Battle at Fort Guinnion Dux Bellorum Game

Saxons on the left, Romano-British on the right

View from the Saxon line

Armies advance

Brits charge on the left and right flanks

Saxon Ordinary Riders charge

Command points are evenly distributed

Saxons retreat

Last Saturday afternoon Craig came over to my place and we played the fifth game in our Dux Bellorum campaign, The Raiding Season, based on the Age of Arthur WAB supplement (pp. 133-135). Our last game was a mighty victory for the Saxons over the Romano-British, so the scenario this time was The Battle at Fort Guinnon (pp.106-107) with the both sides fielding standard 32 points armies. The objective in our game was simply revenge and destruction of the enemy.

Both armies advanced and quickly engaged. After a couple of turns the battle formed in to four distinct combats and as casualties mounted, command points were lost. This left both sides with limited options for subsequent turns. The Saxons started retreating and were gradually worn down by the Brits. In the end they suffered fifty percent casualties and a couple of units failed their Bravery tests and the entire army routed. This was a Mighty Victory for the Brits leading in to the sixth and final game of the campaign.

The battle forms four distinct combats

Command points are lost as casualties mount

Saxons retreat in some combats but hold on in others

Brit Mounted Companions get in a flank charge

Brit Noble Riders and Saxon Ordinary Riders fight it out

Saxons rout

A Scouting Clash Dux Bellorum Game

Romano-British on the left, Saxons on the right

Both scouting forces advance

Saxon Ordinary Riders were the heroes of the game

The forces close on the two objectives - the hill and the building

Combat begins

Last Saturday afternoon Craig came over to my place and we played the fourth game in our Dux Bellorum campaign, The Raiding Season, based on the Age of Arthur WAB supplement (pp. 133-135). Our last game was a draw so the scenario this time was The Scouting Clash (p.122) with slightly reduced forces, 24 points instead of the usual 32 points. I was the attacker this time and the objective for both sides was to seize control of the hill and building in the centre of the table.


As usual the game moved quickly and before long both scouting forces were slogging it out in the centre of the table with casualties mounting. My Romano-British Companions and Noble Riders, charged a single Saxon Ordinary Rider unit, who managed to survive multiple combats despite retreating. Eventually they succumbed, heroes to a man, but had tied up my two best units for most of the game. At this stage both sides had to test for morale with 50% casualties, three of my surviving units failed while the Saxons passed all tests. The result was the first Mighty Victory for the Saxons in the campaign.

Romano-British Companions and Noble Riders charge

The infantry slog it out in the centre

Saxon Ordinary Riders hang on for another turn

Casualties mount

Romano-British Ordinary Shieldwall fail their morale test

The Cattle Raid Dux Bellorum Game

View of the table from the Saxon lines

View from the Romano-British lines

Both sides advance 

Last Saturday afternoon Craig came over to my place and we played a third game in our Dux Bellorum campaign using the Age of Arthur WAB supplement with scenario 9, The Cattle Raid (pp.114-115). After two Mighty Victories in the previous games I was now the attacker with my Romano-British and Craig had a slightly reduced Saxon force of 29 points. The Brit raiders had looted a Saxon settlement and were making off with the loot (two ox carts and a flock of sheep) when the Saxons returned determined to prevent them and recapture the baggage.

The Brits lost all their skirmishers early in the game but the casualties were mounting on the Saxons' side and they were slowly but surely being driven back. The Saxons managed to recapture all the baggage but were not fairing so well in actual combat. We stuffed up the main combat on the left flank by forgetting to target the hits on my Noble Riders rather than my Companions, so called it a draw, as otherwise the Saxons would not have routed so quickly.

Romano-Brit foot skirmishers are destroyed in the centre

The Saxons are driven back

All the loot is recaptured but the Saxons are on the verge of breaking

Battle on the River Glein Dux Bellorum Game

Saxons far side, Romano-Brits foreground

Both sides advance towards the river crossings

Saxons charge across the river

Last Saturday afternoon Craig came over to my place and we played a second Dux Bellorum game, using the Age of Arthur WAB supplement campaign, The Raiding Season (pp.133-135). The scenario was the Battle on the River Glein (pp.98-99) with Craig's Early Saxons regrouping from their previous defeat to attack again with both sides' objective to control the two river crossings. This turned out to be a very quick and one sided game with Saxon's suffering a very bad run of luck with the dice. The Romano-British didn't lose a single unit and scored another mighty victory. The next game will be scenario nine with The Cattle Raid (pp.114-115). We have a much larger Dux Bellorum game lined up at the club next Sunday, with the Battle of Ashdown 871 AD, so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

Saxons suffer heavy casualties

Saxons charge again for a last ditch effort

Saxons rout

Battle at Bassa's Ford Dux Bellorum Game

View of the table from the Romano-British side

View from the Early Saxons' side

Saxon Foot Companions, Noble Warriors and Ordinary Warriors

Saxon Ordinary Riders and Ordinary Warriors

Romano-British Noble Riders charge

On Sunday afternoon, a couple of weeks ago, Craig came over to my place and we played a 32 point Dux Bellorum game with his Early Saxons attacking my Romano-British. We used the scenario, the Battle at Bassa's Ford, in the Age of Arthur WAB supplement (pp. 102-103) but forgot to do the single combat at the start! The idea was to link our Dux Bellorum games with the Age of Arthur WAB campaign, The Raiding Season (pp.133-145).


The Saxons were the attackers and quickly surged across the river to attack the Romano-British Ordinary Shieldwall units. It was a close and exciting game that came right down the wire to the last turn, when my skirmishers managed to destroy the Saxon Foot companions by shooting, causing an automatic 75% casualties Saxon rout. This was a mighty victory for the Romano-British so our next game will be Scenario 1, the Battle on the River Glein (p.98).

Saxon Warriors charge across the river

The Romano-British Ordinary Shieldwalls hold firm

Romano-British Skirmishers destroy the Saxon Foot Companions by shooting

The Saxons rout 

Late Romans vs Early Saxons Lion Rampant Game

Late Romans advance towards Saxon raiders

Late Roman cavalry charge Saxon Gedriht

First combat of the game

Saxons retreat

Saxon Gedriht rally and are ready to charge

Here are some photos of a Late Romans vs Early Saxons 20 point Lion Rampant game we played in the afternoon, down at the club about a week ago. We used Craig's figures and terrain, Garry commanded the Early Saxons and I commanded the Late Romans. The Romans had initial success with a cavalry charge but then suffered severely at the hands of two units of Saxon Gedriht who slaughtered most of the Roman cavalry. The Romans just managed to rally and survive and were able to hang on with a unit of archers and a unit of Pedites. The Saxons after a strong start faded and were unable to rally at critical times in the game. 

I'm keen to try some solo games with Chariots Rampant, the Bronze Age Lion Rampant variant and I'm painting some Mycenaeans at the moment and will hopefully give these a run soon.

The old one two with the other unit of Gedriht

Late Romans suffer heavy casualties and are battered but rally

Saxon Gedriht are battered and fail to rally

End of the game - the Late Romans just hold on