I just ran into another nasty little problem for the engine. Battles need to develop over time; the means that information about the state of the battle must be communicated from one battle encounter to the next. There’s actually quite a bit of information to be transmitted, as each of the subkings will be suffering losses independently, and of course the Saxon army will be taking losses as well. Thus, there are ten numbers that must be passed from encounter to encounter: the warrior count of each subking, Arthur’s count of warriors, and the Saxon strength.
This raises another problem: what do I call the warriors? That term isn’t really apropos: these people aren’t random guys picking up swords. They are cavalry, and they’re more like militia in that they undergo a certain amount of training. Perhaps I should call them ‘horsemen’. The Saxons should rightly be called ‘warriors’.
All of my existing battle bits from the previous version of Le Morte D’Arthur assume ground fighting, but I have to rewrite them to address the way that Arthur’s horsemen fight the Saxon warriors. They don’t just wade in an start swinging swords. The horseman’s advantage is that he is mobile. A group of horsemen can attack at one spot, then wheel about, retreat, then attack in a completely different spot.
So I did some research. Now, we don’t know anything about how Arthur’s horsemen would have fought, but we do have a lot of information on Roman cavalry, and the results are messy, because there were so many variations. My conclusions are that the primary advantage that Briton cavalry had over Saxon infantry was in maneuver before the battle; Arthur could choose the best ground and attack them there. He could also rely heavily on ambush rather than set-piece battle.
The primary tactic of cavalry against infantry was to ride up, throw javelins, and retreat. They didn’t wade into the infantry mass unless that mass was already starting to disintegrate. However, I’m willing to have them dismount and fight as infantry when on the defensive. They did have lances that they could use against infantry, and the cavalry charge with lances would often break a Saxon line. They were also able to ride around the flanks of the enemy line and attack from the rear. Of course, this made them vulnerable to counterattack should they dismount. There is no reason to believe that they used archers. They were equipped with swords, but my impression is that these were the last resort when their preferred weapons (javelins for attacking lines, lances for riding down fleeing solders) could not be used.
I definite will have to rewrite all the battle encounters. A battle always starts as an ambush; with luck, the Saxons disintegrate immediately and the Britons chase them down. If not, then they resort to the harrying tactics, encirlement, and finally infanty assault. The player will have to learn these tactics.
Much to consider.