Anglo Danish v Dark Age Scots 21.10.17

Remember he who writes the history wins the battle.
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guard
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Anglo Danish v Dark Age Scots 21.10.17

Postby guard » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:51 pm

https://www.flickr.com/photos/guard44/ (Pictures should be at the top of page at present)

This Saturday’s battle was another introduction for two more friends to highlight the Swordpoint Ancient and Medieval wargame rules, it was for me a step in the dark slightly, as our main rules guru could not make the battle so it was understood prior to the game that things may take a little longer to play out and some re-reading of the rule book would be needed.

All of the above was true but at the same the positive nature of the game and players led to a generally enjoyable and well thought out encounter. Of course not everything went correctly,(I never expected it to) deployment could have been better, some things were forgotten, learnt again and then done correctly but across the table at the end of the game all things turned out fair to both sides. Some fog of war in places.

So far in our small group of Swordpoint playing friends (About nine of us now) there is available (Or will be) – Ancient British / Early Roman / Imperial Roman / Spartacus slave army / Macedonian / Early Persian / Later Crusader / Anglo Danish / Dark Age Scots all in 15mm.

Armies for this battle: Anglo Danish v Dark Age Scots

The commanders:
Gavin & Chris - Anglo Danish
Mick & Paul - Dark Age Scottish

Points 1,000 per side (Kept low for learning the rules)

Army compositions:
Anglo Danish – Break point 7
King Harold
Ealdorman x3
Huscarl / Fyrd 12 bases (6&6) - (Two handed Axe + Stubborn – Sup Fighters)
Huscarl / Fyrd 8 bases (4&4) - (Two handed Axe – Sup Fighters)
Huscarl / Fyrd 8 bases (4&4) - (Two handed Axe – Sup Fighters)
Fyrd 12 bases (Extra Rocks) Warband rules 1 & 2
Vikings Open order – Two handed Axe - Sup Fighters
Coeri Skirmishers 4 bases - Slings
Early Welsh allies 12 bases – Archers

Dark Age Scots – Break point 8
King Macbeth
X1 Sub General
X1 Highland Chieftain (Attached to Clansmen)
Scots Spearmen x12 bases
Scots Spearmen x12 bases
Skirmish Thanes x8 bases - + Javelins
Highland Clansmen x8 bases
Norman Knights x6 bases
Skirmish cavalry x6 bases
Skirmish cavalry x6 bases

Both sides deployed as they saw fit, maybe not necessary as well as they might do for the next battle “but it was what it was” and with a positive spin lessons good and bad would be learnt.

The Anglo Danish held on to the centre of their deployment area (Perhaps we should it Senlac hill may be??) and I expect were hoping the Scots would do the right thing and attack up it at them. The Scottish were not having any of this and advanced on the left with their cavalry with the aim of outflanking the Anglo Danish line. Initially this went quite well catching the Anglo Danish off balance and it took some effort to realign units before any charges could come in, Norman Knights being particularly feared as Skirmish cavalry although irritating did not prove that disastrous from where they were.

The Welsh Archers did a fantastic job of securing the Anglo Danish right flank which came under extreme pressure from the Norman Knights (I have to say there was a slight hiccup in the amount of bases used in the combat on this occasion – Let’s call it Fog of War and exceptional dice rolling).

Both main battle line advanced with the Anglo Danish winning the initiative and so charged first into contact, all units in the line fought and the outcome was an overwhelming success for the Anglo Danish, in one bloody contact the whole Scottish line broke and the game was over. It happened so quick it was almost jaw dropping. lack of Scottish commanders to rally broken units player a factor in determining game end.

This game achieved what it was set up to do, show off the Swordpoint rules again plus have some fun and enjoy each other company for a few hours. More games will be played as soon as possible.
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A Lot of Gaul
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Location: USA

Re: Anglo Danish v Dark Age Scots 21.10.17

Postby A Lot of Gaul » Sun Oct 22, 2017 12:11 am

Great AAR and pics! Glad to see that you and your group enjoyed using Swordpoint with 15mm models, and had an enjoyable time doing so. :)

Did you reduce the movement and shooting distances for your 15mm battle, or did you play the rules as written?
"Experience is the teacher of all things."
~ Gaius Julius Caesar

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guard
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: Anglo Danish v Dark Age Scots 21.10.17

Postby guard » Sun Oct 22, 2017 11:55 am

All of our battles so far have been played using the rules as written, the guys seems to like the 28mm longer move / ranged fire distances and they work fine, admittedly the table size is bigger - About 7 or 8 ft. x 5 ft. This gives lots of opportunity for wide outflanking manoeuvres if the commanders want to. It should be said that we don't play tournaments only friendly games so if the game takes a little longer to finish, it generally does not matter.

MartinG
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Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 8:48 am

Re: Anglo Danish v Dark Age Scots 21.10.17

Postby MartinG » Sun Oct 22, 2017 3:20 pm

I'm amazed that the whole line broke at once! Must have been some fantastic dice rolls in there. Glad to see the game plays well in 15mm-we thought it would but have stuck to 28mm ourselves.
"No one ever achieved anything without making a few mistakes along the way"


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