Since discovering that the boardgame Battle Ravens translates so well to the tabletop for a wargame with 54mm toy soldiers we thought we'd give it another outing.
Our first trial of the game was a standard shieldwall encounter between Vikings and Saxons, but the game also offers sets of cards to portray the national characteristics of Scots, Welsh and Normans so we decided to try something different.
For a scenario I chose the border raid in 1093 by the Scots of Malcolm III, in support of Saxon refugees, against a frontier outpost held by the Normans of William Rufus.
A Frisian trader has beached his ship alongside the Norman keep and is unloading his trade goods in exchange for Saxon slaves, when the alarm is sounded! A Scottish warband has been spotted approaching the stronghold.
The Frisian crew join the Norman garrison and form shieldwall outside the stockade to protect the ship from the Scots and their Saxon allies.
Lessons learned from our previous encounter meant that the action flowed much faster and furiously this time around, more risks were taken and the subtle nuances in the rule system became more apparent.
The game is played from two static shieldwalls and despite the lack of manoeuvre there is still a great deal of movement as warriors are pushed back and forth to reinforce holes in the line.
The Playmobil viking ship with sail down serves as the Frisian merchant vessel, it only acts as set dressing but adds depth to the scenario.
The Scots command group, King Malcolm with his retainers and priest. The standard bearers here and below are conversions by Eric Kemp acquired at the Plastic Warrior Show in May.
There is a temptation to press heavily on one sector of the enemy line and attempt a breakthrough but this can have repercussions later on, in the long run it's often better to give ground and degrade your opponent's forces.
The game plays comfortably in a couple of hours but you could easily expand it by allowing reinforcements to be fed in at set points. It would make a great demonstration game at a convention, easy to transport, limited number of figures involved, several participants could take different sections of the shieldwall and the larger figures add a bit of spectacle for the spectators.
It was a close run thing and looked as though honours were even but on closer inspection and a recount the Normans carried the day by one point.
Those with sharp eyes will recognise figures by Timpo, Johilco, DSG, TSSD, Emhar, Cherilea, Del Prado, Jean Hoefler, Elastolin, Jecsan, Reamsa, Oliver, Conte, Fontanini, Replicants, Marx, Almies in Plastic, Starlux, and Cafe Storme.
