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A couple of educational flash games from BBC History Channel presenting two important battles from English history - the Battle of Hastings between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons under King Harold II and the Battle of Waterloo pitting the forces the Duke of Wellington against Napoleon Bonaparte. Et par af uddannelsesmæssige flash spil fra BBC History Channel præsenterer to vigtige kampe fra engelsk historie - Slaget ved Hastings mellem Normannerne og angelsakserne under King Harold II og slaget ved Waterloo sætte de kræfter, Hertugen af Wellington mod Napoleon Bonaparte. Both games allow you to exprience the battles from either side and the possible outcomes if either side had fought differently at critical points during each battle. Begge spil giver dig mulighed for at exprience slag fra begge sider og de mulige resultater, hvis en af parterne havde kæmpet forskelligt på kritiske punkter i hver kamp.

The Battle of Hastings : The Normans have infantry, archers and cavalry whereas the Anglo-Saxons is primarily a infantry based army. De Slaget ved Hastings: The Normans har infanteri, bueskytter og kavaleri mens angelsakserne er primært en infanteri baseret hær.

© BBC © BBC

© BBC © BBC

A Norman victory (top) and an Anglo-Saxon victory (bottom) En Norman sejr (øverst) og en angelsaksisk sejr (nederst)

The Battle of Waterloo : The heavily outnumbered French army has powerful artillery and better cavalry than the more numerous Seventh Coalition army comprising Belgian, Dutch, Hanoverian, Brunswick and British troops under the Duke of Wellington. Slaget ved Waterloo: de stærkt outnumbered fransk hær har magtfulde artilleri og bedre kavaleri end de mere talrige syvende Coalition hær bestående af belgiske, nederlandske, Hanoverian, Brunswick og britiske tropper under Duke of Wellington.

© BBC © BBC

© BBC © BBC

A Seventh Coalition victory (top) and a French victory (bottom) En syvende koalitions sejr (øverst) og en fransk sejr (nederst)

Below, I present some of my findings after playing both games several times to discover all possible choices and outcomes. Nedenfor vil jeg fremlægge nogle af mine resultater, efter at spille både spil flere gange for at opdage alle mulige valg og resultater.

While both battles took place in different eras, the same basic principle of preserving a mobile reserve to reinforce a successful breakthrough of enemy lines or to bolster a faltering defence or seal critical gaps in defensive lines is readily apparent. Mens både slag fandt sted i forskellige epoker, det samme grundlæggende princip om at bevare en mobil reserve til at styrke en vellykket gennembrud af fjendens linjer eller at styrke en vaklende forsvar eller forsegle kritiske huller i defensive linjer er umiddelbart indlysende.

Tactics of course vary according to the prevalent weapons of day. Taktik naturligvis variere afhængigt af den fremherskende våben på dagen. In the Battle of Hastings, the bristling spearpoints of the English shield wall provide an effective counter to Norman cavalry charges whereas infantry of the Napoleonic era form into equally immobile squares with their musket bayonets to deter enemy cavalry. I Slaget ved Hastings, fyldt spearpoints af engelsk skjold mur yde en effektiv modvægt til Norman kavaleri afgifter henviser infanteri af Napoleons epoke form i lige så ubevægelig firkanter med deres musket bajonetter at afskrække fjenden kavaleri.

© Osprey Publishing © Osprey Publishing

Above is Wayne Reynold’s illustration of the effectiveness of a solid shieldwall from the 11th December edition of Osprey Publishing’s “Advent Calendar”. Ovenstående er Wayne Reynold's illustration af effektiviteten af et solidt shieldwall fra den 11 december udgave af Osprey Publishing's "Adventskalender". Another shield wall is depicted by late Angus McBride on the 1st December edition. Et andet skjold mur er afbildet i slutningen af Angus McBride om den 1 december udgave.

These two battles still involve armies arrayed in formation against each other before the actual commencement of battle since massed infantry did not possess accurate ranged weapons to inflict substantial damage to their opponents during those times. Disse to kampe stadig involverer hære samles i formation mod hinanden, før den faktiske påbegyndelse af kamp siden samlet infanteri ikke havde nøjagtige varierede våben til at påføre betydelig skade på deres modstandere i disse tider. This probably explains why the artillery were emplaced in front of the French infantry in the battle of Waterloo and the resulting disaster during the early days of WWI when armies attempted to use similar Napoleonic tactics in the face of vastly improved ranged weapons like rifles and machineguns. Dette er formentlig forklaringen den artilleri blev emplaced foran den franske infanteri i slaget ved Waterloo og den deraf følgende katastrofe i de første dage af WWI når hære forsøgte at anvende lignende Napoleons taktik i lyset af den stærkt forbedrede varierede våben som rifler og machineguns.

The same lack of accurate long-ranged weapons could also make a heroic charge by leaders and their heavily-armored and armed bodyguards exemplified in the Battle of Hastings as a viable way of transforming a crisis into sure victory. Den samme mangel på præcise lang varierede våben vil også kunne yde en heroisk afgift af ledere og deres stærkt-armored og væbnede livvagter eksemplificeret i Slaget ved Hastings som en brugbar måde at omdanne en krise i sikker sejr. A similiar valiant attempt would be pure suicide in today’s wars. En lignende tappert forsøg ville være rene selvmord i nutidens krige.

It’s apparent that tactical units have become smaller through the ages probably due to advancements in communication and signalling methods as well as the increased tempo of battle. Det er klart, at taktiske enheder er blevet mindre gennem tiderne sandsynligvis på grund af fremskridt i kommunikations-og signalsystemer metoder samt det øgede tempo i kamp. The increased accuracy and destructiveness of artillery as it evolved over time was possibly a important factor too. Den øgede nøjagtighed og Ødelæggelsesgrad af artilleri, som det har udviklet sig over tid var muligvis en vigtig faktor.

Play The Battle of Hastings and The Battle of Waterloo at BBC History Channel. Spil slaget ved Hastings og slaget ved Waterloo i BBC History Channel.

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