Monday, 3 November 2025

Lost Battles Hastings 1066 scenario


Below is a scenario for Lost Battles, I tried to follow the section in Lost Battles that described the parameters of scenarios in the system. It has the Normans at 7,500 soldiers and the Anglo Saxons at 8,000 soldiers and the scenario uses the multiplier of 1. The scenario is untested and it was made in June to give me something to build paper armies towards. The paper armies were made with Lost Battles troop ratios in mind. Also each paper warrior to real warrior is roughly 1:7 or 8. Average heavy infantry have a frontage of 80mm (16 x 4 warriors) Huscarls represented by Veteran Heavy Infantry on 40mm front (8 x 4 warriors), each Levy heavy infantry units have 2 x 80mm bases as they represent twice the amount of warriors of an average unit. Light infantry here is represented by 2 x 80mm frontage bases (16 x 2 warriors per base) Average Light infantry in Lost Battles represent the same amount of warriors as an average heavy infantry base, however they are twice as wide. Veteran Cavalry have an 80mm wide base, and have 18 riders on them whereas Average cavalry have 2 bases across, 36 riders and like Light Infantry they occupy a wider slice of the battlefield.

I didn't want to come up with any special rules and wanted to test the Lost Battle system to see if it can manage Hastings. I feel like cavalry was probably very similar to their ancient counterparts, depending on closing and javelin throwing. One of the main features is the somewhat uncontrolled charge off the secure hill by the Anglo Saxons chasing down fleeing Normans. Instead of an involuntary charge rule the Norman Key Zone is placed on the Norman Left, thus if the Anglo Saxons want to strike a morale blow to the Normans they should try to take that zone. Or try to grind down the Normans from the hilltop but in doing so they allow the Normans to dominate most of the field. Also there is a risk that William can use his Brilliant Commander ability to intervene on a faltering flank with his turn flip flop. The field itself has difficult terrain on the flanks, the historical deployment would probably ignore the flank zones and funnel into the 3 central zones, but players can see if flanking forces can make a difference, or whether focusing commands on the attacks and not wading through marsh or navigating trees would be more prudent as the forces on the day found. This is the beauty and fun of Lost Battles you can experiment and tweak as you see fit. I'm certainly not an expert in the battle so I would love to hear suggestions or tweaks to the scenario or even your version of the scenario, its a classic British battle and we love to rake over it!   


HASTINGS, 1066 AD

M: x1 AL:3
Anglo-Saxons:
King Harold Godwinson (Inspired Leader) attached to a VHI
8 VHI (Huscarls 2,000), 8 AHI (Select Fyrd 4,000), 2 LHI (Greater Fyrd 2,000), FV 72.

The Normans:
Duke of Normandy (Brilliant Commander)
8 VHC (Norman Knights 1,000), 4 AHC (French/Breton Cavalry 1,000), 8 AHI (Norman/Mercenary Infantry 4,000), 3 ALI (Bowmen/Crossbowmen 1,500), FV 95.

Approx. 300m per zone


FOREST


HILL


HILL


HILL


FOREST



HILL

KZ




MARSH


KZ





MARSH





FOREST


2 comments:

  1. Great to see LB being used to model Hastings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking forward to seeing how this one plays out!

    ReplyDelete