Your number one resource for the middle age period
Robert the Bruce who lived from 1274 to 1329 was perhaps one of the foremost influential figures of the Scottish Middle Ages as he was the person who secured Scottish Independence from England around 1318 and is still a symbolic figure of the identity of Scotland today. Let’s take a look at the man and the myth.
Continue reading “Robert the Bruce: The King Who Secured Scotland’s Independence”
What is it good for? Absolutely everything in the gaming world, hence the overabundance of wartime strategy games that exist to entertain the millions upon millions of fans of said genre. So war is good for entertainment it turns out, provided it’s not too close to the knuckle or indeed too close to the not-so-distant past. Thankfully, Medieval II: Total War is as aloof from the present as the original, taking us back to times where religious divides fed conflict on a global scale (getting echoes of the present here, but that’s another article altogether) – and immersing us yet again in the series’ brand of clever real-time strategy and gritty, intuitive battle that appears to be evolving in the right direction.
While it may be true that the Total War series pretty much has the grand-scale real-time strategy genre sewn up in most respects, people should remember that it isn't the only option to turn to for gamers that are looking for almost total control over a civilisation's every action, reaction, and ultimate fate. Crusader Kings is the seventh iteration of its type from Paradox entertainment, and it promises to offer a civilisation sim with an all-encompassing scope and staggering depth.
Discover all the foul facts about the Middle Ages including all the guts and gore when reading Horrible Histories Measly Middle Ages.
Horrible Histories has a formidable reputation when it comes to honestly covering history as it was with no sugar coating or skipping over the bad bits. From the invasion of the Vikings through to Christopher Columbus there is plenty of gruesome detail to get your teeth into. The Nasty Normans and the feudal system is covered in detail along with the peasant’s revolt and gruesome facts such as heads on poles. Disappointingly the leader of the peasant’s revolt was killed by the king’s men, so the revolt was quashed and his head ended up on the end of a lance! Continue reading “Horrible Histories Middle Ages Book Review”
There’s a certain charm about Saga’s playing surface, a 4 x 3 game board designed with said dimensions in order to fit perfectly on the kitchen table of the game’s creator, Alexandre Buchel. Saga is a warfare miniatures rule set that resulted from a joint venture between Gripping Beast and Studio Tomahawk. Though it was published back in 2011, it remains even today one of the best warfare board games set in the Dark Ages.
Continue reading “Saga’s Dark Ages Miniatures Skirmish Review”
Simple, effective, and clearly written: these descriptions could refer to any one of the most popular wargaming miniatures board game rules. No one game can claim to be so fitting of this description however, than the Ancient-Medieval-Renaissance rule-set masterpiece that is Armati. Its first edition is still to this day one of the most concisely written and well-presented rule sets on the market. As those who have played Armati will know, its rules are set up to reward those who put time and effort into their initial deployment forces, with punishment for those who shirk such responsibilities early in the game. This sort of tactical realism is typical of Armati and shines through in most aspects of its rule set.
Though some adults may shudder at the thought of buying toys for their children, the internet has certainly made toy shopping a whole lot easier than it used to be. Gone are the days of queuing up for fifteen hours outside your nearest large toy store just for a chance to purchase the latest Power Rangers action figure or the most popular new toy-based trend that’s making kids go crazy that week. You can now allow the internet to do the leg work for you, getting toys delivered straight to your door. We’ve gone one step further and taken the leg work out of deciding which are the best castle toys out there for children. You’ll find a decent selection of the very best castle toys we could find below, including offerings from Lego and Playmobil, and there’s even a Harry Potter set among the choices.
Developed by Innogames, Tribal Wars 2 is a web based middle-ages kingdom management game designed for folks who feel that Clash of Clans is too simple or cartoony. Players are given their own kingdom to rule and expand in a massive persistent game map with a global user base. The game starts off pretty simple and slow, with players focusing mainly on learning how to manage their kingdom. Later on, players will have to start interacting with other players as well –expanding the scope and range of gameplay. Those familiar with other F2P games in the genre would know what to expect in this title.
Many movies have been made that involve castle sieges. We tend to have a romanticized view of what actually happened in these battles as heroes and heroines in full make up destroy the enemy to save the day. Nothing could be further from the truth than this. Castle sieges were very long drawn out affairs that could last for months or even years as a siege was not a short simple procedure but a tactical strategic operation that took planning and determination. Many castle sieges happened during The Middle Ages when castles were built with such impenetrable fortification that getting over the moat and into the structure was nigh on impossible.
The Medieval period is often seen by people as an era of backwardness, as well as sometimes being ignored or skipped-over because people can think that the events of this period were just minor stepping-stones from the classical era to modern times.