Battles of Maldon and Assandun

[shankly]

I'm not at all heavily involved with any of these games, although once upon a time I spent hours with Shogun, MTW, and RTW, but at this point I'm pretty far removed from all of this and am not in touch with the new generation of Total War. However, I'm trying to put together simulations of the Battles of Maldon and Assandun (Ashingdon) as part of an overall presentation on the Danish conquest of England. To this end, I have a few questions for anybody who can help:

1. Are there existent simulations of these battles that I could download without having to go through the messy process of trying to precisely control the battlefield action myself so that it's historically accurate?
2. If not, is there a way to control both sides in a battle so that I can effectively produce these battles in a way that fits with the historical record?
3. Even though MTWII starts from 1080 on, is there a way that I could use it to recreate the battles, since the units (I'm guessing based on the improvements from RTW) look much better and would create a more interesting viewing experience for my audience?


Thanks for any help-this is for a senior-level history course on the Norse world and I'd like to be able to use this as a more interesting way of presenting my subject matter than drawing x's and o's on a chalkboard.

[Knight of the Rose]

Hi Shankly ~:wave:

This is a quite interesting field of study, applying MTW to teaching!

First of, the two last questions: 3) Yea you could use MTW2 even though the time-frame is different. I bet there's a mod or something else out there that could take care of the visuals. 2) AFAIK you can't control both sides, unless you play Multiplayer and get a friend to help you out.

But most interesting is the first part; Are there simulators? I once saw on TV a programme on the battle of Crecy, where there was some kind om simulator. IIRC they used it on other battles as well, and it might be derived from military training simulators. I took a quick swing on google, but unsuccesfully. Maybe somebody else knows :shrug:

I'm wondering if you just want the visuals, or if you're walking the line of argument backwards, that is: If archers chop down the danes in the sim then the angels couldn't have had archers (of sufficient quantaty/quality). We don't know paticulary much on practical warfare of the period... Could thow up some interesting analasis.

/KotR

[shankly]

You know that is an interesting point you raise. As one theory has it, in the Battle of Maldon, the causeway separating the forces was flooded for most (if not all) of the battle. When Brythnoth invites the Norse across (as he does in the poem) because they've been taunting him, they are essentially protected from aerial attacks by the water, their shields and their mail. Most accounts say the Anglo-Saxons did have a small number of archers, and they were used, but were just ineffective after the Norse charge over the causeway broke the shield wall Brythnoth had erected. The accuracy of that account is certainly hotly debated, but it's the only account out there, so interpretations of it are really the only way to move. If this was a military history course (I really wish it was) then I'd certainly get into questions of what forces would have been used, but since its a general Norse culture course, I'm just going to leave it at interpretations of primary sources (which in this case means relying on an Anglo-Saxon poet.)

[Knight of the Rose]

Well, I don't know all the skins for the norse in MTWII, I just hope they don't have horns on their helmets. Playing MP would be a nice visual to a poetry lesson, I think, and I certainly do not know any other battle sims. After all, MTWII did rely on "eye-candy", so you should be able to get your point across. I hope :sweatdrop:

I wouldn't use the original MTW for this very reason, as the graphics are a little old fashioned for a young ordience.

/KotR