The Winwaed 655 is now available in MP!

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Design notes for The Winwaed

"At this time King Oswy was exposed to the fierce and intolerable irruptions of Penda, king of the Mercians, whom we have so often mentioned, and who had slain his brother; at length, necessity compelling him, he promised to give him greater gifts than can be imagined, to purchase peace; provided that the king would return home, and cease to destroy the provinces of his kingdom. That perfidious king refused to grant his request, and resolved to extirpate all his nation, from the highest to the lowest; whereupon he had recourse to the protection of the Divine goodness for deliverance from his barbarous and impious foes, and binding himself by a vow, said, ‘If the pagan will not accept of our gifts, let us offer them to Him that will, the Lord our God.’ He then vowed, that if he should come off victorious, he would dedicate his daughter to our Lord in holy virginity, and give twelve farms to build monasteries. After this he gave battle with a very small army against superior forces: indeed, it is reported that the pagans had three times the number of men; for they had thirty legions, led on by most noted commanders. King Oswy and his son Alfrid met them with a very small army, as has been said, but confiding in the conduct of Christ; his other son, Egfrid, was then kept a hostage at the court of Queen Cynwise, in the province of the Mercians. King Oswald’s son Ethelwald, who ought to have assisted them, was on the enemy’s side, and led them on to fight against his country and uncle; though, during the battle, he withdrew, and awaited the event in a place of safety. The engagement beginning, the pagans were defeated, the thirty commanders, and those who had come to his assistance were put to flight, and almost all of them slain; among whom was Ethelhere, brother and successor to Anna, king of the East Angles, who had been the occasion of the war, and who was now killed, with all his soldiers. The battle was fought near the river Winwed, which then, with the great rains, had not only filled its channel, but overflowed its banks, so that many more were drowned in the flight than destroyed by the sword."
From Bede for the year 655

The site of the battle is uncertain. One suggestion that the “Winwaed” is, in fact, Cock Beck, which was to become famous at Towton 800 years later.

This is a short 12-turn scenario depicting an ambush.

This is a “kill the king” scenario so the battle will end immediately one of the commanders is killed.

The Mercian forces are generally “below average” because they were very tired after a long campaign and they were completely taken by surprise by the Northumbrian ambush.

Aethelwald of Deira's contingent and the Welsh contingent, both on the Mercian side, will test on Turn 1 to see if they will stay in the battle. In the real battle they withdrew from the fighting to leave the Mercians and East Anglians to fight alone.

It is speculated that some Picts and Dal Riatans fought with the Bernicians in this battle so I have included contingents to represent them.

After the battle, in which Penda and Aethelhere were killed, the Northumbrians were in ascendancy for a short period. Penda's son ruled in southern Mercia until he was killed by his wife (a Northumbrian) in 656 and the Northumbrians rules in northern Mercia until the Mercians rebelled and drove them out again.

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.

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Version 2 now available which adds my new-fangled baggage train with guard unit to the mix.