Battle of Degsastan - Midgard game

In preparation for Partizan next weekend James organised a test game hosted by Scrivs to test out the scenario. Based on the battle of Degsatstan where the Saxons of Northumbria gave the Picts a bloody nose.

James and I took charge of the Pictish hordes while Chris and Scrivs had the hairy Saxons.

For this game we used the 120mm wide bases we've been using for most of our 28mm games of Midgard (the rules don't care what size you use - base as appropriate for your collection/scale). However for the demo game at Partizan james is going BIG and will use 4 of the 120mm bases to make a single unit! This should mean the game still plays at a decent speed but with LOADS more toys on the table - which is a good thing.

The Pictish Horde assembles

Only the Picts had any cavalry, so I commanded them on the left flank

The stream ran through the valley, separating the forces and the Saxons (hairy) wasted no time in rushing up to the banks.

Theobald on his white hoss led the Saxon right.

Aedan the Pictish King was carried aloft by two strapping Pictish chaps.

Some desultory javelining across the waters.

RavenCam (tm) footage of the battle lines.

The Saxons splashed across the stream and fighting broke out. The Picts had a unit of turncoat Saxons who had made a beeline for the invading King.

More RavenCam (tm)

Proper Dark Age battle line clash

Aedan urges his men on

Aedan was challenged by Cerdic the Saxon

Sadly his elevated position made it hard for him to reach down towards Cerdic - who duly killed the King!

In the centre the turncoat Saxons were reaping the rewards of their treachery

Things were confused on the Pictish left with Theobald splashing back and forth across the stream

Finally Theobalds men were bought to battle by the Pictish King's son

Another challenge!

Again this went the way of the Saxons.

In desperation, with the battle turned against them the Pict cavalry charged Theobald and caught him in a sandwich

Meanwhile the Saxon king was wiping his sword clean on the cloaks of his dead turncoat brethren

As the ravens began their feast only the Pictish cavalry commander remained alive to try and rebuild a kingdom in the north.

A great game that ebbed and flowed. At one point it looked like we'd never get a result, but as usual with Midgard the last few turns saw one side crumbling and some desperate charges to try and tip the balance.

Some tweaking still needed for the rules but it always gives us a great game.