Thrydwulf on the Saxon Shore

Have finished my house rules for SAGA.  They emphasis on board leadership and decision making a bit more and I have added variable movement to make the game more solitaire friendly.  Submitted them to WSS so we shall see. 
Now that I have a set of Dark Age rules I like I can turn my attention to the campaign.  Herein dear reader is the first playtest of Warband Forward. 

Characters

Thrydwulf        Generous/wealth           Warlord
Sabert               Unsupportivve/Avarice   Leutenent
Br Cearl            Liberal/wealth                Monk at St Culbert's

10 Huscarls
14 Ceorls
4 Geburs
( each figure represents 2 men and I forgot to take a picture of the board.   It is a river with a hill in the center and a church with St Culbert's wristbones in it on the left.  The Saxon's have archers on the hill to start other forces arrving.  The Vikings disembark from longships.

Saga of Thrydwulf and the Saxon Shore


Five summers ago fierce boats landed along the river.  Lookouts fired their bows and sent a runner into town.  The Vikings had broke their truce!

Vikings land!

 

 

Thrydwulf brave and true gathered his forces from the town.  No gold would be given to these heathens on this day.  God was with His people and Thrydwulf vowed he would drive them into the sea.  He sent his Lt, Sabert the timid, ahead with the Ceorls to the church on eagles wings.  They arrived just ahead of the viking horde and formed a shield wall straight and true

  Sabert up front, Br Cearl in the back

 

 

The Vikings howled like the devil and formed their own shield wall and attacked!  Clanging could be heard along the shore as God's forces battled evil.  Many good men died and the wall broke.   Five tired heathens broke into God's house



More Vikings arrived and blocked the door to God's house so those inside could find the treasures within.   But God's treasures were well hidden to those without the Spirit.

God's own instrument, Thrydwulf, showed up and drove into the heathens in front of God's house!

 

Battle lines are drawn!

 

 

This clash of warriors, so epic, lasted for an hour with many men falling but Thrydwulf would not give up for he knew God was with him.   Br Cearl came and started to pray.   Where was his faithful Leutenant, Sabert?   He was too timid to join this battle of warriors and so earned his name this day.

The heathens started to waiver when their warlord came up snarling like a beast from the underworld.

 

Saxons down to 2 men left/ Vikings 3!

 

Thrydwulf calmly blocked the blows of the dumb beasts as the ceorls from the hill had worked their way around the flanks of the Vikings  now attacked!

 

Vikings are taken from the flank!

 

 

With their leader slain and the cream of their Hirdmen dead in front of God's house the Vikings quickly beat a retreat to their boats.   As the Ceorls started to chase them Thrydwulf said, "Blessed are the merciful for mercy shall be theirs.  Let us praise God that his house and the relics of St Cuthbert are safe!"

So now you know the tale of Thrydwulf and the Saxon Shore!

 

You can see the battle was a lot of fun.   The rules worked great.  Shieldwalls normally don't play that big a part as they are easily flanked but the terrain here favored them.  I liked the fact that you can now have pitched battles over several turns with the potential of reinforcements.  It was exciting as the Vikings fed forces into the meatgrinder only to be flanked anyway.

Post battle Thrydwulf figured out that Sabert wasn't helping him on purpose (unsupportive) and canned him.  Had he been killed though we would be talking about the Saga of Sabert.  In addition both his overlord King Osyom and the Church are very impressed and he gains a glory point. 

 

If you want to play this yourself the Vikings get a warlord and Lt plus

20 Hirdmen and 14 Bondi with up to 8 bondi bow armed.  ( You roll up your opponent just like Platoon Forward.)

 

 

Enjoy

 

Joe