SAXON VIOLENCE
How to build a Saxon Burgh for the Dark Ages
The Vikings started raiding the kingdoms of England in the 790’s, and despite opposition, were able to rampage and pillage towns and villages for decades. How could the Saxon kingdoms counter the threat of an enemy that arrived from the sea, and came and went before an effective force could be mobilised to challenge them? King Alfred came up with an effective counter to these raids in the form of Burghs.
These were fortified locations, built on old Roman roads, in which the local populous – along with its treasure and livestock – could shelter. They contained a small number of troops who were supplemented by the newly arrived civilians. This system was so successful that the Vikings turned their attention to mainland Europe and England had a brief respite. This ended when the Vikings returned as would be conquerors, and settlers, rather than raiders.
As you will have seen from the last issue (A Cold Wind to Valhalla in MW 455. Ed.) our need to build a Burgh was triggered by our desire to fight the Ashdown campaign. This consisted of five battles. One of them was the battle at Reading, fought outside a partially completed Burgh. We set Malc the task of building it and this is how he did it.
1.
The first step is to cut the blue foam into chunks to represent Roman stonework. Many Burghs incorporated – or were built on top of – Roman foundations, or were made by re-using Roman cut stonework. To get a texture on the cut foam, place it in a box with some stones and gravel and give it a good shake.
2.
Next use the glue-gun to build the lower levels of the fort wall, and glue the blue foam blocks onto the modelling card base.
3.
Mix some Das clay and PVA glue to make a smooth paste, and then coat the stonework and base, thinly, with this mixture. The PVA glue in the mixture will prevent it cracking and make spreading it a lot easier.
4.
Cut the garden edging to the height you want the Burgh to be, and glue the pieces onto the cardboard. (I’m guessing with the hot glue gun. Ed.)
5.
Use the glue-gun to stick the bottom of the fort to the wall and ground to make a strong solid piece of scenery. The glue-gun makes this a very quick process.
6.
Do the same for the inner wall, at the same time cutting the sections to fit under the walkway. Wooden bracers are placed randomly on the walkway to give interest and brace the whole structure. The walkway is then coated with the filler to represent compacted earth. As this is a gateway, leave a gap in the wall and add a Roman road and towers to either side of the gateway. These were not much higher than the wall height and were more to aid observation, rather than be a major defensive structure.
7.
To make the Roman road into the fort, cut some cork board into small pieces and lay these down in the entrance. It is timeconsuming. It can be left off and replaced with general groundwork to represent mud. It does add to the finished effect though. The gaps between the Roman cobbles need to be grouted with thin filler and PVA. The complete structure is painted in dark brown emulsion.
8.
The walls are then highlighted in grey and lighter brown and the road in a light brown or grey. The stonework is finished in various shades of grey. The walkways are finished in a selection of earth colours to represent the compacted soil. The Roman road was given a highlight and the stones given a thin wash of green.
9.
Renedra do a nice fence of wattle, and to add to the ramshackle nature of the burgh at Reading. Sections of this were painted, and added to cover areas where the structure was incomplete. Next, a large twig was mounted across the gateway. This was engraved with the old English for ‘Alfred’, as kings would mark their territory, to show their power and strength. The heads on the arch further reinforces this! These were just spare heads from the many plastic sets we used to make our armies.
10.
The final touch was adding some moss, purchased on ebay for around £4. The construction of the lengths of wall and corners was the same as the above, but without the complication of the entrance. We were very happy with the finished Burgh. My Saxons will look forward to jeering at the Vikings, unable to break in, during many future games.