The following lists arise from a discussion I was having with Matt Fensome,and he is to blame for at least part of this, although any factual mistakesare my own.

The battle of Maldon took place in 991AD, curiously enough, near Maldon inEssex. A Viking raiding party, led by Olaf Tryggvason according to oneversion of the Chronicle, was cornered on Northey Island in the River Blackwater by Ealdorman Byrhtnoth, one of the more powerful people in England at the time. In the ensuing battle, he was slain and his death is juxtaposed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle with the first payment of Danegeld to the Vikings. This event, recorded only briefly in the Chronicle, is often seen as the beginning of "interesting" times for the English, which culminated in Danish domination of England in the early eleventh century. The battle of Maldon is also passed down to us in the remains of a poem that was probably composed as a memorial poem to Byrhtnoth. The beginning and end of the poem are missing, but the remaining bits describe the battle in dramatic detail so we have all the good, gory bits.

The battle opens with neither side able to get at each other because it is high tide and the causeway from the island to the mainland is under water. When the tide goes out, the Vikings try to cross, but three heroes, Aelfere, Wulfstan and Maccus, hold the causeway against the Vikings. The Vikings, seeing that their attempts to cross are useless, cry "foul" and ask Byrhtnoth to let them over so that they can have a fair fight. He, being an old-time gentleman and hero, agrees, they cross, and the slaughter ensues, with Byrhtnoth being cut down quite early on and his hearth-troops fighting a heroic last stand, each getting a final death speech, thus qualifying for true hero status.

The Battlefield:
For a pseudo-historical refight, the battlefield should have Northey Island on one side, cut off from the rest of the battlefield by an impassable river except where it is joined to the mainland by a single element wide causeway. At least part of the island should be the Viking's stronghold, where the ships are beached. The rest of the battlefield should be clear terrain, except for some woods on the Saxon's edge of the battlefield, or possibly on one flank.

Northey Island should comprise the central sector of the Vikings' normal set-up zone, being possibly 1200 paces wide and it should have their stronghold in the centre of the base edge. This gives the Vikings a semi-circular set-up area in the centre of their base edge with secure flanks, but should leave their forces desperately short of space so they really need to push forwards onto the main table area to deploy effectively. The causeway probably ought to be about 300 paces long to give the Vikings a further deployment headache and should cross the river in the centre of the playing area. The river should run all the way across the width of the gaming area and should be impassable except at the causeway. The woods are merely on the table because they are the place that Godric and his brothers fled to so they should not be significant features, possibly existing only in the corners of the battlefield on the Saxon base edge. The rest of the battlefield is open ground. Some of the proportions may need to be varied to make the game more competitive.

The Vikings deploy on the island and the Saxons on the opposite edge. In this version of the game, the Vikings are the defenders and the Saxons the attackers. Alternatively, you could use the army lists below for a normal game.

The English Hero element deploys at the causeway with the rest of the army well back on their base edge. The Vikings deploy on the island. Can the heroes delay the Viking crossing long enough for the rest of the army to catch up and defeat the Vikings?

1 Blade General - Offa and the hearth troops
1 Paladin - Byrhtnoth (Although he is nominally in charge, the battle does not end with his death. On the other hand, he is revered by his troops and inspires them to fight harder)
1 Hero - Wulfstan, Maccus and Aelfhere
1 Blade - The remaining hearth troops
4 Spears - Levy troops, most of whom ran away
2 Shooters - Bowmen are mentioned in the text

Options
Riders - Blade elements could be replaced with Riders. At the start of the poem, Byrhtnoth orders his troops to send their horses away, signalling their intention to stand and fight. However, it seems that Byrhtnoth kept his own horse close, since Godric used it to run away. What if they had kept their horses and chosen to fight mounted?
Hero - Replace the Blade elements with a Hero element to give the hearth-troops their heroic dues.

1 Hero General - Olaf Tryggvason
2 Flyers - Eagles and Ravens. These are traditional beasts of battle who feed on the bodies of the slain.
3 Beasts - Viking huscarles. They are described as waelwulfas (lit. slaughter-wolves) and comprise the third element of the "beasts of battle" motif.
6 Hordes - Lesser Viking warriors. The 'Liber Eliensis' records that Byrhtnoth was 'neither shaken by the small number of his men, nor fearful of the multitudes of the enemy' so the Hordes classification allows the Vikings greater numbers and gives the English someone to heroically chop down.
2 Shooters - Vikings had bows, too, you know!

Options
Replace Olaf Tryggvason with a Blade General since the poem does not mention him and add an extra element of Beasts or two of Hordes.

Byrhtnoth's "ofermod". Some have seen this description of his courage as overconfidence and think that the poet is blaming Byrhtnoth for losing the battle through stupidity, while others see it more as the sign of a true hero, along the lines of Beowulf's "wlenco". This is the courage and attitude of the true hero. You may wish to allow the Saxon player bonus points for allowing the Vikings to cross the causeway and deploy before attacking them. This might involve stating that the Saxon army only breaks after losing 3/4 of its APs instead of half, or by treating the Saxon Army as though it was 4AP larger than it is for victory purposes only. Good role-playing should be rewarded.

The Vikings needed to cross the causeway to stand a chance. They had greater numbers but the Saxons could pick them off piecemeal if they remained on the island. Also, while they were penned up on the island, the Saxons could be gathering reinforcements. Therefore, a Viking player that refuses to act in heroic manner and tries to win by hiding on the island should be penalised in one of the following ways: the Viking army could break when it has lost 1/3 of its APs instead of half, or it could count as having 4 fewer APs for victory purposes only. The Vikings should not be penalised in this manner if the Saxon heroes successfully hold the causeway until the rest of the army catches up, but then the Saxons will not get their bonuses either.

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