Later Medieval Scots - Britain

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Historical Overview Section

The Late Middle Ages in Scotland was a period where the boundaries were set by the death of kings-that of Alexander III in 1286 and James IV in 1513, one by accident and the other by war. The period saw the the Wars of Scottish Independence.

The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328. The revolts which broke out in early 1297, led by William Wallace, Andrew de Moray and other Scottish nobles, forced the 100-yrs War English -Britain to send more forces to deal with the Scots, however Wallace and de Moray's continuing campaigns eventually led to the first key Scottish victory, at Stirling Bridge. This was followed by Scottish raids into northern England and the appointment of Wallace as Guardian of Scotland in March 1298. Edward invaded again and defeated the Scots at Falkirk. The war then ground on until the capture and execution of Wallace in 1305, when Scotland seemed to have been finally conquered and the revolt calmed for a period.

This didn't sit well with Robert The Bruce who had decided tat he was the rightful King of Scotland. In 1306, Bruce rallied the Scottish prelates and nobles behind him and had himself crowned King of Scots at Scone. After being defeated in battle he was driven from the Scottish mainland as an outlaw, but again came out of hiding in 1307. The Scots thronged to him, and he defeated the English in a number of battles. His forces continued to grow in strength, encouraged in part by the death of Edward I in July 1307. The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 was an especially important Scottish victory. When in 1327, Edward II of England was deposed and killed. The invasion of the North of England by Robert the Bruce forced Edward III of England to sign the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton on 1 May 1328, which recognised the independence of Scotland with Bruce as King.

After Robert the Bruce's death, King David II was too young to rule, so the guardianship was assumed by Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray. But Edward III, determined to avenge the humiliation by the Scots backed a rival claim by Edward Balliol, the son of John Balliol. Thus the Second War (1332–1357) began with the English-supported invasion of Edward Baliol and the "Disinherited" in 1332, and was tough for a while until in 1338 Scotland received some breathing space when Edward III claimed the French throne and took his army to Flanders, beginning the Hundred Years' War with the Medieval French. King David by now was old enough to lead an army into England at the behest of the Medieval French, but he got a right pasting at the Battle of Neville's Cross, and ended up in prison for 11 years. However the Scots resistance was still virulent, and the English were distracted in France so by the end of the campaign in 1357 Scotland remained independent and remained thus, until the unification of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603,

The wars were part of a great national crisis for Scotland and the period became one of the most defining moments in the nation's history. At the end of both wars, Scotland retained its status as an independent nation. The wars were important for other reasons, such as the emergence of the longbow as a key weapon in mediaeval warfare.

Allies

• Scots Isles, Later, and Highlanders : Any Storm of Arrows 27 0-16 Iselmen, and 0-16 groovy IMpactFoot Bw* Highlanders. Interesting and funky

Useful Links

User-contributed links about this army:

• Scots Heraldry from 1298 - slightly before this period
• Robert The Bruce.com Links to him and some battles
• put the link text readers will see in here write some more detail about the link here

Using the army in FoG

• The list is a lightweight longbow army, hampered by the lack of swords for some of its shooters, and also (arguably) by the presence of the massed protected spearmen
• If the spearmen are to deal with knights, the definitely need as much rear support and the presence of generals - preferably ICs - as you can muster. As long as they remain undisrupted they should be OK, but make sure the rest of your army is looking for flanks to attack or easier meat to chew on at the same time.
• Your aim with this army is to shoot as much as possible. Make sure you get your long range shot and 2 more at short range.
• LBw to the front in 8’s or 4's, with small 4s of men at arms set 4-5" back from the LB line give rear support with limited risk. And can often get back any victorious Kn who do break through. Armoured ones are good enough.
• Units of 4 LB are far more manoeuvrable, but they suffer badly from any losses.
• Adding a General when charged means for the Longbow men the rerolls on both shooting and melee dice will make the difference. If you are charged by knights and LBw can disrupt them by shooting you should win the impact with 12 dice vs 6. If not, you still have a decent chance to bounce knights. The men at arms act as bastions of strength between the longbow units, spreading casualties over more units, and even if you lose at impact they can mean that you've got a better chance of winning in melee.
• If you are disrupted by charging knights after melee they won't bounce, so you'll have a chance to slog it out in a long combat, which is going to be tough.
• The best way to beat knights is to kill an element so they take (if they're run in 4's) -1 on CT’s for 25% losses, and this stands for every test. With 10-12 dice at Impact (including shooting) and a general in the front rank you'll likely get 3-4 hits, which means even if the knights win, hey lose a base a 1 or maybe a 2, which is a very bad thing for them.
• At 800 pts use three/4 generals IC/FC, +TCs. For 600 pts use two generals, TC/FC, TC. Even though the LB are swordsmen, they don’t want to be in combat – they can win most shooting battles anyway, at far less risk to themselves.
• Try to get as much Uneven and Rough down as you can, as LB move through it normally but Knights and HF don't like it.

Tournament Performance

2 / 27 Later Med Scots Britcon 2007 15mm (open)
2 / 20 Later Mediaeval Scots, Continental Warfare 2008 15mm (S&S, SoA, EE)
12 / 16 MEDIEVAL SCOTS (BRITAIN) Scottish Open 2008 (open)

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures suitable for Late Medieval Armies

You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site

• Essex Miniatures - vast range of generic medieval figures
• Donnington C15 Europe Range, 36-strong WOTR range,
• Museum Miniatures 100YW & WOTR ranges with nice generic mounted and dismounted knights
• Gladiator Miniatures by Fighting 15's (Previously Black Hat) 40+ Medievals, 18 WOTR, plus Feudal/Crusade ranges
• Corvus Belli 30 or so figures in a well-regarded 100YW range
• Old Glory 15's, large number of medieval figures
• Minifigs 2 large and separate 100YW Crecy & Agincourt ranges, plus large WOTR selection
• Irregular Miniatures 60 medievals in a range spanning East/West Europe from Late Feudal to C15
• Lancashire Games Around 30 generic & English medievals
• QRF Models An extensive Scots Range covering Dark Ages through to the 16th Century and 20 WOTR figure codes in the Feudal Castings range. A few of the Elizabethan & Tudor wars figures might also be useful.
• Tin Soldier 40 C14 & C15 medievals, including Swiss and equipment
• Battle Line Miniatures (NZ) 60 generic Medievals, some noted for WOTR
• Vexilia Extensive Mirliton & Venexia Italian/Burgundian Wars ranges for C15 armies
• Isarus - sold by 15mm.co.uk 70 codes in their C11-C15 Medus ranges
• AlainTouller Figurines A dedicated Spanish/Almughavar late medieval range
• Gallia 21 Late Medievals (a little small)

Army Lists

Sample army lists for this army

Name of Army / Date

• Using asterisks inthe edit mode creates a bulleted list in the actual site
• This is a lot easier to do than easier than setting up tables
• For FoG I suggest listing your army in order or march
• with troop desctiptions on each line, for example
• 4 HF Armoured Average Drilled Impact Foot Swordsmen
• 8 LG Undrilled Unarmoured Poor Bowen
• Dont forget to include your Generals !!!

Include any notes you want here, including comments on how to use - or play against - the army.

Remember to leave a line before you copy the above section as a template for your own list

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