The Fight before Christmas!

Ah well, Christmas is nearly upon us, and the last game of this year! - We decided to do a Dark Ages game between a raiding force of Vikings, and Ian and my Anglo-Norman force.
The random army choice in the lists favoured the Vikings, so we were in for a hard fight..

Phil's lovely mounted Vikings on the Norse right

..Berserks and missile troops in the woods next to the horsemen.

Phil (left) and Lawrence. Jed (from the Napoleonics) standing.

My ally Ian's force on our left wing.

Ians peasant archers in a wood.

My Normans on the Saxon right.

Ian began the battle by advancing his archers.

I advanced my whole force to the left in their support.

The Vikings advanced from the wood to engage us.

Lawrence (the viking left) slowly advanced, allowing Phil to close with him.

The slow advance allowed the Bowmen in the Viking shieldwall to shoot the Saxons.

Phil moved a part of his force to intimidate the Saxons..but the return shooting from the Anglo Normans sent them scurrying for cover!

Arrows and slingshot bounced off the Spearmen, but Lawrences bowmen were hurt!

The doughty Saxons were holding their own!

I finally got some Norman slingers to join the fight.

..which was as well, as Ians archers were starting to suffer as Phils bowmen joined Lawrences in shooting at them.

Phil moved his Berserks and Javelinmen to their left to face my Normans.

Ian brought his Fyrdsmen forward to threaten Phils archers and Spearmen.

..who had emerged from behind the big rock!

Phils flanking force took up position on a hill facing the Normans.

He advanced his Javelinmen at the run against my slingers.

On the Right wing, Phils Bowmen taunted the Fyrd..

Faced by the Javelinmen, the Norman slingers withdrew towards their Knights.

The whole Viking force advanced towards the Normans.

The lack of armour prevented the Fyrd from facing the Viking bowmen, and the Anglo Norman archers were losing the shooting match.

The Normans were outnumbered. So seeing no chance of victory, the Anglo-Normans quit the field.

The battle was a brief skirmish, unusually, no casualties occured from melee!

It was fun!

Thats it then, off till 2012. May I take this opportunity to wish all my readers (and especially my blog followers!!) - A ..

Very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year!

..Come back soon!

If you go down to the woods today....

At Last!

After a months forced absence from the club, I finally got back to 'virtually' mauling and maiming - Oh Joy!

Wargaming is fun isn't it!!

We tried a French and Indian war skirmish, as Phil had finished his lovely ranger figures.

The situation:

A party of Rangers and militia are returning from a raid, with some Mohawk and Delaware indian allies.
Unfortunately, a force of Hurons is sitting in ambush along the trail.....
(We put hidden markers on to randomise the ambush positions)

Lots of possible positions for the hostiles! 

 A farmhouse, strangely silent.....

 The river the Rangers have to cross...

The rangers and militia move cautiously down the road, Delaware indians to their left, Mohawks to their right...  

 The Delawares spot some Hurons across the river and open fire..

 The Hurons are unhurt...

 ...and return fire.

 One of the Delaware war leaders falls with a bullet in the head.

 More Delawares join in, and a Huron is wounded. 

 The Ranger commander brings his men in support of the Delawares.

 ..as do the Mohawks.

 When in range, the Rangers fire a volley...

 ..some of the Hurons fall back to the woods! 

 A third group of Hurons attempts to ford the river on the Rangers flank, but are hit by accurate Mohawk archery from the far side. 

 Almost all the English join in the fight.

 With casualties mounting, the Hurons waver...

 ..then fall back to the woods.

 A new group of Hurons behind the ford shoot in the flank of the Rangers and militia.

 ..Who turn to face the new foe..

 ..leaving the Delawares to cross the river in pursuit of the first Hurons.

 The Delawares are aided by 2 indian scouts detached from the Rangers

 Back at the ford, the Mohawks slink through the woods while the militia fire..

 The Hurons at the ford dodge most of the fire!

 A large group of Hurons appears and attacks the Delawares. 

 Leaving the militia to fight at the ford, the Rangers again come to the Delawares aid! 

 The ford Hurons attack disastrously at the ford, trying to take advantage of the Rangers distraction.. 

The Delawares, outshot, bravely charge some Hurons. The Rangers fire deals with the rest!

 

 ..but another group of Hurons appears on their flank. 

Some of the Delawares attack them too in a vicious melee.

 At the ford, Huron archers trade shafts with the Mohawks.  

 ..they retreat in the face of greater numbers.

 The Militia have arrived!

 The surviving - victorious- Delawares move toward the ford too.

 The Rangers beat off a small counter attack.

At last, the ford is cleared of hostiles, and the way home is clear......perhaps?

It was a fairly confusing battle with Hurons popping up from all over the place, but good cooperation between the players ensured a comprehensive victory!

Ian - The Mohawks
Phil- The Rangers
Lawrence- The Militia
Me- the impetuous Delawares!