MT04 Vikings

Round 5

Renaud (Saxon) 3 banners, 22 blocks lost
EZPickins (Viking) 6 bannders, 20 blocks lost

The Saxons advanced off the hill in the center as the Vikings tried to concentrate. They got the worse of it and lost Obba in an ambush. There were back and forth melees over several turns with the Vikings getting the best of it and gaining a 5 to 3 lead in banners but lost Ubba. The battle settled into a lengthy exchange of fire as both tried to pick off weakened units. Little damage was done and the Saxons had a terrible run of luck. Finally a Viking auxilia was able to get around the Saxon left and take out the final banner in melee. 

Thanks to Renaud for a fun game.
 

Round 2 -  VIK03 Ashdown 871

Mark B/RiverWanderer (Saxon) 5 banners, 14 blocks lost
John D/EZPickins (Viking) 1 banner, 25 blocks lost

Æthelred rushed back from his prayers and was just in time to lead a Boar's Snout into advancing Viking Auxilia which had set up to deter the Saxon archers. The Vikings responded with a Warrior unit that had been supporting the Auxilia. When the dust settled, the Vikings were down the Warrior unit and 2 Auxilia against a Saxon Medium Infantry. Bacsecg had come up provide reinforcements and, ignoring his vulnerable position, now chased towards Saxon Auxilia gathering on his left flank. Despite being outnumbered, his Mediums took many Saxon blocks and, though failing to convert any to banners, did at least manage to retreat to the safety of the rear.

Now history re-asserted itself; Alfred raced for the heights, his lead units arriving there just as the Vikings opposite him mounted an attack. This Viking attack did not go so well as Bacsecg's, in part suffering from the absence of a leader. Doubling down on their attack, the Vikings lost a Warrior unit in battle-back, leaving an Auxilia unit vulnerable. The Saxons, by now concentrated with Alfred around the contested hill top, made one last melee attack, dispatching the depleted Viking Auxilia to claim their fifth banner and victory.

Thanks to John for a good game, the four Saxon 2 and 1 block units remaining on the board are testimony to several lucky escapes and the power of Æthelred's prayers.

 

Round #1

Riverwanderer (Saxons) - 6 banners won, 36 blocks lost

Gonzo (Vikings) - 8 banners won, 35 blocks lost

Vikings vey rusty in CCM. Saxons with multiple scouts which allowed Viking to deploy most of troops out of city. Saxon range fire and Far left thrust gain several banners. Although Viking had good cards, Mark was able to keep him off balance and gain 4 or 5 point lead. Saxon attack on center camp does damage but ends in disaster with loss of force and the King. Viking charge in center able to eliminate another units. Final run of bad luck to Saxons ended it. Improbable end. Thanks to Mark for game. Three+ hours.

Round #7

mk20336 (Saxons) - 3 banners won, 17 blocks lost

Viking Player (Vikings) - 4 banners won, 16 blocks lost

Saxon spreads out to range strike effectively. Viking Boar Head close on supported Aux into a double First Srike. Saxons counter with lots of dead in river. Viking crosses river on right and with another boar's head, charges. 3-3 coming down to 50-50 roll, then a preliminary attack rolls double ldr and kills Saxon leader for win. Anticlimactic but I'll take it. Thanks to Michel for game. 1 1/2 hours

Round #4

Renaud (Saxons) - 2 banners won, 24 blocks lost

Gonzo (Vikings) - 6 banners won, 22 blocks lost

Much manuevering and missile fire on flanks, Slightly in Saxon favor. Viking shifts troops using ILA first left, then right. Lots of beat up Viking units at end.

"viking player" 2 posts ago was me

Round #6 - VIK08 Rochester 885

RiverWanderer /Mark (Saxons) - 6 banners won, 10 blocks lost

scipio1zama /Mike (Vikings) - 1 banners won, 26 blocks lost

After early skirmishing, the battle saw its main close combat rounds on each side of Rochester. The first was against the right-side gate, where a strong Viking force was repelled by a mixed group of Saxons who had charged forward with "Foot Onslaught". The Vikings lost first an auxilia pressed up against the city wall and soon after a medium unit and its leader, leaving a lone warrior block to try and escape. It was picked off by archers on the next Saxon turn. As the Vikings skirmished for re-compense on their right, their left wing grouped up and advanced towards the nearest city gate. It fell on the second attempt, but by then Alfred had arrived with the rest of the army. A round of skirmishing and a failed Viking attack was followed by a Saxon Boar's Snout to see three more banners join the Saxon tally.

Thanks to Mike for good chat during the game and a good effort to take Rochester on his first game with Medieval in a while. It was a pleasure to play in defence of my early childhood home town.

 

Round #7:   VIK01 Englefield 870

RiverWanderer /Mark (Saxons) - 4 banners won, 8 blocks lost
Kandras78 /András (Vikings) - 1 banner won, 19 blocks lost

As Vikings consolidated, the Saxons rushed to defend the river with ranged fire. Viking Auxilia countered with the same threat, forcing the Saxons to pivot and engage them by the leftmost river crossing. A fortunate combination of cards allowed the Saxons to maintain momentum and overcome one of the Auxilia for little cost. Now the Viking centre arrived to even the balance and so entailed a swift thrust and parry of close combat. Dice flew in both directions but it was the Saxon rolls that hit home hardest, taking the score to 3:0.  By now the Viking side was hoping to convert one or two of the depleted Saxon units into a banner; it came eventually as Saxon luck failed for a moment and their front-line medium infantry final block fell in battle-back to an equally depleted Auxilia. It was a brave last stand, as a second Saxon unit was on hand for another battle attempt, this time successful.

Thanks to András for an exciting game; I feel I had the edge in cards but a couple of dice rolls going the other way could have made all the difference.

 

PS I think Mark McG said somewhere that this was an intro scenario. In any case, I'd say a great scenario to introduce medieval to a new player. 



 

Round 1 Reading
Saxons - Renaud 4
Vikings - StephenT 8
After initial preparation, a rapid melee developed under the city walls, after Saxon double time, Viking counter-attack, foot onslaught, and boars snout. The Vikings got the better of this, with the loss of two saxon units and Aethelred vs 1 loss of Vikings (3-1). There followed missile fire on the flanks as the Vikings gradually advanced their warriors. The Saxon left flank charged the right of the resulting Viking line with Boars Snout, the Vikings counter-attacked, getting the better of the melee despite a ferocious attack by Alfred commanding auxilia that destroyed 1 ½ viking warrior units (7-4). The Vikings on the right centre were now scattered and weakened. Before the Saxons could pick these off, the Vikings were able to destroy a depleted Saxon Auxilia on the left for the final banner 8-4. Thanks to Renaud for a tough and fun game!

Round 5
Saxons-John 2 banners, 21 blocks lost
Vikings-GonzoJoe 6 banners, 12 blocks lost

Saxons bolster with scouts while Viking positions Ubba to left. Saxon Assault in middle with bad dice countered with Ubba playing 3 Leadership cards in a row for Foot onslaughts. Odda falls leading his W early and the Saxon wheels come off as you would expect. Quick game with dice all Viking. Thanks to John for good cheer.