Picts Out-Pillage the Huns

    Pictish raiders marshal their forces in a woods ready to snatch plunder from a Hun warband

Drust's raiders had sailed far to plunder the rich lands of Gaul. Other raiders were lurking nearby, though, and seeking to pillage the same farmlands as Drust's men. The men from the Orkney Islands had never seen such fierce and cruel-looking horsemen. They dashed about on their horses, nearly every man carrying a bow and sporting evil-looking scars on their cheeks beneath dark slits for eyes. "These must be Huns!" whispered one of Drust's commanders, having heard tales of them from prisoners taken in previous raids of Roman lands. Drust nodded and turned away, motioning his commanders to him behind the trunk of a wide, sturdy oak. "This is how we shall snatch the prize from these foul horsemen..."

    Jenny celebrates Yule in front of a festive tree as her Pagan Rus take on Karen's Vikings

We had eight players show up for December's game day at the Guardtower East in Columbus, OH. Half of the armies fielded were from Saga's newest release, Age of Invasions. Both Dave E and Bob B were fielding Roman armies, while Joe D had brought Huns and I was running my Picts, again. Also taking the field were Jenny's Norse as Pagan Rus, Karen's Vikings, Jim R's Normans, and Lowell's Anglo-Saxons. Joe and I squared off, and I was looking forward to seeing how the Hun's battle board played. Joe wanted to play an objective-based scenario to hone his skills with this army, so we picked Feasting and Pillaging from the Book of Battles. 

    Picts, after their first turn of movement, advance against a Hun warband in Feasting & Pillaging

Three objective markers representing loot were spaced evenly across the centerline of the table, with each of us deploying our armies a Short distance from our baselines. A large woods was on my half of the table, towards my left, and a smaller woods near my baseline on the right. On the opposite side, another small woods was in the Huns rear on their right. A large, gentle hill was on his left. Most players don't like being "Player 1" in Saga, but I found that it is a slight benefit to the Picts. It allows the player to place an extra piece of terrain, which is crucial to utilize the Pictish battle board to its best advantage.

    War dogs! My newest Pictish unit ended up never seeing battle, spending the game marking trees

Drust had swapped out one of his units of levy javelinmen for a "mercenary" unit of war dogs (Molossians from the Age of Invasions book). I wasn't sure if they'd be much use with the Picts, but I wanted to try them and see how they worked. As it turns out, it probably wasn't the best choice in a battle against an army with lots of archery like the Huns! The eight warriors (seven dogs and one handler) are only armor class 3 vs. shooting, so I quickly moved them into the large wood where they ended up never leaving. Doubtless, they found plenty of trees to mark! Also in the woods, and a key part of my battle plan, were the levy archers. They moved in on turn one and were able to shoot at enemies every turn afterwards. On either side of the woods, a unit of tattooed foot warriors advanced slowly forward towards the center and left hand objectives. On the right, a third unit of warriors and javelin levy marched past or through the trees towards the right hand objective.

    Bob maneuvers his Roman legion against Jim's encircling Normans in the first of their two games

As Player 1, I could have done double moves and seized all three objectives on turns one, at the cost of a fatigue on each unit. However, I had never faced the newest version of the Huns and wasn't sure what its battle board could do. I had yet to pore over the list and didn't really have a lot of study time before the game began. So, I played it cautious, and advanced only one move from my baseline. The archers, war dogs, and levy javelinmen all sheltered beneath the trees at the end of our first move. Joe responded by waving forward his mounted horde. Armed with composite bows and deployed in small units of six figures, they galloped towards two of my spear units and showered them with arrows. I had Sacred Tattoos, which provides 4 bonus defense dice queued up, but ended up not using it. Nor did I used Secret Ways, which allows a unit to redeploy near uneven terrain after suffering a shooting attack or charge. The attacks and damage seemed minimal, so Drust's Orkney men simply endured the scattering of casualties.

    After two turns of movement, the Picts on the attack, but also remaining close to the shelter of woods

On turn 2, Drust waved the archers further forward into the woods. This brought them within range of one of the horse archer units, which had pulled back after shooting. The foot bowmen unleashed their own volley, and three Hun horsemen fell from their saddles. In the middle, the center unit of warriors seized the first objective, each man burdening himself with as much loot as he could carry. There was an angry shout from the Hun battleline as the steppe warriors saw the barrels of fine Gaulish wine being taken by the northmen. A large band of 12 Hun mounted levy hurtled towards the Pictish warriors and charged into them. The veteran raiders closed ranks, interlocking their shields and thrusting their spears between them. In addition, I played Sacred Tattoos, which gives me 4 bonus defense dice. Joe rolled 12 attack dice, but with the tattoos and closing ranks, we suffered only two casualties. The mounted levy also suffered two casualties, so withdrew, leaving my Pictish raiders in possession of the wine barrels.

    Tartan-clad Pictish warrior seize the first objective - a stash of fine Gallic wine

On my third turn, the the levy archers switched targets and whittled another unit of horse archers down to three horsemen. The warriors carrying the wine began to withdraw. They were able to move back an extra Short move with Swift as the Wind, almost reaching the shelter of the trees. On the right, Drust ordered forward the levy javelinmen. Using Scouts, they moved a Long distance and then hurled their javelins at another unit of horse archers, tumbling three more men from their saddles. Joe's saves against my shooting were below average all game long. Otherwise, he said afterwards he felt his dice were okay throughout the game. It was just my shooting he didn't seem to have an answer for. In addition to throwing their javelins, the levy javelinmen also rounded up a small herd of pigs. My third unit of foot warriors marched forward to support the javelinmen.

   The Huns do not relinquish the wine barrels easily, following up and harassing the Pict withdrawal

The Huns continued to send waves of horse archers forward to shoot at Drust's Pictish raiders, but their small unit sizes kept arrow storms from inflicting too much damage. I kept expecting the Hunnic nobles, his mounted hearthguard, to charge into the fray, but Joe seemed to be saving them. He was willing to send the mounted levy into battle, but was shielding his nobles from combat. Meanwhile, my successful pillagers continued to withdraw towards our baseline, moving one or two Short distances a turn. One of the Pict battle board's strengths is its variety of ways to move troops. Scouts is very effective, and with a Rare die allows two (one with a Common or Uncommon) units to move Long distance -- their move not being reduced by either terrain or fatigue. We agreed that the rules to Feasting and Pillaging prevented my units carrying objectives to exceed a Short distance, though -- even if moved with that ability. My warriors on the left charged and seized the third objective from Hun horse archers, and then hunkered down, ready for Joe's counter-attack.

    Second objective is seized - a herd of swinge - by Pictish javelinmen on the right flank

Surprisingly, it came not in the from of a shower of arrows from his the Hun levy foot archers sheltering in the woods, but in a charge from them! My six warriors (reduced by previous horse archery) closed ranks, expecting to easily repel the levy. Shockingly, the archers caused two casualties and saved all but one of our hits. Embarrassed, the spearmen withdrew from the surprisingly fierce steppe footmen. Seeing this humiliation of his warriors, Drust swore. A horn blast and their warlord's pointing and shouting attracted the attention of the Pict warriors on the right. They raced across the board using Scouts, and then charged into the jeering archers with Swift as Wind (which doesn't cause a fatigue if the move or charge ends within a Short of uneven terrain). Once again, the archers fought fiercely, but the attack of the tattooed tribesmen was more savage, and the archers dropped their loot and scampered back to the shelter of the trees.

    Pictish warriors seize the 3rd objective, taking it from a small unit of Hun horse archers

Once again, I held all three objectives. Using multiple moves, the warriors carrying the Gallic wine were able to exit the board, while the javelin levy edged closer to the shelter of the trees near our baseline. Once again, the Huns galloped forwards, firing arrows. The Hun battle board also has the ability to put fatigue on enemy troops, which Joe was also doing in attempt to slow down my Picts. However, with three different ways of activating my raiders for movement, I was able to frustrate his attempts to keep me from making off with the loot. On the fifth turn, Joe sent in the archers out from beneath the trees again. This time, my warriors repelled them -- sending them scurrying back to the trees. Frustrated, the Hunnic warlord sent in his nobles, who charged into combat shouting their fearsome war cries. This time, my Pictish raiders were beaten back, and they dropped the loot at they ran for the shelter of the large woods.

    Brave beyond measure, the Hun foot levy archers fought tenaciously for the 3rd objective

On my final turn, my archers used the last of the arrows in their quivers to target the enemy hearthguard. We scored four hits and the northmen celebrated when the enemy failed all four saves. On the opposite side of the battlefield, the levy javelinmen were able to sneak through the trees and off the edge of the table, escaping with their stolen herd of swine. Drust had yet to unleash his war dogs upon the enemy -- the pack was gathered on the edge of the treeline, growling at the enemy, hackles raised. However, he knew victory had been won by this point. He ordered the withdrawal of his raiders from the field, content with loot they had snatched from underneath the noses of the fierce steppe horsemen. The men of the Orkneys had stung the enemy more than once this day, and would sail home to boast of their victory.

    Hun horse archers try to prevent the escape of the Pict javelin levy with their stolen swine

Afterwards, Joe and I discussed how his army performed. I told him that I was planning similar sized horse archer units for my Mongol army. I was a bit concerned at how quickly his units were whittled to three figures (no longer generating a Saga command die). The Pict shooting is tough, though. When a full sized levy unit shoots and is augmented by using the Stalkers battle board ability, they generate nine shooting dice. Against armor 3, that should be six hits. Saves should be at 50%, which means my shots were not above average -- three losses is what should have happened. Joe talked about maybe increasing the size of his units in future games. On the other hand, I felt he was a little tentative in charging. He rightly sent the mounted levy into combat every turn that he could help them with the +6 attack dice Barbarians of the East ability. I just think he could also have charged with other troops and used some of the other melee abilities on the Hun board.

    Dave's Romans (left) and Lowell's Anglo-Saxons wage a close-fought clash that ends in a tie

Either way, this was not the best terrain nor scenario for an army of mounted horse archers. Mounted units trying to move an objective marker suffer a fatigue every turn. Joe could have taken one with the foot archers, but all in all, I felt he was at a disadvantage in this matchup. The Picts got the terrain they needed pluw were able to use their foot troops to take and move seized objectives back multiple times a turn. 

    Jim's Normans encircle and overwhelm Bob's Romans in hard-fought battle

Here are the results of the first round of battles (Jim R and Bob B were setting up for a second game when I left):

• Mike D's Picts defeated Joe D's Huns in Feasting and Pillaging (no score tabulated).
• Jenny T's Pagan Rus defeated Karen's Vikings in Feasting and Pillaging, 33-29.
• Jim R's Normans defeated Bob B's Romans in Clash of Warlords, 23-18.
• Lowell L's Anglo-Saxons tied Dave E's Romans in Clash of Warlords, 22-21.

    Battling beneath the northern lights! Pagan Rus and Vikings come to blows in the far, frozen north

With Christmas less than a week away, it was a small turnout with only eight players. Hopefully, we will have a nice tune up session in two weeks when we do it again the Sunday after New Years. It will be the last chance to practice before the Saga Tournament at Game Table Adventures, Jan. 15. I hear that a half dozen players are coming up from Cincinnati for it, as well as another half dozen locals in the Newark, OH, area are playing. It should be quite the clash, and I am looking forward to it! If you're looking to get in some good Saga games, come on out that Saturday and join us!