Anglo-Scots Wars

[SnuggleBunnies]

Picked this up recently:

The Anglo-Scots Wars 1513-1550 by Gervase Phillips

Fantastic read. Not only does it give a highly detailed narrative account of the wars, but it examines the Military Revolution debate and the place of the British Isles in it in some detail. He argues pretty persuasively that Britain was not as isolated from common developments as usually argued, for example:

1) That the longbow was retained not simply out of conservatism/tradition, but because it remained an effective weapon for the first half of the century, particularly when combined with arquebusiers
2) That some English forces were highly skilled in small unit tactics
3) That the use of mercenaries was hardly a unique phenomenon, and all other Western European armies also relied heavily upon them. Finally, these mercenaries at least initially did not prove to be game-changing in British warfare

He doesn't argue that the British forces were at the cutting edge of Renaissance warfare, only that they were not quite as behind as usually thought.

Of particular interest to me is the attached diagram of an infantry battalion from 1547.

Anyway, although I'm sure it's not the last word from the subject, and that many of its points can still be debated over, I highly recommend it as a read. In relation to the game, (which I realize is probably permanently done patching) I would love for the later Tudor lists to have skirmisher units composed of 50% Arquebus 50% Bow.

[w_michael]

In what year was it written? The Art of War by Machiavelli had similar diagrams, as did other military treatises in the 15th - 17th centuries.

[SnuggleBunnies]

1999. The source for the formation:

Calendar of State Papers Relating to Scotland, Vol. 1, 1547-63, ed. Joseph Bain (HM Register General House, Edinburgh, 1898).

[smjohnso77]

Very interesting. I'll have to check out that book. Hey, Snugglebunnies, we used to play a lot of challenges on P&K. Where did you go? I miss our matches. We could play the Battle of Pinkie from the challenges since this period interests you.

[SnuggleBunnies]

Ah, my ipad died and I moved on to Pike and Shot: Campaigns.

[smjohnso77]

Hey, Snugglebunnies. I have cleared the room on my challenges for us to play the Battle I'd Pinkie since you are so interested in the Scottish Wars. Maybe we can play Cullodin and Falkirik 1746 too.

[SnuggleBunnies]

You picked up Campaigns then?