Viking faction

Dragon Master · Post by **Dragon Master** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 1:24 am

Your right Duchessa. They did do good things. Like colonizing America and jumpstarting feudalism.

And I guess every culture is evil from someone's point of view. I mean I know America has some moments we would like to forget...

Stupid of me to say, I deleted the previous posts,

DM

(Vikings were missunderstood)

Blasterman · Post by **Blasterman** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 2:57 am

Vikings would be cool. Only because they evolved into
the Norsemen, or Northmen.

Good 'ol William of Normandy and his conquering army!

Barbapple · Post by **Barbapple** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 3:33 am

vikings would be awsome. I can only imagine the longboats......

lemon_squeezer2 · Post by **lemon_squeezer2** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 4:48 am

Blasterman wrote:Good 'ol William of Normandy and his conquering army!

Ha! If it wern't for a Viking army at York at that same time, good old Harold would have won! Go Saxons!

What's with me and contridicting people? I really gotta shut up

I really would like a viking faction - all the pieces are sitting there: Helmets, round shields, good boat pieces... it would seem that no one has put all these together.

Oh yes, the historical side of things... The Vikings weren't really that bad. The raids they made were because thay were desperate to get new land. Of course many of the things they did were not justified (raiding monetaries, slaughtering villagers, etc.) they were the first to set up a parlimentery system (the 'thing' in Iceland), they colinized the new world, and they carried on a very profitable trade through Constantinople. Besides, if it wern't for the Vikings, England as we know it would not be here today (English nobility -> Normans -> 'civilized' Vikings)

Barbapple · Post by **Barbapple** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 5:30 am

quoting myself....I said "I can only imagine the longbotes..."

I was wondering....Has enyone made one?

Blasterman · Post by **Blasterman** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 6:18 am

Ha! If it wern't for a Viking army at York at that same time, good old Harold would have won! Go Saxons!

Maybe, but I doubt it. The Saxons would have still had
trouble with the Norman's calvery.

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 7:33 am

Blasterman wrote:
Ha! If it wern't for a Viking army at York at that same time, good old Harold would have won! Go Saxons!

Maybe, but I doubt it. The Saxons would have still had
trouble with the Norman's calvery.

Harold was basically waiting on William's invasion when he got word of the Viking invasion. Instead of being under pressure from the word go by a rapid concentration of the Great Fyrd troops along with rested Thanes and Huscarls, William got a free pass to establish himself and build some fortifications that he used as a base to devastate the countryside. In the meantime, Harold forced marched north, catching the Vikings by surprise, but his household troops had to bear the brunt of the fighting. This core had to then force-march south, keeping what Fyrd troops it could. Due to the devastation of the Normans, Harold didn't wait to reconcentrate his Fyrd troops from the south and went to seek battle. Even then, it was a long and terrible battle - the Normans barely won as it was. Against fresh troops and more of them? Had the wind been right and William invaded when he planned, Hardrada might have been the one to profit by the death of William rather than the other way around.

It's a bit of a shame - Harold was basically defending his own people against foreign adventurers. But them's the breaks.

lemon_squeezer2 · Post by **lemon_squeezer2** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 2:41 pm

TwoTonic Knight wrote:Maybe, but I doubt it. The Saxons would have still had
trouble with the Norman's calvery.

Well, this is going into more of historical speculation, but If Harold had actually been there with his entire army when William landed, then the Normans wouldn't of had a chance. Circustances just went against the Saxons. After fighting one battle with the Vikings, they had to go down the entire leanght of the English coast in less then a week to get back to thair defences. By the time they got there, the Normans had already landed. Combined with their exaustion, the Saxons were just doomed.

Blasterman · Post by **Blasterman** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 3:23 pm

Hmmm...Maybe I need to read up on Hastings then, because
I was under the impression that the Saxons didn't fair too
well against the mounted Normans reguardless of their
numbers.

Lance calvery against axe wielding footmen?

As far as "if they had been there when they landed" goes -
Well, that's war for you. They weren't there, so it didn't
really matter did it? Luck of the draw for the Normans.

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 4:19 pm

Blasterman wrote:Hmmm...Maybe I need to read up on Hastings then, because
I was under the impression that the Saxons didn't fair too
well against the mounted Normans reguardless of their
numbers.

Lance calvery against axe wielding footmen?

As far as "if they had been there when they landed" goes -
Well, that's war for you. They weren't there, so it didn't
really matter did it? Luck of the draw for the Normans.

Absolutely - luck counts.

The Norman lance was shorter than the it was in later periods, and it was often used overhand rather than couched. William charged numerous times during the day and was beaten back - the two-handed axe can fell a horse in a single blow. In a tight formation, uphill, the Saxons were very tough. Quality infantry was to disappear with the Vikings and Saxons for a long time.

The Normans' big break was when a fair portion of the Saxon ranks broke ranks to pursue the Norman cavalry which was riding back to reform. The Normans weren't broken, and simply turned around and proved the worth of cavalry against scattered foot. From that point, the Normans had the upper hand, and even feigned retreat again several times. But at various points they were on the verge of disaster when rumors of William's death swept through the ranks. William had to ride up and down with his helmet up to reassure his men.

Even then, it wasn't entirely the cavalry, but the steady missle barrage the Norman's kept up, very valuable against a static defense. Combined arms decided the day as much as anything.

Loneranger · Post by **Loneranger** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 4:52 pm

Yes, some one has made a longbote. http://www.brickfrenzy.com/castle_longship.html

LR

Dan_BL · Post by **Dan_BL** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 4:18 am

lone ranger wrote:Yes, some one has made a longbote. http://www.brickfrenzy.com/castle_longship.html

LR

Looks like there is more samurais in it than vikins.

Nonetheless, it looks great. I wish I had more room in my lego town to make one of those and actually allow it to give my lego town a good "look".

footsteps · Post by **footsteps** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 4:58 am

lone ranger wrote:Yes, some one has made a longbote. http://www.brickfrenzy.com/castle_longship.html
LR

See, you don't need an "official" theme in order to create a good one!

Aside to Lemon_Squeezer2:

they were the first to set up a parlimentery system (the 'thing' in Iceland),

'Westminster' was the Mother of the Parliamentary system, but the 'Althing' was the Grandmother!

Alan

Magnus · Post by **Magnus** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 9:34 pm

A Viking sub theme would be awesome, and would allow the castle theme to more civilian type sets. A large Viking longboat, a small viking boat, a Viking hall, a marketplace, a viking cottage, a merchant, a Saxon church, a raiding party, a saxon fortress etc...

As I undertsand it, the Battle of Hasting was not decided primarily by the Norman horsemen. They made repeated charges up the hill, but threw javelins with limited effect at the shield wall, rather than chargeing it in a true lance-charge. The Saxons had lost many of their archers at Stamford Bridge, in battle with the Vikings, and the battle at Hastings was won in part by Norman archers who wittled down the Saxons, and acording to one story, killed King Harold himself towards the end of the struggle. As long as the shield line stood firm, the Saxons were virtually unbeatable. But when a false cry went up that William had fallen, the Saxons abandonned their excellent defensive position and charged down the hill. The Normans counter-attacked once they realised that William was very much still alive, and it was probably in this phase of the battle that the mounted Norman knights were most effective, running down disorganised infantry.

Loneranger · Post by **Loneranger** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 10:13 pm

yes, I like this, people are posting what they think ^_^
Thanks guys for posting what you think

LR

Classic-Castle.com

Viking faction

Vikings and the battle of Hastings