Silly tortoise, what do you need with a helmet? You're living in one!
Continuing on our adventure, this time preparing for battle!
The Battle Room
Before we go on, I should point out the ticket options. There is the Battle Show, and the Battle Game. The Battle Show is a presentation of how the battle went, with commentary from Drs. Fiona Watson and Tony Pollard, with a 3D recreation of the battlefield. The Battle Game actually invites visitors to take command over the 3D recreation and control the battle itself, in a manner not unlike the Total War games: real-time tactics, turn-based strategy. Needless to say, we had to go for the Battle Game!
The first thing I thought of when I heard about this was one of my favourite short-run TV game shows: Time Commanders!
Yup, that's pretty much what this was: Time Commanders using a Microsoft Surface sculpted to the terrain of the Bannockburn area. In other words, best thing ever.
The game played much like any top-down or isometric real-time strategy out there, albeit with a slight turn-based element, with endearing little sprites representing the units a la Age of Empires. There are about two dozen slots open for players, who take on the role of battlefield commanders, though the game can really be played with only two. The visitors are assigned their side randomly, with two taking the roles of Robert's and Edward II's vanguards. Each player can order their units to make a movement, attack, or stand their ground. Depending on the number of players, each commander has control of at least one unit of soldiers, divided into spearmen, cavalry, archers and swordsmen.
The battle simulator map projects satellite imagery of modern Bannockburn & Stirling, and fades into a reconstruction of how it looked in the 14th Century. It took all my willpower to prevent rampaging across the map like a 1300s Gamora - friend of all children, after all!
There's a bit of your typical rock-paper-scissors situation with your units: spearmen are strong at repelling cavalry, but vulnerable to concentrated missile fire; archers can wreak havoc on spearmen, but can be run down by cavalry; cavalry can quickly dispatch archers, but cannot break spearmen. The role of swordsmen wasn't very well explained (or I missed the explanation) but I would surmise they occupy the same role as in history, as versatile units equally decent at holding the line, skirmishing, or charging, but not as effective as the more specialised units in those roles.
Having done a fair bit of research on the battle, I was fairly sure what one way of winning the battle would be. The problem was, I wasn't assigned to Robert - or anyone in his army. To my horror, I found that I was under the command of - gasp - Edward II! Personal pride in my armchair medieval military acumen battled with my ancient sympathies. What to do? On my left, a little shoulder angel appeared: it told me to do the honourable thing and fight to win - chivalry and duty to God and Country, after all. Then a wee voice on my right shoulder sneakily suggested I undermined my own side's plans to secure a Scottish victory - honour and allegiance to your people was more important than feudal chivalry. Well, you can see my dilemma. Ultimately, I went with a compromise: I would command my troops to the best of my ability, but I wouldn't offer any objections to the King's orders - even if he commanded a ruinous action.
A Scotswoman, an Englishman and a Canadian charge screaming into a bar...
There were three commanders on the Scottish side, four on the English. The battle was conducted by a member of staff called the Battle Master, who guided the visitors into the chaos of battle. I'm not entirely sure where those claes are from, though: the gear doesn't resemble any historical armour I'm familiar with, and looks a bit more like an Elder Scrolls armour set. Given the amount of detail that went into the rest of the show, I'm pretty sure that this isn't due to an oversight (or lack of funds/materials): at a guess, I'd suppose that these are just meant to tie in with the futuristic idea of recreating battles in a new century. Maybe more conservative folk would've preferred a more historically authentic costume, perhaps of a page, squire or man-at-arms, but I for one love the science-fictiony style. If it's folk in Medieval costumes you're after, then they're all over Stirling Castle just a hop skip & a jump away: why not offer something distinctive and fun here?
Our Battle Master for the evening was David, the delightful Nova Scotian you see above: he was well acquainted with the technology, and highly well versed in Scottish history, Medieval tactics and grand strategy, and I had a grand chat with him after the battle was over. The Battle Master swiftly and eloquently imparted the necessary background information with speed: a year before, Edward Bruce made an agreement with Stirling Castle's commander Sir Philip Mowbray that if no relief came to Stirling Castle by Midsummer 1314, the castle would surrender to the Scottish forces. Edward II mustered a host from all across Britain, and made for Stirling. The English player's objective was to ensure Edward II's vanguard and a unit of swordsmen reached Stirling Castle; the Scottish players were tasked to prevent that from happening. Either side would win with either the death of their respective king, or the routing of their foes' army. The Scots had the advantage of a good position at the King's Park, as well as the ability to lay traps: the English had numbers.
So how did the battle go?
The Battle of St. Ninians
This is how some historians think the battle went - again, with the lack of firsthand evidence, there are disagreements even today - but I think even dissenters would agree it's a bit closer than the battle I fought!
The Scots positioned their forces. They first laid their traps: the English players graciously turned around so as not to see the location of the caltrops, pits and other nasties awaiting them (just as well we're chivalrous, eh?) and they moved a few schiltrom into the New Park, with the lone cavalry unit between the two. The bulk of their force lay in wait at King's Park. The English forces marched onto the map consecutively, following the Roman Road. Our generous and intelligent king ordered the vanguard across the Bannock Burn... straight through the first set of traps. A third of the vanguard died. When my troops came on the field, I decided to perform a flanking action with my two cavalry and swordsmen, following the Bannock Burn on the far side towards the River Forth - dangerously close to the dreaded Carse, but I figured the Scots would be preoccupied with the main force. I left my Welsh longbowmen on the far side of the Bannock Burn, offering cover to the main force should the Scots send any troops near the river. Our insightful and astute king then led the mainguard... right over the traps. Again. I can only assume m'lud hoped the pits would be so clogged with English corpses his remaining forces could ride over them without difficulty.
The Scots were wary: they seemed aware that at least one of their commanders was attempting to flank, but they could not believe their luck in the doggedness of Edward II forcing his army through their trap! The two schiltroms marched forward, using the Pelstream on one side and the New Park on the other to protect their flanks. They sent their horsemen and lone unit of archers to the New Park to cover. Our brilliant and calculating king brought the vanguard to the borestone, waiting for the rest of the host. I continued upstream, readying my main force to cross at the meeting point of the Pelstream and Bannock Burn, while moving my archers to the unoccupied Ghillies Hill. Our able and imaginative king then ordered the rearguard - you guessed it - through the trap. We'd lost a quarter of our forces before we even engaged the Scottish army. It didn't bode well.
Jings-a-leery, whit a 'hing tae happen!
After this the first engagement, as our wise and glorious king sent his cavalry to meet the schiltrom, boldly ignoring the aforementioned cavalry-archers-spearmen paradigm mentioned before, while the archers rained death on the schiltroms... and the English cavalry. The schiltroms held the line, but were fading fast under arrow fire, even as the English cavalry died like flies to English bodkins. My archers did not help matters, to my shame, but it seemed the Scots did not take my flanking action seriously enough: I crossed, and made to charge my cavalry into the rear ranks of the schiltroms. Unfortunately, before that could happen, the sun set on the first day of battle, and camp was to be made. Our perspicacious and exceptional king suggested exactly the same place the historical Edward II suggested - in a moment of madness, I suggested the folly in that action, and recommended instead making camp just south of St. Ninians': we had crossed the Bannock Burn, and managed to gain ground up to the Pelstream. Unfortunately, making camp there meant my flanking action was for naught. My brave cavalry and swordsmen had to leg it quickly before nightfall.
The second day started with the same vim and vigour as before, but this time all the Scots save the Bruce's own schiltrom marched upon the English camp - luckily, the English had room to maneuver. Naturally, our stupendous and extraordinary king decided not to bother with that, and just sent all his forces crashing into the schiltroms like before, while I tried my flanking technique again, crossing the Pelstream to take on the Bruce's schiltrom, and hope to distract them enough to call their forces back to defend their king. But it was our magnanimous and gargantuan king's confidence - or perhaps desperation - which sealed the day, as he himself charged into the melee. I was aghast as I saw the look of wild bloodlust on Robert's face (actually a rather genteel American lady), and could but watch in mute horror as the Bruce ordered every battalion to converge on the fabulous and awesome King of England as he fought valiantly in the centre of the scrum. I desperately tried to circle my cavalry around to at least neutralise the Scots archers, but it was too late before my knights even approached halfway. The klaxon blared, the lighting turned red. Edward II had fallen.
The Battle Master offered a review of the battle, noted the factors which affected the outcome (note to future Edwards: when you find a deathpit filled with spikes and caltrops, don't march your entire army across them), as well as any historical coincidences. The Scots, of course, dug their pits in exactly the same place as the historical Bruce, being the most logical placement for such a trap; likewise, my flanking action mirrored the main English host's actions after the disastrous first day. But rather than fight our battle next to the Bannock Burn, the bulk of this battle took place around St. Ninian's Kirk - if this was the way history went, then, this would likely have been called the Battle of St. Ninians, rather than Bannockburn.
Still, falling in battle would likely have been a more noble end for Edward II than the popular narrative...
Future Battles
Later versions of Stainless Steel have more accurate costumes for the Scots, but this gets the jist of it.
Owing to certain restrictions in the engine and organisation of the Battle Game, there are probably few things that could be changed without risking glitches or crashes. Nonetheless, a few things came to mind based on things I heard from my fellow generals:
- It's easy to play the game with two players: one side's English, the other's Scottish, with both sides indicated by colour. Edward and the Bruce are indicated by the crown icon beside their units. But anything more than that can get a bit confusing, and it's easy for players in a larger group to get confused as to where their troops are on the map when they're getting involved in the campaign at large: the only way we could tell who was who was when it was our turn, and our troops flashed on the map. I played in a game with only seven and had a tough enough time: how mad would things be with thirty?
My recommendation is to have a pool of commanders to assign to players for every combination. For example, let's say we had a game with ten players. The Scots side would have four (Robert the Bruce, Edward Bruce, Thomas Randolph, James Douglas) and each player would be given their "role" in the battle, as well as have their troops delineated by their arms (red lion, blue lion, three diamonds, three mullets). Likewise, the English would have six players to represent their superior numbers (Edward II, Gilbert de Clare, Aymer de Valence, Humphrey de Bohun, Robert de Clifford, John Comyn) and be assigned their forces and arms (three lions, three chevrons, barry of argent & azure, bend argent & six lions, checky or & azure a fess gules, gules three garbs). This would have the bonus of further involving the player in the idea that they are commanding the battle, as well as make things a bit easier to figure out. But if even that's too complicated, just put a number next to the units: as long as the player remembers which number they are, they should be able to figure it out.
- The game, developed by D3T Ltd, is good enough, but I think they could boost it a bit with more options: cavalry charges when the terrain permits, tight-to-loose formation, marching speed, fatigue, morale, discipline, waypoints, that sort of thing. Of course, what I'd love most is for a cinematic 3D version to be played in the screens on the Battle Room's walls for players or spectators to enjoy, but that'd require a lot more work and money. Mebbes give Creative Assembly a ring, see if they wouldn't mind them using the Rome/Medieval 2 engine?
- I don't know the feasibility of it, but I think it'd be really fun to record the battles in some manner: either burn it onto a CD, or just have a wee video recording of it like they do in places like Disneyworld.* It'd be a nice wee souvenir option to have.
Overall, it was a fun wee experience, one I recommend to all would-be generals who want to try their hand at Medieval tactics. There are still a few things to see at Bannockburn...
TO BE CONTINUED...
*One day I shall tell you of Melville & 14-year-old Aly's adventures in Disneyworld...
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