For our second game of Saga Phil (checkout his initial impressions of Saga on his blog) and I decided to start a three game campaign using the rules posted on Saga Tapestry for The Battle of Maldon. Game 1 represents the Vikings trying to push across a causeway with the Anglo-Saxons defending their homeland and the Battle at the Ford scenario is used to represent this game. This is a straightforward scenario – the player with the most models across the causeways/fords after 7 turns is the winner. Phil takes command of the Anglo-Saxons again and I’m using my Vikings. We decided to push to 6pt forces and played the game on the VASSAL module I wrote.

Warbands

My 6pt Viking Warband included my Warlord, 4 Berserkers, 8 Hirdmen, 4 Bondi, 12 Bondi and 12 Thralls. Phil’s army of Anglo-Saxons was led by his Warlord and comprised two units of 12 Warriors, two units of 12 Levies and 4 Hearthguard.

The Saga

The battle began with the Vikings making an agressive push across the right hand ford.

The Vikings on the left ford valiantly held against three assaults from the Anglo-Saxons until they were forced to fallback, but they managed a counterattack. The strong Viking contingent on the right began to mop up the defenders.

A concerted push from the Anglo-Saxons on the left saw them sieze a strong foothold on the ford. The Vikings counterattacked again, but their numbers were severely diminished. At this point the Viking Thralls should have rushed for the right hand causeway to bring more numbers across, but they decided to fire on the Anglo-Saxons instead.

The Anglo-Saxon warriors on the right assaulted the Berserkers, killing one, but were decimated in return. The battle ended with the Anglo-Saxons on the left securing a win as they had managed to get more troops across the ford.

Commentary

Wow! What a great and tight game. Phil won with 14 troops across the ford to my 11. I think both Phil and I made much better use of our Battle Boards in this game. Phil capitalised on the larger units (many Anglo-Saxon abilities rely on units being 10+ in strength) and I managed my Fatigue better (Vikings have some great abilities for that). I’m quite happy with how I played and it was a really fun game. We used our Attack and Defense dice well I think we got the rules right. For example, in a melee there is a specific order in which dice are determined, Saga abilities selected and Fatigue used by the attacker and defender. The movement rules for how units engage in melee (and individual models move) are quite prescriptive. I’m looking forward to the next game in the campaign.

From a historical perspective I think with my heavy hitting Vikings across the causeway we can push on to game 2 of the campaign. I’m looking forward to my Warlord going toe to toe with Phil’s.

Gallery

Until next time,

Owen