


To the sound of trumpets your entire army moves up the hill and engages the English line in hand to hand combat. A terrible toll is taken on the way in from English hand missiles. The Bretons rout almost at once and are pursued by the English right wing, down the hill and into the marshes. The French right does the best: they simply withdraw when the going gets tough. Your Normans in the center fall back discomfitted.

But you hasten forward and stem the rout. Leaving your brothers Odo and Robert to reorder and command the center, you ride over to the French wing and take personal command of it.

Having seen how well the routing Bretons pulled down the English right wing, you direct the French to attack again and fake a rout. It works: the English left pursues the French; who turn about, and, together with the Normans of your personal command, fall upon the exposed flanks of the advanced English division. They are slaughtered, and it later turns out that Gyrth Godwinson was a casualty there. (You may have killed him yourself, there was one warrior whom you mistook in the heat of battle for Harold himself, as you cut him to pieces; it was probably his younger brother.)
The battle has elsewhere gone to pieces: the Bretons are in definite difficulties, and up on the hill, your Normans are being sent off by Harold's bodyguard. His standards are still flying in the last of the late evening sunlight.
Lead an attack with the French wing on Harold's position.
Send the French to mop up the English right and save the Bretons, while you lead your personal troops around to the rear and charge Harold's postion from there.