We had a similar thread before, but we apparently threads become "too old" before 3 years so I wanted to talk about this
In OTL, the Anglo-Saxons at Hastings held favorable high ground. The Normans, despite being professional soldiers against a mix of professionals and the levied fyrd, suffered heavy losses for little gain until a unit of Bretons fled, the English chased, and then Norman cavalry made short work of the out of position pursuers. They then followed this up with a bunch of fake retreats which the English kept falling for.
Suppose that in TTL, the English learn after their first butt kicking to not leave the safety of their shield wall until reinforcements arrive. The fighting continuous until the dark, and both sides get disorganized. The Normans suffered the brunt of the fighting and had their ranks thinned during the day, so in some places they break first, while the English enter pursuit in those areas. In other places, the fighting continuous oblivious to the holes in the Norman formation. Leofwine and Harold Godwinson eventually both realize some have broken off to peruse, and they try to reorganize in the dark by going forward and reestablishing the line further ahead, but both they and their personal guard venture ahead of their own lines by accident.
In the moonlight (or torchlight? I don't know how medieval battles even continue after sun goes down), Harold sees a well-dressed noble on a horse and thinks if he can defeat him, the Normans will rout. He downs the noble and does cause a local rout. However, a lone knight avenges the noble, deals Harold a blow to the head before slinking back into the darkness, joining his fleeing comrades. Harold does not awaken and dies shortly after the sun rises.
Some of the English venture as far as the Norman camp and are stopped there since they had came too far from their comrades. Others only move slowly from their original positions on the hill, engaging whatever Normans they could find in the dark. Most of the fighting ended a few hours after sunset, but the last bit of fighting occurs in the few minutes after dawn when some English who ventured miles too far get cut down when it is clear most of the English are in the immediate vicinity of the hill. The Norman host lost 70% of their manpower and the English won with a 3 to 1 casualty ratio in their favor.
The Normans evacuate. One Knight brings back William's body and says he had avenged William after most of the rest of the Normans in the area fled. On the English side, they realize both Leofwine and Harold are dead. Harold's retinue gives a description of the noble Harold personally downed and this roughly matches William's description.
What happens in England now? Is animosity between England and Normandy destined to occur, or is it possible for Harold's successor to let bygones be bygones in favor of stabilizing his realm and keeping the money from the channel trade continuing?
Who even is Harold's successor? We have mentions of him having children named Godwin, Edmund, Magnus, and Gunild, but nothing about their ages and no information about their lives before Hastings or even their birthdays.
How is Harold remembered for in 1066? He surprised the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge, and beat them soundly. Then he doubled back to surprise William, but when that didn't work successfully bottled them in on favorable ground. He stopped his lines from falling for fake retreats after a group of English got cut down chasing a real retreat. During the night, he managed to find what was probably William and slayed him. His army controlled the battlefield at dawn and had a casualty ratio of 3 to 1. That's not Caesar's the 97 to 1 when he suffered 400 casualties at Pharsalus to Pompey's 39,000 killed or captured, but 3 to 1 is still pretty good when you remember the English had a lot of levied men. "It's over William, I have the high ground!"
In OTL, the Anglo-Saxons at Hastings held favorable high ground. The Normans, despite being professional soldiers against a mix of professionals and the levied fyrd, suffered heavy losses for little gain until a unit of Bretons fled, the English chased, and then Norman cavalry made short work of the out of position pursuers. They then followed this up with a bunch of fake retreats which the English kept falling for.
Suppose that in TTL, the English learn after their first butt kicking to not leave the safety of their shield wall until reinforcements arrive. The fighting continuous until the dark, and both sides get disorganized. The Normans suffered the brunt of the fighting and had their ranks thinned during the day, so in some places they break first, while the English enter pursuit in those areas. In other places, the fighting continuous oblivious to the holes in the Norman formation. Leofwine and Harold Godwinson eventually both realize some have broken off to peruse, and they try to reorganize in the dark by going forward and reestablishing the line further ahead, but both they and their personal guard venture ahead of their own lines by accident.
In the moonlight (or torchlight? I don't know how medieval battles even continue after sun goes down), Harold sees a well-dressed noble on a horse and thinks if he can defeat him, the Normans will rout. He downs the noble and does cause a local rout. However, a lone knight avenges the noble, deals Harold a blow to the head before slinking back into the darkness, joining his fleeing comrades. Harold does not awaken and dies shortly after the sun rises.
Some of the English venture as far as the Norman camp and are stopped there since they had came too far from their comrades. Others only move slowly from their original positions on the hill, engaging whatever Normans they could find in the dark. Most of the fighting ended a few hours after sunset, but the last bit of fighting occurs in the few minutes after dawn when some English who ventured miles too far get cut down when it is clear most of the English are in the immediate vicinity of the hill. The Norman host lost 70% of their manpower and the English won with a 3 to 1 casualty ratio in their favor.
The Normans evacuate. One Knight brings back William's body and says he had avenged William after most of the rest of the Normans in the area fled. On the English side, they realize both Leofwine and Harold are dead. Harold's retinue gives a description of the noble Harold personally downed and this roughly matches William's description.
What happens in England now? Is animosity between England and Normandy destined to occur, or is it possible for Harold's successor to let bygones be bygones in favor of stabilizing his realm and keeping the money from the channel trade continuing?
Who even is Harold's successor? We have mentions of him having children named Godwin, Edmund, Magnus, and Gunild, but nothing about their ages and no information about their lives before Hastings or even their birthdays.
How is Harold remembered for in 1066? He surprised the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge, and beat them soundly. Then he doubled back to surprise William, but when that didn't work successfully bottled them in on favorable ground. He stopped his lines from falling for fake retreats after a group of English got cut down chasing a real retreat. During the night, he managed to find what was probably William and slayed him. His army controlled the battlefield at dawn and had a casualty ratio of 3 to 1. That's not Caesar's the 97 to 1 when he suffered 400 casualties at Pharsalus to Pompey's 39,000 killed or captured, but 3 to 1 is still pretty good when you remember the English had a lot of levied men. "It's over William, I have the high ground!"
