knight, man-at-arms and two mounted archers (fought on foot)
French: man-at-arms, an esquire, three mounted archers and a hobelar (light cavalryman)
Armour: Mixture of chain-mail, cuir-bouilli (hardened leather), and half-plate.
Armour was undergoing a considerable evolution in this period. The wargamer may wish to arm the more experienced and affluent troops with the more ‘modern’ styles.
An aketon or simplified hauberk provided padding and a securing place for metal plates and areas of chain mail which protected the articulated parts and extended beyond the lower edge of the jupon. This was worn under a breast-plate which was beginning to replace the mail hauberk. This possibly had a corresponding rear plate. The plate was topped with a surcoat or jupon (more tightly fitting, shorter garment generally without sleeves, although not in the case of the Black Prince’s displayed above his tomb in Canterbury cathedral).
Protection for lower limbs advanced from chain mail to pour point (thickly quilted fabric) through to splinted armour (full plate or white armour by the end of the 14th century).
Feet were covered by mail or articulated sollerets.
Helmet: two types - helm and bascinet
Helm – one piece, reinforced at the front (some with visors developing in middle years of 14th century), becoming more domed/pointed. Worn over a mail hood and a padded cap.
Bascinet – often with exaggerated visor (pig-faced/snout-faced) with a curtain of mail (camail) to sides and rear.
Shield – heater-shaped, becoming smaller over the course of the fourteenth century (wood covered with leather, displaying coat of arms)
Tables and the Battlefield
Terrain
See battle plans.
Initial distance between forces should be 500+ metres
Figure Size/Scale and Colouring
25 mm figures - 50:1
10/15 mm figures – 25:1
Uniforms on both sides were rare with the notable exception of the green and white checks worn by troops from Cheshire. However, the soldiers may have carried some indication of their recruiting captain, possibly adopting heraldic colours, e.g. Arundel’s troops wearing red and white. During Edward I’s Welsh wars, English troops wore an armband bearing the cross of St George.
Summary Tables
It may be useful for the purposes of replaying the battle or reworking the battle under differing conditions to construct tables of combatants by troop type to the nearest 50 or 100. Players may wish to distinguish between men-at-arms, esquires, knights banneret, knights bachelor etc. and to attribute elite or veteran status to the remaining men-at-arms and archers. Such decisions will influence the ‘skill levels’ of each figure/troop grouping.
The following categories may be useful:
Section: vanguard, rearguard, centre/1st, 2nd, 3rd division etc.
Troop Type: men-at-arms, archers, crossbowmen, light infantry etc.
Troop Class: Elite, regular, militia/levy
Armour: light, heavy, none, shield
Weapons: sword, longbow, crossbow, halberd, lance etc.
Infantry/Cavalry.
For example:
Further Reading
Primary Sources
Chronicles and Contemporary Texts
For a description of the route of the 1356 chevauchée from Bergerac see the Eulogium Historiarum , iii, ed. F.S. Haydon, London, 1863.
On the battle of Poitiers itself see The Anonimalle Chronicle , ed.V.H. Galbraith, Manchester, 1927 which contains unique details of the encounter.
Geoffrey Le Baker, Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke, 1305-56 , ed. E.M. Thompson, Oxford, 1889 also provides a full account and includes an exhortation made by the prince to his men before the battle.
The verse biography of the prince’s life written c.1380 by Chandos Herald recounts the battle and details the preliminary negotiations although it is most valuable for the Castilian campaign of 1367. Translations are available in the editions by M. Pope and E. Lodge, Life of the Black Prince by the Herald of Sir John Chandos , Oxford, 1910 and R. Barber, The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince
French: man-at-arms, an esquire, three mounted archers and a hobelar (light cavalryman)
Armour: Mixture of chain-mail, cuir-bouilli (hardened leather), and half-plate.
Armour was undergoing a considerable evolution in this period. The wargamer may wish to arm the more experienced and affluent troops with the more ‘modern’ styles.
An aketon or simplified hauberk provided padding and a securing place for metal plates and areas of chain mail which protected the articulated parts and extended beyond the lower edge of the jupon. This was worn under a breast-plate which was beginning to replace the mail hauberk. This possibly had a corresponding rear plate. The plate was topped with a surcoat or jupon (more tightly fitting, shorter garment generally without sleeves, although not in the case of the Black Prince’s displayed above his tomb in Canterbury cathedral).
Protection for lower limbs advanced from chain mail to pour point (thickly quilted fabric) through to splinted armour (full plate or white armour by the end of the 14th century).
Feet were covered by mail or articulated sollerets.
Helmet: two types - helm and bascinet
Helm – one piece, reinforced at the front (some with visors developing in middle years of 14th century), becoming more domed/pointed. Worn over a mail hood and a padded cap.
Bascinet – often with exaggerated visor (pig-faced/snout-faced) with a curtain of mail (camail) to sides and rear.
Shield – heater-shaped, becoming smaller over the course of the fourteenth century (wood covered with leather, displaying coat of arms)
Tables and the Battlefield
Terrain
See battle plans.
Initial distance between forces should be 500+ metres
Figure Size/Scale and Colouring
25 mm figures - 50:1
10/15 mm figures – 25:1
Uniforms on both sides were rare with the notable exception of the green and white checks worn by troops from Cheshire. However, the soldiers may have carried some indication of their recruiting captain, possibly adopting heraldic colours, e.g. Arundel’s troops wearing red and white. During Edward I’s Welsh wars, English troops wore an armband bearing the cross of St George.
Summary Tables
It may be useful for the purposes of replaying the battle or reworking the battle under differing conditions to construct tables of combatants by troop type to the nearest 50 or 100. Players may wish to distinguish between men-at-arms, esquires, knights banneret, knights bachelor etc. and to attribute elite or veteran status to the remaining men-at-arms and archers. Such decisions will influence the ‘skill levels’ of each figure/troop grouping.
The following categories may be useful:
Section: vanguard, rearguard, centre/1st, 2nd, 3rd division etc.
Troop Type: men-at-arms, archers, crossbowmen, light infantry etc.
Troop Class: Elite, regular, militia/levy
Armour: light, heavy, none, shield
Weapons: sword, longbow, crossbow, halberd, lance etc.
Infantry/Cavalry.
For example:
Further Reading
Primary Sources
Chronicles and Contemporary Texts
For a description of the route of the 1356 chevauchée from Bergerac see the Eulogium Historiarum , iii, ed. F.S. Haydon, London, 1863.
On the battle of Poitiers itself see The Anonimalle Chronicle , ed.V.H. Galbraith, Manchester, 1927 which contains unique details of the encounter.
Geoffrey Le Baker, Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke, 1305-56 , ed. E.M. Thompson, Oxford, 1889 also provides a full account and includes an exhortation made by the prince to his men before the battle.
The verse biography of the prince’s life written c.1380 by Chandos Herald recounts the battle and details the preliminary negotiations although it is most valuable for the Castilian campaign of 1367. Translations are available in the editions by M. Pope and E. Lodge, Life of the Black Prince by the Herald of Sir John Chandos , Oxford, 1910 and R. Barber, The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince
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