The Anglo-Saxon military organization came to be known as the fyrd. Service in the fyrd was directly linked to an individual's landholding status. It is believed today that the fyrd was divided into two groups. The "select fyrd" consisted of the king¹s personal bodyguards, and his thegns and their immediate retinue. The select fyrd would have been well equipped. The thegns would have had mail shirt, a helm, round shield, sword/axe and spear. They would have rode to battle on horses and dismounted to fight. Their retainers (ceorls mostly) would have at least possessed a shield, spear and the characteristic scramaseax, or long knife. A very few may have been archers/slingers. The "greater fyrd" was a general calling out of the population to arms to meet a serious threat. The better equipped would have a small shield, spear and scramaseax. Most may have only had a spear, club or agricultural implements. The Anglo-Saxons did not field a regular mounted arm. They fought on foot as a rule. The tactics of the fyrd were not particularly imaginative or flexible. The army would form up into a line, the better-equipped warriors in the front, with their shields forming a wall. The warriors forming this shield wall (schildburh in old Saxon) would attempt to maintain cohesion while in battle. When fighting another shield wall formation the battle would turn into a shoving match until one side lost cohesion. The majority of casualties were inflicted during this stage of the battle. Once this happened the defeated force would retreat with the victors in pursuit. The fyrd system performed pretty well against Celtic invaders and the limited wars between the kingdoms, however, a new threat sorely tested the system. In 793 AD the Norseman (Danes, Norwegians) raided the island monastery at Lindisfarne. This began over a century of warfare that plagued the entire British Isles (Celt and Anglo-Saxon alike). The Norse used their swift longships to perform lightning fast raids along the coasts and up rivers. Once on land they would "liberate" horses and continue wreaking havoc further inland. They were masters of surprise and only rarely were they caught and defeated by the fyrd. The Danes launched a full-scale invasion in 865 AD and occupied much of eastern England (known as Danelaw). The Anglo-Saxons were on the defensive during this time. King Alfred of Wessex had success against the Danes and by 1014 AD (this army's close date) there was one king of Anglo-Saxon-Danish England. Enemies II/68b Picts, 81d Sub-Roman Britons, III/19a Welsh, III/24 themselves, III/40ab Vikings and III/45a Pre-Feudal Scots. Army Composition III/24a 607AD700AD - The a list army represents the period of transition from invader to settler. The chieftain and his personal bodyguards or 1 x 4Wb (Gen) hird-men. Well-equipped warriors relying on the shock of the charge. Additional hird-men charging forward to break 1 x 4Wb the enemy. The spear-armed fyrd warriors formed up in a 6 x 4Sp shield wall. More spear-armed warriors or the lesser-armed 2 x 4Sp or 7Hd bondsmen used to fill out the ranks. Archers (probably shooting from within the 1 x 2Ps shield wall ranks) or Scouts. The war band would be the most likely option. The Anglo-Saxons did not field mounted troops 1 x 3Cv or 4Wb as a rule, although the Saxons of Mercia did employ vassal Wreocensaete and Magonsaete (Celtic-British) cavalry. III/24b 701AD-1014AD. The b list represents the period of the established Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia, Sussex, Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria, ruled by such kings as Offa, Alfred the Great, Athelstan and Ethelred the Unready. The select fyrd and personal bodyguard of the 1 x 4Sp (Gen) general. These would represent the best-equipped warriors of the fyrd. The select fyrd. Spear-armed warriors holding the 8 x 4Sp shield wall. The spear represents the select fyrd and the 2 x 4Sp or 7Hd hordes represent the greater fyrd. Archers (probably shooting from within the 1 x 2Ps shield wall ranks) or scouts. Army Composition The armies of al-Andalus varied greatly in composition and make up throughout the Reconquista, but Jinettes, light skirmishing, javelin armed horse warriors were always a main stay. Even the more heavily armoured nobility used this tactic primarily. As the Reconquista progressed, the Andalusians adopted more and more the European style of fighting. Their Jinettes began to abandon the javelin for spears used for throwing and jabbing. Furthermore, eventually the Andalusians fielded their own knights toward the end. They also employed knights from the Christian realms that surrounded them as well. With the varied cavalry elements, a modeller has great opportunity to field many different types of figures. Light horse units could be made up of Andalusians, Berber, or Christian riders. They would be lightly armed and typically used javelins, however bow armed horse troops were also known. The cavalry elements could be more heavily armoured Jinettes, using the same javelin dominated tactics. They could also be represented by spear armed troops as well. Again, Andalusian, Berber, and Christian figures could be used here as well because of the common use of mercenaries. The foot troops of the early Andalusian armies were primarily skirmishers using slings or javelin. Slingers were very prominent, but bow-armed skirmishing foot troops were not uncommon. Skirmishing troops could be Andalusian, Berber, Christians, or even Slav slaves brought in from Eastern Europe working off their slavery as well. As time progressed, the crossbow was adopted. In an Andalusian army, crossbow-armed troops acted as skirmishers, so for later armies, crossbowmen could be included on psiloi elements. As the Reconquista progressed, the Andalusians adopted spear armed units more and more. Often these spear armed units would be mercenaries from Berber tribes in North Africa, the Almohads and Almohavrids in Andalusia, Nubian states, or from the Christian realms to the north. As such, there are many choices, including even french spearmen! So, feel free to pull out those Norman spearmen elements! Perhaps the one thing missing from the DBA list is the mercenary knight option. Andalusian armies often employed mercenary Christian knights within their armies, and it is a shame not to have the option to field some! As for other mercenaries, they can be represented in the spear and psiloi options easily enough. The DBA al-Andalus army list includes the following element types: The general would be accompanied by heavily armoured noble cavalry or 3Cv and mercenary cavalry carrying throwing spears or javelins. [3Cv+G Image], General [3Cv Image] Andalusian or mercenary Jinettes often using javelin, but were also known 2LH to use bows and throwing spears. [2LH Image], [2LH Image] Poor, often conscripted skirmishing slingers. Bows were also not unknown. Slingers could derive from anywhere, bow troops were commonly 2Ps Andalusian. Crossbows appeared in later armies. [Image], [Image], [Image], [Image], [Image], [Image], [Image], [Image] Spears could be made up of Andalusians or mercenaries, including Berbers 4Sp or Christians from the northern realms. [Image], [Image] Scots Isles and Highlands 1050-1493 AD (III/77) By Roy Beers I'll begin this article by apologizing for its length, and by advising anybody seeking a quick army breakdown to fast-forward to the last sections and the various links. Scottish medieval military history has tended to focus on Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn to the exclusion of almost everything else; and Gaelic West Highland history - all but written out of the mainstream Scottish script by post-Reformation historians - remains shadowy and little understood. To Scottish or British history the Gaels are little-known barbarians, surfacing only when they threaten a Scottish or (in the 18th century) British monarch. A major TV series, The History of Britain, contained precisely five references to Scotland in total, and no discussion at all of Gaelic influence, culture or history - even although Scotland was a primarily Gaelic "Celtic" culture before the reign of David I, and feudalism. Yet the domain of the Isles, in particular, was effectively an independent "country" for more than three centuries, a fact which may largely explain why Scottish Gaelic culture has managed to survive to the present day, despite the ravages of the post-Culloden period and the Scottish national shame of the Highland Clearances. Somerled's warriors proved mightier than the Vikings, and their descendants later helped in no small measure to win Bannockburn, Scotland's most decisive battle. In fact quite apart from this specific military contribution it is no exaggeration to say that King Robert I could not have won the First War of Independence without the aid of Clan Donald, in particular, as in times of defeat the Lordship (and its Irish kin and allies) provided an impenetrable refuge where he could not be pursued. Hebridean warriors spearheaded a major Gaelic resurgence in 13th century Ireland, defeating the hitherto invincible Anglo-Normans in a series of shattering victories - and these Galloglaich (also spelled Galloglaigh, and frequently anglicised as "Galloglasses") remained a major factor in Irish warfare until the turn of the 17th century. But Hebrides-based political independence was effectively extinguished following the abolition of the Lordship of the Isles in 1493, and in later Scottish history cultural and political power would be rooted ever more firmly in the (non Gaelic) Lowlands. The Gaelic historical tradition was oral, in a world where it was to become forbidden to speak Gaelic in schools; and was marginalised or deliberately proscribed to the point where even the mighty Somerled was either forgotten or, at best, remembered as a barbaric pirate chief.