Anglo-Scots Wars
Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 6:30 pm
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.
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.