Saga AAR - Caroligians vs. Vikings

Recently a friend and me met at Monty's for a little Saga game. Just a small 4 points game but a good opportunity for me to present my slowly growing stock of terrain and for my friend Auld Nick to give his Carolingians their baptism of fire.

The battlefield with my Vikings in front of us and the Carolingians approaching from the other side.

We played with two rather simple warbands. Besides my Warlord Gudmund the Dauntless I fielded a unit of 4 hearthguard, 4 berserkers and two units of 8 warriors. Niclas brought his mounted Warlord accompanied by two units of 4 mounted hearthguard and two units of 8 warriors on foot. Nick's miniatures weren't completely finished since he hadn't painted the bases and the shields so far but that didn't bother us too much.

Finally we decided to play the simple "Clash of Warlords" scenario from the core rulebook.So my Vikings started their advance towards the cottage. During this early stage of the game it was my idea to get into a position where the Carolingians couldn't take too much advantage from their speedy mounted troops.

Gudmund and his men approaching...

As I feared the horsemen attacked quickly and four mounted hearthguard chased one of my warrior units.

First blood...But my warriors survived...

But they underrated the sturdiness of the norsemen. Although I lost four warrior afterwards three Carolingian hearthguards lay dead.

The Viking warriors sneering at the fleeing Carolingian knight

Fearing for one of his Saga dice Nick withdrew the last had the survivor turn tail. Visibly impressed he even stopped the charge of his second hearthguard unit and lead them back to the center of the battlefield.

Meanwhile I occupied the cottage with eight of my warriors.

Carolingians regrouping and my Vikings taking the center.

Now the game seemed to falter slightly. I tried to reposition my left flank while Nick gathered his troops for an attack on the cottage.

The Carolingian milites turning to the cottage.

But after having refused the first attack on the cottage my warriors made a sally and snatched Nick's warlord who was the actual target of the game.

The Carolingian leader cutting down my warriors.

But against all odds he won the melee which brought me into severe trouble.

The Carolingians taking the initiative.

While I lost my units man by man Nick sounded the charge onto my warlord. He outflanked my few survivors and involved Gudmund the Dauntless in a bloody melee.

Gudmund surrounded by enemies.

But like his antagonist before he fought bravely and turned down the attackers. Afterwards the field was rather empty. With my very last turn I managed to sicced my berserkers on Nick's warlord. The second time during this game he was bound in melee and finally met his fate.

The Carolingian warlord meeting his fate.

After all it was an excellent game. Although I won by taking out Nick's warlord the game was extremely close on points. Anyway we both enjoyed it and crowned the time with a very special drink:

Altbierbowle

It's a punch based on Altbier (a top-fermented dark beer from the Rhine area) which is mixed with fruity ingredients. In our case we added strawberries, peaches and a good dash of raspberry syrup. Well chilled it's a delicious, refreshing drink for warm spring or summer days.

Altbierbowle and Vikings. What could one wish more?

With a little barbecue in the evening it was just a perfect day.

Not to forget the cheering fans at the sideline: