The wars between the English and the Scots were long and hard fought but with the death of the “Great and Terrible King” Edward Longshanks and the succession of his weak and indecisive son Edward the Second, the advantage began to move towards the Scots under their highly effective leader Robert The Bruce. In June 1314 Bruce faced a large English army seeking to relieve Stirling Castle at Bannockburn, and heavily defeated it using his mobile schiltrons and aggressive tactics.
James Douglas, the Lord of Douglas earnt his reputation and fortune in the Scottish wars for independence. A staunch ally of Robert the Bruce, he was one of the Scots main commanders and soon earnt the name the Blak amongst his English foes. His ancestral home and title was stripped from him, so in 1307-08, he mounted a campaign to harry the English forces in Douglas castle. Ambushing the garrison at church on Palm Sunday, he took them prisoner and then slew them all inside the castle. This incident was called the Douglas Larder and spread fear amongst the English. Knowing the fate of the previous occupants, who would want to garrison Douglas castle with the Blak still at large?
Douglas raided the north of England on many occasions, tying up English armies which would otherwise have been attacking Scotland. He was a master of guerilla tactics – an English expedition in 1310 led by Edward II returned empty handed. The King wrote angrily:
"Robert Bruce and his accomplices, when lately we went into parts of Scotland to repress their rebellion, concealed themselves in secret places after the manner of foxes."
At Roxborough Castle in February 1314, he used the celebration on the night of Shrove Tuesday/Ash Wednesday to approach and scale the castle walls. He and his men crawled toward the castle hidden under cloaks and were mistaken for livestock. The castle guards were overwhelmed and the castle was partly demolished.
While many Scottish Noble families were impoverished by the war, Douglas and his followers made their fortune in cross border raids. In the aftermath of Bannockburn Scottish morale is high, and its forces seek to take advantage of English disarray. With Wallace long dead a new right-hand man for Bruce, Sir James Douglas, known to the Scots as the “Guid’ Sir James” takes the war to the English in a series of devastating raids across the border. Douglas has been described as the most terrifying warrior ever to come out of Scotland and his strong performance commanding a schiltron at Bannockburn had placed him in a position of prominence in the Scottish army.
Douglas and his raiding force are approaching the small market town of Canwick. The vanguard to his flying column approaches the town as dawn breaks. The aim is to capture the town and as many cattle as they can gather and take valuable hostages. You know through a captured serf that the wife of the local Lord is staying with her husband and his retinue in the town along with wealthy merchants. She is a cousin of the king and will serve as a valuable hostage. Douglas' follower Alexander Lochiel, with his cavalry approaches the town in Move 1. Douglas arrives on Move 2.
In Northumbria, after Bannockburn, English morale is low. A weak King and a lack of strategy has left the Northern parts of England open to devastating raids and the Barons of the North are particularly alert to the threat of raids by the Black Douglas.
In Canwick the local Lord Richard Percy has assembled his own retinue to defend against a possible raid. A small but tough Templar force can also be summoned by the call of a horn when the Scots are spotted by the lookout on the top of the Tower in Canwick. Roll a D6. The lookout on the tower will spot the raiding force and raise the alarm on move 1 on a roll of 3, 4, 5, or 6 and in any event on move 2. When the alarm is given, the Templars’ force will arrive one turn later on a D6 roll of 5 or 6, increasing to a roll of 4, 5, or 6 in the following turn and a 3, 4, 5, or 6 on any succeeding turn.
When the alarm is raised the Lady of the Manor seeks sanctuary in the church as agreed with her husband.
A small shallow river runs south of the town but only slows movement to half-speed for the approaching Scottish force. It is early morning in Canwick, and six villagers are out and about herding the cattle that are grazing in the fields between the river and the town. To capture a peasant a Scot only needs to move to within one inch of them and the resulting captive serf can herd two cattle as directed by the Scots.
In the town some other humble folk are going about their daily business and two wealthy merchants are discussing trade. If the Scots get within one inch of one or both of the merchants, they can be put under the guard of a member of their levy and transported back to Scotland for ransom.
A special rule applies to Lady Eleanor who has fled to the church from the manor. Although both the Bruce and Douglas have killed people in churches before, on this occasion his men will not risk breaking rules of sanctuary – but they will tell Lady Eleanor that if she does not surrender to them, they will kill some of her serfs and burn the whole village. She consults with her monks, and on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 agrees to leave with The Scots under the guard of one of their knights.
Here are some suggestions to fight this raid using Lion Rampant 2. Each side has two retinues and a mix of troop types.
UNIT |
TYPE |
POINTS |
Douglas and Veteran knights Fearsome |
Elite Cavalry |
8 |
Foot knights |
Elite Infantry |
6 |
Archers |
Archers |
4 |
Spearmen |
Light Infantry with spears/javelins |
4 |
Warrior Infantry |
Sword/Axe. Light shield |
4 |
Lochiel and veteran light cavalry |
Veteran Light cavalry with Javelins |
5 |
Warrior Infantry Gallowglass |
Sword/Axe/light shield |
4 |
Archers |
Archers |
4 |
Veteran Spearmen |
Veteran Light infantry with spears/javelins |
6 |
Skirmishers |
Light skirmishing infantry with mixed arms |
2 |
UNIT |
TYPE |
POINTS |
Baron Percy and Veteran knights |
Elite Cavalry |
6 |
Foot knights |
Heavy Infantry |
4 |
Archers |
Archers |
4 |
Light Infantry Javelins |
Light Infantry |
3 |
Light infantry spears |
Light Infantry |
3 |
Templar Lord de Camembert and Veteran knights Lionheart |
Elite Cavalry |
8 |
Templar Foot Knights |
Elite Infantry |
6 |
Crossbowmen |
Crossbowmen |
4 |
Spearmen |
Light Infantry with Spears |
3 |
Levy |
Levied Infantry |
1 |
For the Scots, the removal of 6 cattle and accompanying peasants is a minor victory without losing more casualties than the English do. Take valuable, ransomable hostages as well for a big win. The English must hold the town and kill more of the enemy than they suffer. A major victory is to kill Douglas or Lochiel while holding the town and losing less troops and no hostages.
This scenario can easily be translated to The Barons War ruleset by scaling down the forces, or to Hail Caesar and Swordpoint by scaling up by two times. Units in Lion Rampant 2 are typically 6 for cavalry and 12 for infantry (6 for elite infantry). You will either bring fear, fire, and the sword to the folk of England or face up to the ferocious Scots and chase them back across the bloody border. Will the Black Douglas cut a bloody swathe across Northumbria or will his brave English enemies end his reign of terror in Canwick?
Douglas’ earlier or later exploits could be gamed with further raids into Northern England or some of his daring exploits attacking English-held castles. Douglas picked times when the English would be at prayer or celebrating, so an ambush in a church or surprise attack on a drunk garrison all have gaming potential. The English made a habit of keeping valuable hostages in cages and suspending them over castle walls - Mary Bruce was held at Roxborough from 1306 to 1310 in such a cage exposed to the public view. Isabella MacDuff was similarly imprisoned at Berwick Castle. A scenario could be envisioned where the Black Douglas comes to rescue a Scottish maiden from the perfidious English. WS&S
This article was featured in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy Magazine 127. Discover this issue, and others, in our webshop:
