No, I was referring to the wing that broke ranks early in the day and gave William the idea for the ruse that pulled in the other wing late in the day I (which is what you mention). And, AFAIK, it was only his housecarls that Harold brought down from the north. I think the fyrd that fought at Hastings was not the same men that fought at Stanford Bridge. But anyway, this is getting is well off topic.
> In any event, arguments about the nature of the Fyrd's training
> by assuming that it uses similar tactics to RW equivalents are
> somewhat misplaced IMO. The Orlanthi have access to flying and
> movement magics which will make some difference on the
> battlefield.
More than somewhat misplaced. Dodgy at best would probably be better. Especially as the anglo-saxon fyrd did not stay static for the few hundred years of its existence.
However, I picture the Heortling fyrd as a group of moderately well trained individuals with little or no idea of acting as unit. Charge as a mob isn't awfully sophisticated. It's also interesting to note that a weaponthane has the same skill range as a hoplite. You'd have to assume that a carl has a skill less than a weaponthane, probably more than a cottar (pity they're not listed). Which means that even on an individual skill level the fyrd is worse than the lunar hoplite regiments. It may be roughly equal to the peltasts. But that's one on one. As soon as it's unit against unit you'd have to favour the Dara Happans/Lunars. Because I assume that the Lunar regulars would get far more *unit* training than the heortling fyrd. However, maybe we'll know more once TR etc get published.
Michael
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