This week's Saga 2nd edition battle consisted of the 'Prized Possessions' scenario. We'd played the Battle of Heroes quite a few times (12+) and I decided something else was needed.
The Saxons became the defender (?) escorting the wagons across the table. The Vikings - who I'm trying to work out - were there to stop their progress.
It was a 7 turn scenario - quite a long one by Saga standards. We used the universal terrain deployment method with the Vikings trying to create corridors of rough terrain that were hard to drag wagons through. This would partly offset the later deployment of half the Saxon army providing an advantage as the defender could see the full troop positions of their enemy. A canny commander - and this Saxon warlord was clever - would place two wagons in the second group being deployed.
Playing for time the Vikings deployed well back in their deployment zone. Initially, I envisaged a rush at the Saxon left flank to overwhelm one side and fight my way into the wagons. However, this plan was changed after the Saxon warlord moved himself and his mounted hearthguard onto this flank early in the game. The battle would be won in the centre.
Above are the wagons. The Saxons relied on their defensive power, hoping the Vikings would waste their strength in furious charges against their lines. This waiting game approach would eventually cost them the game.
The Saxon warlord and his hearthguard were part of this watchful strategy. The warlord threw himself on the Vikings only in the final turn.
Above the Vikings are shown hedging their bets and trying to block up the passages from the table as best they could. The defender would get a huge boost to victory points (survival in this case) for each wagon leaving the table.
The Viking thralls whittled down their advancing foe who mostly stood in large 12 warrior blocks. These would block the shooting of the Saxon levy for several turns as combat drew near in Turns 4, 5 and 6. One brave Viking unit stepped out to protect the centre from multiple charges and was hacked apart by Saxons barely placing a wound in reply for their trouble.
The Vikings fed more and more warriors into the centre of the table as this became the only route applicable for the Saxons. After several turns of inactivity with the wagons, they had no option as moving around the woods would take too long.
One Saxon unit was reduced to but 4 levy but the Vikings were taking many casualties. Defence rolls were being made far too frequently by the Saxons - their shieldwall could not be broken.
The Viking warlord and hearthguard stepped in the plug the gap in turn 6 and 7. Clumsy placement of these (by me) enabled some easy charges in Turn 7 of the game allowing the Saxons to kill the warlord reducing the Viking survival point total. I should have been more wary about such desperate lunges for blood once the Saxons realised their wagons would not reach camp in time.
A couple of Viking units stayed out wide for around 5 game turns to keep the hearthguard and one warrior group occupied. This ultimately prevented the hearthguard from playing any combative role in the battle.
In the later turns of the game, the Viking stopped attacking and allowed the Saxons to do all the pushing. There was no point to fighting in each turn as their losses were already too high.
Despite losing almost all of the combats for the evening, the Viking tactics proved to be more effective. They prevented all wagons from leaving the field but when the survival point tally was counted, the Saxons were ahead 17 points to 9 on losses alone. However, they then lost 9 points (3 per wagon) for not achieving their goal leading to the narrowest Viking victory by a single point! It was a good game with both players reserving their strength. This only played into the attackers hands as delay and obfuscation were key. It didn't feel like a win, but I was pleased with my troop position, tactics and terrain placement which were probably the factors leading to victory.
