Warriors in the Old North Scenario 3: The Cattle Raid

This is the third game in our Dux Britanniarum campaign, set in Britain during the 6th century. Cadwallon, the lord of the local Britons in South Rheged, has been trying, with mixed success, to fight off raids by Saxon warbands from the adjoining province of Navio. The Saxon lord, Eahlbeard, continues to greedily eye the lands of the Britons and is certain to return. 

The initial Saxon raid was a limited success. However, a more recent attempt to take a British noble hostage, ended in failure (you can follow what happened in this post). Eahlbeard and his men withdrew, to lick their wounds and plan their next move. 

A couple of months have passed since then, with no sign of the Saxons. That has all changed, with news that nearby farmsteads have been raided. Reports have come in that a warband is trying to make off with a herd of stolen sheep and cows. 

With his prestige and the wealth of his people at stake, Cadwallon calls his men to arms and they rush to intercept the raiders. The Saxons, with their ill-gotten gains, must make their away across a stream and off the far edge of the table. 

Encumbered with the plunder from their raid they are heading for home, wary that the Britons may try to stop them, but not knowing where they might appear from. 

A small group of Saxon archers are the first to cross the stream.

Eahlbeard, followed by his companions and a group of warriors, leads the way towards the ford.

Hrothgar and his warriors, herding the stolen cattle and sheep, follow close behind.

It's at this point the Saxons discover the Britons are in the wooded area to their left. It appears they have arrived in force. The whole warband is present, except for a small group of slingers, who are not far behind. 

Both sides start with their force morale at seven and with that the game begins. 

Broethr, the British noble who led his warriors to great feats in the previous encounter, commands a group of warriors that was recently reinforced with the arrival of two new men. They volunteered to join Cadwallon's warband once news of his recent success reached them. Broethr leads the men forward, yet despite his desire for haste, the warriors make barely any progress through the woods. 

The Saxon archers move considerably faster.

Eahlbeard leads the way across the ford and the remaining Saxons follow behind.

The cattle and sheep are herded toward the stream. Hrothgar is aiming to steer well clear of the arriving Britons. With any luck the main Saxon force will be able to hold them off while he makes good his escape.

Cadwallon senses the need for urgency. His men follow him far quicker than they did for Broethr. 

Similarly, Malvin urges the levy forward.

Hrothgar has trouble moving the herd to the stream, but Maethelweald leads his two groups of warriors to join Eahlbeard at the ford.

Malvin moves the levy out of the woods. 

The Saxon archers spot them and approach rapidly, using the Fleet of Foot card. 

That brings them within range. They let loose their arrows, but inflict only a point of shock.

Maethelweald hurries forward. He leads his men out of the stream and toward the woods.

As if on cue, the Briton slingers arrive at the edge of the trees. They move into range and target Maethelweald and his warriors.

They hit the target, but the Saxon armour deflects the missiles and they are unscathed.

Eahlbeard moves up to join Maethelweald. 

With the Saxons now threatening the woods and the British flank, Broethr turns his men to face the enemy.

With Broethr holding the woods, Cadwallon moves his men out into the open to confront the oncoming Saxons.

Eahlbeard needs to clear the way so that Hrothgar can move the herd to safety. He urges his men on and they move swiftly towards Cadwallon.

The British slingers make use of the True Aim card to continuing targeting Maethelweald and his warriors. 

All they manage to do is inflict a single point of shock.

Meanwhile, Hrothgar herds the animals across the stream.

Malvin wants to make sure the levy are in a position to impede Hrothgar's progress and prevent him driving the livestock off the table. Despite the urgency, the men move slowly and reluctantly. 

However, Cadwallon sees no reason to hold back. He wants to preempt a Saxon charge, so orders the two groups to form shieldwall. Then, using the Strong Arm card to hurl missiles he moves forward.

While the rain of missiles inflicts shock on Eahlbeard's men, the Britons have taken too long forming the shieldwall and hurling their missiles. They fail to move fast enough to make contact. 

Broethr moves his warriors closer to Cadwallon.

They are there to protect the flank of the shieldwall.

With the levy proving slow to move, both Cadwallon and Broethr may have to try and hold off a larger number of Saxons on their own.

For now at least, Maethelweald has other plans. He charges toward the British slingers. 

That's more than the Britons can handle and they are last seen running back through the woods. They won't be taking any more part in today's encounter. 

On the other hand, the Saxon archers continue to harass the Britons. They move around the flank of the shieldwall and shoot. Cadwallon's companions are well armoured and the arrows fail to find their mark.

With Maethelweald and his men in the woods, Broethr turns his warrior to refuse the Briton's flank.

Despite failing to move fast enough to make contact, Cadwallon is quicker off the mark than Eahlbeard, who has been slow to respond. The British lord seizes the initiative and the shieldwall crashes into the Saxons.

Cadwallon's champion uses Hero of the Age and throws himself into the combat.  

The shieldwall proves effective and the Britons lose only a single man. Unfortunately, Cadwallon's champion has paid the price for putting himself at the forefront of the fight. He is the one who falls. 

Nonetheless, Eahlbeard's companions do not fare well either. Two are killed. They suffer more shock, to add to that inflicted in the earlier missile attack, and that's enough to see them pushed back. 

The two sides remain in contact and so a second round is fought. The Britons continue to get the better of the Saxons. Eahlbeard's companions suffer more shock. That forces them back and right out of the fight. The remaining Saxon warriors lose a man, but they continue engaging the shieldwall. 

The Saxon archers can no longer target the shieldwall, for fear of hitting their own men. Instead, they turn their attention back to the levy.

This time the poorly armoured Britons are less fortunate. They lose a man and suffer shock. 

Malvin has seen quite enough of the archers. He orders one group of levy to chase them off. They move quickly and drive the Saxons from the field.

Malvin then orders the remaining levy to follow him and join the others. 

Despite moving slowly initially, the levy should be able to block this flank. If Hrothgar intends to use this route to escape with the livestock, he will be left with no option but to fight. 

Sensing the levy will block that flank, Hrothgar leads the animals towards the other Saxons.

Eahlbeard is itching to return to the fight, but he knows his companions are not in great shape. Instead, they hold their ground while he steadies them and removes shock. 

Maethelweald intends turning the Briton's flank and he leads both groups of warriors into the woods to tackle Broethr. However, the rough ground slows his men and only one group moves fast enough to make contact. 

The Saxons play both the Carpe Diem and Aggressive Charge cards, so I'm relieved only one group of warriors managed to make contact.

The first round of combat ends with both sides suffering two killed and shock. The Saxons come off worse in the second round and lose another man while the Britons are unscathed. Despite the losses and shock, both sides remain engaged.

Hrothgar decides his best bet is to follow in the footsteps of Maethelweald and he heads toward the woods. 

Malvin decides the best use of the levy now is to support Cadwallon and Broethr. He gathers the men together to face the Saxons.

Broethr continues his fight in the woods. The Britons lose another man and suffer a further point of shock. Maethelweald's warriors also lose a man, but the two surviving men see the group's shock rise to four. 

That's more than they can take. They lose their amphora and break. 

The sight of that brings Saxon force morale down to five.

Broethr's men are fired up and charge off in pursuit. 

However, that takes them right into the zone of influence of Maethelweald and his second group of warriors. They have no option but to remain there and fight a combat. 

Maethelweald is quick to fight and seek revenge. The Britons lose another man while the Saxons suffer a single point of shock. 

In the second round the Britons suffer another kill and the additional shock sees them lose their amphora. 

They break and fall back towards the levy. That's a big blow to the force morale of the Britons which drops from seven to four in one fell swoop. Maethelweald is able to keep his men in check and the Saxons don’t pursue.

Cadwallon is determined to maintain momentum. He rallies shock from the shieldwall and they continue the fight. 

The shieldwall proves sturdy and, while the Britons suffer shock over the two rounds of combat, the Saxons lose another man and see their shock climb to nine. They too lose their amphora and break. The sight of them routing back is a further blow to Saxon morale which tumbles to two. 

The Britons don't pursue, but the outcome of that combat has put the Saxons in a perilous position. 

Eahlbeard needs his companions to stand their ground and he rallies off as much shock as he is able.

Broethr leaves the broken remnants of his group of warriors and attaches himself to one of the groups of levy. He rallies off their shock as he does so.

Cadwallon is determined to finish off the Saxons. He rallies off two points of shock from the shieldwall. 

He then leads the line of shields into Eahlbeard's companions. 

The initial clash results in shock on both sides, but no casualties. 

However the next round proves decisive. While the Britons lose two men, so do the Saxons. More significantly, the shock they suffer is enough to see the survivors lose their amphora and break. 

That's a shattering blow to Eahlbeard. Both his companions and the warriors are now streaming back from the Britons.

Cadwallon is not finished just yet. His men charge in pursuit.

Fortunately for Eahlbeard, they don't quite come close enough to make contact. It's a lucky escape. 

That brings Saxon force morale crashing down to zero. Hrothgar can only look on as his lord flees the battlefield hotly pursued by the Britons. Disaster is unfolding all around him and there is no point remaining on the battlefield. He and his men abandon the animals and head home.

While the Britons can feel the satisfaction of beating off the enemy and recovering their livestock, there will be the sense of a missed opportunity to strike down Eahlbeard himself. 

Despite that, they have foiled the Saxons yet again, securing a +3 win for the Britons. That adds a Thief’s Horde to Cadwallon's prestige and will stand him in good stead for the future. It will take the Saxons a few months to recover their losses, which means the next opportunity to raid won't be until September. In all probability that will be their last chance before the harvest calls and winter sets in.