Castillon - prequel to the Wars of the Roses?

[Nick Harbud]

I just had another look at the satellite view of the sites to the south of the Lidoire.  There are some field boundaries visible that could be part of a fortification.  Unfortunately, there are no Street View points nearby to allow one to look at it from the ground.

Looking at the shape, it could be part of a much larger camp extending both sides of the river, which would make sense from the view pf providing a convenient water supply to lots of people.  Alternatively, it could be the entirety of the camp, in which case the whole battle was much smaller and the Anglo-Gascon army might have outnumbered the French.  This last at least makes Talbot's decision to attack somewhat less rash.

I might try the Sabin/Hahn approach on this - wargame it a few times with different rules and see what happens.

[Erpingham]

Great Nick.  I do think you are making some good points which someone should follow up (as we said, this battle lacks a proper modern analysis and some battlefield archaeology testing).  The known piece of the fortification seems to have utilised an extant watercourse (hence its crinkly nature).  If this area was boggy, the fortification was less likely to be destroyed by ploughing or other agricultural activity, whereas if the area north of the Lidoire was more suitable to arable farming or viticulture, any earthworks would be less obvious in the landscape.

Look forward to any reports of the refights.

[Dave Knight]

I hope to get to it in the next few weeks after Blore Heath and 1st 2nt Albans

[Dave Knight]

Now looking at this for my next scenario.

Any thoughts on the make up of the Gascon forces? 

I am tempted to put in a few crossbows for variety.