Irish Gallóglaigh were elite Irish nobles and mercenaries from the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland and Scotland, dominating the battlefield from the mid-13th to late 16th centuries.
Known for their exceptional combat skills and fearsome reputation, they were heavily armored, often donning intricately crafted metalwork that offered both protection and intimidation.
These warriors fought valiantly with Danish axes, longswords, claymores, and sometimes spears or lances, showcasing their versatility in weaponry. Their unique blend of Norse and Gaelic heritage allowed them to adopt various tactics, making them highly sought after not only for their martial prowess but also for their strategic insights in warfare.
The Gallóglaigh played significant roles in numerous conflicts across the British Isles, as they navigated the turbulent political landscapes of the time, often aligning with local chieftains while pursuing their own interests.
Their legacy remains embedded in the history of Ireland and Scotland, symbolizing a time of fierce independence and martial excellence.
The famous ‘Sparth’ or Galloglaich axe, approximately 6ft long (various heads of several different styles and shapes have been found in Ireland), was by far the most common weapon.
There are also a few depictions of medium-length spears being used by Galloglaich though they were invariably armed with the Sparth as their trademark weapon.
More Irish still to come.
A question fromGuru:
If the term “Aussie teetotaler” is an oxymoron, what about an “Irish noble “?
Bows and arrows, often overlooked in Viking weaponry discussions, played a crucial role in hunting and warfare during the early Middle Ages. Archery provided a tactical advantage by allowing distant attacks.
The unique ‘Viking bow’ reflects the skill of its makers and was tailored to archer needs. These essential tools were significant for survival and had a lasting impact on Viking culture and society.
Recent archaeological findings at the Viking-age settlement in Birka, Sweden, reveal that local warriors practiced Eastern-style archery, highlighting a cultural exchange between the Vikings and neighboring societies.
The discoveries of arrowheads with steppe designs and gorytoi, bow cases used by mounted archers, indicate the influence of Scythian techniques. Additionally, a crafted thumb ring was found, underscoring the significance of this practice, often inaccurately labeled as ‘Mongolian’ style.
These findings shed light on the weaponry and tactics of Birka’s warriors and prompt a re-evaluation of Viking interactions with Steppe cultures, illustrating their ability to incorporate foreign elements into their martial heritage.
Ancient Irish warriors, likened to strong and loyal wolves, wore wolf skins or styled their hair during raids for camouflage and intimidation. This practice also connected them to the revered animal in Celtic mythology, as they believed it enhanced their courage and fighting skills in battle.
The werewolves of Ossory feature in medieval Irish, English, and Norse tales, likely inspired by the bravery of ancient Irish warriors wearing wolf skins, who performed remarkable feats in battle.
These creatures are compared to wolves, embodying both admiration and fear, and serve as guardians of magical realms, reflecting the struggle between humanity and wildness. This duality intrigues historians and mythologists, symbolizing the tension between losing control and loyalty to family and land.
Laignech Fáelad were the legendary werewolves of Ossory, who were believed to be descendants of the brave warrior Laignech Fáelad, who was an ancestor of the kings of Ossory.
Viking Baresark on the left and the Irish “wolfman” with Danish Axe on the right.
I have visited three Celtic sites that showcase the spiritual power and ingenuity of the Celtic people: Skara Brae in Northern Scotland, with its well-preserved prehistoric ruins; Stonehenge, a monumental structure that highlights the engineering and astronomical skills of the Celts; and Skellig Michael, an isolated monastery off the coast of Ireland, reflecting the devotion of its ancient residents. Newgrange in Ireland and Maeshowe in the Orkneys also connect with Celtic spirituality and should be considered alongside these.
Getting to the remote island of Skellig Michael is no easy feat, but it offers an experience worth having. This stunning spot juts out from the Atlantic Ocean, capturing everyone’s attention with its rugged charm. The old stone buildings stand as a testament to the monks’ dedication. They spent their days chanting hymns that echoed off the cliffs and soaking in breathtaking coastal views. No wonder pilgrims and curious minds visit this UNESCO World Heritage site, where monks embraced solitude amid a beautiful yet tough landscape.
Skellig Michael is more than a historic Irish monastery; it is known for stunning views and well-preserved stone buildings. Established in the sixth or seventh century, it served as a retreat for monks seeking solitude and connection with God, occupied for over 600 years and linked to St. Fionan.
By the thirteenth century, it was pretty much abandoned, but it still attracted pilgrims who were looking for some peace and inspiration within its sacred walls.
During the summer, local monks would visit to inspect the buildings, engaging in communal prayers and rituals that highlighted the spirituality of this remarkable site. The resonance of their chants mixed with candlelight and the historical surroundings, creating a solemn atmosphere of respect and tranquility, appealing to those seeking a profound experience of faith and introspection.
The monks went to Skellig Michael, knowing they were choosing a difficult life fighting the “Dark Side” of the world. They understood it wouldn’t be easy and chose a life of self-denial to oppose Satan’s power and seek Eternal Life.
Besides living a life of prayer and sticking to their beliefs, the monks on this isolated island were all about preserving culture during a time when Europe was a total mess and chaos was everywhere.
The barbarian tribes went on the rampage across the continent, turning the proud legacies of Rome into distant memories. These new leaders disliked Roman customs; they viewed the ideas of the past as threats to their power and sought to erase links to the classical world.
In the middle of all this craziness, the monks poured their hearts into protecting knowledge and art by carefully copying ancient manuscripts and quietly practicing their faith, creating a little haven of learning amid the chaos surrounding them.
They knew that keeping these treasures safe was crucial, not just for their own survival, but for future generations who might one day want to bring back the lost legacy of civilization.
During a tumultuous time in Western Europe, Irish monks preserved ancient knowledge by copying manuscripts and founding monastic schools, which merged classical teachings with local traditions, leading to a cultural revival that impacted Europe for centuries.
The figure represents a Saxon monk from Gripping Beast. It is perplexing why figure makers choose to depict monks with such pointed swords; historically, these religious individuals adhered to a philosophy of non-violence, typically favoring blunt weapons that symbolize peace and spiritual enlightenment rather than conflict.
Bishop Odo from the Bayeux Tapestry shown with a blunt weapon.
The island served as Luke Skywalker’s sanctuary on Ahch-To in “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi,” acting as a breathtaking backdrop for key moments in the saga and a symbol of hope and solitude. With its rugged cliffs and serene waters, the location highlighted Luke’s internal struggles and his journey towards acceptance of the past, while the ancient Jedi temple connected the present storyline to the rich lore of the Jedi Order.
Darius and Attila ran the same army lists as last game two weeks ago.
That is, Darius ran a Saxon army fielding mostly quality troops. This meant the army was small in numbers.
Attila ran a large Romano British army made up of cheap troops, a Saxon ally and one extra command pip.
In the pictures Attila’s army is the closest. All references to left or right flanks are from Attila’s perspective.
Darius was the Defender. As such he selected the terrain. He decided to try something different and set down two Woods in the middle of the playing area.
Darius’ strategy was to wait behind the woods on the left flank and take opportunities to pick off enemy units as they came through. He planned to skirmish on the right.
Attila set up to fight Darius on his own side of the woods. After a while he realised that this would not happen so decided to advance through the woods on the left. To do this he used his ally who had warriors who are not disadvantaged by woods.
Attila decided to try to get around on the extreme right flank.
PICTURES.
Start.
This shows the starting positions form Attila’s side.
Left 1.
Attila is reforming his forces to go through and around the woods on the left.
Right 1 and Right 2.
Shows Attila’s horse trying to get around the right. Darius’ Light Bow are in the woods and move hoping to get some shots on the horse.
Centre 1.
Darius’ manoeuvres to a defensive posture to await the enemy coming through the woods.
Left 2 and Centre 2.
Attila has come through the woods and around the woods on the left and the battle begins. Attila has the advantage in numbers but Darius has the quality.
Right 3.
Darius sends in a unit of Noble Riders hoping to destroy or delay the enemy Ordinary Riders.
Right 4, Right 5 and Right 6.
Not Darius’ night again. Attila’s horse destroy the Light Bow in one round and destroy the Noble Riders in the next. Then they can be seen to be galloping around the back of the woods on the right hoping to get into the rear of the enemy in the main battle on the left. They almost got there in time. But not quite.
Left 3, Left 4, Left 5 and Left 6
Show the main battle on the left. Darius inflicts serious damage on Attila’s units but does not destroy any. He is outnumbered and eventually this is his undoing. His army loses enough units and has to take moral tests to continue.
But its only a matter of time and in the end his army breaks.
Sad but true.
It must be said though that Attila had some very lucky early fights that gave him the advantage.
With being unable to attend this weeks gaming it is great to have Andrew W write the blog for this week.
But really Andrew – “Daggmore”?
Unfortunately Daggmore could not make the game today. We missed him.
So it was left to Darius and Attila.
Darius decided to run a Saxon army fielding mostly quality troops. This meant the army was small in numbers.
Attila ran a large Romano British army made up of cheap troops, a Saxon ally and one extra command pip.
In the picture Attila’s army is the closest. The picture was taken after the first turn.
Unfortunately the 6/1 Demon arose and smite the camera’s battery and thus there is only one picture. The good news is we did not see him again for the rest of the game. The dicing was “normal” (Whatever that is.) – “for you Andrew that is rolling game high 2’s!!!”.
Darius launched his attack with his usual zeal and daring. Unfortunately Darius was a little outnumbered on his left flank. This problem was compounded straight away when Attila’s light foot routed one of his light foot in the first round of shooting.
The fighting on that flank resolved itself into Darius being beaten mainly due to being outnumbered and the staying power of Attila’s shield wall.
In the centre Darius crashed into the Romano British shield wall inflicting lots of damage. But not enough to kill.
The fighting over the next few rounds included many interesting sub battles.
Gradually the Saxon units were routed, mainly because they were outnumbered. This eventually resulted in the demise of the Saxons.
I have to say at the outset that although I play to win on the table top I am a strong advocate for anti-competitive and anti-competition styles of gaming (see the other blogs). So it was with somewhat jaundiced eyes that I played my first game of ADLG last night and it bought back all of the good and bad memories of the DBX sets of rules.
The recently produced English version (2015?) is actually version three of the rules and has most of the bugs ironed out. We found the rules are very tightly written and with the reasonable index we were able to answer most rules queries reasonably quickly.
They are a set of rules that are ideal for competitions and the more competitive style of gamer as evidenced by the “explosion” of national and international rankings and competitions in only a few short years. It is also interesting to note that the good players from DBM days are at the top of the rankings again, which says more about the style of game than the players.
Despite this the gaming groups I have attended over the years have all played DBX for years in a non-competitive and friendly manner and were able to divorce this normal style of play and put on our “competition face” when in that environment. If you can say using Eskimos as a Forest Indian army competitive!!!
The pre-game set up is very similar to DBM, and is open to all of the vagaries of that system. My bias is that I prefer pre-set realistic tables rather than a random generated, player tweeked, competition style set-up process. So there – I said it!!
Map drawing is again introduced which seems irrelevant seeing that you are required to have at least one command in each sector and very little advantage can be gained because of this. Deployment in depth has to be done within a command and not by having a reserve command behind another. The result is that a number of legitimate tactics like fighting on a narrower front to utilise interior lines and hit a hinge point are denied.
The Game itself:
With years of DBM experience I was able to pick up most of the concepts very quickly.
Some observations:
The game is an element based system with an element equaling a unit;
The game relies on both armies having the same base widths;
Movement mechanics are similar to DBM;
the familiar PIP system exists in a modified form;
Units are single DBX sized bases of Cavalry or Light Infantry with other Foot being in 2 or 3 ranks;
Moves are in UD (unit distance) which equates to Base Width like DBMM;
Shooting is more effective because of the additional ranges;
There is no difference between regular and irregular units;
You must have three generals.
The rules handle mixed units better than most other systems I have used.
I had a thorough look at the army lists for those armies that I use all the time and also those that I have a strong historical knowledge of.
Most were handled well but there is still the perpetuation of the LMI myth.
I found the limits on some troop types restrictive but workable, especially seeing you are trying to represent an army with 20 to 30 elements.
The Peltast style units seems to be done well treating them as javelin men or light infantry javelin men.
Things I don’t like:
It is still a game of millimetres and while the ability to “slide” overcomes many DBX issues lining up for combat is still an issue. I have to say the Dan Mersey systems handle this in a far superior manner.
The pre-game set-up is arbitrary, open to competition rorting and a waste of time – almost a game within a game.
I still had the capacity to “react” to enemy plans too easily and the dreaded 6 – 1 dice roll is still there.
Andrew and David S played the game with a Ghaznavid and Early Archaemenid Persian army respectively. The Persian wings consisted of Persian cavalry and Skythian light cavalry on the right, Iranian infantry and Immortals in the centre, and a Greek hoplite ally on the left. The “Ghazis” had a cavalry right, an infantry and elephant centre, and a spear armed infantry left.
The armies were causing gradual attrition on each other until one devastating turn in which the Persians destroyed a number of units. The end game had that particular DBX feel where you were trying to pick off vulnerable elements to achieve victory.
Will I use them again, probably as other group members like them and it will give me a chance to dust off armies I haven’t used for a while. Will they become my major rule set for ancient war gaming? Definitely not.
The peaceful Island paradise of King David was again going to be torn apart by a clash of armies, with the Imposing Cavalry Knights (Late Roman Army) of King David facing off against the Saxon army of the evil Count Andrew the Younger in a Dux Bellorum 15mm battle.
Count Andrew the Younger had slipped away from the previous battlefield with only his Hearthguard aware that he was still alive. The family hatred for King David was burnt into his very psyche and even now, defeated and bloodied his thoughts were firmly fixed on revenge.
The Saxon Invading Army
The Mad Count Andrew the Younger
Months later, the Count’s planning had now reached the stage where he was ready to return from exile at the head of another army – this time determined for revenge. Learning of the mad Counts arrival on his peaceful Island King David massed his army with the intent of destroying this troublesome family once and for all.
King David’s Royal Army
King David and his Companions
With many of his Knights organising the grain harvest on their estates King David was forced to use his garrison and household troops to repel the invader.
After a cautious advance by the invader King David unleashed his cavalry against the enemies right flank.
After some initial success the battle descended into a large complicated melee. Units pushed back and forward with and both armies were gradually being “fatigued” across the confused battlefront.
Units on both sides started collapsing, but it wasn’t until Count Andrew and his companions were finally ridden down that the battle was decided.
For the first time the Kings army had been pushed to its limits and it was only the bravery of the King and his Companions that fought in close combat for the whole battle that kept the morale of the army together.
Another close Dux Bellorum battle that went down to the wire.
