Fight For The Ford

When the word came to the Commander on the Frontier that the Saxons and Picts were marching to meet up and ravage Britain, there was dismay. Could enough men be raised to repel them? Should a quarter of each unit be held back in garrison? Would any of the independent British kings answer a call to join forces? After debates and messengers riding there and back, two forces marched to rendezvous at the Inn on the Ford with every man they could spare at such short notice.

Neither side was expecting both sides to arrive at the same time but the battle was soon engaged and the generals were left improvising and adapting plans as the day went on, hoping that their ally would be able to adapt and cooperate.

The Picts arrived from the North, on the Eastern bank of the river. Their force was all cavalry and light troops, even the spearmen, and they quickly drove back some Roman cavalry and occupied a wooded area which had to be passed to march down the road and cross the ford.

The Saxons were soon up to the ford and started to deploy with a wary eye on the British cavalry which could be seen riding quickly forward on the East bank. As the Romans deployed, the Pictish king called back his cavalry and some of his spearmen to guard a fordable section of the river to stop the Romans from flanking the road ford. The rest of the infantry prepared to hold the woods.

From the south, the British forces soon appeared. Their cavalry rode forward but there was no easy target so their horse archers dueled for a short while with Saxon archers before falling back. In the meantime the British infantry crossed over another ford and began to occupy and fortify a Villa while their Duke studied the situation and formed a plan.

There was a brief time while the Picts watched the Romans deploy in orderly fashion, then came the hurricane of steel.

Before the Pictish warriors could retreat back to their ford, the pursuing Roman veterans were upon them, driving them into the river.

While the some of the British were still crossing the ford, a Saxon shield wall gave a cry and moved to contact. The fighting was bloody and prolonged.

With the Picts out of the way, the Roman Veterans stormed the ford but the Saxons held their position despite their casualties.

The Saxon Hearthguard began to push the Britons back across the villa but those Britain's were led by Prince Micheal and he called upon his men to push the Saxons back. 

All along the line, Saxon and Briton fought and died but behind the British shieldwall, the British knights crossed the ford and thundered along the rear of the British shieldwall, giving them all heart and determination. (and some good die rolls.....)

"Come On! We'll flank'em!"

When the thunder of the hoofs and the battlecries appeared on the Saxon flank and rear, their morale gave way, The shieldwall broke and soon the whole army was fleeing!

An Eagle's eye view of the battle's end.

A Vital Bridge: The Prequel

If memory serves, I have only played this scenario once before. (See Scenario 10 from 'Playing through Scenarios for All Ages' on the 'Links to Old Stuff" column of the main blog page.  ) 

Having been attracted to the Prince Valiant strips, and the Elastolin figures since my early days, (strips only seen by the young me when visiting my Uncle's farm, and figures only seen in store displays.) I decided to get them out and get a brief break from 'horse and musket' games. 

When this century rolled around, I finally started picking up a few Elastolin figures here and there, mostly from HMGS fleamarket tables, and from Ebay. Some were old factory painted figures, not all broken, and even better yet, unpainted, non-assembled, Elastolin figures and one 'lot' of 100 gold coloured vikings for $20!  All in the same pose, running with an empty hand upraised, just right for conversions to all sorts! 

Eventually, I started to played small, skirmish games, initially using Medieval Mayhem (See Battlegames Issue 6). A few years went by and I happened to get some good deals here and there, and now the barracks are holding close to 200 figures ready to do battle which are a bit many for a solo skirmish game. (To be honest, 1:1 individual figure skirmish games aren't really my 'thing".)

So, to be honest, while adding characters and vague narratives, I just want to play conventional wargame 'battle' scenarios with "units".  Luckily, the figures fit nicely on 4 figure homemade bases that a friend of mine passed to me a few years ago.

After some contemplation, I have decided to continue to use them for conventional wargame scenarios, some small battles, some small actions. Today's battle is done and if all goes well, a Battle report post to follow Saturday evening (Atl time).

Yes, Yes....NO!

 But there's always another way.

So, after wasting spending time trying this and that, and restarting the game.....(twice more)  I decided to stay with my existing units but tweaked the rules.....and reread the scenario for the nth time, thus being reminded that the rivers could be forded near the table edges. Ahhhh! Right...that's better than just one bridge......

If all is well, the game will be played to a finish tomorrow (Wednesday) and a battle report posted.