The SAGA of the war of the wolf and the battle for two crossings

Battle of the bridge

The Tabletopsaxony crew has started a Saga campaign based on the age of the wolf book.  I am playing the Welsh fraction lead by Rwy'n hoffi defaid.  Rwy’n is a hero of the viking age and comes from a noble bloodline. He has a blood feud with the scots' warlord Keir McDoggal and an unhealthy obsession with the well being of sheep.  The Welsh warband consist of a band of four hearth guard, two bands of eight warriors and two bands of six bow levy.  The first round was a bit of a dud being noble born Rwy’n opted not to attack anybody instead spend his time raising money and warriors for the on coming struggle. The war band gain one wealth and a unit of four mounted warriors.

The Welsh advance

Round two saw the spiteful scots invade the lands of the Welsh roughly around the same time the Welsh were planning to raid the Scots land.  The Scottish invaders consisted of Keir McDoggal, two units of four hearthguard, one unit of twelve warriors and one unit of twelve bow armed levy

While the Scottish warlord leads from the front

The two forces met at the two ford crossing. Both fractions wanted to get passage into the other's land. It was not a good battle for the Welsh they could not use their maneuverability prowess to flank the Scots while the Scots are tenacious in defense and could easily bottleneck the crossings to tire out the Welsh, then sweep across the bridges in the end moments of the battle.  The Welsh deployed the levy covering both crossings with their bows while the mounted warriors stayed in reserve (the paint was still wet on the unit and the scottish bowmen would hit them on 2+ so discretion trumped valour for deployment). The rest of the warband deployed near one bridge.  In response the Scots put their levy bow and one unit of hearthguard covering the unprotected crossing while the rest of the warband moved to block the main Welsh attack.  

One of several attempts of the Welsh to force passage

The river ran red with the blood of the warriors at the battle for the bridge. The Welsh made several attempts to force passage but could not pierce the Scottish lines. The effort costs them eight warriors and three hearthguard and nearly cost Rwy’n his head.  The Scots were reduced to their Warlord and a single hearthguard.  In the final attempt Rwy’n attacked the Scottish warlord and slew him. But it was too late on the other flank the Scottish levy and hearthguard streamed across the unguarded ford.  The mounted Welsh warriors force them back to the river but could not stop them from claiming the land.

Rwy'n is beaten back

The battle ended with Pyrrhic Scottish victory.  Post battle the Scottish recovered some of their warriors while the Welsh raised an additional eight warriors half of whom joined the cavalry.  The Scottish warlord gained some renowned for his single handed defense of the bridge while Rwy’n gains renowned for cutting a rival in a blood feud.

On the other flank the Scottish levy use the beehives for cover and fire on their Welsh counterparts

Last stand of Keir McDoggal 

That is all for now thanks for stopping by