Remote Wargaming

Now you really can become an armchair general. If you are confined to barracks but would love to wargame, try this. You need two (or more) gamers. The main player sets up a battlefield in their location, with a camera/phone/ipad to view the action. They use the zoom app to create a conference call, inviting other gamer(s). The main player takes all the moves, rolls dice for themselves, removes casualties, etc. The secondary player(s) talk to them, directing them - move the second unit forward eight inches, shoot at those cavalry, etc. The secondary players can roll their own dice if they choose.

I tried it last night with gaming buddy Matt. He set up the battlefield in his gaming dungeon. I simply had to get some dice, I had them on a tray in my chair. I also had the rulebook to hand, and an ipad to view the game. We stuck to the simple to play Dragon Rampant, about half a dozen units each on a 4x4 tabletop. It worked well, after I learned how to hold the ipad without covering the microphone - I blame the wine.

Here's my view in game. After some input from a technical expert, I propped the ipad up on a cushion, leaving me hands free to expertly shout out my orders, point at the screen (not that Matt could see where I was pointing), and roll some dice, usually badly. A good way to spend an evening if you crave a wargame. Not as good as the real thing obviously, but it works, it's free (if there's just two of you), and it's easy if you are the secondary player.

I won't attempt to describe the ingame action, I'm sure Matt will produce a battle report at some stage (edit - he sure did). Suffice to say that the uruk hai are well fed now, Samwise will be taking part in the trilogy no more, and we'll get you next time Frodo, you slippery little hobbit.

Rohan In Flames

Orcs bearing the red eye have been seen wandering the furthest fringes of the Eastfold. How they managed to cross the river undetected is a mystery, but they must be stopped, driven back and destroyed. A couple of remote farms have already been pillaged and now they are making their way westward to bigger settlements. A small contingent of Rohan troops have set up defences to try to hold them back, a messenger rushing west to raise the alarm and muster reinforcements. 

This was a clash we played in Matt's dungeon using Dragon Rampant rules, which is designed for smaller games than ours, so we add a few tweaks to make it workable. When a unit fails to activate, the player turn usually ends, but we allow three failures before passing over to the opponent. This allows the ten or so units per side to be involved in most turns, turning a scrappy stop-start skirmish into something a little bit more epic.

Orcs trample crops as they press forward

They close in on the hastily erected defences

The bulk of the orcs push forward on the right

Reinforcements arrive for Rohan

The troll slaughters the archers in his path and lumbers on, orcs pouring into the gap in the defences

Fierce fighting in the farmstead sees the brave Rohan defenders slowly pushed back

The troll is peppered with arrows from all directions and staggers around in confusion

Orcs torch a farm building and are then thrown into the conflagration by enraged defenders!

Another building goes up in flames before the orcs are finally pushed back

A most enjoyable battle, Dragon Rampant really works well in games like this. The orcs made most progress on the right flank, the troll punched through the light defences easily enough, but then was the sole target for a lot of Rohan archers. More orcs tried to follow through but were hampered by rough terrain and harassing archery. In the centre, a single unit of Rohan defenders did well to hold out for so long, finally falling back as the orc leader and his troops rushed over the barricades. With the central farm undefended, it was soon roaring in flames. On the left flank, a unit of warg riders and a couple of light orc units struggled to push back a fairly meagre force of Rohan archers. As their numbers depleted, the orcs finally lost impetus and pulled back from the attack.

Two out of five building were destroyed, so technically it was probably the forces of  Rohan that won the day. But the orcs are many and slunk back into the marshlands, no doubt planning to return and wreak havoc again another day. It might be interesting to fight the next battle using a different ruleset, to see how they compare, maybe Erehwon or perhaps Saga. It would certainly be interesting to continue the tale.

Coming Soon? The Orcs Strike Back

Return to Grimdal's Tomb part 2

A horn blast startled the rangers into readiness. They took up positions on the edge of the Oakenwood, peering across the dark glade. Slowly, their enemy hobbled into view. Zombies fell to the ground as crossbow bolts thudded into them. More zombies trailed alongside them, a wall of rotting flesh. Skeletons creaked forward, and wights seemingly floated across the ground, heading straight for the tomb. Behind them, the dark robed necromancer urged them on.

A cheer went up on the dwarf left flank, as slayers charged down from the foothills and made straight for the tomb. The dwarfs cheered even louder as a gyrocopter swept over the treetops. It flew straight over the zombie wall then a brief flash and an explosion rocked the night. Bones shattered and the necromancer stumbled to his knees, the whole Undead army faltered.

The dark robed figure gripped his staff and pulled himself up. Despite his wound, he was able to conjure a chill wind, the blast directed up into the sky at the hovering dwarf contraption. There was an audible crackling noise as the whole machine was covered in freezing ice crystals. The rotor stuttered, the pilot cried out and it careered to the ground. The foul undead creatures shambled forward once more.

Zombies were continually pierced by bolts and fell to the ground, but then rose again under the influence of foul magic. The slayers found their route to the tomb blocked by shambling corpse soldiers. Skeletons swarmed over the downed gyrocopter. Wights silently floated toward the tomb, just as the door creaked open. From that ancient portal, a hulking figure lumbered out, wading into the spectral warriors. The ogre hacked and slashed at the eerie robed figures, one dissipated to nothing as his cleaver struck, but their chill weapons pierced his flabby bulk. The ogre retreated back into the tomb, bellowing in rage. The wights hovered by the tomb door, awaiting a command.

The downed gyrocopter pilot furiously tapped on dials and hammered on levers with one hand, swinging his axe at the skeletons with his other. Somehow he had survived the short descent of his machine to the ground. Even more miraculously, with a juddering wheeze, it suddenly started back into life, the rotor spinning once more. The dwarf gyrocopter swayed back into the air again, skeletons scattered beneath it. With steely determination, the pilot aimed once more at the dark robed figure and tossed a bomb straight at him. The bomb rolled right up to the feet of the figure, then lay there. There was no flash, no explosion this time. The icy blast must have rendered the bomb useless!

Dwarf rangers finally threw down their crossbows and hefted their huge axes. They charged toward the zombies, determined to sweep them away and carve a route through to the dark robed necromancer. Slayers joined them. At the tomb door, there was a frightful noise, as a pack of gibbering, howling gobghouls emerged from the darkness and threw themselves at the wights. This attack was surprisingly vicious, the wights fell back under the onslaught of rusty blades and scabrous claws.

As the zombie lines thinned, the dwarfs crept ever closer to the necromancer and his depleted bodyguard. For the first time, he stepped back, hesitating. A glance over to the tomb told him that his wight servants had failed. A faint glow in the east heralded the new dawn. The darkness would soon be gone. The grating sound of a huge rock door closing signalled the end of the battle.

The robed figure took one last, wistful look at Grimdal's Tomb, then melted away once more. The foul undead plodded after him. As the pink tinge of dawn intensified, dazed dwarfs stumbled over corpses, discovering fallen comrades among the rotted dead. Many had given their lives to protect the ancient tomb, and yet had it all been for nothing? The sacred site had long ago been defiled and infested by other dark creatures. The survivors solemnly began the grim task of gathering their dead for the long trek back home.

Return to Grimdal's Tomb part 1

Long ago, there was a great battle at Grimdal's Tomb, between the dwarfs and a race of men, now long forgotten. The men came seeking dwarf treasure that was rumoured to lie in an ancient burial mound; the dwarfs came to protect their ancestor's resting place.

Grimdal's Tomb lies beyond the eastern fringes of the Oakenwood, roughly half way between Oakenheim and the abandoned hold of Helheim. As a sacred dwarf monument, it is not usually marked on maps, lest any treasure hunters or other undesirables should attempt to visit. Dwarfs far away from home, notably rangers and wandering slayers, often visit the site to pay their respects. It was during one such visit that they first discovered another at the site, a dark robed figure poking around under cover of the night sky, who melted away into the shadows when challenged. Alarmed at this intrusion, the dwarfs doubled their patrol of the area, and sure enough, a few nights later, the dark robed stranger was back, but this time he was not alone.

I first discovered Grimdal's Tomb back in 1992, in White Dwarf issue number 153. I had bought the magazine to further investigate the "new" Warhammer Fantasy Battle game - in reality it was the fourth edition, but it was all new to me as an occasional player of Heroquest.

Grimdal's Tomb was the setting for a battle report between Dwarfs and Bretonnians, with a slight twist. Both sides were trying to get into the tomb, thought neither knew that they would also have to contend with the tomb guardians - a troll and a handful of skeletons.

I adapted completely stole this idea for a battle, though I would be using the Erehwon rules. Dwarf rangers and slayers would join forces to face the intruders, with support from the newly painted gyrocopter. It was also a chance for me to play a first battle with the Undead in this system. A necromancer, leading two units of zombies, skeletons and wights, would be attempting to break into the tomb. And the tomb guardians? A hulking ogre and a pack of ghouls would randomly turn up to attack whichever unit was nearest to the tomb entrance.

As the gloom of night descended on the trees, the rangers settled in for a long wait. Accustomed to the darkness of their underground homes, they could easily see across the clearing to the stone monument of the sacred tomb. Hours ticked by, and it seemed that it would be another fruitless vigil, when a chill descended on the glade. Snorri drew his cloak around him, and lighting his pipe was surprised to see his breath in the night air. It was mid summer, yet suddenly as cold as a mountain peak. Furtive movement across the clearing caught his eye. He nudged his companion to be ready to give the signal. The dark robed intruder had returned to Grimdal's Tomb.

First Game of Erehwon

The Dwarfs of Oakenheim have had many years of peace and prosperity, little bothered by outsiders. But recently, rangers have reported much more activity on the borders, with goblins from the Red Hills in the south being particularly bothersome. Hoping to squash any sneaky plans the greenskins might have, the dwarfs have despatched a small force from the nearest hold, to confront and warn off the intruders.

You might not realise it, but there is a new game system in town. Quietly launched by Warlord Games, Warlords of Erehwon is a game by Rick Priestley, author of the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle. If you have played Bolt Action or Battle of Antares, you will be familiar with the basic system. If you have no idea what these are, then you can get a rough idea of the new game from this youtube video, in which the basic mechanics are covered.

My own one paragraph description of the game is that it is a large skirmish/small warband game, playable on a dining room table, with forces of around six to ten units per side, units from three to ten figures in size, so about thirty to fifty figures to each warband. If you play Saga, it's a similar scale, but with a very different play style. Units are activated one by one in a random fashion, drawing dice or tokens from a bag to determine this. Each unit then makes a choice from six different activations (move, shoot, rally type actions), carries out that action, then another unit is randomly chosen to activate. Actions are resolved using 10 sided dice by referring to one of six stats, with low rolls being successes (so the ideal game if you always roll 1's). It's a fast moving game, both players randomly but constantly involved at all times - there's no snoozing while your opponent takes his half hour turn. The photo above shows roughly what to expect, with six units of stout dwarf warriors facing off against ten units of sneaky goblins (some of them have obviously sneaked out of frame, the little gits). The photo below shows roughly 800 points of dwarfs.

In this first, trial outing, the game was quite easy to pick up, the rules are pretty straight forward. It plays more like the old Warhammer Fantasy Battle than any other game I have tried (Saga, Rampant, etc), but with much smaller forces and far less fiddly rules. If you like the feel of  the old WHFB games, but have developed a liking for newer, slicker game systems, it is probably right up your street. Suffice to say that dwarfs, goblins, trolls, and ideas for terrain are now swirling around in my over excited mind. I reckon that this game, and possibly the upcoming Saga fantasy supplement, will herald a renaissance in fantasy gaming.

The dwarfs turned their back on the smouldering heaps of goblin corpses. Gently, reverently, they hoisted their dead companions on to the carefully prepared litters, and began the solemn march back to the hold. Dozens of goblins had been slaughtered in the battle, but there was little reason to celebrate. Six of their own kin had been lost, six new burial mounds would be constructed at the hold. Heads bowed, they started the long trek back home.

Mordor Marches Out

Finally. After a very long summer and numerous other distractions -  ten weeks after the last game - dice have been rolling again in Matt's dungeon. I wanted to play with my newly painted Mordor orcs, so we decided on a nice and easy game of Dragon Rampant. The game is really designed for smaller forces than we were using, so we added a few tweaks to accommodate the larger number of units - allowing a commander to fail three activation tests before ending his turn. We also relaxed the three inch rule for friendly units. And we just lined up our armies for a good old pitched battle rather than play one of the wacky scenarios from the booklet. Sometimes, especially as a Mordor orc, you just want to get stuck in and smash some bones. This photo shows most of my force deployed for the battle, just out of frame were a unit of six cowardly warg riders who behaved so badly in game they do not deserve to appear in this post!

Across the table were Faramir's brave men of Gondor. A lot less bodies than the orcs, though as you might expect, considerably more skilled in combat. And with both forces lined up and ready, we started playing. Dragon Rampant is a nice system for quick and easy games. Our tweaks worked well and we found that in most turns both players were able to activate most of their units. It wouldn't be Dragon Rampant without those infuriating (at times) activation fails, but the three fail rule cushioned the blow for the most part and it felt more like a conventional wargame to me.

Most of the fighting took place in the centre of the table, with the orcs rushing forward to a more conservative Gondor force. I made a deployment error, the troll hidden in the woods seemed like a good idea when I saw all the archers across the board, but three consecutive activation fails and then a slow slog through the woods meant he was wasted in game terms. Only towards the end of the game did the troll manage to finally smash some Gondor skulls.

The rest of the battle ebbed and flowed nicely, first one side seeming to have the upper hand, then the other seeming to take control. Pictures speak volumes, so here's a few to give a flavour of the action.

By the end of the battle, both sides had taken a considerable beating and fought to a stalemate. I think in terms of a "result" it was most likely a draw. But gaming is not about winning or losing, it's about getting your lovingly painted toys out of their box for a couple of hours to run round on some nice terrain.

I posted a couple of pictures on facebook and got a lot of compliments (and questions) on the terrain, which is nice but totally undeserved as it's all Matt's. The "board" is a faux fur fleece throw or blanket, oversprayed in part with cheap aerosol paints. The terrain is a mix of scratch-built and some items from Thomarillion.

More games to come in the future I hope. I am already thinking about how to beef up my orcs in some way and would like to add some black orcs. And with ONLY 99 DAYS to go until xmas, I may well be adding considerable reinforcements at that time. Faramir, what's that in the sky?

Farewell to Middle Earth...

....for the time being at least. After painting up a fair number of dwarves over the past few weeks, it was nice to get them on to the battlefield. Round at the wargaming dungeon, they faced their hated enemy, the orcs of Sauron. I would have liked to have tried Strategy Battle Game, but we could not remember the rules so settled on the much simpler Dragon Rampant. It's not my favourite ruleset for a number of reasons, but it's always useful to have an easy to play system.

I didn't manage to get too many decent photos, which is just as well because the dwarves suffered from some poor dice rolling, which (to my mind or maybe it's my imagination) always seems far more punishing in this ruleset. One or two failed activations can really swing a game in a drastic fashion. Suffice to say, there was few things to celebrate in the hold that night. This pint was only half drunk! Still, it was good to get the dwarves showing off their freshly painted kilts and stretching their little legs for a change.

A couple of days later and I was heading out to a local cafe for a coffee and consolation cake (after England were knocked out of the World Cup the night before). The cafe is positioned above a second hand bookshop and in the main entrance I found a copy of Tolkien's Children of Hurin. A lovely clean hardback copy at a third of the cover price, which was more of a consolation than the cake could provide. Every cloud has a silver lining (this one illustrated by Alan Lee). Some reading to look forward to later in the year - I always think Tolkien is best appreciated in the autumn.

So it's a fond farewell to Middle Earth for the moment. I have moved on to another of my painting projects. I still have more dwarves and orcs to paint, hopefully I will pick them up again later in the year. I am also trying to develop a game system of my own, initially based around these two foes, so they will be out of their boxes a few more times throughout the year. The road goes ever on and on.......

Saga 2 First Game

It's time to try out the new version of Saga, with my Vikings taking on Matt's Anglo-Saxons. These are two of the simplest factions to use, perfect for a first game with a new ruleset. We skipped terrain setup and just launched straight in, not being particularly competitive types.

The game looks and feels and plays very like the previous version. Changes have been made to streamline gameplay, there's less fiddly measurement involved and far more action. I would describe the changes made as subtle, none game changing on their own, but they all add up to a slightly different game.

The first change of note is generating Saga dice. All units now generate one Saga dice, though warriors and levy cease to do so once they fall below a certain size. No more single warriors hiding in woods generating dice! You can also leave Saga dice on your battle board and not affect the number of dice thrown, useful for building up a cunning plan.

Movement has been tidied up, again not in a major way for casual players. Units can activate for free if they are more than L from enemy units, which allows stranded units to get back into the thick of the action without spending Saga dice. There's greater explanation on how to charge units.

Melee has been tweaked a little, again not by much. There is a clear step by step guide on how to execute combat, generating combat dice, using abilities and fatigue, withdrawals and such like. Defenders get the chance to close ranks, losing half their attack dice to benefit from a better chance to cancel hits. Again, it's not a major change and you will find melee tends to play out as before. This lone viking would have struggled in the previous version as he did in the new game!

Probably the most significant change is the way Warlords operate. They still gain a free activation, and can gift a nearby unit with one. They now generate eight dice in combat, but must fight alone, there's no more With Me rule. When he takes wounds he can spend fatigue to ignore it, or pass it on to nearby hearthguard. If you keep your Warlord and his bodyguard close by you will not notice a huge difference to how it pans out.

The fatigue system has probably changed the most. All units now take three fatigue before they are exhausted. You can spend enemy fatigue in the same way as the previous version, but there's also the opportunity to spend two fatigue to cancel an activation.

I think that's the bulk of the most noticeable rule changes. We got along fine given our previous experience. The game was more action packed as it's easier to keep units in the thick of things. I found it a little smoother, no more fiddling with VS measurements in combat which was always a bit laborious. It's too soon to say how the factions have fared after just one game, but those Anglo Saxons sure seem to have picked up a few melee moves, my vikings were slaughtered. They are keen to exact revenge, maybe for the next game I will switch things around a little, teach those Saxon dogs a lesson!

The Search For Faramir

Previously on Ambush in Anorien - "We saw him vanquish the troll, my Lord, then he charged into some orcs and we lost sight of him....."

Orc scouts fire on advancing Gondor search parties

In our last game, orcs have ambushed Boromir and Faramir and their patrol in a swampy, wooded region in the far north of Gondor. Faramir was in the thick of the action, fighting orcs and a mighty troll, while Boromir tried his best to marshal his men to safety. Back at camp, they realised Faramir had not returned, so hastily organised a search party. The Gondorians spread out to search for the fallen captain, but almost immediately were harassed by orcs scouts, shooting from the swamps. Braying horns from the woodlands sounded as more orcs appeared.

We played this game using Dragon rampant rules, with the fugutive scenario borrowed from Lion Rampant. There are six pieces of difficult terrain which the Gondorians must search. The first search is successful on a 6, the second search on a 5+, and so on. Once the fugitive (Faramir) is found, he must be escorted off the table to safety. It's one of those scenarios which can be over very quickly if an early search is successful, or drag on for hours if they have to get across the length of the table to search every last bit of terrain.

"Shoot the filthy horse riders!"

As the orc commander, I had brought plenty of light troops, which are good in terrain and fairly fast on their feet. I wanted to push forward quickly to harass the searches. There was little chance of preventing a rescue in the two swamp areas near to the Gondorian camp, so the scouts raced up to the middle of the battle field and took up positions in the shallow pool and the toppled statue, hoping their heavier armed comrades would join them at some point later. Luckily for me, the first two searches had failed and the Gondorians had to advance into the midst of the orc forces.

The disadvantage of light troops, of course, is that they are not well armed and hardly likely to stand up to a charge from heavy knights. One unit of light foot orcs routed, though the knights paid a toll and were now under half strength. This was the perfect opportunity for the heavy foot orcs, led by the general, to finish them off. Or so I thought......three dead orcs later and a double 1 roll for their courage test, they legged it too. Half of my foot troops lost to a unit of pesky knights! Obviously the battle scribe was positioned in one of these units as no more accounts of the battle survive (camera battery dead).

"The ladz will be along soon, keep shooting"

The orc scouts in the centre of the table did a good job of hampering the searches, aided by a handful of failed activations by the Gondorians. Boromir stepped forward and scattered these pesky archers, but then spent several turns cleaning the blood from his sword. In the pool area, orc scouts doggedly loosed off volley after volley, Gondorian rangers feeling the effects and hampering their search efforts (more failed activations as they flailed around on the slippery banks of the pond). Eventually, the search was successful. Faramir was found floating in the reeds of the pool, luckily face up, and was dragged to safety by his loyal rangers. Horns sounded to signal the retreat to camp, but this only attracted the orcs to join the chase.

Sadly for the orcs, their force depleted, there was only a unit of warg riders and a heavy foot left to take up the chase. The warg riders raced round to cut off escape on one flank, but the foot orcs were too slow to make up ground on the other flank. Faramir stumbled and limped his way to safety, though Boromir had fallen as a result of his many brave charges into combat and being peppered with scout arrows! A victory for the Gondorians, of sorts. The fate of Bormir we will have to determine in another encounter.

A most enjoyable game, even if technically the orcs "lost". For me, gaming is not necessarily about the end result, the score, but about the whole experience - the lovely terrain, the lovingly painted figures, the tales you tell, maybe a little banter thrown in. If you can get all that, then all of the players have won. Incidentally, if you have been admiring the terrain, it's all part of Matt's gaming dungeon. The game mat is a faux fur throw, with a couple of cans of green spray paint used to supply some colour variation. Full details here.

Ambush in Anorien

Anorien is a region in the north of Gondor in Middle Earth, just to the south of Rohan. This skirmish took place some time before the epic events related in the Lord of the Rings. Brothers Boromir and Faramir are still young men and were returning from patrol, having heard rumour of orc movements. After several weeks of fruitless search, they were on their way back to Gondor, when they were ambushed crossing a marshy area on the border of  Druadan Forest. A small force of orcs appeared from the trees just as the Gondorians were picking their way through the treacherous marches.

It's been a while since I played a game, so we settled on Dragon Rampant for a nice, relaxed evening of dice rolling. Matt suggested Lord of the Rings and I dusted down my Mordor force. The ambush scenario fitted the bill - the Gondor troops have to traverse down the length of the table, getting as many units off table as possible, while the orcs simply have to stop them by routing them.

The orcs came on in ragged fashion and slowly formed a defensive line between the marsh and the woods. The Gondorians moved up in a more ordered way, but it was a long way to go. On the eastern flank, Faramir rode forward on his horse, a huge troll in his path. The troll charged, Faramir spurred his horse on to meet his doom. Both combatants reeled back injured from the clash. But the odds were always in favour of Faramir and eventually he was able to cut down the mighty beast (note to self, greater warbeasts are not actually that great). In a similar clash, Gondorian knights smashed into orcs, but the orcs were unyielding (hmmm, it's not like this in the film).

On the western flank, orcs again formed ranks to block any Gondorian advance, with orc archers sneaking into the marshes and letting off an occasional volley of black fletched arrows. Howls in the distance heralded the appearance of warg riders from the woods. The Gondorians marched forward slowly, their archers taking a toll on the orcs but unable to force them back.

Knights and orc clashed on the eastern flnk many times. Eventually the Gondorians hacked down their foes, but at great cost. Faramir lay wounded and was carried away by the lone surviving knight, brother Boromir following on behind. He had spent much of the battle commanding the foot troops but then left them to their fate (always had my suspicions about his heroism).

A determined attack from the orcs resulted in the slaughter of one Gondor foot unit and slowly the survivors were cornered in the boggy ground. Picked off by arrow fire, abandoned by their leader, then charged by brutal Morannon orcs, they left only unmarked graves in the marshy ground. It was a sad day for Gondor, one long forgotten by the tale tellers.

It was a hard task for the Gondor force to break through, hampered by marsh lands and a determined defensive line. Knights can be very lethal in combat but difficult to control - they just about managed to punch through on the eastern flank. From my side of the battlefield I had an easier task - form a defensive line and then wait for the enemy to come on to infantry who are much better in defense. I felt that Boromir was far too cautious, blowing his horn to command troops but not once drawing his sword. If he had stood by his men and swung his sword, that may well have been decisive enough to force back the orcs. 

A thoroughly enjoyable evening of dice rolling, hopefully it will not be too long before we can play again. Faramir will no doubt heal his wounds and maybe Boromir will pluck up the courage to hunt down his tormentors and restore his cowardly reputation good name?

River Skirmish

South Bank Viking bondi advance under Danish arrow fire

Another game from our Age of the Wolf campaign. This was a strange though inevitable situation of having two players controlling four factions - my Vikings facing off against my Danes. Matt took the Danes and we played Battle at the Fords scenario. Points are scored for troops that have crossed the river at the end of the game - the river bisects the battlefield and there are just two crossing points.

At the southern crossing, the Vikings advanced rapidly under fire from Danish archers - no point hanging about to be picked off one by one. It's really annoying losing elite troops to lowly archers, so the poor bondi took the lead and the brunt of the missile fire.

North Bank Vikings line up to defend Danish probes

Over on the north bank the Vikings took a more defensive stance, lining the bank of the river and waiting for any Dane attack. This was my general strategy - to attack in the south, hold in the north. There are never quite enough Saga dice to move everything if you want to employ battleboard abilities, so I was quite happy to do this. A unit of bondi in front with a small reserve of hirdmen to plug any gaps, keeping a watchful eye on the advancing Danish Lord and his bodyguard.

South bank vikings cross the river

The decisive action was taking place on the south bank. The Viking bondi waded the crossing and exacted their revenge on the Danish archers, slaying a few and forcing the remainder back. Unfortunately this left them tired and easy prey for the Danish hearthguard. Their sacrifice was not in vain though, as the Viking Lord and his bodyguard waded across the river.

North bank Danish attack is repulsed

On the north bank, the Danish Lord finally took the plunge and surged forward with his bodyguard, crashing into the viking bondi. Ordinarily this would have been an easy combat for the Danes, but I had kept some Saga dice in reserve on combat abilities, allowing me to reroll misses. Thus, the lowly Viking bondi slaughtered the Dane elite and pushed back the Lord. He waded back to the far bank, his warriors helping him out.

South bank Vikings advance

Back at the south bank, the Vikings took up a position in a patch of boggy ground, just out of reach of the Dane archers. Dane warriors hurtled past them and attempted to cross the river, but were hacked down almost to a man by very annoyed Vikings - back into the river they went and back out again. By now the Danes had utterly lost control of the south bank. In a last gasp attack on the north bank the Danish Lord and his troops faced the viking defending line, but were no match. The Danish Lord fell in battle and limped away, jeered by his Norse tormentors. You can read about the Danish lament on Matt's blog.

Another good game of Saga. As usual, there never seems to be enough Saga dice to cover all eventualities, forcing some hard decisions to be made (or not - in the case of the Danish Lord!). Though each force is practically identical, the Saga abilities means that each plays in a very different way. This is the beauty of the game to my mind.

The campaign system is not quite up to the same standard. Setting aside the very confusing points/units system, the random fate rolls have played a large part in allowing the Vikings to steam ahead. In truth, it's not really suitable for just two players, even though we have four factions between us. It has generated some very enjoyable games, but it's not quite worked out the way we had hoped. Officially we are half way through, it remains to be seen if we will complete the whole thing. If there were a group of four or five players I think it would work much better - and to be fair this is exactly the set up the Age of the Wolf is designed for. Even if we abandon the campaign, there's plenty more Saga gaming to come.

If You Go Down to the Woods Today.....

Norman column

.....you will definitely be in for a surprise. But it will be no picnic. And not a teddy bear in sight.

This was another game in our Age of the Wolf campaign. Our random strategy rolling had left us with the strange third round situation of fighting ourselves - Matt's Saxons and Normans were due to battle each other, as were my Danes and Vikings. We jigged things around a bit, with the Normans being ambushed by Vikings instead. Rolling on the scenario, it was a new battle to play, Ambush on the Forest Road. The Normans deployed first on a path running the length of the board, woods and other terrain either side of it. The vikings then deployed in or behind this terrain. Usual victory points for slaying the enemy applied, with additional victory points for the Normans for each unit they could get off the board.

Turn 1 slaughter!

At first glance, I thought this was mission impossible for the vikings. There were far more exits from the board than I had units, so I could not hope to block them all. I did have one advantage in a large unit of 8 hearthguard, so I decided to use them very aggressively. Led by the warlord, they rushed to the vanguard and hurled themselves at the mercenary unit at the head of the Norman column. My thinking here was that they would wipe out this unit, spread fatigue to the unit behind them, and leave the Normans with one less Saga dice from the offset. In theory, a unit of 8 hearthguard will annihilate a unit of 8 warriors, but then the dice were rolled and only 7 warriors fell, at the cost of five hearthguard! In the Norman turn, these stragglers were then cut down, leaving the viking warlord a little lonely and exposed at the head of the Norman column. A backup unit of just 4 hearthguard rushed to reinforce the viking lord.

The Normans had some real luck in that first turn and it continued as they rolled more and more Saga dice. Feeling confident, the Norman lord and his knights charged in to a unit of bondi, expecting to sweep them aside. Once again, the lowly warriors defied expectations and beat back an attack from an elite unit. In almost a carbon copy of the viking failure, the Norman knights were all felled, the Lord staggered back in shock. Such carnage on the forest paths, and all in turn 1.

Hiding from missile troops, cunning vikings

At the rear of the column, not much was happening. A couple of Norman crossbow troops fell to viking arrows, and vikings took position in the woods, but in the main we used all our Saga dice to fight at the head of the column. With all the death and destruction here, the Norman foot troops scarpered into the woods, leaving the Norman Lord and his knights facing the Viking lord and his hearthguard. Spurring his men forward, the Norman Lord faltered, his knights fought bravely but were beaten back. Exposed and alone, the Norman Lord was dragged from his horse by the enraged vikings, exacting revenge for the loss of their comrades. A very brief and bloody conflict, heavy losses of elite troops on both sides, with a narrow victory to the vikings. It was all over by turn three!

As is so often the case with Saga, a real conundrum of a scenario. There was no way the vikings could block all the exits, and spreading themselves around the board meant each unit was alone and vulnerable to a concerted attack from the Normans. However, the Normans had to balance the urge to gallop from the field with the loss of Saga dice this would entail. An interesting scenario on both sides, one I would like to try again.

Another Age Of the Wolf game

As I mentioned in this post, I have recently started an Age of the Wolf Saga campaign with gaming buddy Matt in his world renowned dungeon. We have two armies each. I have Vikings and Danes, he has Normans and Saxons. Having fought one battle between the Normans and Danes, it was the turn of the Vikings to take on the Saxons. We had randomly rolled on each factions stance for the first campaign, and it came about that the Saxons would be raiding a defensive Vikings force. This is not the usual stereotype, but it is easy to imagine that the Vikings have established a camp and the Saxons have come to loot and destroy it, or some similar scenario. The battle we rolled for was The Escort - the Vikings would be escorting much needed supplies (perhaps stolen from Saxons?) back to camp, the Saxons would be attempting to stop them.

Baggage train heads to the left flank

The battlefield was fairly open, a couple of small wood copses in the centre. A small skirmish down the Viking right flank opened the action, a unit on each side falling in combat, with the Vikings deciding it was too difficult to get past the archer levy on that side. The baggage train headed to the left flank. The action switched to the centre, location of  the bulk of the Viking army, while a single unit of warriors accompanied the cargo to the left. The Saxon army attempted to relocate their troops.

Warlords face off

The fighting in the centre was sporadic and non-decisive for the most part. A concerted charge by the Viking warlord into the Saxon Lord should have seen him hacked to pieces, but the gods deserted the Viking dice and the Saxon Lord escaped by the skin of his teeth  - or rather by the sacrifice of his hearthguard unit. Meanwhile, the baggage train lumbered on, ever to the left flank and a much smaller Saxon defending force. 

Action on the left flank

In an attempt to clear the way, Viking warriors on the left flank charged but came off second best, though both sides were now considerably depleted. In the centre, a devastating Saxon arrow volley completely wiped out a warrior unit, leaving the Viking warlord marooned with his far more pathetic levy archers, who seemed unable to hit anything even though it was just yards in front of them. But Loki came to their aid, whispering false rumours in Saxon ears, warriors slinking away from the battle for no apparent reason (this being one of the more esoteric Viking battleboard abilities).

The Final Showdown

As with many a game of Saga, it had been a brutal affair, corpses littered the ground. As the centre was now depleted, the Vikings managed to smuggle one of the baggage animals to safety, but the remaining two were blocked by a handful of Saxons. And it was just a handful - the Saxon Lord, three of his warriors, facing off against just two viking warriors. The Lord attempted to tackle the ox cart, but somehow was driven off by the docile beasts. Loki once more played his part as his more Saxons slunk from the battlefield. The lone, fatigued Saxon Lord was finally bested by a pair of viking warriors and the battle was over. The baggage was safely received by the victorious Vikings. A bad day for the Saxons.

In the post battle sequence, things got even worse for the beleaguered Saxon. The Warlord suffered a serious wound and then received news that his province was suffering from flood and famine. Penniless and dejected he limped back to his camp. The Vikings however had even more fortune bestowed upon them. Gold flowed, warriors were recruited and were magically transformed into hearthguard!! Mmm, sometimes random campaign events can be particularly overpowered. Ten warriors is barely a point in Saga terms, but ten hearthguard are two and a half points. The Vikings are easily in a position of power at the end of this first campaign season, while the Saxons are now definitely the underdogs. It will be interesting to see if the system can cope with such unbalances.