"Bannockburn in 3D" Topic

Hello,
The National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland are to open the new visitor centre at Bannockburn in Stirling this year. They will now have an interactive "battle game" for visitors to participate in. The details are in this link below. Looks interesting!

link

let's hope for the best…..

Looks like I have to go back!

It's not altogether promising I'm afraid…some fairly ropey history. The designers brought in some wargamers and a specialist medieval military historian to have a look at it, but not until the design process was complete.

I'm pretty sure that the actual site of the battlefield has not been located with any degree of accuracy yet…..

i may be wrong(?).

darrell.

Darrell Hindley Figure Painter:
darrellhindley.co.uk
Just Add Water II Blog (Painting etc):
link
La Journee Blog (Hundred Years War):
link
Gewalthaufen Blog (Late 15th Cebtury Blog):
gewalthaufen.blogspot.co.uk

Not really much doubt about it; all the source material has the Scots come down from high ground to deploy on the plain between the Bannock and the Pelstream and then advance toward the English and eventually pushing then back to the soggy ground at the confluence of the two streams. The initial contact could have taken place anywhere over the best part of half a mile or so to the east of where Bannockburn High School stands now – my guess is that's that's where the Scottish army marshalled in the (very) early dawn of 24th June.
Gardiner came up with a mad scheme 100-odd years ago by picking out favoured bits of material (and ignoring the majority) to suit his picture of English medieval armies, but the armies he had in mind were those of Crecy and Agincourt – very different beasts. He and Oman both wanted the main action to take place in the same location as the first action on day one, but that conflicts totally with the sources.
There's not really anything very challenging about the course of the main engagement but ever since the 1860s people have been making up wacky stories – presumably because they would n't – or could n't – read the narrative sources and did n't understand the record material…if they bothered to look at it at all.
Personally I like the one with barefoot ginger Scotsmen armed only with sticks hiding in holes that they've dug in swamps on a hillside and throwing caltrops at English cavalry men until the Templars come to their rescue, but there again I am a romantic by nature.
I could send you the relevant source material and historiological/graphical and tactical analysis if you like. PM me thathistorybloke {AT} btinternet {DOT} com. It's pretty dusty stuff, but such is life…at least you'd be able to avoid the language and palaeography issues….no point in re-inventing the wheel.

Hmmm…been, saw, shed quiet tears on the train on the way back home. For £10.00 GBP.000 there was really no excuse for it to be so very poor….the game is awful too. If something similar were done for Bunker Hill or Gettysburg there would be an outcry.

That bad? What a shame.

It surely is.