Wednesday 8 May 2024

Backs (or flank) against the wall, Heavenfield, 633 CE

The Battle of Heavenfield (ca. 633-634) was fought between a Northumbrian army under Oswald of Bernicia and a British/Welsh army under Cadwallon of Gwynedd. Bede, who refers to it as the 'Battle of Deniseburna' notes the proximity of the battle to a section of Hadrian's Wall - which it is thought that Cadwallon secured one flank of his army on.
'The place, on its noth side, is close to the wall with which the Romans once girded the whole of Britain from sea to sea to keep off the attacks of the barbarians...' Bede, Baedae Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, iii.2 My 2mm DBA (v.2.2) forces being complete for Oswald's Northumbrians (II/73 Old Saxon) and Cadwallon's Britons/Welsh (III/19a Welsh), it is time for some terrain! The most iconic item of terrain is surely the (then ruinous) Roman wall! Here is a prototype section scratch built from pvc sheet. Paint job is a WIP with Vallejo grey undercoat and Army Painter Speed Paint first coat (Runic Grey for the wall and Sand Golem for the ground and to highlight the 'fill' in broken areas of the wall. More pictures to follow once I get a few sections done.
Miniatures by Irregular Miniatures, of course!