Anglo-Norman as was

Scrumpy · Post by **Scrumpy** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:30 pm

Will they get the Saxon Fyrd as armoured OS ?

philqw78 · Post by **philqw78** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:41 pm

I would have thought that the Saxons were a lot poorer and less keen after the conquest, and the Normans likely to not want them well equipped.

Scrumpy · Post by **Scrumpy** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm

Sadly that is how I see it too.

The combination of Kn & OS might be just a bit too powerful.

AlanYork · Post by **AlanYork** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:52 pm

On the other hand William did make efforts to conciliate the Saxons and certainly not all English became serfs, far from it. There remained a class of free peasantry; sokemen and freemen. These guys were reasonably well off one would think, though whether that extended to chainmail armour and a helmet is debateable. With the requirement for fyrd service to be undertaken by free born men only, it's likely that these were the chaps making up the Anglo Norman English fyrd contingents along with the town militias who would all certainly have been free men.

Possibly a case for some armoured fyrd there but certainly not every battlegroup, being free and therefore liable for military service is one thing, affording chainmail armour is another.

dave_r · Post by **dave_r** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:59 pm

I strongly suspect that Anglo-Norman spearmen will be:

HF, Protected, Average/Poor, Defensive Spearmen.

Which is exactly what they need to be - i.e. dirt cheap and ready to support the flanks of the Knights