Raid on the Village ~ Part Two - The End

The raid on Coccium in Carnutii continues, and it's not going the Saxon's way...

The raiders begin to retire with their spoils.

Lord Cynbel the Magnificent leads the Companions in a fierce charge that arrives like a thunderbolt amongst the startled Saxons.

A group of looters is sent reeling back as their comrades slope away across the field with the goodies. Cedric the Quiet attempts a counter-attack to pin the Britons...

...but it fails.

Ebba orders a general withdrawal.

Cynbel the Magnificent isn't done yet. Close pursuit makes the Saxons jittery.

Thanks to a rare piece of accurate shooting from the British archers, Saxon Lord Wigmund takes an arrow in the leg. The Briton Militares close into combat with the loot-burdened Saxons.

The result is predictably bloody. Saxons fall in droves beneath the vengeful spears of the Britons. Hampered by his wound, Lord Wigmund breathes his last.

The Saxons' force morale plunges below zero and they break. The death of Wigmund following the terrible casualties inflicted on the Saxons during the raid was too much for the Sea Wolves. Dropping the loot they run for their lives.The Romano-Britons pursue, driving the raiders from their lands.

* * * *

Gaius Menusius scored heavily in the post-game wind up. This takes into account the prestige of his victory, recovery of the loot, the casualties inflicted on the Saxons in battle and during the pursuit, and the spoils gained from their bodies. Gaius is able to replace all his casualties right away, replace the losses from the summer's campaign during the down-time of winter AND score a thief's hoard in wealth. Thanks to the scale of his victory the icing on the cake is Gaius being named Menusius the Proud.

Ebba retreats to his hall, to rebuild his forces and his reputation over the winter months. His men aren't happy with him, but he's already paid off his king, and has a modicum of wealth to spend. He vows to avenge himself come the spring. For now, both sides are in winter quarters and the land of Britannia is quiet.

Raid on the Village ~ Part one

Ebba felt confident as his warriors advanced on the village. Then the early morning mist burned away, showing the British on a hilltop overlooking the target. Their watchtowers must've sighted him and gave warning. Still, with judicious deployment of his hearth guard he could face-off against his enemy whilst the warriors got down to looting.

Britons to the left, Saxons to the right.

The warriors enter the village while Ebba takes the hearth guard to face down the Britons.

Things aren't going well for the British - but the Companions are lurking close by...

Saxon warriors get down to good dishonest looting, but come up dry, even in the church.

Both sides take and give shrewd blows. The British milites retire, allowing the Companions to surge forward to deadly effect. The Saxon group has found loot in the next house!

The Companions make short work of their opponents.

Although his warriors are now heading off with the loot, the British milites have re-entered the fray, his hearth guard are decimated, and Ebba's now seriously worried...

Raid on the Village ~ Set-up

Murmurs in the Saxon ranks as to whether he's too rash for competent leadership have Ebba concerned. As a consequence Ebba made some slight adjustments to his raiding force, which were required by the loss of his Champion, Oeglath, and the late-demented un-lamented Oeric the Insane, as well as a number of warriors.

A newcomer to Britain joined the warband in the shape of Cedric the Quiet. A peasant-born fellow from northern Germany, he's 36 and of average build. Cedric does have a quiet air of authority about him, having earned it during the internecine warfare of his homeland. Faced with unemployment and penury he crossed the sea to find service with the new warlord, and perhaps some land to call his own. Appreciating the need for a capable leader, Ebba placed Cedric in command of the warriors.

Stepping up to replace the mighty Oeglath (or did he not run fast enough when called upon?) is Berhtulf. It remains to be seen if he can earn the title of Champion.

So, on to the first deployment for the Saxons, who made a good beginning, advancing quite a ways toward the village. Ebba kept hard to the left of the area and has pushed his bowmen out front, the better to interfere with British deployment.

I'm pleased with the way the bases and scenery merge with the newly-painted ground cloth. Using the same paint for all has paid off.

 

Romano-British deploy. Gaius Menusius stands near the dolmen, contemplating the field of battle.

The post-Roman period was one of deep superstition. As a house rule for the game I declared any group or formation nearing the ancient dolmen will give either a +1 to force morale for the British (fighting for the bones of their fathers and the temples of their gods), or a -1 to the Saxons (fighting on land which is not theirs may very well anger the spirit residing in the dolmen). 

Through the magic of the die roll the R-Bs appeared right beside it. Inspired by this Gaius decided to make a speech. Added to the dolmen's effect it boosted his personal status by one, and earned the R-B another Fate card. After his near-Pyrrhic victory of the summer, are things looking up for the captain of the Home Team?

Across the valley Ebba spied the approaching British and gave a speech of his own. It steadied his men (increasing the force morale by one) and improved his own status (by one). The stage is set... 

Ground cloth in action - Set up

It's time to revisit the Dux Britanniarum campaign and the final action of 472AD, this time using the new cloth with Autumnal scenery added. 

From the Saxon entry point. The green die marks the approximate position the Saxons will reach by the time the British appear.

From the Romano-British end. The red die marks the entry point

Having failed to conquer the Roman-British province of Durobrivae, Ebba the Saxon Warlord has decided on a late season raid on the village of Coccium in Carnutii. He hopes to lay his hands on some significant loot, especially from the church of St. Aimless the Confused. It'll keep his warband quiet after the grumbling that ensued from their defeat in pitched battle during the summer.

Roman-British General Gaius Menusius finally got his game on and handed the invading Saxons a defeat this summer. Unfortunately it cost him significant losses in his own army. Still, he got word of the Saxon raid in plenty of time and has managed to march his army to the scene to catch the raiders in the act. Maybe, just maybe, he'll put an end to that pestiferous Ebba once and for all...

In game terms it's not shaping up too well for Ebba & Co. They've failed to steal much of a march on the Roman-British, and Gaius Menusius is close enough to the village to put a major crimp in Ebba's looting.

I hope to play out the game over the weekend. Watch this space...

Gaming Cloth Upgrade ~ 40 shades of green

The first go-around to upgrade my gaming cloth is done, and I'm pleased with the result.

The craft paint sticks well to the cloth, and the materiel wicks the pigment far wider than expected, giving a lot more subtle shades of green. I used a thick stippling brush for the job as it gets the paint deep into the cloth. 

As it stands the cloth's usable now, but I think I'll give it another go-over with paint using a sponge to remove and distinct edges and vary it even more.

We Will Remember Them

 

Gaming cloth upgrade ~ Early steps

It's been a while since I last posted. The reasons are many and varied, but basically Life got in the way. So, now things are a bit more settled, here's my latest project. 

Last year I bought this section of green cloth from the local ReStore/Habitat For Humanity shop for a few dollars. It's seen a couple of games since, but I've wanted to get rid of the totally unrealistic uniform colour for a while. 

I'm not going to follow the mastic/silicone caulk approach used by others. A little experiment shows it'll take poster/craft paint well, so I'm going to do a small area at a time and see how it goes.