The Battle of Hastings Brought to Life in Stunning Animation: 1066

Join us as we take you on an epic journey through the Battle of Hastings, one of the most pivotal moments in English history. Our 3D animated documentary brings the medieval conflict to life, with stunning animation, realistic battle reenactments, and expert narration. Follow the events leading up to the historic battle between William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson in 1066, and learn about the key players and tactics that shaped the outcome. Immerse yourself in the story of the Norman Invasion and its impact on Anglo-Saxon England. Perfect for history buffs and fans of medieval warfare alike. Don't miss out on this informative and visually stunning animation about the Battle of Hastings
PATREON: / historybattles3d
MUSIC
Song: Evan King - Guardians
KZbin: / evankingaudio
Free download at: www.evankingmusic.com
'Juggernaut' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
'Age of Wonder' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
3D MODELS ATTRIBUTION
massive-graphisme Viking Long-Ship
MetaProx Norman Helmet
Johnpaul.boyle Norman Helmet
nofaced3d Viking Shield Set
English Crown wolfgar74
Viking Shield jasonsanderart
Saxon Shield willdudley
Viking's shield and axe sergeilihandristov
The background to the battle was the death of the childless King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, which set up a succession struggle between several claimants to his throne. Harold was crowned king shortly after Edward's death, but faced invasions by William, his own brother Tostig, and the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada (Harold III of Norway). Hardrada and Tostig defeated a hastily gathered army of Englishmen at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066, and were in turn defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge five days later. The deaths of Tostig and Hardrada at Stamford Bridge left William as Harold's only serious opponent. While Harold and his forces were recovering, William landed his invasion forces in the south of England at Pevensey on 28 September 1066 and established a beachhead for his conquest of the kingdom. Harold was forced to march south swiftly, gathering forces as he went.
The exact numbers present at the battle are unknown as even modern estimates vary considerably. The composition of the forces is clearer: the English army was composed almost entirely of infantry and had few archers, whereas only about half of the invading force was infantry, the rest split equally between cavalry and archers. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William, but scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. The battle lasted from about 9 am to dusk. Early efforts of the invaders to break the English battle lines had little effect. Therefore, the Normans adopted the tactic of pretending to flee in panic and then turning on their pursuers. Harold's death, probably near the end of the battle, led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. After further marching and some skirmishes, William was crowned as king on Christmas Day 1066.

[@historybattles3D]

If you like what I do and want to support here is my PATREON page www.patreon.com/user?u=89297378 For anyone asking, this video was NOT made with a total war game. This is animation made by me. Don't forget to watch the FIRST PART of this video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnKop6p6Yr-knJY Which battle do you want me to make next?

[@mashek331]

The Battle of Dyrrhachium 1081 between the Normans and Byzantines/Eastern Romans is a good one, with the interesting point that English housecarls who survived Hastings fought on the side of Emperor Alexios Komnenos. The battle also leads to the First Crusade to a point because Alexios Komnenos eventually had to establish a very fragile peace with those who previously fought against him at Dyrrhachium. Overall, it's another battle that demonstrates the emerging Norman power and the use of their mounted knights to simply smash armies into oblivion.

[@iexist3919]

I’d really like to see the battle of Kleidion 1014, the decisive battle that ended the 1st Bulgarian Empire and the highest point of the Eastern Roman Macedonian Renaissance.

[@Ennea9]

Battle of Platea

[@alals6794]

Great video. I suggest this channel remake the battle of Marathon and the later battle of Thermopylae.......It is without dispute that the foundations of The West lie in Ancient Greece and these two battles, had they gone down to defeat for the ancient Greek forces, would have neutered The West in its infancy. Who knows what would have replaced....from the Renaissance to the discovery of the New World to the advent of capitalism and industrialization, all of this was dependent on the emergence of the modern West and all of this would not have happened if these two battles had been lost by the ancient Greeks.

[@mashek331]

@@alals6794 If you go down that path, it would be worth doing the series including Battles of Salamis and Plataea.

[@Abuqital2000]

You have to remember that Harold Godwinson and his troops had just made a march all the way from the north towards the south of England, and had just fought a battle against Harold Hadrada and Tostig Godwinson brother.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

The Vikings doing that probably secured that victory for the Normans...The Saxons were exhausted.

[@bitTorrenter]

@@firingallcylinders2949 It was the Battle of England as opposed to the Battle of Britain. If you like.

[@ryandrew3624]

@@firingallcylinders2949 well the Normans were in fact Vikings

[@ianwilkinson5069]

@@ryandrew3624 You mean Norse, Viking is a thig they did, not who they were. Its like calling all the American people "the farmers" or all Japanese ppl "the samurai" Besides that point by the time of the Norman conquest it had been like 6 generations since Rollo the first duke of Normandy and his Vikings settling and mingling with the locals. Btw they had been Christian at this point for like 155 years. Conclusion yes the Normans were descended from Vikings and the Franks. No they were not in fact Vikings aka Norse.

[@Titus_Vespasianus]

they "lost"...that's all that history remembers...or, cares about...

[@davidsnowden7072]

Just a minor point: resistance continued in one form or another for 20 years, sometimes linked to external intervention, and there were times when it looked like William might lose his grip on his new realm. It was not until 1086 that William felt sufficiently secure to commission the Domesday survey.

[@alg7115]

Plus there was also another viking invasion.

[@jeffs6081]

Didn’t he die a year later?

[@alanamiel4927]

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth is an excellent novel about the resistance to The Norman conquest.

[@spiderknight9893]

Nothing a little scourging can’t handle ……

[@aldosigmann419]

Many dispossessed English Saxons warriors went on to join the Varangian guard for Byzantine emperors in Constantinople.

[@Anglashock]

I went to the battle site a few years ago. The hill on which Harold was positioned is very steep, a perfect position to hold.

[@historybattles3D]

I bet it was a very interesting experience. Never been there my self, unfortunately.

[@the_tactician9858]

Harold's position was very good, it basically eliminated William's 2 main advantages, mobility and range, and turned the battle into a melee slog, the kind of battle that the Norse and Anglo-Saxons were especially skilled at. It speaks volumes to the capabilities of William's knights that they could keep up with that, and even win the battle in the end.

[@crashrr2993]

I went there and felt that aura, however, turns out that wasn’t the actual battlefield. New evidence and investigations have concluded it was, er, under a nearby roundabout!

[@Brian-om2hh]

@@crashrr2993 It's curious that no military artifacts or items such as horseshoes etc have ever been found on the alleged site of the battle. The actual site is believed by some historians to be some distance away. One particular historian believes he may have located one possible burial site for bodies, and there would have been lots of them.

[@raypurchase801]

I went there a year ago. The entry charge is extortionate.

[@crabcrab2024]

If Harold remained alive, it would have been a sure defeat for William and he would have gone into the history books as “William the Pretender”.

[@KombatKochPartDeux]

100%. Harold is a great military leader that does not get the credit he deserves.

[@lawrence.solutions]

"If".

[@Juanhop]

If his brother had not broken the line... If the arrow had missed for inches... If the reinforcements had arrived a couple of hours before ( Remember the Malfosse incident)... yes, in the end "If". William was quite lucky, and intelligent. When arriving London he failed to take the bridge, and turned to promises, bribery... Politics. He was then ready to be a King.

[@JimB.Walken]

​@@lawrence.solutions a spartan answer

[@chucklynch6523]

@@KombatKochPartDeux Two weeks earlier he had already beaten the greatest, most successful warrior of his age, and if a couple of his sub lieutenants didn't screw up Harold would have beaten what were to become the greatest European military machine of the age, so what would that have made of Harold? At the very least Alfred the Great would have had to take a backseat to Harold in British history, but Harold would have gone down as one of the greatest military leaders ever in the history of Europe! Think about it, just look at what the Norman B Team accomplished in Southern Italy, Sicily and the Balkans, not to mention the successful campaigns Harald Hardrada lead from the Steppes of Russia to the heart of the Islamic Empire in the Middle East, and to think King Harold almost, and should have, beaten both Harald Hardrada AND the Norman A Team within the span of TWO weeks? Has there ever been a European leader that has beaten two adversaries as powerful as Harald and William in one lifetime, let alone in two weeks?

[@0ffa1]

Every time I watch a video about the Battle of Hastings, I secretly hope it turns out differently, where Harold Godwinson ends up winning. It never does, and it never fails to disappoint me.

[@MICHAEL-wg2lh]

Haha not just me that does that then😅

[@petethompson3510]

I know the feeling. It seems so unfair that William attacked after Harold had kicked ass up north. At least William wasn't French, which i thought for years

[@williamprince8262]

I guess England would probably be more like Denmark today if Harold had won From the accounts I've read I think I'd have liked Harold alot more than William, though when you look at the Dukes upbringing ( in fear of his life and hunted) you can understand how he became so ruthless and determined

[@joesteers5807]

@@williamprince8262. Yeah I’ve read that linguistically had Norman-French and Old English never melded then today the Anglo-Saxon language would sound more similar to Danish/Dutch. Harold was supposedly quite an affable individual - brave, a champion of his people and generous to his followers. William initially had intended to rule England the way Cnut had done and contrary to popular belief had initially shown willingness to cooperate with some of the earls. However unlike with Cnut the native English elite refused to come to terms with the Conquering Norman which ultimately led to the total decapitation of the Anglo-Saxon social order.

[@williamprince8262]

@@joesteers5807 good points. I guess that England and Denmark were more aligned culturally whereas the Normans ( even though descended from vikings) had absorbed the Latin/Roman culture of most Europe They completely changed the English way of life for a top down society that harshly punished any dissent ( introduction of castles and dungeons for example) It took a century or two for something new to meld out of both and it is a tribute to the strength of Anglo Saxon way that it still survived under oppression until a unified new English culture appeared

[@redcoatcallum9550]

The fact that Harold had just travelled hundreds of miles within a few days to reach William after suffering losses at Stamford Bridge, yet he still almost wins with half his elite huscarls already depleted. It just shows the strength and resilience of Harold and the English.

[@aimaction7393]

YES BUT THE MORON DID NOT REST HIS ARMY, AND GET REINFOCEMENTS.

[@breakerdawn8429]

William the Conqueror wasn't called that for nothing. Yes Harold was amazing as a leader but he can't win against a group of professionals knights. Hell he didn't have archers and you're telling me he was going to win against William? William the Bastard, the man who had been in many wars. The man who's own father died in a crusade and he was hunted due to his heritage seeing death all around his young life. If anyone deserves the title of King it is William.

[@chuch541]

@@breakerdawn8429his great great grandfather was Rollo the walker. Anyone acting like William was understated doesn’t know shit about history. The dude is one of the biggest figures in modern history. Maybe only second to karolus Magnus.

[@sterlingcampbell2116]

I love watching Brits playing mental gymnastics to excuse their sound defeats. The English lost because they were inferior technologically, logistically and strategically. The British had far superior numbers and home turf advantage. They absolutely should have won but they didn't because they were simply inferior to the Normans...but as somebody with a screen name reading "redcoatxxx" I fully anticipate you will continue coping by convincing yourself that the British lost because bad luck or happenstance

[@samkedwards2032]

⁠@@sterlingcampbell2116 Well a modern ‘Brit’ is typically comprised of many different backgrounds. Saying the Saxons are akin to the modern English is a bit of a misstep. Most are descended from Normans, Saxons, Danes, Friesians and even Norwegians. Of course, still most Brits are Celtic; Brythonic or Gaelic. Basically it’s silly to consider a modern British or even English person being purely Saxons

[@Hillbilly001]

Outstanding! I've seen a lot of cinematic vids and this is three steps past all of the others. Beautiful! Brilliant! It was so good I watched it twice. Well done. Cheers from Tennessee

[@historybattles3D]

So glad you liked it that much! It was a very time-consuming project. If it pays off in terms of views and reception, many more of similar quality will come.

[@ViktoriousDead]

What part?

[@cagneybillingsley2165]

this is what medieval 3 would look like

[@geoffreydowen5793]

absolutely brutal conflict well portrayed should be in every English school .

[@thesebastanian567]

Absolutely brilliant! Love the map and battle style, reminds me of kings and generals and the total war battles, love your work and look forward to seeing even more of these!

[@timmilne2546]

Is this leveraging a video game, or is it dedicated animation?

[@wouterhoogers2615]

this is the total war game.

[@davidcreager1945]

What an awesome way to bring history to life !!! Wish the history channel had something similar !!!!! Looking forward to seeing more of your fantastic work !

[@historybattles3D]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@that_thing_I_do]

Mystery history on the History Channel...huntin' gators is a priority.

[@Anvilarm07]

One of the best depictions of the battle I have seen. Well done.

[@historybattles3D]

Τhat's wonderful to hear. Thank you very much!

[@KHK001]

Yep a masterpiece! cant wait to see how your channel will grow in the future!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you so much!

[@LooniJoose]

Good looking textures, sometimes commical animation. Still much better than most if us could do. I appreciate the hard work that went in to this.

[@BLUENOUB]

This is so impressive. Great job on this depiction of the battle. I subbed to your channel!

[@historybattles3D]

Thanks for the sub!

[@llokkee]

Brilliant work guys! I foresee a great future ahead for this channel Well done ;-)

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much ! I really hope so!

[@jonathanbaron-crangle5093]

Very nicely presented, makes a big difference seeing the terrain being fought over. Look forward to seeing more works produced.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you! I'm actually basing the design of the battleground on the real battlefield.

[@jonathanbaron-crangle5093]

@@historybattles3D You're doing awesome work in that case-& it can't be easy, as you have to have the precise location of the battlefield in question (plus how the lie of the land may have changed over time)

[@historybattles3D]

@@jonathanbaron-crangle5093 There are some limitations in terms of scale but the actual battle topography that I'm using is made from a heightmap of the battle's location. Of course, I need to adjust it and modify it to make it look somewhat close to the actual area.

[@poiutrew]

Can't imagine walking into a wall of housecarls swinging 2 handed battle axes was much fun.

[@noelyanes2455]

You did a good job. Looking forward to seeing more of your historical videos

[@historybattles3D]

More to come!

[@JS-gc7kf]

This looks wild! Great stuff right there, can't wait to see what you come up with early modern era battles!

[@historybattles3D]

Τhere are a few things that I'll need to figure out in order to move to the "gunpowder" era. Artillery implementation will be the most tricky of them all because of the effects involved. Physics, collision explosions etc. If I can make this work properly I'll test a couple of very famous battles to see if they are popular enough. Austerlitz of Blenheim comes to mind.

[@iexist3919]

Absolutely wonderful, can’t wait for more!

[@historybattles3D]

Thanks for your continuous support!

[@iexist3919]

@@historybattles3D seriously though, this is one of the best 3D history videos I have seen on KZbin. Again, outstanding work!

[@historybattles3D]

@@iexist3919 I'm so glad to hear this, honestly! It is so rewarding to see that you are enjoying this because it motivates me to make more.

[@greatness7405]

Thank you for job well done ...we need more history in good visuals

[@HolyReality891]

Wonderful video. You really bring these battles to life!

[@historybattles3D]

That's wonderful to hear! Thank you very much!

[@OmegaTrooper]

Wow, really well put together!

[@VOIDWALKER_333]

I love how at 1:58 some of the archer units just drop in from the sky 😂

[@andrewpegman7959]

Hehe

[@alexkrycek3359]

good eye!!

[@jacquesmalan5950]

this is historically accurate

[@LeeEnfield-iw3qk]

82nd Airborne

[@carolgebert7833]

Great animation. It gives a good sense of the event. Just a minor point: Harold was not killed with an arrow. That part of the tapestry denotes the thinning of the line by arrows, allowing the cavalry to break through the line. Harold in the tapestry is the next guy, shown cut down by horsemen. There is an account by an eye witness somewhere that says four horsemen in formation cut down Harold. The first wounded him in the abdomen, the second cut off his leg, the next two did worse. And this is shown in the tapestry. So that is how Harold died.

[@michaelbrandt5416]

You are correct. The arrow part was not mentioned in any account. One of the knights assaulting Harold, was stripped of his rank of knight for castrating Harold, an act not approved by William. We have a fair account on the number of Normans present at the battlefield because of a list of men and supplies provided by each ship used to cross the channel, has survived. Their total number was about 7.000. Harold´s army was about the same. He made a grave mistake in not taking the time to gather a larger army along the way from Stamford Bridge, during his force march. William ravaged nearby villages on purpose in order to make Harold hasten his march to prevent further atrocities by the Normans.

[@streamofconsciousness5826]

Still sounds a lot better than getting a arrow in the eye. Brutal times.

[@jamesli9380]

It was also a common belief that an oathbreaker should be wounded in the eye as punishment for their trangression /sin so there is that poetic licence on behalf of the tapestry makers

[@nigden1]

Correct, the soldier shown in the tapestry was carrying a spear, kings from this era never did that, it would normally be a sword, Harold was cut to pieces by Norman cavalry.

[@philipbrackpool-bk1bm]

One interpretation I read is that wounded in the eye was a corruption of wounded in the thigh in other words they removed his genitalia.

[@sircalvin83]

Simply fantastic- looking forward to more good sir!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much! I very much want to continue doing this. If it turns out to be successful, I will indefinitely.

[@BillLarkinmusic]

Amazing to get a glimps of historic battles!

[@hairyjohnson2597]

This my first time seeing your page. Great narrator, writing, and the animation is awesome.

[@historybattles3D]

Welcome aboard!

[@gumbie007]

Excellently presented in this animation and narrated nicely! Well done. - New Subscriber 👍

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much!

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

Stunning animation. Subscribed.

[@justincastillo9345]

The animation is amazing! Great work! This channel is going to blow up.

[@historybattles3D]

Glad you think so! I honestly hope it will.

[@AJM-timecop]

Love the landscape. Perfect. I've been to the battlefield (& there was a re-enactment going on!) & that's definitely how it looked. Not really all that different from 950 years ago.

[@historybattles3D]

That's so nice to hear! I actually used heightmaps from the real battlefield to generate the landscape. So, I'm really happy that you thought it looked similar

[@AJM-timecop]

@@historybattles3D I’m actually a cartographer & I was very impressed. You nailed it & as you show, the topography played a big part in that days events.

[@historybattles3D]

@@AJM-timecop Thank you kindly

[@BJ-ry6xl]

Simply amazing work! I'm so happy to have found this channel in it's early stages! I'm gonna be here for the growth!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you so much! Welcome aboard, it's probably gonna be a long journey!

[@BJ-ry6xl]

All here for it! Looking forward to where you go from here!

[@NinjaSushi2]

Yes. Just imagine after you get a team of people. What program do you use to animate this? I'd imagine it takes forever!

[@keelyourshelf]

@@NinjaSushi2 Its a game, Total war

[@kevinmarek1321]

The video is awesome. Thanks for taking the time.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much for watching!

[@arnold3817]

Great video. Truly amazing work.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much!

[@TheWizardOfTheFens]

A historical point: ​This was a battle between the ENGLISH and the Normans. It became England under Æthelstan who ruled between 924 and 939 - long before the battle of Senlac hill - over a hundred years.

[@perfecttiming9803]

The ENGLISH and the French but yeah.. William was pretty much a vassal

[@davedavid1052]

@@perfecttiming9803well William wasn’t french and was cousin of the English king and heir to the English throne but when Edward died Harold was given the throne instead of William. So although mostly a foreign army it wasn’t a foreign invasion as of bloodline

[@shuaibirum]

A great explanation and wonderful animations! Great effort!

[@shuaibirum]

Although, that is not how Harold died.

[@historybattles3D]

Τhank you very much!

[@historybattles3D]

I've heard numerous theories and interpretations of the Bayeux tapestry. Including being cut down by cavalry-men

[@jocelyngarvin188]

I'm currently reading a number of books about this time in history. This vid brought out facts that weren't covered in any of these books! Quite the animation !!

[@blacknight1406]

Great video. Brings the battle as close to life as possible. Really interesting.

[@historybattles3D]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@eardwulf785]

I'm a little late but glad I eventually got here to see this episode. I like the animation style it's much better than the top down 2D that is more common on YT

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you for commenting! It still did not resonate with the KZbin audience though. Still hoping that at some point Hastings will replicate the Tours video success.

[@eardwulf785]

@@historybattles3D Perhaps because it has been covered multiple times by different history channels already and also I think the average KZbin viewer who isn't particularly interested in history might be inclined to scroll past something that they think they have already seen. I don't know the first thing about starting a KZbin channel but from what ive picked up on here for most fledgling creators it can take a considerable amount of time to get off the ground, in some cases several years before the algorithm recommends it to enough of the right people to get the push you deserve. I for one sincerely want to see your channel grow and you be rewarded for the quality content.

[@Dial8Transmition]

I remember this like it was yesterday

[@historylegends]

HistoryLegends was here. Barbarian level of awesomeness! 🔥🙏

[@historybattles3D]

Hey, thank you very much and welcome!

[@shadhinov]

It's breathtaking to watch this battles in close to reality

[@schuletrip]

I wish England still looked like it did in that last map. Couple of roads, plenty of forests.

[@scrappydog7741]

And the likes of you never born. Yes

[@rigajykra3159]

@@scrappydog7741 he most likely existed back then in a different incarnation. Maybe not in England, but somewhere.

[@scrappydog7741]

@@rigajykra3159 Good point. Every era has their oh whoa is me, the sky is falling types.

[@rigajykra3159]

@@scrappydog7741 I see your point. Indeed, it would be nice to see some regeneration of wildlife in England. It seems there is a great new wave of rewilding.

[@scrappydog7741]

@@rigajykra3159 yes it’s called adaptation. Humans are capable of adapting to their environment. There is no going back to how things where 500 years ago but we can still provide wilderness to accommodate nature. Just not at the expense of people.

[@renogazo]

the animation is awesome but i just love how at the start when the armies clash at @0:05 , the guys at the sides just keep running forward instead of attacking lol

[@kaypz]

Wow! Amazing animation and history telling! What a bloody war in those times!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you!

[@spockofdune8657]

Well done !

[@adiw888]

The animation and graphics are awesome. Great job!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you kindly!

[@juchiha9566]

Having lived in Battle, the site of the this battle, and been to the abbey built around where Harold was shot and killed many times, its interesting seeing the battle in this manner

[@hejsaanhejdaa2914]

i think you are the first one to do this kind of history videos, i liked it really much, very enjoying, it would be intressting seeing a video like this about skanderbeg

[@historybattles3D]

Glad you enjoyed it! I'll try to expand my video library as much as possible and create a variety of topics.

[@OkaniJMCA]

Great work 🏅

[@nickradell2385]

State of the art animation. It looks really good. I like the addition of the blood. It's still a little cartoony, but definitely on the right track. I also like the visual framing, and the description of the battle. This is very good work.

[@avichanda4641]

Are those for a game?

[@jwatt1800]

It’s pretty much an edited Total War Attila mod battle.

[@theravagedgrapefruit8190]

I’d really love to see some civil war battles this way.

[@awkander]

Yeah Sri Lankan video's would be sick

[@mjmooney]

Which civil war?

[@Nico_FerVer]

Great work, I need to ask how did you do it man. Most people use total war games to see historical battles, but made battles animation by yourself is another level i think

[@landonpotts6815]

Great job on this video.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you!

[@tinapaynamatigas]

The animation of this is very good I feel like if someone made a game with this I think it would be at the same level of total war games of course it would need a little bit of polishing

[@antzzors126]

Manor lords

[@derekstocker6661]

Excellent video, the work and research that went into this must have been phenomenal. What happened to the bodies of the fallen, this never seems to be proved, was the battle in a different place in reality or were the skeletons dug for fertilizer as has been suggested, why has nothing been found on the site. Thanks for this, brilliant work.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the video and appreciated the effort and research that went into its creation. Regarding the numerous theories about what happened to the bodies of the fallen and the actual location of the battlefield, I must admit that I'm also unsure. I've heard many different ideas and occasional updates on the subject, but it seems that the true answer may never be known for certain.

[@robertbluestein7800]

This is remarkably well done!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much!

[@danielvana27]

history with visual so great , awesome idea & video

[@MalayArcher]

The blood effect looks amazing!

[@historybattles3D]

Hey man, thanks! It was brutal... I was working for over a month to make this dam... blood effects work!

[@stevo728822]

3:31 I visited the site several years and sat on the benches at the top of the pathway where the left flank of the Saxons was. The battelfield doesn't look this large so must have been packed full of soldiers.

[@sleep-of-ages]

Or changed somewhat in the last 1000 years.

[@thecrusaderhistorian9820]

Great video!

[@historybattles3D]

Thanks for the visit

[@garretrzepecki9671]

Thanks!

[@historybattles3D]

Wow, thank you so much for the support!

[@russellmarriott9396]

Probably the big mistake from Harold was not to wait until he had an overwhelming force. He was provoked to attack by the Norman tactics of rampaging across the coastal area. William needed to fight quickly and his tactics were successful. Harold knew that he had to mitigate the advantage of the Norman cavalry and that meant fighting with an height advantage so he had to choose his battlefield carefully. If he had waited a few more days he could have accumulated more troops but may have lost the tactical advantage of choosing his ground.

[@chucklynch6523]

Nevertheless, Harold should have won the battle, if only his subordinate commanders had not given chase against the retreating Norman cavalry.........that sealed his doom. In defense of Harold's sub-commanders they were facing a new enemy that was fighting in a new tactical paradigm that the Saxons had never seen before and weren't ready for. That said, Harold did spend time in Normandy years earlier and should have had some idea of what to expect tactically from the Normans, I think!!! Bottomline is that if Harold had waited a week and had rested his troops and rallied another 5,000 to his banner, even if he lost his tactical advantage of the high ground the logistically over extended Normans could have been slowly ground down and exhausted by the now very much numerically superior Anglo-Saxon defenders that could have been hitting the Normans from all angles, burning their ships too!! My only question is, "King Harold, where were your Longbowmen from Lancashire?". 500 Longbowmen would have sealed the deal, no question!

[@chucklynch6523]

How could Harold ever lose the tactical advantage? He was on his home turf, had more and more troops joining his forces daily and he had lots of logistic support. The Normans would have had to fight the Saxons on the field of Saxons choosing, since the Normans had to fight NOW, and could not wait!!!!

[@sigmarite._.arch-lector]

This is astonishingly brilliant, feels like a next gen Mound and Blade game.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much! That's a wonderful compliment to hear.

[@wiggyg7337]

I think this is a game, they are using Total War, I believe it is Attila total war

[@historybattles3D]

@@wiggyg7337 Νo, these are actually custom made animations, created with 3D software from scratch.

[@CsStoker]

@@wiggyg7337 Attila looks much better and the animations are much more fluid

[@Thefightingman]

​@@CsStoker disagree this is amazing

[@petermcardle2031]

Thank you for sharing Great video's 👍

[@historybattles3D]

Τhank you very much for watching them!

[@historybuff14jones77]

This is amazing 🎉

[@TheSpoilerOfDreams]

Great video! Are the model troop numbers identical to the real battle or were they scaled down?

[@historybattles3D]

Τhey are not exactly identical. Probably slightly less numerous than the actual battle. But they are close.

[@stykorama8387]

Just found your channel. Very good visuals. If this is not video game, can I ask how's done? What software? I want to create such a video too. You know more than little know-how :) Subscribed!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much! I use a variety of programs really.

[@stykorama8387]

@@historybattles3D so you want to keep it secret, ok

[@oneofyk]

right on, great channel

[@historybattles3D]

Much appreciated

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Man that was awesome!

[@historybattles3D]

Glad you liked it!

[@Caucasian60]

Great video! For any Total War game fans, let’s hope this is what Medieval 3 Total War looks lik!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you ! I'm currently making the battle of Edington with the same style. It should be finished within a couple of weeks-max.

[@Caucasian60]

@@historybattles3D impressive stuff! Keep up the great work. Its nice to see something different and closer to scale than why other content creators use with the Total War games.

[@listrahtes]

It was much closer than history books mostly portray it. They write about the new guard defeated the old guard just like this video suggests but let Harold come rested and without leaving important parts of his forces behind and this battle could have gone very different. Even like that it was very close and could have one either way. This was no Cannae, trasimenic, Carrhae....etc. battle but very evenly matched. ,

[@valentinagribanovamusic7910]

Cool video! I love history very much!

[@historybattles3D]

Glad you enjoyed

[@paulm3033]

Animations like this would be a great history teaching aid , well executed visual representations stick in the minds of kids like nothing else .

[@alecwilliams7111]

It's hard to over-estimate the importance of this battle. William's conquest insured that there would be a blend of Saxon and Norman ideas. This is one of the reasons why we are the people we are today. Also, the Norman Conquest meant a system of feudalism that was workable, since the guy in charge was distributing the lands and offices, and there could be no question of who was in charge. William was pragmatic--what would work was fine, Saxon or Norman. He was a bad man to cross, though. Two revolts in Yorkshire led to the destruction of the shire and its people. Harold as a military leader is easy to under estimate, since victory has many children, and defeat is an orphan. He had conducted a successful campaign in the north again the Scandinavian invader, Harold Hadrata. He should have taken a rest, but William was devastating his beloved Wessex, and a forced march brought the two together at Hastings, just as William intended. To Harold's credit, all of his moves almost worked.

[@TrainingVideos2024]

What softwares were used for this animation? It's glorious!

[@aceous99]

looks like Total War

[@coreystockdale6287]

This is very well done all three videos watched and a subscriber gained

[@derin111]

I love how lots of the guys are just standing at the back doing nothing but shouting encouragement, abuse and banging their shields. That would have been me! 🤓

[@wellthatwasdaft]

In reality that was almost everyone! Actual infantry clashes tended to consist of the two sides facing each other at basically the length of a spear's thrust and trying to get opportunistic stabs in where they could. No one on either side wanted to die, so they would stay with their comrades and work together to pick off poor soldiers on the enemy side. Then after a few minutes of this kind of fighting, one or both sides would generally back off to reorganise, cycle men to and from the front line, and organise the next move.

[@Fallout3131]

@@wellthatwasdaft Man, you hit the nail on the head. I wish games today would reflect that, instead of the whole two army blobs frontal charging each other and fighting in Hollywood style sequence drama slog fights from front to back until they die and one side loses their morale points. Real warfare oddly enough is so much more interesting then the game warfare.

[@RadCowify]

@@Fallout3131 Real warfare is extremely difficult to model, both for movies and video games. There's the obvious factor of scale, which is financially and mechanically restricting, but there's also the lack of homogenized equipment, training, and tactics prior to the advent of gunpowder and rise of the nation state as a concept. Every single battle was extremely unique and circumstantial. While we know general trends of tactics and equipment for certain political entities at certain times, the actual distribution in specific battles is much more difficult to ascertain. The constant cycle of reorganizing, assaulting, and consolidating would be typical for highly trained mercenary or household retinue troops, but militias would oftentimes find themselves not fighting at all for long periods and then being involved in rather brutish struggles for short periods. A distinct lack of organization, equipment and experience does not lend itself to allowing one to engage and disengage as a unit. Much of what we know about 11th Century combat actually comes directly from the extensive records kept by William of Normandy as well as the Bayeux Tapestry in particular. While this applies to this specific battle very well, a lot of guess work and cross examination of documents from other countries has to be taken into account to understand what this meant for everywhere else at the time. One of the historical details in this battle that is still a topic heavily debated is the actual veracity and usefulness of the Norman Knight and their charge on horseback. We know from various sources in the 11th and 12th century that the Frankish Knight was the pinnacle of European warfare, but how that translates to the actual battle is difficult to tell. Many historians conclude that William's knights fought in prolonged melee from horseback, engaging and disengage to capitalize on mobility and force of charge, but many sources also tell us that Knights are very vulnerable in a prolonged melee. The decisive point in the Battle of Hastings is also portrayed as a feinted route in which the knights capitalized with the force of a cohesive charge against the Saxon troops as they broke formation to chase the routing Norman foot soldiers. It's still highly debated whether this portrayal was a real route that the mounted knights took advantage of or a planned retreat orchestrated by the Normans to provoke the Saxons into abandoning their positions.

[@Fallout3131]

@@RadCowify Hey man I read all of that and I genuinely appreciate that answer. Everything you said is absolutely true and putting it into perspective like that I do absolutely agree it would make it very formidable or practically unrealistic to be able to incorporate into games presently with our technology. I take back what I said. On a side note thank you for introducing me to the disputed moments in the battle, as I did not know that and am now going to explore the battle in more detail. Cheers man.

[@smolpp585]

7:00 Didn't know ghosts took part in this battle! crazy stuff!

[@internetuser6602]

This is insane!! Amazing

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much!

[@Fallout3131]

Awesome!!!

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Acid_Viking]

William not only had a more modern army, but a more advanced video card. The Saxons may have held the high ground, but they were having to fight at a lower frame rate than their Norman counterparts.

[@eazzye33]

I wish this was a computer game like total war. These graphics and animations are on point

[@Jagonath]

There was a whole series like this ages ago. Time Commanders (still on KZbin). There was something even better, but I can't remember what it was called.

[@eazzye33]

@@Jagonath oh nice I will have to check it out

[@Bodbyify]

You guys are going to be big! You got a new subscriber!

[@historybattles3D]

Welcome aboard!

[@foxcat7453]

Amazing 😻

[@V3NX0_]

doesnt make sense for cavalry to charge into the back of their own side’s infantry…

[@TheSentientsix]

Did he really charge his mounted knights into the backs of his own men? Wouldn't that kill a bunch of them and cause them to route? Just curious, great video though btw. Very entertaining and I can tell you put a lot of work into it.

[@historybattles3D]

It is a "solution" that I came up with when animating the battle. The problem was that the frontline was limited and I had a bunch of units that I wanted to engage. So, this was the only solution. The other choice was to keep half of the Norman knights un-engaged in the background.

[@corbettcondray]

Thank you. I miss history chnl doing this

[@historybattles3D]

More to come!

[@roytaylor6361]

These are just superb, I have worked in visuals all my life and subscribe to Historymarche, KingsandGenerals, etc. but like these videos best, congratulations and please keep going. Would love to hear from you directly and see how I could help you with these.

[@historybattles3D]

Well, thank you very much sir! Right now I'm a single person but if the channel becomes successful I probably be able to hire helping hands.

[@wellthatwasdaft]

An extremely well-made video that explains the key points of the battle very well - was it made in Blender? If I were to nitpickingly critique it, I would suggest that some amount of looking into the crowd mechanics of battles would go a long way towards enhancing the realism. Battles across much of history were a long way from the image of two sides engaging at a sprint and horses crashing through like the Rohirrim. Most troops on both sides very reluctant to even get scratched, much less badly wounded or killed. And that fundamental fact changes the whole image we might have of it. People on both sides were really, really scared, and they made very human decisions. Infantry charged not at a sprint but at walking pace, with both sides maintaining cohesion as much as possible. The clash itself was generally more a standoff at the length of a spear's thrust, making opportunistic stabs here and there but mostly keeping themselves behind their shield and doing what they could to avoid injury. Even this would rarely last more than a few minutes before one or both sides backed off to regroup and cycle men to and from the front rows. Big routs were where the truly huge casualty numbers started to rack up. The enemy get round the side, people on the edges start to move towards the centre to defend themselves, and then the centre itself is rapidly turning into a crowd crush. People aren't just meekly dying - they're fighting tooth and nail - but they are much less able to defend themselves if they can't move their shield properly to defend, say, their legs, or if they can't threaten an attacker with their own spear. And then people start to move backwards. Mass panic sets in, the line disintegrates and individual stragglers can be picked off by the side that still has its formation together. Cavalry would rarely actually charge headlong into massed infantry. Looser formations, sure, but generally they would be at risk of being pulled from their horses if they actually barrelled headlong into an established shield wall. Instead, then, they would charge at full speed and hope to force a rout from the sheer terrifying sight of them (especially if they were attacking a portion of the enemy line that was already committed to an infantry engagement), but if that didn't happen then they would turn and ride along the line, forcing the enemy to cower behind their shields while the horsemen looked for weaknesses with their lances and avoided getting close enough for the enemy to stab them or their horse.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you very much! I see what you mean, and battles would have played out more or less how you describe them. But given the highly time-consuming nature of 3D animation, especially 3D animation on a mass scale, which isn't an out-of-the-box feature in most game engines and especially 3D modelling software, what you are describing here is a whole set of ai behaviour that even massive teams like Creative assembly, were not entirely capable of properly recreating. If I were to release a video once I've achieved this level of sophistication in mass crowd behaviours, I'd probably upload the next video within 5 to 6 years from now... To give you a perspective of how time-consuming this process is for me. I tried to change the version of the software I'm using to animate the video to the newest version, mid-production. It turned out to be a wrong decision because there was no backward compatibility. When I realised that everything I'd built for the newer version wouldn't render, I lost two weeks trying to revert to my tested and proven version.. Two whole weeks down the drain for a simple mistake. I'm always adding details with each release or re-evaluating some of my methods, animations and mechanics. Still, I'm also trying to strike a reasonable balance between productivity and innovation. If the channel becomes profitable, I'll be able to recruit some helping hands. For the moment, unfortunately, I'm just one person.

[@danielc9967]

@@historybattles3D Why don't you use Total war? I mean I doubt people are here for the 3D animation, if anything it was the worst part of the video. Excellent narration and presentation though. I recommend you use Total war, would be less effort, because your content is very good.

[@historybattles3D]

​@@danielc9967 There are hundreds if not thousands of channels that are using total war clips right now. I also don't see how using total war will allow me to create high poly and high resolution close ups neither how using total war clips will make my content to stand out. Making a total-war related -separate channel just to test this would be extremely easy. But it is bothersome that you don't see any value in the uniqueness of the presentation and suggest to just use total war footage like almost everyone else is doing. It kind of makes me think (why am I working so hard after all...)

[@TheOldBearTime]

Wonder if Harold pushed down the hill after the Norman's fist retreat if they would have been able in the chaos and rumour of William's death rout the whole army. But I guess Harold thought it a ploy to surround his army being vulnerable from the flanks and rear without cavalry support.

[@williamprince8262]

Harold I think knew that because most of his troops were mostly untrained militia that he had too few trained huscarls and thegns to hold a line against a full charge of mounted knights on the flat where most of the fyrd would have panicked and fled leaving him surrounded anyway His best hope was to hold the hill untill the Normans became so demoralised that would either flee and be destroyed or retreat and more reinforcement would reach the Saxons so that they had enough to go on the offensive Also he and the men who had been at Stamford Bridge were exhausted from the forced marches and were limited in what they could do

[@chucklynch6523]

@@williamprince8262 If only Harold had waited just a few days the Normans could have been taken down a number of ways, while other Saxon units were burning their ships, supplies, etc. at the coast. William gambled and won!!!

[@williamprince8262]

@@chucklynch6523 he gambled it all Burned his ships, no retreat, all or nothing, victory or death Also he was clever he used the papal bull that said Harold was excommunicated for being a usurper to demoralise Harold Some have also said that that because of that the Harold who won Stamford Bridge was a different man who was at Hastings Demoralised, depressed because of his brother Tostigs death at Stamford Bridge, that he rushed into battle before gathering his full force that could have crushed the Normans

[@anthonytaylor9232]

@@williamprince8262 His brother had enlisted the help of the vikings to depose Harold, so why on earth would Harold be depressed about a traitors death?

[@williamprince8262]

@@anthonytaylor9232 true it may be conjecture If you read the book 1066 The year of the Conquest by David Armine Howarth he makes the point there that the Harold at Stamford Bridge ( a man more tactically alive and showing more initiative) and the Harold at Hastings (whose only strategy was to sit on the hill) were 2 different people, possibly caused by several factors, one of which included the papal bull excommunicating him , and the death of his brother, though a traitor, would still hit hard perhaps remembering better days in the past But again it is still conjecture However I cannot recommend that book highly enough to anyone who has an interest in the period

[@sajO5754]

Love the 3D 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@PaulinAsia_]

Excellent animation.

[@historybattles3D]

Thank you kindly!

[@ambientlightofdarknesss4245]

Are these 3d battles numerically accurate yo how many soldiers were actually there? If so that would be insanely cool. Makes you have an actual sense about how MASSIVE these battles were!

[@historybattles3D]

There are "almost" numerically accurate in terms of visualization. I'd say that this is a very close battle to being one to one ratio. But isn't an exact match.

[@Jagonath]

10,000 troops per side isn't that massive, historically. Both sides together wouldn't seat a quarter of a football stadium. Think of 10 men in a row and 10 behind. 100 men, and you could fill a large room in a house with that, all packed together. And only about 70 of those blocks, per side. It's one of the most important battles in history, but not a massive battle. No like Gaugamela with 200,000+ vs 40,000+ (which happened a 1000 years earlier!)

[@awakeandwatching953]

@@Jagonath the more ancient battles have wildly over estimated numbers in most cases.. its hard to tell just how accurate they are, even roman numbers for their own troops are not exact because its often assumes formations are at full strength.. and of course theres the influence of propaganda for one side or the other

[@Jagonath]

@@awakeandwatching953 That's true. Battle of Watling Street was highly unlikely to have been 400 casualties for the Romans and 80,000 casualties for the Brits. 80,000 seems a bit high.

[@oddursigurdsson9637]

@@Jagonath Usually the battle just goes on for long enough for one side to realize they are losing then they try and escape or otherwise lose cohesion and get slaughtered. This way the winning armies generally don't lose a lot of troops. Except in Phyrric victories but they are an exception. I believe also for the battle of Watling Street the casualties include the women and children camp followers that were supporting the British army due to the rout going through their camp. Perhaps the soldiers weren't so many compared to their families following them.

[@tooyoungtobeold8756]

Well done. It looks like you based the terrain on Caldbec Hill (the real battlefield) but you didn't mention the Malfosse incident. William went on to slaughter tens of thousands of Anglo Saxons and destroy villages particularly in Yorkshire, ie The Harrying of the North.

[@historybattles3D]

Yes, I didn't mention that because it happened afterwards. Maybe if this video turns out to be successful, which up until now isn't very much, I'll turn William into a whole series.

[@Trebor74]

Unsure how long William would mistake the site of his victory over Harold?

[@tooyoungtobeold8756]

@@Trebor74 Read some history books.

[@antukin5469]

i love this

[@Lurchyy]

These are amazing, really hope you do the battle of cannae

[@andrewbruskin6923]

Wonderful animation and video. William sounds like a terrible general who happened to have extraordinary luck on his side (Harald fighting a previous battle just days before, Harald dying from a stray arrow, etc). William had the cavalry charge directly into the enemy lines with no support and then retreat? Position his archers at the bottom of a hill? Whut. Granted, there were probably reasons why this was done, but he could have easily outmaneuvered the Saxons by having his cavalry swoop around and attack Harald's army from behind while his infantry charged the front, causing disarray among the Saxons, essentially trapping them. This battle could have gone very differently if even some minor things happened for the Saxons. Just my 0.02 cents, nothing more.

[@historybattles3D]

So glad that you liked it!

[@daniellewis441]

I believe there was marsh land and forest either side of the shield wall, preventing a rear flank

[@williamprince8262]

William was no slouch, was freakishly strong and hardened by war and attempted assasination from childhood. Harold chose the position well, there were marshes and thick woods on either side so William had to break the shield wall, the stories say he had personally led many charges and had 4 horses killed under him.