Viking Dawn Northern Conspiracy Play Test AAR
With the intent of learning the Pig War rules as they will be played at Viking Dawn and getting a feel for how the troops involved function, five members of the Northern Conspiracy and one friend got together at Leo’s house on April Fool’s day, despite the snow. Myself (Michael), Leo, Mike, John and Phil were the club members, and Steve came along to round out our numbers.
There were three commands and one Hero on each side. The Vikings had two identical 100 point commands, and one 130 point command. The Saxons had two identical 125 point commands, and one 80 point command, consisting mostly of militia, with the local priest acting as Standard Bearer. Leo, with one of the 100 point Viking units, was the Viking right flank, Phil, with the other 100 point unit, was in the center, and Mike, with the 130 point command and the Viking hero, was on the left. Steve, with one of the 125 point Saxon units, was on the Saxon left, John, with the other 125 point unit, was the Saxon right, and I, with the militia and hero, was in the middle.
The sides closed quickly, except the Viking left, which was hampered by rough terrain. On the Viking right and in the middle, the bowmen on both sides moved up and exchanged shots, with Steve getting the better of Leo, and Phil getting the better of me. Leo out maneuvered Steve. drawing him forward, and then scooting around a hill and patch of woods to reenforce the center, leaving Steve with the choice of going back and around the woods, or slowly through the woods to reengage.
Phil, in the meantime, took advantage of his success with his bows and charged into the militia and some of John’s heavier armored Saxons as well. This met with success as well, forcing the militia to take a moral check due to losses suffered, and John’s engaged troops to fall back as well, due to having suffered more losses in the melee. Because the militia leader had engaged in melee that turn and lived to tell about it (thus getting a +3 to the roll), the militia managed to pass the morale check, much to everyone’s surprise.
On the third turn, Mike’s Berserks emerged from the woods, to be rudely greeted by some of John’s Saxons, including his leader and standard bearer. The unarmored and out numbered Berserks lost quickly, but further to the (Viking) left, Mike’s bowmen and a shield wall inflicted some losses on John in return.
On turn 4, the emboldened Militia, lead by the Saxon Hero, counter charged Phil. Both sides managed to inflict enough casualties to cause a morale check. This time, despite the leader once again surviving melee, all of the untrained Saxons, which was all but two of the remaining ten, routed. The Vikings were unable to take advantage of this situation, as Phil rolled badly, and the Viking center, except for the leader, who fell back, routed as well. This occurred just as Leo’s command arrived to support the center, and Steve’s command got close enough that Leo had to worry about him again. In the meantime, Mike forced more of John’s troops to fall back, giving him an edge.
Turn 5 spelled doom for the Vikings, with Steve’s bowmen arriving in time to help the Saxon Hero inflict enough casualties on Leo’s troops to force a morale check. A second bad morale roll, this time by Leo, meant a second Viking command in rout. To rub a little salt into the wound, John managed to push back and regained some of the lost ground against Mike.
