Ancients @ MindSay

Ok, so it was one of those "solo" games where I was basically playing with myself (sigh), but I did manage to set up a full table with terrain and miniatures, push some lead around, roll some dice and have some fun.

The scenario was taken from the "Age of Arthur" book, and was set up for smallish 750pts armies.  That's about 3-4 understrength units to you and me.  A minor Andalusian prince was trying to defend a farm on the outskirts of his holds from a band of marauding vikings.  The short version is, he did drive them off, but didn't destroy them.

Here's the long version:

Amir Al'Hajjidun commanded a defense force of one full unit of his nation's traditional spear-and-bow troops, a smaller group of hardened Berber warriors who were on his personal payroll, a respectable group of light horsemen drawn from his friends and minor nobility, and a handful of peasants interested in protecting their farm with javelins.  His cousin Yakub, a brave man in his own right, carried Al'Hajjidun's personal standard into battle, riding with the other nobles.

The Vikings, lead by the brothers Udo and Rolf, each brought their own personal force of brave and stout warriors, and were accompanied on their raid by two units of Free Bondir - a rough and ready force of men with weapons and shields, and a smaller group of dedicated bowmen (Hey, a Dane's gotta eat, and these guys were the best bowmen on the ship!)

The conflict went down near a small farmhouse aside the road leading east into the Amir's territory.  A small hill overlooked the western fields and beyond, the sea.  Copses of trees dotted the landscape.

The Vikings (predictably enough) approached from the sea.  The Amir's forces arrived at the farmhouse just in time to see the Vikings arraying for battle.  Sending his trusty Berbers on a march around the farmstead, the Amir deployed his infantry along the road, hoping to block the Danish advance.  Yakub lead the horse on another maneuver around the hill, hoping to catch the Danes in a pincer, but before the Horsemen could reach their position, the Danes advanced.

Udo lead his personal Huscarls down the road to meet the Andalusian foot.  He knew that the civilized muslim soldiers were no match for the fury of his Shield Danes, and decided to rely on a head-on charge to drive them from the field.  Rolf ordered his 'carls and bondir soldiers to advance to take the hill, claiming the ridge for himself and tasking the lesser warriors with holding his flank.  The archers layed down a withering hail of arrows on the Andalusian foot, but the great range prevented the shooting from being decisive.

Yakub realized that he could not allow the Danes to maintain a hold on the hill, and advanced to within attack range of the bondir.  The cavalry showered the Danes with javelins, killing a quarter of them and enraging the rest.

Meanwhile, the Amir ordered his skirmishers forward to soften up Udo's huscarls.  The Danish armor and innate toughness prevented them from taking much damage though.  All the while, the Berbers continued their flanking march, unimpeded by any enemies.

Rolf surveyed the field.  He could see that he was in danger of being surrounded, and needed to act fast.  He ordered his Bondi to chase the cavalry away, which they did, though they took a few casualties from thrown javelins as the cavalry fell back.  Rolf then ordered his archers to face the oncoming Berbers, and waited to see the outcome of Udo's charge.

Udo in the meantime swept the skirmishers before him and crashed into the Andalusian foot.  Though he was outnumbered 2:1 (A fact I forgot at the time that would have changed the outcome significanty!), the advantage was still with his hardy men.  Swinging their double-handed axes and swords before them, they cut down the Andalusian foot, who held bravely for a moment, but ultimately broke and fled the field.  Unfortunately for Udo, his force was so diminished that they decided to withdraw rather than fight the peasants.  It would be up to Rolf to win the day.

[Note - had I remembered, the Andalusian foot probably could have fallen back in good order (FBIGO rule) rather than be driven from the field.  Had this happened, they would have surely routed Udo's force and remained a potent force to fight against Rolf's force.  Alas.]

As they fled, the Amir, somewhat unnerved to be out in the open, rode quickly to his cousin's side.

The Berbers meanwhile had deployed into battle array against the Danish archers.  A storm of arrows failed to fell more than a few of the hardy Berbers, who charged home.  The Danes tried to fall back, but the Berbers were full of battle fury and chased them from the field.

All the while, Yakub was leading the Danish freemen away from the hill.  Charge and fall back, attack and feint, Yakub and his men skillfully drew the Danes away.  Finally, when the Danes had been all but decimate, Yakub charged into melee, cutting down the Danes to a man.

By this time, the sun was riding low on the horizon, and only a little time (2 game turns) remained.  The viking force was reduced to Rolf and Udo and Rolf's Huscarls.  The Amir, Yakub, most of the Cavalry and the Berbers were the only forces still fighting to drive off the Vikings, and only the Cavalry could reach the Huscarls before the end of the game.  As the cavarly were not good enough fighters to take on the Huscarls and expect to win, They rode around and tossed javelins (ineffectively) for a few turns, and as the sum set. Rolf and Udo withdrew from the battlefield.

There would be no Danegeld paid today!

All in all, it was a fun game, even though solo games usually leave me cold.  I had the kids roll the dice for me, and that added some to the fun.  Penelope is DEADLY, and really the Berber's success is largely due to her luck.  I expected them to fight well, as they're pretty tough guys on par with the lesser Danes, but they did quite well.  Had I remember FBIGO, the Andalusian center probably would have held against the undersized Danish units, but it was definitely a close game, and the Amir only pulled off a Minor Victory by the objectives.  I'd hate to have to face a larger force of Danes though - a 2000pt battle against a bunch of large, tough Hirdmen would be quite a challenge, especially for a relatively lightweight force like the Andalusians.  I'd probably need to bring my Christian mercenaries into the action, and I would definitely need to use more of my "Stupid Andalusian Horse Tricks".  (I didn't really use them to full potential since solo gaming makes it hard enough when playing things straight.)

Christy wished she could play too, but her head really wasn't in gaming Sunday.  I'll have to set up the battle again some day when she's in the mood to play.