Gain Glory or Die - a Saga Campaign week 8

Both sides were at full strength this week so we had three games. The scenario was a simple one - survival points granted with bonus points for units in the enemies half. The centre of all three tables featured a ruined building that was hard cover.

This week saw the retirement of the undefeated Irish and my switch to the Scots - same figures and same Saga dice. They are a much more defensive army who generate a bucket of defence dice and rely on combo's to do damage. The Danelaw Vikings also switched to Angl0 Saxon

Scots vs Anglo Saxons

The Scots advanced steadily towards the serried masses of the Anglo Saxons and were first into the cover. The remainder of the infantry forming a solid line to await the Saxon attack.

This came soon enough and man aged to wipe out the Jomsviking mercenary unit employed by the Scots. There as a determined counter attack which weakened the Saxons and gradually reduced their ability to manoeuvre as their Saga dice dwindled.    

A clear win for the Scots - they don't hit that hard but are hard to kill die to the numbers of defence dice they generate.

Dublin Vikings vs Anglo Saxon

The second Saxon army deployed a large force of Levies backed by a core of Hearthguards. The Viking also went with some larger units to counter the threat of the Saxon hordes.

A Viking unit  grabbed the ruins and hunkered down while the battle swirled around them. The two
sides knocked lumps off each other for the full 6 turns. The Saxons emerged the victor from this arm wrestle of a game.

Welsh vs Anglo Danes

The final game was one of manoeuvre with the mostly mounted Welsh seeking to avoid contact and wear-down the Danes with Javelin fire. The Danes quickly occupied the ruins and advanced on their own left.

The Welsh had the mirror strategy and attacked on their own left, rapidly getting behind the Danes lines. Casualties were not heavy and both sides got many of their units across the half way line. The result was a narrow win for the Danes

   
So with 2 wins to the British and 1 to the Invaders the lead was reduced for the Viking-Welsh-Scots alliance.  

Gain Glory of Die - A Saga Vampaign week 7

We again played 2 games this week with the Irish / Welsh vs Anglo-Danes and an all Viking clash of Dubliners vs Danelaw. The scenario was Desecrate - points are scored for destroying the enemy but the points are capped depending on how many enemy objectives you have eliminated.

Vikings vs Vikings

In true Vikings fashion both sides advanced rapidly with a special focus around the farm.

Things were in the balance but tilted towards the Dubliners when the Danelaw's decided to withdraw and cede the field to their enemy.

Irish / Welsh vs Anglo-Danish

Both sides decided to be aggressive and move forward to engage the enemy. The Celts colonised the terrain and tried to envelope the Danes in classic Bulls-Horns style.

The Danes crunched into the skirmishers hiding in some central terrain pushing them back but suffering casualties in the process. On the flanks though they suffered heavily from shooting casualties and found themselves diminished.

The final result was a win for the Celts as they were able to dominate the causality count.

 

Campaign Update

After a good couple of weeks the Invaders have opened a 10-point lead but with 3 available for a win that could quickly be reversed.

Gain Glory or Die - Saga Campaign week 6

Just the two games this week as the Saxons were absent foraging. So we mixed things up a little and did a game of Welsh + Irish vs Danelaw Vikings. The scenario was The Crossing where both sides looked to force their way across a river and occupy the far bank.

Dublin Vikings vs Anglo Danish

Both sides formed a solid line ready to advance across the river, which was only Difficult Going for this scenario.  

The Vikings took the initiative and advanced across the river to the waiting Danes on the far bank. They emerged from the river and into combat with the Danes shieldwall. Some good rolling and skilled use of the offensive abilities of the Vikings led to a solid win.

Welsh+Irish vs Danelaw Vikings

The Vikings deployed in  a tight formation ready to advance. The Irish hid in the woods in their usual fashion whilst the Welsh lurked near the back of the board waiting for the Vikings.

The Vikings duly attacked across the bridge with their heardguards in the lead and some supporting archery. The Irish quickly crossed the river and into cover whilst the Welsh pushed up and began shooting into the Vikings.    

As the causalities began to, and fearing being outflanked by the Irish, the Vikings withdrew and began a gradual withdrawal across the table.

On the defensive the Vikings fell back slowly towards their base-edge under fire from the Irish and Welsh javelinmen. As the game moved into turns 5 and 6 most of the Irish / Welsh were on the far bank and scoring heavily. So a strong win for the invading Celts.

Gain Glory or Die - Saga campaign week 5

Once again we had a full turn-out for our Saga campaign so were able to fight three battles. We played Ambush in which a neutral force moves across the table and both sides must try to capture their loot, whilst minimising losses.

Dublin Viking vs Danelaw Viking

The two armies eyed each other briefly across the battle field and then got stuck-in in true Viking fashion. The first combats featured both sides Berserkers who indulged in some mutual annihilation.

With the Dubliners having more luck attacking the loot carriers they were able to establish a small lead and hold this for the remainder of the game. This marked the first win for the Dubliners.

Welsh vs Anglo Danish

The Welsh fielded a mostly mounted force that was rapidly able to attack and capture the loot as the Danes toiled across the table towards them.

The Welsh then back-peddled faster than a hyper active unicyclist, pelting the Danes with javelins as they went. As the Danes closed-in the Welsh finally turned and charged, killing the Danish warlord for a narrow win.

Irish vs Anglo Saxon

In this encounter the Saxons fielded a huge force of levy backed by mounted hearth guard, probably outnumbering the cunning Celts by about 2-1. The Saxons pushed forward quickly capturing one of the loot with the other hotly contested. The Saxon cavalry lurked ominously waiting to swoop-in at the end of the game.

As Saxon casualties mounted from the hearth guard made their move and charged a prized ram that was one the the loot items. With some unlucky rolls they lost a causlty whilst doing no damage to the ram. A second charge had a the same result leading to them pulling back under heavy Irish fire to lick their wounds.    

As the hearth guard had their fun the Irish continued their heavy bombardment on the Saxon levy quickly reducing them and denying them Saga dice. The result was a clear Irish win despite them capturing no loot.  

Campaign Results

With three wins this week the Invaders have moved into a 6 point lead.

A Tale of Two Forts - the final battle

This weekend I managed to squeeze in the final battle of the Vanguard / Kings of campaign I've been fighting for most of the year in Fishponds. Having narrowly lost the last game I was besieged in my fort by the beastly Herd forces. In this scenario the attacks had to have more units in the fort than the defender and I has to get more units across the halfway line than I had in the fort.

All-out attack seemed a risky option so I decide to try and at least secure a draw and hope to either delay the attacker or get some luck to breakout. so I deployed all my heavy infantry in the fort (Primes / Ancients) along with the Ancients on Rinosaurs, Basilean foot, Clan lord and 2 priests. this gave me 3 sources of inspiring, rally (2), and healing to hold the castle.

The Herd deployed almost their entire army against my breakout force along with some siege artillery they hand somehow managed to construct with their paws.

Herd battle lines

Lizardmen breakout force

As the Herd pressed forwards I peppered them with fire but was unable to roll decisively enough on the nerve to rout any units. The Herds high healing means if you don't nuke them quickly they restore themselves within a turn and toy have to start again.    

Shifting tactics slightly I focused more fire and was able to take-out the fearsome stampede before it could so any damage.

The Herds own shooting proved decisive with their siege artillery destroying the front wall of the castle in a mere 2 turns and taking my largest heavy infantry unit with it. Things looked grime only 2 turns in so I marshalled the defenders.

Turns 3 and 4 so us trading blows in the entrance to the fort with the hardy Lizardmen pushing back the Herd units and retaining control of the fort.

By turn 5 it was clear that neither could achieve its victory objective and a draw was declared. So the Lizardmen retain their border foothold and can begin to rebuild for a future offensive.