Viking Raid Battles Russian Winter & Bitter Resistance

Viking raiders arrive in the lands claimed by their cousins, the Pagan Rus

 It was a lighter turnout than normal at our monthly Saga Game Day at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, Ohio. An old friend, Joe, brought along his 11-year-old son Jacob and the two wanted to give Saga a try. I offered to play them in a teaching game, while the other four players, Adrian J, Jim B, Jenny T, and Aaron J gave the four-player Brothers in Arms scenario a try. Joe and Jacob chose to play my Viking army against the Pagan Rus warband I was fielding.

Joe and his son Jacob took command of my Viking army to learn how to play Saga

In essence, it was a rematch of my game two weeks ago against Lee at the Guardtower East. We were playing Clash of Warlords and I was first player. I rolled "Method B" so were deploying diagonally across the field. I stretched my four 9-man units of Levy javelinmen across the field with my warlord in reserve in the center. I kept my two hammers -- my 6-man hearthguard units -- to deploy last, after I saw what Joe and Jacob did. 

Units of levy javelinmen screen the advance of my hearthguard at right from bowfire

As expected, they occupied the woods on my right with their Levy bowmen. They placed the their Bondi warriors in the center and right, each backed up in reserve by a 6-man hearthguard unit, as well. I decided to force the issue on the right, and began moving three units, two levy and one hearthguard towards the woods. The rest of the army started redeploying towards the right to assist them with "Maneuver" movement. On the Viking turn, their archers let loose two volleys and devastated my lead screen of levy javelinmen.

The Pagan Rus hearthguard have charged in and chased off the Viking bowmen

Undeterred, I kept the remnants of that unit moving forward, spreading them out so that they covered the approach of my hearthguard following close behind. With two movements, they would be able to charge next turn. In the meantime, I unleashed "Howling Wind" upon the archers and hearthguard who were racing over to support them, putting a fatigue on each of them as the bitter Russian winter chilled the Vikings to the bone. My Warlord and his escort Hearthguard unit moved ever closer to support my attack on the right.

The levy archers entering the woods have hurled their javelins at the Viking Bondi in the center

Joe and Jacob began to advance in the center, while the hearthguard approaching my right stopped to clear the fatigue on them. This would prove to be a crucial part of the game. By playing Howling Wind numerous times on that unit thoughout the game, it was unable to actually enter battle at any point. Or at least, was put at a disadvantage with fatigue so that Joe and Jacob chose not to order them forward saddled with fatigue.

The Bondi drove off the levy, but that left them to be countercharged & slain by Rus hearthguard

On the next turn, I advanced my hearthguard and a second levy javelin unit. I unleashed and The Pack on him which caused a couple shooting kills. I followed that up with a charge by the same hearthguard unit. White Wolves is an excellent ability on the Pagan Rus battleboard which allows them to remove a fatigue in the Melee phase if you use a rare die. In addition, it does its usual lowering of the unit's armor by one, but receiving both attack and defense dice equal to their new armor class. So, hearthguard start at AC 5, but by reducing themselves to AC 4 they get +4 Attack AND +4 Defense dice. A great bargain! Although the hearthguard slaughtered many of the levy, they did not kill them all, as four were left to scurry from the woods.

The Rus hearthguard were in turn charged by Viking hearthguard, who they repulsed, each losing men

The second levy unit had actually tossed their javelins at the Viking Bondi in the center, slaying one. This enraged the Viking Warriors, who charged into the levy. I've found that my levy javelinmen actually make very good bait in the two games I've played so far. Yes, they slaughtered enough of my unit so that it no longer generated a Saga die. However, it left the unit overextended -- just as in the game last week against Lee. On my turn, I countercharged those levy with my fresh hearthguard unit accompanying my warlord. I played both White Wolves again and Khagan (which gives +5 attack or defense dice if using a rare -- +3 if not -- if the Warlord is within a Short distance). Nineteen attack dice later and the Bondi were slain to a man while my hearthguard were untouched.

The climax of the battle occurred when Rus hearthguard charged and drove off the Viking Warlord

The Vikings were not about to let that act go unavenged, and charged my hearthguard with their own 6-man hearthguard unit. Now, wargaming truism goes to never roll dice against kids or women. However, here Jacob's dice deserted him. Despite piling on Thor and Frigg, and my defending hearthguard closing ranks, we each did three casualties. The Vikings had to withdraw to lick their wounds. The Viking warlord had advanced to support their attack, so was somewhat exposed. On my turn, I brought over my full strength hearthguard unit which had chased off his archers and charged his Warlord. It took two moves, but we had White Wolves once again to remove our fatigue before he could use it in melee.

The battlefield after the Viking Warlord was driven off by Rus hearthguard, who lost three men

Jacob chose to not close ranks and the Viking commander roared his challenge, despite entering battle with two fatigue (from my constant Howling Winds). He did have three figures of his hearthguard unit within Short, so he could soak off some casualties. In the end, my combat rolls were good enough to do four unsaved hits on him. The three hearthguard duly stepped in front of my sword strokes and his warlord lived to withdraw, exhausted. That ended up being the climax of the battle. He tried to bring his full strength, 6-man hearthguard unit in to avenge my depleted hearthguard, but we were able to stop them with some of the Advanced Saga abilities which the Pagan Rus can unleash to harass their opponents. His other unit of Bondi were able to charge one of my half-strength hearthguard units, but they caused no kills and lost two of their own. 

It was a bloody battle, with many slain on either side

As turn 6 ended, we counted up points, and it was Joe and Jacob's losses in Warriors that were the difference in the game. That, and the two units they had that were completely destroyed to none for me. The Pagan Rus ended up repulsing the Viking raid 16-10. A key part of the battle is that I was able to use Howling Winds and various other harassing abilities to keep one of his 6-man hearthguard units completely out of the battle. Perhaps Joe and Jacob were a little tentative in not having him make a beeline for my troops, but it was their first game of Saga. It was a hard-fought, bloody battle -- as games of Saga Dark Ages combat should be! I thought they did very well in their first game and hope to see them again at future game days.

The Rus Warlord was victorious, helped by the Russian winter

The other game had to be called early because of time, but Adrian and his brother Aaron were able to defeat Jim B and Jenny T 23-19. Adrian was running Pagan Rus, while Aaron commanded a Norman warband. Jenny was changing things up and trying out the Anglo-Dane battle board, while Jim B ran Vikings. They said it was a fun game and that the four player mechanics worked well. However, it DOES take quite a bit longer as each player's command takes its turn sequentially. One warband must finish all its movement before its ally can begin.

A shot of the Brothers in Arms battle between Vikings & Anglo-Danes vs. Pagan Rus & Normans

It was a great time, and thanks to Jim and Adrian (and the Dragons Guildhall) for hosting!