First Game of Pillage

 

Vikings initial deployment

Irish initial deployment

Irish warriors

Irish slingers

Irish chieftain and warriors

Irish warriors

Last Sunday Rick, Gary and I met down at the Vikings Club in Conder, for the monthly meeting of the Canberra Regional Wargame Group. We played our first game of Pillage, a new set of Dark Age/early Medieval skirmish rules written by Guillaume Rousselot. The English version has just been published by Victrix and is available as a 131 page pdf or hard back rule book that is beautifully illustrated. We diced for sides and played a pitched battle with Viking and Irish forces of about 1020 gold pieces which is the point system used. Each side had a chieftain with two traits, there are no fixed unit sizes, with movement, shooting, combat and morale done with individual figures. Rick said many of the basic mechanics of the rules are derived from the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game.

We deployed twelve inches in from the table edge to speed things up. The Irish had a slight advantage in numbers with twenty seven figures, while the Vikings had twenty four figures who were more heavily armoured. The Vikings also had a berserker, banner bearer and figure with a war horn. The two forces closed with Irish slingers and Viking bondi archers shooting. Irish warriors charged the Viking bondi on the right, after several round of combat, the Irish warriors were destroyed. On the Viking left the bondi archers shot at the Irish warriors, forcing them to charge, eventually picking them off with bow fire. Back in the centre the Viking hirdmen formed into shieldwall to reduce shooting casualties against the Irish slingers. The hirdmen advanced in shieldwall and were charged by the Irish chieftain and warriors. Eventually the more lightly armoured Irish warriors were ground down by the hirdmen, losing more figures after failed morale tests.

This wasn't a very satisfying or balanced first game of Pillage, the Irish didn't have much of a chance. The rules are very simple which may appeal to some but for me they are far too simplistic. There are more nuanced and satisfying skirmish sets already available with Lion Rampant, Saga and Barons' War. There is no index in the rules and specific rules are hard to find. There are also typos in the rules and QRS with the armour class abbreviations, some of these still have the French rather than the English version. The faction lists have limited options with the Irish, Scots and Picts lumped together but have no option for cavalry, while the Welsh have no option for armour. There is a generic list of costs so you can choose your own force regardless. 

Forces close

Bondi archers shoot

Irish warriors charge Bondi

Bondi archers pick of the remaining Irish on the left

Irish warriors charge Viking hirdmen
who are in shieldwall

Irish lose more figures from morale tests,
Vikings clear winners

Norse versus Anglo-Danes Midgard Game

 

Armies deployed from the Anglo-Danes' side

Opposite end

Anglo-Dane left flank and centre

Anglo-Dane right flank and centre

Norse left flank and centre

Norse right flank and centre

Armies close, skirmishers shoot

Last Thursday afternoon Garry came over and we played a Norse versus Anglo-Danes Midgard game out in the shed. We diced for sides and Garry commanded the Anglo-Danes defenders and I commanded the Norse attackers. The Anglo-Dane skirmishers were on target early on but the Norse were able to get in the first charge with a bonus Get In! movement activation. In the Midgard rules a charge or winning marker allows that side to reroll any ones for each round of combat which can prove very handy at times. 

Single combats between heroes are fought first and are an important way of gaining or losing reputation tokens in the game. The Norse lost three heroes in single combat but were winning the early melee combats. In the end it proved to be a very hard fought game with the Anglo-Danes eventually winning on their right flank while the Norse won on the left. Both armies were exhausted and fought to a standstill, with two reputation tokens each remaining, so we called it a draw.

Anglo-Dane archers and slingers are on target

Norse straighten their line and Anglo-Danes hold

Norse charge with a bonus
Get In! movement action

Norse are winning the melee combats but
have lost three heroes in single combat!

Anglo-Danes win on their right flank
but the Norse win on the left

The game ends in a hard fought draw

Last weekend I drove up to the Blue Mountains to visit friends, mountain bike and attend the Blue Mountains Music Festival at Katoomba on the Saturday afternoon. Below are a few pics of some of the mountain bike rides we did. The BMMF music is a roots, blues and folk music festival which has been running for about thirty years but which I've never been to before. The highlight for me was seeing the eighteen year old Irish country blues guitarist and singer Muireann Bradley, perform with brilliant covers of songs by Memphis Minnie, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Blake and Sam McGee. I've been a massive country blues fan since I was seventeen and used to go to a lot of the blues, jazz and folk gigs and festivals around the traps. She recorded her first album when she was seventeen and learnt guitar from her father since the age of nine. Here's a link to her website and a video performance of When the Levee Breaks:

 https://www.muireannbradley.ie

https://www.muireannbradley.ie/video/

Rydal showground

Rydal single tracks

View of Mt Banks from my friends' house

Blackheath single tracks

Start of the Oaks single tracks on the
Wentworth Falls to Glenbrook ride

Norse versus Irish Midgard Games

 

Irish and Norse deployed Game One

View from the Norse side

Norse attackers and Irish defenders advance

Irish light riders scout ahead

Bondi charge and Irish heavy riders counter charge

Irish army commander and hero are killed,
a very quick and easy victory for the Norse!

 

Game Two Norse advance

Last Sunday Rick, Gary, Rob and I met down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for the monthly meeting of the Canberra Regional Wargame Group. We used to play down here every month but have only been a couple of times since the pandemic. We diced for sides, Gary and I were the Irish defenders and Rick and Rob, the Norse attackers. It was a pretty good turn out for the meeting considering it was a long weekend. Ian and his mates were also playing a Hundred Years War Midgard game. 

We ended up playing a second game as the first game was over very quickly, when the Irish commander and a hero were killed. This was a very quick and easy victory for the Norse before lunch! After lunch we swapped sides, Gary and I were the Norse attackers and Rick and Rob, the Irish defenders. This was a much closer game and the Irish performed a lot better on their second outing. The Irish heavy riders accounted for a Norse hirdmen unit but it was the Irish Norse allies who accounted for the Norse beserkers and bondi, sealing the game by killing the lone Norse army commander. It was good to get my Irish and Norse troops on the table and a real bonus to have two quick, fun Midgard games.

Irish light riders charge the Norse bondi

Norse hirdmen guard their right flank

Norse bondi and beserkers fight
the Irish Norse allies

Norse hirdmen are at half strength

Irish Norse allies have the upper hand

Norse hirdmen are winning but about to rout

Norse right flank is gone!

Norse army commander dies,
Game Two a closer victory for the Irish

Heroes and Slingers

 

Above are some Irish heroes and a single Norse hero. We have a Norse vs Irish and a Norse vs Anglo-Danes Midgard game lined up in the next week so they will see action then. Figures are by Crusader and Gripping Beast. Below are more Irish slingers and some Anglo-Saxon slingers. Figures are by Footsore Miniatures, Crusader and Gripping Beast.