"Longshanks and the Bruce" Topic

"Longshanks and the Bruce" sounds like a crummy morning zoo radio show. But I digress..

Hey all! Just dipping my toes into medieval wargaming and reading up on the wars of Scottish Independence.

From what I've read it seems ripe for medieval wargaming. There's big set piece battles like Falkrik and Bannockburn, and small skirmish level raids on the borders or between Scottish and English forces on their own side to get recalcitrant nobles and knights in line.

I have a heap of questions but I'll start with just a few (forgive my ignorance for anything I get wrong, I'm an empty pot ready to be filled with the wisdom of TMP)

1) Robert the Bruce was involved in a number of skirmishes and battles before Bannockburn( Perth, Glen Trool, etc). Where can I find wargaming pertinent information about these skirmishes?

2) Edward I. Holy cow that guy got around. From my skimming of various wikipedia articles it looks like he was involved in battles from the time he was a young man until his death, with a special excursion on Crusade. Any suggestions on wargaming any of his more significant battles?

3) I'm taking a crash course on medieval heraldry. I understand during large battles various knights, nobles, kings, etc. would wear their full regalia (shield, tabard, horse barding) showing their heraldry and colors. For these smaller skirmishes, I assume they would dispense with such flash. Would they be armed more like a mounted man at arms?

4) I've got my Osprey Bannockburn book at hand, but I know that's just a starting point. Are there any other sources (wargame magazines, PDF articles, books, etc.) that are either in print or available that I should hit next?

Thanks for any tips and guidance you can provide!

Try Morris's biography of Edward
link

I find that his Welsh Wars more interesting as he was at his peak then, rather than in his twilight years.
Don't forget Robert's brother, Edward Bruce who tried to become High King of Ireland; an interesting period and quite a mix of different troop types with Irish, Scots, English & Welsh being involved.
Longshanks had quite a career, fighting against Simon de Montfort & the barons when he was younger (Battles of Lewes & Evesham). Off to the 9th Crusade, and then on his return to England, the Welsh wars with numerous skirmishes being fought; Llywelyn the Last being slain in such a skirmish.

Try Nigel Tranter's Bruce trilogy link

If you start with the Osprey and Nigel Tranter you'll eventually have to unlearn virtually everything you pick up. In the 14th C. the term man-at-arms (homines ad arma) means an armoured cavalry man – a 'knight' in DBA terms. Concepts of light cavalry have no validity at all here. You will come across hobilars, but they are mounted infantry. They might be OK for frightening civilians from horseback, but that's it. The men-at-arms are the guys that do almost all of the fighting apart from sieges; big battles were pretty rare. English and Scottish men-at-arms – and spearmen and archers – in Robert I's time (and before and after) were indistinguishable from one another.
Those entitled to devices (heraldry) were pretty attached to them and wore them at every opportunity.
You want to read…(narrative) Grey's Scalacronica, Barbour's Bruce, Fordoun's Chronicle and (record) Vols 2, 3 and 5 of 'Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland' . Scholarship…. you want Andrew Ayton, Michael Prestwich for England, Michael Brown and Chris Brown (ahem) for Scotland.
You ABSOLUTELY want to avoid Gardiner and Oman and all the lazy so-and-so s (Reid, Linklater, Cornwell, Fry etc.)that copied them, also Wikipedia and the Bannockburn Visitor Centre; likewise anything that smacks of Braveheart.
If you are reading anything that mentions Scottish shortbows, circular schiltroms (apart from at Falkirk) and about Scots soldiers being less well-equipped and mounted than English soldiers then you should put the book down and never open it again. Email me and I'll happily provide you with a short list of reasonably readable work and do my best to answer any immediate questions…

thathistorybloke@btinternet.com

Re: 'keeping nobles and knights in line'…do bear in mind that the nobles and the knights are the guys leading the fight – and spilling the blood – on both sides.

If you are interested in Bruce in Ireland.

link

Absolutely…Sometimes a bit weak on the military nuts and bolts, but indispensable for he progress of the campaigns and the Irish politics.