Saxons vs Vikings round 2

Or the tale of how I managed to snatch defeat from the hands of Victory.

So, Wednesday night, I had a game of Hail Caeser against Terry and John. They were using a combined force of Vikings and Normans, whilst I would be fighting off their unwarranted advances with a force of Saxons.

Get em lads.

I had two divisions of consisting of five units of thegns plus some slingers each. Terry had two division of Viking hirdmens and John had a mix of warriors on foot and a unit of mounted knights. I won the role off and my right flank marched forced as ordered and set out in traditional shieldwall manoeuvres. My left flank, heard the order, and then ignored it and possibly mishearing the order for a chant of Skulls for the Blood God or Waaaaagh decided to charge forward trying to get grips with the enemy as quickly as possible.

Terry and John's opening turn involved them moving forward and forming a shieldwall of their own. John's crossbow-toting warriors took aim and peppered a small unit of slingers, causing two wounds. Turn two began, and the first of my units made it into combat. Terry had the better of the dice rolling and inflicted more casualties on my men and they retreated to safety but Terry followed up and combat spilled into their turn two.

Terry's Vikings let out a roar and more combats appeared on my right flank. John tried to charge his knights into combat but a failed order role left them stranded in the open. Combat was a brutal affair with my Saxons inflicting wounds that Terry was unable to save. Terry did his best, but I was able to make my morale saves and I had gained the upper hand.

How many units are in this combat then. Answers on a post card to

My turn three became a brutal affair, I charge as many men as I could forward, arranging a string of combats across the middle of the table. On my left flank, I moved my skirmisher with javelins forward with a small unit of slingers and let rip. Inflicting four wounds on the mounted Knights which John was unable to save two off. Having rolled two sixes to wound, John was forced to make a morale save, which the knights failed and fled the table.

The combat was brutal with my men making short work of Terry's units. However, as their third turn began things were not all going their way. I had tried to hack my way through John's unit of foot knights, but they remained  resistant to my axe blows and my unit backed off, losing one of them in the process. As you can see from the photo to the left, it was a big swirling combat, which caused much discussion over the rules.

However, in their third turn things carried on as they had been left off with myself gaining the upper hands. Out of their three divisions, one had been wiped out and another was perilously close to collapsing. It was here I made a few mistakes.

During my fourt turn, I should have done three things that would have guaranteed my victory. I had to move one unit forward into combat and break one of Terry's remaining units. I got into combat, but in a rare flurry of dice rollsTerry won the combat and I was beaten off. The two things that I should have done, which I didn't do was to move my division commander into a unit to brings it's stamina down, taking away it's shattered status, and to move a unit forward into support.

Terry and John's fourth and final turn saw one of my shattered units wiped out, which broke my division and I lost the game. It was a highly enjoyable game, and I'm sorry for the lack of pictures. When you get caught up in the game it's hard to take time out take snaps. Terry and John were fun to play against and so, despite kicking myself for losing, I did have a lot of fun playing.

Dark Ages

The Vikings line up.

   So, the other night I took part in a quick game of Hail Caeser, playing a simple Viking raid on a Saxon dwelling. We had two divisions sides with a mix of Thegns and Hirdsmen. Terry and John took the Vikings Jim and I took the Saxons. Lines were drawn and here is a quick recap of what happened.

  The Vikings moved forward, chanting their war cries and shouting curses from Odin on their foes. The Saxons, however, remained resolute, fixing their shields into the customary shield wall and waiting for the enemies to arrive.

The Saxons engage Shieldwall manoeuvres 

  The moment came and with a great cry the Viking warband, led by Terry, charged forward into the mass of troops led by myself. After a quick exchange of blows, the Vikings found themselves not only being forced back but quickly set upon by their foe. 

It was the second Saxon turn and on the right flank, combat carried on with the Saxons taking the upper hand and forcing the Vikings back again. However, on the left flank, their glorious leader, Jim, urged them to charge forward, to gain honour and glory, to protect the women and children.

Only for the men to go. No. 

At this point, Terry’s division had become broken. His two units of warriors had suffered many, many casualties, but the Saxons kept in combat with, doing their very best to wipe the invaders of the land. However, with the other divisions being remaining largely untouched. The battle hung in the balance.

Do you have a flag?

On the left flank, the Vikings were close enough to charge. They just need a successful test to give them two moves. The dice were rolled; they passed, but could only move forward one move. Leaving them with the jeers of the nearby Saxons ringing in their ears. 

On the right flank, more of the same continued. The Saxons, with a plus one for winning the last combat, pressed home the advantage, but the Vikings were now beginning to fight back. Wounds were beginning to mount, and for one unit, they were getting dangerously close to breaking. 

Things are starting to look bad for the Vikings

This was the turn, charging forward the Saxons engaged with the Vikings interlopers, hoping for a quick and decisive battle, like their brethren on the left flank. However, it was not to be. The Vikings, eager to take revenge for their fallen brethren, or to burn some houses, were not sure which, cut down the Saxons as they charged in, and pushed them back towards the homesteads.

Worse for the Saxons, the left flank started to fragment with one unit managing to get the upper hand but took a heavy beating from the Vikings in return. And the other pushing forward, driving back the enemy again. Things were starting to get precarious.  

The final turn for the Vikings began. It was a game of combat now, however Terry’s unit of archers shot and took a small unit of slingers to their breaking limit. On the right flank Jim’s Saxon’s disappeared under a wave of axes and swords. There was one unit left, engaged in combat.

However on the right, the Saxons were beginning to falter. The unit taking the heaviest damage fell back, whilst the other units bounced the marauding Vikings back once again.

Or maybe not

The final Saxon turn arrived with a few quick charges and we were into the combat phase. The Saxons, on the right flank, thought bravely, and despite managing a high number of wounds, were unable to see of their foes. Jim’s Saxon’s on the left flank fought bravely, but no made indentation into the Vikings.

And with that the turn and the game came to an end. It was a highly enjoyable affair with two great armies, and everyone came away happy. What more could you want from a game. I felt that Terry suffered from some poor dice rolls, which stalled the Viking charge on the right flank, and that I was blessed with some very good roles, that enabled me to bounce Terry’s forces backwards. But’s that what Hail Caesar, and all wargames are like, a series of bad dice rolls and you’re scuppered.

The positive outcome of the battle, unless your my bank balance, is that I know want to buy Saxons and Vikings.