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| View from the Vikings line with Alfred's division deployed on the hill |
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| Aethelred's division behind the hill |
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| View from the Saxon lines with the Viking King's and Earl's divisions L to R |
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| Both armies advance |
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| Viking Earl's division refuse the left flank and move to the right |
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| Viking King's division advances |
Last Sunday down at the Vikings Club, Craig, Bern and I met and we played a Dux Bellorum game of the Battle of Ashdown 871 AD. Both sides had two divisions each with six leadership points per division. On the Saxon side, Bern was Alfred the Great (with an additional two leadership points for the great man) and Craig was Aethelred. I commanded both Viking King's and Earl's divisions. The scenario we used was similar to the Battle of Ashdown scenario in the new Hail Caesar Shieldwall supplement (pp.68-69). The order of battle was determined, to some extent, by the available painted troops we had!
Alfred's division were already deployed on the hill with Aethlred's division moving up behind. The Vikings were the attackers but didn't fancy attacking Alfred's shieldwall on the hill. The Viking Earl's division refused the left flank and move to the right. The Viking King's division advanced and attacked and the Saxons suffered early casualties. Soon both sides on the Viking right flank were engaged in a protracted shieldwall slogging match. Alfred's division eventually advanced down the hill hoping to catch any straggling Viking units on the hop. In the end we ran out of time but it was minor victory for the Vikings with Aethelred's division on the verge of breaking.
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| Saxon cavalry advances |
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| Viking left flank maintains cohesion |
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| Viking and Saxon forces close on the Viking right flank |
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| Alfred's division advances down the hill |
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| The Shieldwall slogging match continues |
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| Things are getting messy! |
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| End of the game Saxon left flank under Aethelred is about to break |
I hate it when time runs out before a decision is reached!
ReplyDeleteYes with DB games can go for many turns as you can cancel hits with your leadership points, so some combats can take a while to resolve.
DeleteDo you play the hit-cancellation rule as written, Mike? I've been experimenting with using it to force a hit to be re-rolled rather than outright cancelled. Not sure if it's the right way to go yet. Really need to get another few games in...
ReplyDeleteWe do but found in this game and other that that three LPs per unit or group is probably too much and are thinking of limiting it to two for cancelling hits. Rerolls might be a good way to go as well. I like how shieldwall units slog it out for quite a few turns but it can also prolong the game for too long and lead to indecisive combats.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great looking report!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal.
DeleteGreat looking game,bit of a pain if you can't get to a result in time,are you using larger armies than the rules are written for?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain, we were using armies that are about twice the size of a normal game. It was fun but we need to limit the number of leadership points used to cancel hits.
Delete