Other use for English armies 1066 campaign?

[Happy Wanderer]

Gents,

Looking at 1066. There are three armies and they are a big investment so getting some ‘double duty’ out of the lead would put it closer to a reality.

What double duty would there be for the Norman, Viking and English (Saxon) armies be usable for?

Normans is probably the easiest in some respects, the Vikings a close second as they raided in many places but what of the Saxon foot armies…what are they usable for?

Thoughts on the utility of 1066 armies in places other than England would be welcome.

Cheers

[Dr. Zombie]

I would say that other than perhaps the banners a Saxon and a Viking army would be more or less identical especially by 1066. They could be used for most of northern Europe and Germany i would think.

[SJWi]

Happy Wanderer, Normans can obviously fight as Byzantine mercenaries and most figures double-up as 1st Crusaders. Not so sure “Anglo-Danish” and “Norwegian Viking” can do duty as much else apart from “Scandinavian” armies.

[Moriarty]

Unarmoured, close order spearmen are common in European armies earlier & later than 1066. Probably back to the early AD’s for Germans. Armoured spearmen are found in many Dark Ages/Early Medieval forces, but kite shields might be limiting for Eastern Europe. The heavy cavalry would do duty up to the 12th century, afaik.

So, you could definitely use them, just probably not as large an army as you would be used to.

My 1066 set up has Anglo Saxon, Viking and Norman armies to DBA, and I’ll happily combine them for any of the British Isles armies, through to Scandinavia, Europe, the Balkans and out to Byzantium. But then, I’m often accused of being a Philistine :-)

[has.been]

You could always split an army & fight an internal rebellion.

'What if' options are also possible.
e.g.
Edwin & Morcar (the Saxon lords that lost at Fulford gate) rebel against the Godwinsons.
Let Tostig (Harold's renegade brother) lead an allied (Viking) contingent.
Harold does a deal with William, swapping some land for troops.
Well hopefully you get the picture.

[Happy Wanderer]

Thanks chaps,

Lots of good suggestions. The idea of a Saxon and Viking army being essentially the same does open up the idea of doing Normans vs Saxon/Viking…providing utility from two armies that do duty as potentially three.

Ok. Thanks for those ideas.

Cheers

👍🏻

[LazyStudent]

Most of the options have already been mentioned. But one that has been missed is the utility of the minis as Christian Spanish for the early phases of the reconquest. Think El Cid etc.

[SJWi]

Lazy Student, good call on El Cid.  My 1st Crusaders pass muster as Christian Spanish as an opponent for my Islamic "Taifa" army. 

[James Morris]

Harold Godwinsson’s campaign against the Welsh in 1063!

[frank xerox]

Siward and Malcolm Canmores campaign against MacBeth in 1054?

[Rochejaquelein]

Like others have said, Normans can be used all over the place. El Cid era Spaniards, Italo-Normans, First Crusade, almost all of 11th century Europe west of the Vistula River

The Anglo-Saxons are a bit more limited, but you still have options assuming they are modelled as late Saxons with kite shields. King Canute's invasion. Hereward the Wake's rebellion against William the Conqueror/Harrying of the North, and Byzantine mercenaries.

Vikings, assuming they are also portrayed as late Norseman/Christian, can be early Varangian Guard for Byzantines, Clontarf era Dubliners, Norwegian military campaigns in Ireland and Scotland after Stanford Bridge.

[Golgotha]

Here is a list on Wiki showing battles involving Normans from 9th to 12th centuries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Battles_involving_the_Normans

and see conquests and military offensives here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans

Sir Runciman's History of the Crusades mentions the Norman's military reputation and their waring spirit. Anyone really interested in the Crusades should read his work - the best history that will ever be written on the topic.

[carlos marighela]

Conflict between Anglo-Saxons and Normans didn’t just end in 1066, there were a number of uprisings and some significant encounters including the siege of Exeter. The Normans also fought and/or paid off a two significant Danish invasions in the 1070s. There was an even larger planned invasion for 1086, which would have involved a small contingent from Norway. Your Saxons could double as Danes and if you fancy you could add in some Vikings.

You could also use some of your Normans for the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th C. You might want some slightly more up to date milites but serjeants and most foot wouldn’t have changed hugely, so another use for them.

Naturally there’s Sicily and Southern Italy for the Normans as well as at least three of Alan Ayckbourn’s stage plays.

[Happy Wanderer]

Excellent suggestions guys, thanks one and all.

I have an El Cid Christian army to get to which ‘oppose’ my Almoravids…
https://agrabbagofgames.blogspot.com/2015/03/almoravid-army.html

…so the above suggestions will have some bearing on that.

Cheers

[bluewillow]

For the three armies they would find use in France

Vikings are easy, for the raids in the Loire from 820-1015, and Flanders 820-1010

The saxons if yours have a mix of round and teardrop would fit as Flanders war with France and Vikings or Bretons for the vikings raids, and wars with the Angevins 1050-66, the  1064-65 war with Normandy, add some light cavalry, and some heavy norman cavalry.

Normans double as men from Maine, Blois, Anjou, Angevins and many other French states.
Norman -Angevin war 1045-47
The Norman - Maine Wars 1060-65, 1069-70, 1073, 1088, 1098, 1100
Blois-Angevin wars 1039-42,
Norman vs Norman William of Talou's rebellion 1052-54

cheers
Matt