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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 117320" data-attributes="member: 227">Well, from what you have here, I'd guess it'll go more or less like this...There'll probably be skirmishes as the two forces mvoe to within a few miles of each other. They'll probably both be sending out scouts and foraging parties, though this will be highly disorganised and inefficient. When these skirmishes occur the survivors will run back to the main bulk of their forces and report to their superiors - I'm guessing it's a feudal society? - if so, they'll report to their lords, who'll report to the overall commander.Note that if one army has already thought about this, they might send out 'death squads' - bands of troops deliberately looking for enemy scouts and killing them when they find them, so that their opponents don't realise the main army is upon them until the last moment. This was a tacticn used by King Harold Godwinsson of the Saxons to defeat a danish army, but note that from what you've described the two forces arrayed in your scenario are unlikely to be anywhere near as well-trained and disciplined as Harolds troops, even his rank and file fyrd.So, once they're aware of each other being nearby I'm guessing they'll pull in the scouts and parties (too vulnerable) and appraoch each other - if there's a sound understanding of tactics (which there wont be in your scenario due to the novelty of proper war) the sides might be looking for a good battlefield. In this case, they'll probably just fight wherever they meet - and that is important in deciding who will win. If by chance one side gets a better tactical position they're more likely to win - and then, next time, they'll have learned that that terrain is advantageous, and already you'll have basica tactics developing.At the battle, both lines will most likely line up into basic battle-lines - probably just long, strung out mobs of well-meaning troops who really don't know how they should be forming up. Bands of skirmishers will probably dart forwards to pelt the enemy with arrows, then retreat to the relative safety of the main battle-line, but you wont get the kind of ordered missile barrage like at Agincourt - not only is the weapon technology inferior, but those religiously-driven troops probably just want to get into the thick of the fighting and smite their enemies <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Then you get mass melee <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> This is a big battle too - Hasting was only about 9,000 a side at most, if that.The giants... well, they will probably prove a massive asset. Against such fresh troops and generals with such little experience they'll be facing foes who really wont be very skilled at ndealing with them. If the army with the giants has any sense they'll set them up to spearhead their attack, but they probably wont think to keep them well protected enough so I'm guessing the giants will cause massive damage before being taken down. Thenm, the next time a battle occurs, one side will already have begun thinking up tactics of how to deal with these juggernauts of destruction while the other will be thinking of new ways to keep them alive and safe from arrows/magic/etc.Hope that's of some aid!</blockquote>

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