there are some opinions that :

* Actual event is that Normans' feigned withdrawal turn into disaster, Saxons charges, Normans counter-charge, Saxons counter-charges and so-forth until the hapless Harold was mobbed and hacked down by four knights from William's retinue. I do agree a bit because surely Saxons arent that dumb enough to keep charging out of shieldwall.

* Traditionally - it should be just the armoured spearmen/sergeants at the front, with the (unarmoured) sergeants and peasants at the back to do the pushing, so if the side or the back of the shieldwall got hit, the whole battle goes pear-shaped. Also bear in mind that alot of the best professional units lies dead or wounded at Fulford and Stamford Bridge, so what Harold can picked up in force march shouldn't be the best equiped units, as the best would have been marching with Harold to Stamford Bridge in the first place.

I have tried luring Saxons into the "box" created by my surrouding infantry and cavalry units, after my attacking infantry withdraw. But somehow it was too time-consuming and I always take heavy casualties. But I didn't use schiltron for infantry... that could be the reason why my infantry units keep running away from big huscarls with nasty axes.

Maybe it is better to concentrate on one flank, weaken them so that your cavalry units can work around and then charge at Saxons from behind, which I suspect would have been what happened.

Try asking bob- as the Saxons needs to be control by a human player. Try setting the Saxon spears to "hold position" - might work as ad-hoc shieldwall.