Catraeth is now available in MP!
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 7:15 am
Design notes for Catraeth C600 AD
I nearly gave up on writing this scenario. According to the famous poem "Y Gododdin", 300 champions feasted for a year at Edinburgh (Din Eidyn) before they set off and attacked a much larger force of Angles from Bernicia and Deira at Catraeth (often said to be Catterick) around 600 AD. On the face of it this was not a very promising description to make an sort of scenario from, let alone a reasonably balanced one. But then I discovered the "L'Aigle" wargaming website (now taken down) and based it on what was there.
So, basically, I have copied it for this scenario. There is hardly an original thought of mine in the whole thing! One thing I have done is to make "the 300" fight to the death. The 4 Gododdin champions units do not lose morale or rout in any circumstances - they have to be destroyed. "L'Aigle" dates the battle somewhere between 550 and 593 AD rather than the circa 600 AD that is usually given. This has meant that I have used the Welsh army list for the Gododdin rather than the British one.
There are lots of interesting websites that discuss Catraeth including . . .
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/arc ... raeth.html
http://skyelander.orgfree.com/gododdin.html
http://carlanayland.blogspot.com/2016/0 ... oddin.html
Bibliography
Battles of the Dark Ages, Peter Marren, 2006.
Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, Ken Dark, 2000.
In Search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood, 1981.
Viking Britain, Thomas Williams, 2017.
Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, Guy Halsall, 2003.
I nearly gave up on writing this scenario. According to the famous poem "Y Gododdin", 300 champions feasted for a year at Edinburgh (Din Eidyn) before they set off and attacked a much larger force of Angles from Bernicia and Deira at Catraeth (often said to be Catterick) around 600 AD. On the face of it this was not a very promising description to make an sort of scenario from, let alone a reasonably balanced one. But then I discovered the "L'Aigle" wargaming website (now taken down) and based it on what was there.
So, basically, I have copied it for this scenario. There is hardly an original thought of mine in the whole thing! One thing I have done is to make "the 300" fight to the death. The 4 Gododdin champions units do not lose morale or rout in any circumstances - they have to be destroyed. "L'Aigle" dates the battle somewhere between 550 and 593 AD rather than the circa 600 AD that is usually given. This has meant that I have used the Welsh army list for the Gododdin rather than the British one.
There are lots of interesting websites that discuss Catraeth including . . .
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/arc ... raeth.html
http://skyelander.orgfree.com/gododdin.html
http://carlanayland.blogspot.com/2016/0 ... oddin.html
Bibliography
Battles of the Dark Ages, Peter Marren, 2006.
Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, Ken Dark, 2000.
In Search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood, 1981.
Viking Britain, Thomas Williams, 2017.
Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, Guy Halsall, 2003.