Introduction
Think you know History from your favorite games? Think again. From “medieval sieges rained oil on attackers” to exploding walls and useless bayonets, video games repeat myths that make battles look simpler and cooler than they really were. Let’s debunk the top 10 historical myths games keep getting wrong.
I have to admit that I was actually extremely surprised by how well my two previous articles (read the first one here and the second here, if you missed them!) about tackling historical myths videogames keep perpetuating over and over again, so I have decided to give this one another go, because History and games go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Check out all my other lists here.
10 – Medieval Sieges Rained Boiling Oil on Attackers
A persistent myth in games (and in every Hollywood movie set in Medieval times) is that defenders frequently poured boiling oil on attackers during medieval sieges, creating dramatic, deadly scenes of soldiers in agony, struggling in their thick metal suits against an unsuspecting weapon. Stronghold is the main culprit here (despite being one of the best games of all time!), with its engineers constantly going back and forth to fill their oil vases with the deadly liquid. In reality, oil was extremely rare due to its cost and scarcity, and using it offers no real advantage when you consider that there were plenty of other, more commonly available means like boiling water, or rocks, arrows, or crossbow bolts, or whatever else you had at hand that was disposable, and heavy enough to repel assailants. The “boiling oil” trope endures because it’s visually striking and instantly understandable, but it exaggerates medieval siege tactics and misrepresents the practical, resource-driven ways castles were defended. It’s still pretty cool to see, nevertheless.
9 – Small Weapons Were Responsible For Most Casualties
Ask anyone who’s not familiar with military tactics or the History of warfare, and what was the main killer in the 20th century, and the most common answer would either be the machine gun, the rifle, or even pistols. Nearly every historical game misleadingly suggests the same: that rifles, pistols, and machine guns were responsible for the majority of wartime casualties, largely because these weapons dominate moment-to-moment gameplay for the average FPS and even strategy game. In reality, especially from World War I onward, artillery was by far the deadliest force on the battlefield, accounting for the majority of injuries and deaths in most major conflicts. The introduction of modern artillery into the battlefield massively shaped tactics, and its deadly use in battles greatly influenced morale and battlefield movement far more than small arms ever did, but these elements are often downplayed in games for pacing and player agency. If a game is semi-realistic, one can still see the deadly result of a massive artillery bombardment, with games like Combat Missions, Armored Brigade 2, and Hell Let Loose reflecting the horrors of being under heavy fire.
8 – Medieval Knights Were Slow And Couldn’t Move Properly
I know that games represent medieval knights as lumbering hunks of metal that can barely move for balancing reasons, from Total War: Medieval 2, Age of Empires 2, and even Chivalry 2. But the reality is that games often exaggerate the clumsiness of knights in full plate armor, suggesting that a single stumble left them helpless on the battlefield, or that they could only move at a snail’s pace. In reality, well-trained knights were remarkably mobile, able to run, mount, and recover even in heavy armor, though it did require skill, stamina, and a life of training. Armor was designed with articulation in mind, balancing protection and movement, and knights regularly practiced falling, rolling, and fighting on foot, as this was expected to happen in combat.
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