Slitherine

To include Dunbar 1296, Stirling Bridge 1297, Falkirk 1298, Loudoun Hill 1307 and Bannockburn 1314 in the first instance. The series will also probably include Myton 1319. Old Byland 1322, the Bruce campaign in Ireland, Halidon Hill 1333 and my interpretation of Neville's Cross 1346 (already a FOG scenario).

And mischievous suggestions that I have employed Mel Gibson as a historical advisor on any part this series of scenarios is most adamantly denied!

Many thanks to Russ Provan, massina-nz and iandavidsmith for extensive help with the play-testing (which is on-going).

Full list will include . . .

Dunbar 1296
Stirling Bridge 1297
Falkirk 1298
Loudoun Hill 1307
Bannockburn 1314
Myton 1319
Old Byland 1322
Dupplin Moor 1332
Halidon Hill 1333
Culblean 1335
Neville's Cross 1346

Is there anyone who would like to help with the play-testing?

Dunbar, Falkirk and Myton are tested and ready to play now - me and Russ are having a bit of trouble getting Stirling Bridge to work properly but that should be sorted soon (that is why there is a bit of a delay). Loudoun Hill and Bannockburn are also being tested by me and Russ now. The three Bruce Irish battles (1315-1318) are not yet done, but I do need help with Old Byland, Dupplin Moor, Halidon Hill, Culblean and Neville's Cross. All these are ready to play-test. Cheers!

stockwellpete wrote:Is there anyone who would like to help with the play-testing?

Dunbar, Falkirk and Myton are tested and ready to play now - me and Russ are having a bit of trouble getting Stirling Bridge to work properly but that should be sorted soon (that is why there is a bit of a delay). Loudoun Hill and Bannockburn are also being tested by me and Russ now. The three Bruce Irish battles (1315-1318) are not yet done, but I do need help with Old Byland, Dupplin Moor, Halidon Hill, Culblean and Neville's Cross. All these are ready to play-test. Cheers!

I can help with 2 games if that suits you .
Cheers
Ian

iandavidsmith wrote: I can help with 2 games if that suits you .
Cheers
Ian

Thanks very much, Ian. I have put a paired game on the system for Dupplin Moor 1332. Password is "dupplin". Massina-nz is also helping with one of the scenarios. Is there one more volunteer please?

Slight change of plan, gentlemen. I had intended to put all the scenario links in this one thread to save spreading them all over the forum but this is not going to work as I can't see what I am typing after 10-12 lines. So I will go back to separate threads for each battle.

The play-testing is still continuing but most of the battles are taking reasonable shape now and I hope I will be able to put all of them on the forum this week. My original list of battles included the Bruce campaign in Ireland 1315-18 but the more that I read about this dreadful expedition the more I feel that it warrants a separate series of its own - so that will be my next project. After that I will return to my Glyndwr scenarios (1400-15) and try to give them a bit of a lift. I don't really feel that I have done them justice at the moment.

If anyone wants to try out any of these scenarios, or if you have ideas for improvement then please get in touch. It is a very straightforward matter to update scenarios from v1 to v2.

All the Scottish battles are now available in their initial versions, apart from Neville's Cross 1346 (the play-test has just started). I will try to provide a short historical overview to link all these battles up for you and hopefully provide a bit more context. Play-testing is continuing on a number of the battles and a version 2 of Stirling Bridge 1296 is already in the pipeline.

If you have any questions or any suggestions for improvement please feel free to contribute. I have done a fair bit of research, but like all the scenarios that I have written the end results is just my own interpretation of a number of secondary sources. Somebody else looking at the same material might come up with scenarios that are quite different from mine.

I have gone right through the series and checked for any inconsistencies, not only within battles but also between battles. There are a few. One question that has arisen in the last few days is whether the Scots used the longbow. I am reading a history at the moment that is emphasising the shortbow for the period 1296 to 1346 so where I have given Scots archers the longbow I have almost certainly made a mistake. Also, there were some inconsistencies in Scottish armour. The very powerful Scots nobles (mostly of Anglo-Norman origins if they lived in the "Lowlands") would have had heavy armour, the lesser nobles probably not, so they are just armoured. I have corrected a few errors in relation to this.

The English deployment at Stirling Bridge 1297 has been slightly modified so it is a bit harder to get their men across the bridge. At Bannockburn, the English infantry contingent has been split in two for deployment. Some are on the Carse as before, but others are now on the far side of the Bannock burn (in "For the Lion" by Paterson) and they will take longer to enter the battle as the stream hexes south of the bridge are now "water" and cannot be crossed.

Work is still going on on Halidon Hill and Neville's Cross, the two classic longbow battles in the Scottish Wars of Independence. The problem here is that archery fire in FOG is attritional whereas in real life it was explosive.

Anyway, the modified versions will be posted shortly. I am sorry if this causes any inconvenience.

Belatedly, but as promised, a very basic potted history of the Scottish Wars of Independence putting the scenarios I have done into some sort of historical context . .

The First War of Independence: 1296–1328

King Alexander III died in 1286 and Scotland was ruled by Guardians until 1292. In 1290, they signed the Treaty of Birgham agreeing to the marriage of the 4 year-old Margaret, the “maid of Norway” (grand-daughter of the dead king) to Edward of Caernarvon, the son of Edward I (and the future Edward II), while insisting that Scotland was still a separate country from England and that its rights, laws, liberties and customs were to be undiminished by the new arrangements.

But Margaret died at Orkney in September 1290 throwing open the question of the succession again. Thirteen claimants put their names forward with the two leading claimants for the Scottish crown being Robert Bruce of Annandale (grandfather of Robert the Bruce) and John Balliol of Galloway. The Guardians of Scotland then invited Edward I to arbitrate between the two claimants in the hope that this would avoid civil war.

Edward met the Guardians at Norham in 1291 after having insisted that he was to be recognised as Lord Paramount of Scotland. He then ordered that every Royal Scottish Castle be placed temporarily under his control and every Scottish official resign his office and be re-appointed by him. The Guardians of the Realm and the leading Scottish nobles then swore allegiance to him and all Scots were also required to pay homage to Edward.

Towards the end of 1291, Balliol was crowned King of Scots at Scone Abbey and he swore homage to Edward I for the Kingdom of Scotland. Edward then treated Scotland as a vassal state and in 1294 he summoned John Balliol to appear before him and ordered him to provide Scottish troops and funds for an invasion of France. In response, Balliol convened the Scottish parliament and established a council of war. The Scots also negotiated a treaty of mutual assistance with Philip IV of France at this time (the “Auld Alliance”).

In 1295 Edward I ordered John Balliol to relinquish control of the castles and burghs of Berwick, Jedburgh and Roxburgh and when he refused the war began with Edward’s sack of Berwick in March 1296. This was soon followed by a crushing Scottish defeat at Dunbar which forced John Balliol to abdicate.

The English invasion had subdued most of Scotland by the end of the summer and the Stone of Destiny was taken to Westminster Abbey, Edward convened a parliament at Berwick, where the Scottish nobles once again paid homage to him as King of England. Scotland had been all but conquered.

The revolts which broke out in early 1297 were led by William Wallace, Andrew de Moray and other Scottish nobles and they won a stunning victory at Stirling Bridge. This was followed by Scottish raids into northern England and the appointment of Wallace as Guardian of Scotland early in 1298. But later that year, Edward invaded again and won a decisive victory at Falkirk.

Wallace was succeeded as Guardian by Robert Bruce, John Comyn and William de Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews.

Further campaigns by Edward in 1300 and 1301 led to a truce between the Scots and the English in 1302. After another campaign in 1303/1304, Stirling Castle, the last major Scottish held stronghold, fell to the English, and in February 1304, negotiations led to most of the remaining nobles paying homage to Edward. After the capture and execution of Wallace in 1305, Scotland seemed to have been finally conquered. Edward I died in 1307.

King Robert the Bruce: 1306–1328

On 10 February 1306, during a meeting between Bruce and Comyn, the two surviving claimants for the Scottish throne, Bruce killed John Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries. Bruce managed to rally the Scottish prelates and nobles behind him and was crowned King of Scotland at Scone in April. He then began a campaign to free his kingdom from the English. After initially being defeated in battle he was driven from the Scottish mainland but he returned in 1307 and, using guerilla tactics, he defeated the English in a number of small battles including Loudon Hill. His forces continued to grow in strength and the Scots won a famous Scottish victory at Bannockburn in 1314.

The Scots captured Berwick in 1318 and the following year won a decisive victory at Myton near York before withdrawing.

Eventually in 1320, the Scots issued the Declaration of Arbroath to the Pope affirming Scottish independence from England. Edward II invaded Scotland in 1322 without success and the Scots pursued the English back across the border and they were victorious again in Yorkshire, this time at Old Byland.

In 1327, Edward II of England was deposed and the subsequent invasion of northern England by Robert the Bruce forced the new king, Edward III, to sign the Treaty of Northampton in May 1328. This treaty recognised the independence of Scotland with Robert Bruce as its King.

The Second War of Independence: 1332–1357

Robert the Bruce's died in 1329 but as his son David was too young to rule, the Guardianship was assumed by Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray. Edward III was determined to overturn the treaty agreed at Northampton and he had the support of a group of Scottish nobles, led by the claimant Edward Balliol and Henry Beaumont, known as the 'Disinherited.' These were nobles who had supported the English in the First War of Independence and then had lost all their lands after the Scottish victory.

The Earl of Moray died in 1332 and he was replaced by Domhnall II, Earl of Mar as the new Guardian. Meanwhile a small force led by Balliol had set sail from England with Edward’s covert support. They landed at Kinghorn in Fife in August and at Dupplin Moor, Balliol's army, commanded by Henry Beaumont, defeated the larger Scottish force killing the new Guardian. Edward Balliol then had himself crowned as King of Scots in September at Scone Abbey. However, Archibald Douglas, the new Guardian of Scotland attacked Balliol while he was at Annan and forced him to flee to England.

In 1333, Edward III and Balliol, with a large English army, laid siege to Berwick. Archibald Douglas attempted to relieve the town but he was defeated and killed at Halidon Hill. David II and his Queen were moved to the safety of Dumbarton Castle, while Berwick surrendered and was annexed by Edward. By now, much of Scotland was under English occupation, with eight of the Scottish lowland counties being ceded to England by Edward Balliol.

In 1334 David II went into exile in France. In his absence, a series of Guardians kept up the struggle as English armies plundered and burned their way across the country over the next few years.

However, Balliol’s attempt to become the undisputed king of Scotland was finally defeated in the autumn of 1335 when his key ally David Strathbogie was killed at Culblean by the forces of the Guardian, Andrew de Moray.

By the end of 1336, the Scots had regained control over virtually all of Scotland and in 1338 Edward III claimed the French throne and took his army to Flanders, beginning what was to become the “Hundred Years' War” with France.
David II eventually returned to Scotland in June 1341.

In 1346, the French king, Philip VI, appealed for to the Scots to invade England in order to relieve Calais. David led a Scots army into England but they were heavily defeated at Neville’s Cross in October. David was captured and held prisoner for eleven years in the Tower of London, during which time Scotland was ruled by his nephew, Robert Stewart.

Edward Balliol returned to Scotland soon afterwards with a small force in a final attempt to recover Scotland but he only succeeded in gaining control of part of Galloway. He finally resigned his claim to the Scottish throne in 1356 and he died in 1364.

In October 1357 David was released under the Treaty of Berwick, under which the Scots agreed to pay a largeransom. He ruled Scotland until his death in 1371. Edward III died in 1377.