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.

(Note: click on the pictures for a closer look, click twice for a much closer look!)

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.

Reset!

This was meant to be a small, quick game, an encounter between small parts of the main armies. 

Proposed 6 and 3 figure units.

Instead, it ended up with almost every painted Romano/British and Saxon/Pict  with a weapon, including some of the crudely painted ones I've picked up here and there and haven't touched up yet. The table was also getting crammed as the four contingents converged. 

Sooooo, after some thought. I decided to reorganize the units into smaller ones. It's only a 25% reduction but it allows a bit more manoeuvre room and a future reserve of bodies if I should ever get an unlikely urge to want to play a bigger, edge to edge, pitched battle.

Another option though, is to keep the 4 and 8 figure units, and reduce the number of scenario units. For example, instead of 6x6 figure infantry units (36 figures) use 4x8 units (32 figures).  

Best to sleep on it and make a decision in the morning.

Coming Soon....

 Somewhere in Britain......

Stay tuned!

Wrapping Up 2025

I've settled on three of my collections to take part in the last games of 2025. The first will be a 16thC  Red Book scenario with an English raid trying to get safely back to Haddington. 

Already laid out.....

The second will be another raid from the Midlands into Valdur, Hopefully, this time I will manage a report,  before a year goes by!

And for the final game...........wellll.....we'll see but it just might take place in the Days of King Arthur.

Stay tuned!

Rising From My Death Bed and Making Plans

 Alright!  We are back on our feet. (Me and the wee warriors surrounding me.) 

I haven't come up with the next game yet but I have a list of requests and some vague ideas for the last few games of 2025. 

Prince Valiant just might appear in a cameo in the last game of the 2025 but hopefully, there will be one or two more small games in other settings before then. 

Stay Away From My Cows! (2021)

For some reason, I have an urge to revisit the 16thC Rough Wooing collection, doubtless because of the recent additions and the last game, so some sort of answer to that last ambush is called for.  

Ambushed!

There were some requests for another visit to the Land of 4 Winds and while I had considered a return raid on the Wild Folk, the Midlands armies could use some exercise now that they have recovered. 

I'll work on a scenario......

Death OR Glory

....and so the battle began.  Since the Saxons had managed to turn so as to move down the British flagship's starboard side, the central British ship was blocked unless she took a long way around, against the wind and in danger of rocky shoals. A horn blew from the flag ship and she was pointed towards the other Saxon ship. That left one ship to attack the large Saxon flagship with twice as many warriors but with two on one against the small Saxon ship, it might be possible to take it in short time.

The first two knights to scramble over to the Saxon ship were met by twice as many foes and pushed back.

Although outnumbered, the initial British attackers were better armoured than their Saxon enemies and slowly but steadily pushed them back into the bow and stern. But, could they keep that up as the fighting spread over the full deck giving the Saxons more room to deploy?

Nearer to the rocky shore, the British, especially the armoured regulars, steadily pushed back the Saxons until the remainder threw down their swords. Leaving the regulars to secure the captured ship, the middle ship turned and headed towards the outnumbered flag ship. The wind was not favourable to maneuvering quickly around to the Saxon's starboard side so they took the shortest path and used the Count's flagship as a bridge to the Saxon ship.

In no time at all, the Earl had a choice, fight to the death and his men with him, or surrender and come to terms to end the current war. It didn't take him long to decide to fight again another day.

A seagull's view of the end of the fight.

A Rendezvous Kept

At last the fleets faced off again. 

The British plan was to pit two of their ships against the large Saxon ship while the 3rd ship handled the smaller Saxon ship.

The Saxons proved too experienced to be caught by that plan, and shifted their course a bit so that each of their ships fought with one British ship while the 3rd ship was blocked by their own ships.    

To be continued.....

Helgin Is Ready To Rumble

The sea battle should resume ere long.

Notes: 

- I didn't plan on painting the skull and crossbones but I suddenly decided to add stripes, and then, there they were...... Luckily, only the one big ship has them so the Saxons have it. 

- The soft plastic is sometimes reluctant to hold to grasp all of the acrylic craft/art paint at first go, even after having washed and scrubbed them. (spray paints, primers, varnishes etc are forbidden), I'll let the paint settle for a week or so, then touch them up and varnish.    

Saw saw, Bang, Bang

 One big one down, four little ones to go.

 

This vessel already had a deck before the mast, as will as a small tower over the bow, just large enough for 2 archers. Now it also has a main deck aft the mast and a small quarterdeck.

The main decks each hold 4 warriors. Last of all is a small quarterdeck which has room for 2 or 3 figures, usually including the Captain. 

A raven's eye view.

Last, but not least, the forward deck can be used as a platform for a small catapult instead.

Next up will be the smaller cogs which will hold 8 figures and a leader, with no option for artillery. Then I'll paint the decks and we'll be ready for the fog to lift so there can be a rematch.

Helgin's Revenge

Over the winter. Helgin's shipyard was busy and by spring the largest ship that had been seen in these waters was finished. With a new consort, and a balista mounted on the Giant's bow, Helgin was ready for his fleet to go sweep away the Duke's little fleet of one, well it might be two by now but no matter, Bertha would crush them all.

Alas for Helgin, his scouts and spies had not managed to discover that the Duke's shipyard had secretly finished two of the smaller cogs and the fleet of three was now out, seeking the Saxon fleet.

Can the largest naval fight ever seen off this coast be far away? 

....To be continued....
 

Save The Cows!

In the days when the Roman Empire was beset on all sides and Britain was told to defend itself, some of the garrisons remained to fight the Saxon and Pictish raiders. In those days, heroes rose to the cause, and the bards sang of legendary heroes who fought to hold back the darkness. This is one of those tales:

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(Note: this was a wargame played out at a community games day. It was designed for 2 to 4 players and possibly a GM, but as it happened, we settled with just 2 of us and it was a close fought game to the last turn. The figures are largely Elastolin 4cm figures, a few originals, and many more of the unpainted kits that showed up in the US when Elastolin dropped the range. Many of the unpainted kits and broken figures were converted once they fell into my hands.)

The Duke's cavalry showing off their skill at the Cantabrian Circle if not at shooting. 

The Scenario: A local British 'Duke' whose scouts have reported that a warband of Saxons and Picts had gotten past Hadrian's Wall and was raiding at will. He has ordered this village to be ready to evacuate as many of the cattle and stores as possible if the enemy appeared.  The local Romano-British Count is on the trail of the raiders. 

Rules: Last year I decided to try going back off the grid for a while and resume variable length moves. It allows more flexibility but prolongs the time needed to complete a turn, mostly due to the constant dice rolling and the measuring. Last week I decided to give the grid another chance and in many ways I was happy to be able to spend my time and thoughts on the battle plan rather than rolling endless movement dice and low level manoeuvres.

(Current version)

Duke Stephen deploys his warriors to give his Lady to organize the business of moving the cattle, sheep, and a cart of valuables and food to safety. To his joy, before the fighting begins in earnest, the Count has arrived to join forces. (1d6=turn# or less).

The hand to hand fighting was fierce but the first Pictish assault was repulsed. Behind the British battle line, the evacuation was slower and less orderly than hoped. (Units, including animals and their herders, have to roll to move if not in command range. ) Beyond the town, the RomanoBritish held back most of the Saxons.)


As the Saxons moved forward and plunged into town, the British were forced back, but they did their best to give the herders as much time to escape as possible.

At last the convoy, or most of it, got together, led by the Duchess. Slowly, but steadily, the Picts pushed forward through the town while sending their cavalry around the flank where they captured their supper on the hoof and the cart. The prize bull, 2 pairs of cows and the flock of sheep got away under British escort. 
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It was a very good afternoon, and a pleasure to rejoin the Tabletop Games group at one of their Quarterly days. I'm looking forward to the next one. Hopefully we'll entice a few more wargamers to join us.

Sail In Sight! To Arms!

 At last the training was over and the crew of the Albion set sail in search of Saxon raiders.

Straight at those Saxons Captain! Lets see what your ship can do.

As the ships closed, the winds shifted slightly and the Saxon ship had to tack but the wind then shifted back and the Britons were able to come along side, grapples in hand.

As the ships closed, arrows and battlecries began to fly, soon to followed by the clash of steel. 

The British took advantage of their initial shock and several warriors jumped down onto the Saxon deck and tried to push forward with little success. Prince Micheal dared not lose the initiative so he jumped on the railing and challenged King Helgin to a duel.

The lesser warriors fell back and watched the two leaders go at each other, hammer and tong, youthful exuberance against an old warrior's cunning.

Suddenly it was over. Exalting over his victory, Michael bid the Saxons to take their chieftain home to be tended and to stay out of his uncle's territories whether they came by land or sea,  

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The rules, esp on the sailing side, are still new and need work but they're promising for a quick play game.
For the curious, the one page rules draft can be found here (click):