The Landing - Lion Rampant A Viking in the Sun Game

 

Muslim defenders on the left, Byzantine attackers on the right

Opposite end

Abd Allah leads his cavalry and infantry

Muslim archers

Muslim Fierce Foot, archers and light infantry

Byzantine skirmishers, Varangians, spearmen & archers

Forces advance

Muslim Fierce Foot attack skirmishers

On Wednesday morning I played a solo Lion Rampant A Viking in the Sun game out in the shed. The scenario was The Landing (p.80.) in Sicily with the Muslim defenders led by Abd Allah fighting the Byzantine attackers led by Harald Hardrada. The aim for the Byzantines and Varangians under Harald was basically to exit the northern edge of the table with as many units as possible. 

This proved to be a tough scenario for the attackers in my game. Only the Varangians under Harald escaped to fight another day and only one unit of Muslim Fierce Foot was destroyed. It was a comprehensive victory for the Muslims with five Byzantine units destroyed, two of these nearly made it off the table. 

Muslim Fierce Foot retreat battered

Byzantine spearmen charge

Spearmen retreat battered, Varangians make a break for it

Muslim heavy cavalry charge the Varangians

Their attack is beaten off

They charge again into the spearmen

The spearmen break - Muslims win

Lion Rampant A Viking in the Sun Supplement

 

Yesterday in the mail I got the new Lion Rampant A Viking in the Sun supplement from Northstar. This was eagerly awaited as it covers the Mediterranean adventures of Harald Hardrada and I really enjoyed the previous one, Lion Rampant The Crusader States. I quickly read it cover to cover. Like it's predecessor, Lion Rampant A Viking in the Sun, is beautifully illustrated, it has four main chapters covering Harald and his World, New Upgrades and Optional Rules, Army Lists and Campaigns. 

A second edition of the Lion Rampant rules is due to be published by Osprey in 2022 but the core rules are still the same. The Army Lists covers The Varangian Guard, Byzantines, Southern Italian Principalities, Normans and Muslim Powers of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. The chapter on Campaigns includes three scenarios based on Harald's campaigns in the Holy Land, Sicily and Southern Italy. Again highly recommended, there's a lot of fun gaming to be had with this supplement.

Below are some Almoravid Moor archers that I've just finished painting, the figures are by Artizan Designs. I will use these for my Muslim force in Sicily against Harald with the Varangian Guard and Byzantines in my planned solo game of Scenario 2.1 The Landing (p.80), an amphibious operation. Hopefully I will play that sometime next week.