Midgard: Saxons v Picts

Martin came over bringing his Saxons and we staged another battle against my Picts.

This time the Bloody Ford scenario from the Chronicles of Midgard book.

The battle began with a clash of Champions in the water.

The Pictish hero cut down the Saxon invader but his heroic death was celebrated by his fellows.

The Picts surged forward.

Toward the waiting Saxons

Resplendent behind their many coloured shields.

And with banners fluttering.

On came the English

The Picts held their ground hoping to weaken the foe with javelin shots.

Bravely the slingers paddled into the stream and unleashed their hail of stones

The Saxons took cover behind their wall of shields.

Still more Pictish warriors surged toward the ford.

With foolhardy warriors entering the water to launch their javelins at the invaders.

The Pictish nobles urged caution.

Horsemen two entered the river to hurl missiles at the Saxons. But still they came on.

The Saxons would not be held back and plunged into the waters to meet the Picts.

The slingers paid for their impudence and imprudence

Soon the Saxons were amongst the Pictish hosts, their better armour protecting them from vengeful attacks.

The lines became a crush and blood stained the banks of the river.

The Warlords and their bodyguard met. The Pict King bellowed a challenge, the wily Saxon preferred to fight alongside his men in the shieldwall.

The light protection of the Picts saw them easily cut down as the Saxons pushed across the river.

The King saw his men cut down all around him. With his reputation crumbling he chose to fight on alone.

As did another of the Pictish noblemen.

Desperately with the battle all but lost the cavalry abandoned their shooting to charge home.

More Picts hurled themselves at the invaders, joining their leader in his desperate fight.

But despite the heroics, the battle was lost, Pictish reputation was shattered and the Saxons held the field.

Great fun game. The Pict shooting failed to slow the Saxon advance and as soon as they were able to charge home the weak armour of the Picts saw them die in droves.

Some bonus phone pictures:

I've decided to use this as the start of a campaign. Martin left me a copy of his army list so I can use that to form the basis of a court. Then whether it's Martin, Scrivs, Matt or James who fancies a game - they can take the Saxons (using my models if necessary) and I play the Picts each time. Less reliant on a single opponent  - one enemy with many leaders.

Now I just need to sketch out a rough map with Bamburgh at the bottom and Dun Nechtain at the top.

Chain of Command - Old Hickory Campaign (1)

General B. and I have decided to play through the Old Hickory Pint Sized Campaign. This is easy for me as I already have most of the Americans needed. He needed to paint up a few new SS Squads and the like.

This was the first game of the campaign but we played over a month ago, so my recollections of the details are dim.

The field of battle. The Germans have to capture one of the two objectives. The under strength Americans have to stop them.

I placed a minefield right in front of one of the objectives. Placing it on top of the objective seemed pretty unfiar.

Germans were soon advancing on me.

One squad deployed to cover the German paths of advance.

On they came.

Overwatch was set.

But despite some shock the Germans made fast progress to the hedge line.

The AT gun deployed.

Alongside the HMG

In the distance you can just see the reason for the AT gun...a Stug.

Still the Americns hugged the hedges, exchanging some fire with the Germans

Casualties mounted on the Mg team but the Stug was brewed up!

More Germans advanced

Soon after this, with casualties mounting and no real way of stopping Jerry acheiving his goal I pulled out. In a campaign it's important to preserve troops.

Unfortunately I'd not really inflicted many casualties on the Germans, most of my shooting having taken out support weapons.

Here's some bonus phone pictures

We were hoping to resume hostilities tomorrow, but unfortunately I've been struck down with lurgy and we may have to wait another week.

Solo Battle March Warhammer - Orcs v Empire

Despite having played Warhammer on and off for over 40 years my actual grasp on the rules is not all that strong. Usually I rely on my opponent (if I'm playing Stephen) or copious flicking back and forth through the rules (if I'm playing Kenton). I decided that with Stephen isolated on the Island of Men it was probably about time I got a better handle on things. In part this was inspired by the arrival of Battle March which I decided would mean I could play some small solo games of an evening during which I'd learn the rules a bit better. This plan was slightly thwarted by Battle March being mostly sold out everywhere. However Settra's Fury - which contains an earlier version of the Battle March rules was still available, so I got a copy of that from Element games.

Battle March, for the uninitiated is for small 500-750 point games of Warhammer on a smaller table - a slightly odd 30"x44". There are a few restrictions/tweaks to army selection and (at least in Settra's Fury) two scenarios and three different deployments giving a total of six basic scenarios.

I decided for this first game to go with 500 points a side of Empire and Orcs. And then after trying to put two armies together immediately put it up to 600 points. No spell casters in this game and the only magic item was a shield for my Empire General, just to use up some spare points.

The armies converge (new river pressed into service to mark the edge of the battlefield)

The Orcs had three units of boys, one with additional hand weapons, one with warbows and one with board and sword. They also had some boarboys. They were led by a Warboss and had a Big Boss BSB.

The Empire took a unit of pistoliers, some handgunners a big block of spearmen and a unit of White Wolves. They were led by a captain on Warhorse and had a BSB on foot.

The Orcs ordered a general advance and at the end of their turn had control of three objectives, netting them 30 victory points. The warbows also managed to pick off a couple of handgunners.

On the Empires turn the White Wolves launched a charge at the Orcs.

The Pistoliers meanwhile failed their Impetuous test and launched themselves at the Orcs with additional hand weapons.

They paid dearly for their imprudence and were hacked down.

On the far side of the battlefield the Empire general somewhat rashly issued a challenge.

Both sides swung at each other to no effect.

The White Wolves beat the Orcs who Fell Back in Good Order and turned to fight the knights once more.

In the Orc turn the boarboys launched themselves at the handgunners. Despite taking a casualty on their way in they crashed home.

This went as expected and the Furtwang "Bluebells" were hacked to pieces.

The malevolent pig jockeys turned their attentions toward the Wissenlanders.

Who were suddenly in considerable danger.

Back at the Knights, the General realised he'd been lucky to get away with fighting the warboss and, when the inevitable challenge war roared, pushed his champion in the way.

He was duly hacked down but the rampaging knights pummelled several Orcs to death.

However the end result was a dead draw and both sides remained locked in place.

In the Empire turn the Wissenlanders were left with little choice but to face the boarboys.

The Orcs, sharpened their choppers and prepared to drive home.

With no champion left the General was forced to once again face his hulking green opponent.

The challenge ended in a draw, with both sides taking a wound - the warhorse kicking the Orc Warboss in the head after the General had whiffed his attacks!
However in the rest of the fight, the knights,were cut down to a man before they could swing.

The General duly turned tail and ran.

In the Orc turn the boarboys did what boarboys are meant to do and charged.

The Wissenlanders were forced to fall back in good order.

The Empire turn saw the boar v spear fight end in a dead draw, shorn of their charging bonuses the Orcs were not as potent and ranks and flags evened the odds.

However it was but delaying the inevitable. A fierce rear charge by the Warboss and his boys sealed the fate of the Empire spearmen and victory belonged to the Orcs!

That was surprisingly good fun. And very useful in me learning a few of the core and special rules a bit better.

I think in the next game I'll try tooling up the characters a bit - it's extra things to remember but they're a real difference maker in combats.

Think I'll save spellcasters for a future game though - slow and steady for now.