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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
(09-07-2018, 11:29 AM)Renatus Wrote: the narrower the defile, within reason, the better. That way, the Britons trying to funnel into a relatively narrow gap would tend to bunch together and impede each other, presenting a solid target

Yes, that sounds absolutely right, and tactically I think that was exactly the purpose of the 'defile'.

If we go with my rough estimate above for Paulinus's force (8640 infantry and 1384 cavalry), the infantry drawn up in one unbroken line eight men deep would occupy 1080 metres - or just over half a mile. Ten deep they would cover 864 metres. Twelve deep would be 720 metres. Sixteen deep (two lines of eight ranks) would be 540 metres. Eighteen (three lines of six ranks) deep would be 480 metres. I would say this is the very minimum frontage possible.

Allowing for a few gaps in the line between units, this would give us a possible range of between 500 metres and 1100 metres (0.3 to 0.7 of a mile). This is assuming that the auxiliary infantry formed a line with the legionaries, and were not on the hill slopes to either side, and that the cavalry occupied the hills and were not in the defile. All these considerations would add variables to the calculation, of course.

I must say, I don't think I've seen any suitable sites, either by peering at topographical maps or suggested by other people, that fall much outside those general parameters. My proposed line at Newground is c.800-900 metres, but if turned obliquely into the valley below Wiggington it could be c.490. South-eastern and central England are quite short on narrower valleys with pronounced slopes - the higher the elevation on either side, the wider the valley tends to be. I'd be interested to see any you might have in mind though!
Nathan Ross
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Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by Nathan Ross - 09-07-2018, 12:42 PM

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