arm wrestling with the troops.

Rating: 6/10 (4 July 2011)

Not such good training for tactical decision making in the field.
No scouts, apparently. March down a road, with high banks on either side. Miss the Picts waiting to drop the trees. Then, freeze in the kill zone. Don't just go around the trees. Don't even move up the slope. Just wait for the flaming balls.
Again with the flaming balls. Find me an historical account of flaming balls, or logs, etc. Also, explain the logistics of making/transporting? the balls, lighting them instantly so entirely in flame, without alerting the intended targets.
Ever shot a bow at a moving target? More miss than hit. Ever shot a live creature with an arrow? they don't just drop. Read some historical accounts of knights stuck full of arrows, still fighting. Or speak to anyone who has ever taken a deer. Ever thrown an axe? Very dependent on distance, if it is going to stick.
Why the elaborate ambush, anyway. No evidence of the usual nightly fortifications, just pitch your tents, take of the armor and have a cookout. Just sayin.