. It is generally surmised that armies of the lowland indigenous Britons used a good many units of horsemen, which reduced markedly as the Saxons pushed them back into Wales. The Picts and Scots are believed to have had some mounted warriors, whereas it is generally surmised that the Saxons and Vikings only used horses to convey their nobles to the battlefield, rather than fight upon it. I have assumed that cavalry units were present, but that they did not perform especially effectively. They can as a result be treated as their ancient predecessors.

The armies created by these rules reflect British military activity, whereby a core of Infantry units are supplemented by Warband (reflecting a contingent of Viking mercenaries), Skirmisher and Cavalry units. Readers with a desire to depict Viking invaders, as opposed to those who had settled over a long period, could easily change the army compositions (outlined in Chapter 20) by swapping the Infantry units generated on the troop selection table with Warbands; Frankish armies can similarly be depicted by swapping Infantry units with Cavalry. It could also be argued that the horsemen of the Emperors Charlemagne and Otto deserve a combat bonus to reflect their shock impact: they could for example add 2 to all combat die rolls, whereas Frankish Warbands can be assumed to be ill-trained rabble who lose their extra attacking power. Wargamers are as always encouraged to depict their favourite troop types in an appropriate way.