Medieval siege game: storm Château Gaillard

Richard's castle

Richard the Lionheart, King of England and Duke of Normandy, built Château Gaillard between 1196 and 1198 on a chalk cliff high above the river Seine at Les Andelys. It blocked the river road to Rouen, the capital of Normandy, against Richard's great rival, King Philip II of France. It was one of the most advanced castles of its time: a chain of separate baileys, each with its own walls and ditch, so an attacker who took one still faced the next, ending in an inner bailey and a massive keep.

The siege

Richard died in 1199, and his brother John inherited both the castle and the war. In September 1203 Philip's army surrounded Château Gaillard. Its commander, Roger de Lacy, settled in to hold out through the winter. To make his food last, he sent the townspeople who had sheltered inside out of the gates. The French would not let them through their lines, and hundreds were trapped between the armies, where many died of cold and hunger.

In February 1204 the French attacked in earnest. They filled the outer ditch, dug under the walls of the outermost bailey and brought them down. Then, according to the chronicles, a handful of soldiers climbed into the middle bailey through an unguarded opening by its chapel and opened the way for the rest. On 6 March 1204 the last defenders were driven into the inner bailey, its wall was breached, and the castle fell.

The fall of Normandy

With Château Gaillard gone, the road to Rouen was open. Rouen surrendered in June 1204, and Normandy passed to the French crown, ending almost three centuries in which it had been ruled by its own dukes. The ruins still stand on the cliff today.

What you command

You lead the attackers storming the castle, as Philip's army did. The defenders hold prepared positions behind the castle's walls, laid out from the real shape of the site.

Bring your archers and catapults to bear on the walls, move your men up under cover, and send your knights in when the defence starts to crack. The fight ends hand to hand: steel on steel at the objective.