The Annals of Linnius Chapter 13: Pilgrimage - The Holy Undersmock of St Cuthbert

"Verily, Our Lord has smiled on the kingdom this day! Many are His blessings that shall fall upon those who did fight with such bravery! Surely also, a special place in Heaven doth await those who did die saving St Cuthbert's Holy Undersmock! Oh, glorious day!" 

Thus spake Bishop Augustine after a fierce affray on the great West road this day. Rumour of Saex raiders had caused His Holiness to order the transportation of a most holy relic, the Holy Undersmock of St Cuthbert, from it's chapel on the coast of the Northern Sea, to be brought to safety inside Caer Lerion, to the church here. 

The Holy Undersmock of St Cuthbert...having already lost the Holy Knucklebone of St Cadwyr to the Saex, 'twas unthinkable that this second and most holy of relics should fall into barbarian hands. It is said that St Cuthbert, while on evangelical duty in the kingdom of the Franks, did suffer capture by a barbarian warlord. After much torture, he did still refuse to deny his faith and so, the warlord did order him thrown from the cliffs into the sea wearing nothing but his undersmock. It is said that Our Lord had not yet finished with St Cuthbert and thus did the Holy Undersmock balloon with air and upon this makeshift float, St Cuthbert was thus taken across the Northern Sea to make landfall on the coast of the kingdom whereupon he did build a small chapel and from whence he did administer to his flock. The undersmock has been kept in the chapel since that day and record of it was made by my father, Municipus Librarius, though, truth to tell, there has been some doubt about the tale. There are those who do state that my father's hand was poor and that his spelling weak. Indeed, the Tribune Andrucius has been heard to mutter that mayhap the Holy Undersmock may not actually be a relic at all and may well be more in need of the attentions of a seamstress... These words must never reach the ears of the Bishop, however...

Anyway, on this day, a small band of monks did escort the Undersmock in its wooden case on the back of a small pony cart, accompanied by Lord Geraint and the milites of the kingdom ready to meet the Tribune and the remainder of the force for the march to Caer Lerion.  However, word must have reached the dreaded Saex, for a vanguard of their hearth guard did approach the convoy, swiftly followed by the remainder of their force. 

Quickly, the Lord Geraint did launch a pre-emptive assault on the Saex, but they did withdraw  awaiting further reinforcement.  Luckily, the Tribune had not been tardy in his march and within minutes, had formed shield wall with Geraint, facing down the Saex Lord and his hearth guard  and further warriors who did jointhe formation. 

While this face-off did happen, the diminutive Decurio Maximus Minimus did lead the levy to the aid of the convoy. Alas, for all his haste, Maximus did initially fail to reach the convoy before two groups of Saex warriors did slaughter the monks and capture the wagon! They did turn tail to run with the relic, but the diminutive Decurio did move the levy apace, crashing into the rear of the Saex, crushing their formation and recapturing the Holy Undersmock! The Saex did flee in disarray! 

At that same moment, the Lord Andrucius did launch a huge assault on the Saex Lord's formation. The fight did swing back and forth, with many men falling to bloodied spear thrust and hacking blade, but truly, Our Lord was with the tribune this day and the assault of the Saex did falter and fail. Licking their wounds, they did withdraw from the field, leaving the tribune to count the cost while Mximus Minimus did bring the Holy Undersmock into Caer Lerion! This is the second time in  as many engagements that the diminutive Decurio did take major part in the victory. A second Garland of Bravery has therefore been awarded to the Decurio for his part in this victory.

This was a play test for the second scenario written by Mike 'Trouble at t'Mill' Whitaker for the upcoming Dux Compendium. As you can see from the words of Publius Librarius above, we approached this game with all of the usual seriousness we bring to these things!! The game played out very well indeed, which is testament to Mike's scenario-writing skills. We needed to tweak some wording along the way, but the basic scenario idea seemed very sound. Somewhat unusually, this game saw me gain an excellent hand of cards including two 'Step Forth' cards that allowed Tribune Andrucius to muscle in ahead of the Saex Lord in two vital combat rounds. Even then, cruddy dice nearly messed it up for me, but I managed to gain the upper hand and, once again, shield wall saved my bacon.

It needs play testing again, but overall, another keeper, methinks! Here are some pics...

Initial setup. The convoy enters on the road on the left and has to exit opposite. It travels 6" per turn, activating after all the cards are dealt but before any uncommanded groups activate.

The Saex vanguard threatens the convoy...

The Milites form a hasty shield wall to protect the convoy...

The relieving force begins to arrive...

Quick, men! To the road!

The British shield wall has formed while the levy race the Saex warriors to the convoy...

Who will strike first?

Massacre! The Saex slaughter the monks and the Holy Undersmock of St Cuthbert is in their hands!

Revenge! Maximus Minimus slams the levy into the rear of the Saex formation, recapturing the Holy Undersmock! Hurrah!

The Saex, badly mauled, flee the field. Rear charges with carpe diem cards don't half kick arse!!!

Combat! The Hearthguards clash (sorry the pic isn't at the right angle!)

Phew...that's a mess...now...does anybody actually fight again now???!!!

It's even worse now...formations shattered, death all around...The Saex are crumbling...

All over bar the shouting now...

The Annals of Linnius Chapter 12: The White Stag!!

Early Spring in the year of Our Lord 476AD. These are the chronicles of the kingdom of Linnius, recorded by myself, Publius Librarius, scribe to his Royal Majesty King Mascuidius.

“Heathen superstition, nothing more.” Bishop Augustine did snort  with derision at the council fires that night. His Royal Majesty King Mascuidius had called the council to order at the shortest notice following the reports of a shepherd boy that a great and mighty wonder has been seen in the kingdom – The Great White Stag of Stames Ford! Verily this creature was thought by many to be a myth, but here was the shepherd boy, eyes wide with wonder (or maybe with fear, what with him being dragged into the council chamber of the king!) swearing on the most holy of relics that his words were the truth.

“Heathen superstition…witchcraft! Brought upon us by the shamen of the heathen Saex no doubt! ‘Tis a demon sent to ensnare us!” The bishop’s voice did tremble with his anger (or maybe also his fear, as he did repeatedly make sign of the cross in his ranting!)

Anyway, his Royal Majesty would not be swayed, stating that the sight of the White Stag could only be a good omen and that it must be sought out. He who brings down the stag doth gain mightily in power and reputation, so the tales tell, and the King would wish that honour only onto himself. ‘Twas also most evident that he was concerned that the stag might fall to the Saex. This he was not prepared to allow.

And so it was that, for the first time in many years, his Royal Majesty did don the mail-shirt and buckle on the great sword of his ancestors and lead the warband out to the field. Lord Andrucius did remonsatre with him most mightily, stating that the Saex are abroad and the kingdom cannot risk the death of its king. Verily he did beg His Majesty to wear the Tribune’s own cloak, cuirass and helm, while he, Lord Andrucius would array himself in the arms of a nobleman. With some reluctance, His Majesty did agree.

Verily Our Lord must have been with us that day! The Great White Stag was sighted on the wold not many miles from where the shepherd had first spotted it. ‘Twas a most magnificent creature!! No demon could ever wear raiment of such beauty!! It did lead us a merry chase and the warband was most strung out along the wold, when the cry went up that Saex warriors had been spotted on the Eastern horizon!! At once, the order was sent out for the troops to converge, the stag almost forgotten in the heat of pre-battle nerves! Credit for this must go to the Tribune, for it was his order sent via the signal of the great red Chi-Ro banner that pulled the troops together just in time, as the Saex warlord’s hearthguard did appear in battle array on the slopes of the hill. Immediately, the shieldwall did form, with the diminutive decurio, Maximius Minimus bringing a small group of levy to the enemy flank and there the lines did halt, while archers and warriors from both sides did vie for being the first to bring the stag down. But it was not to be!! The stag did run far, fast and free, a solitary Saex arrow staining his magnificent hide red.

Howling in frustration, His Royal Majesty did order the charge and the Hearthguard and warriors did strike the Saex Hearthguard, smiting them with many blows but then, horror of horrors, the blow of a Saex spear did pierce the hauberk of the King!! His Royal Majesty did stagger back from the fray as a mighty blow from Lord Andrucius did smite his assailant. For a moment, the Briton line did waver as fear sent icy whispers through men’s hearts. However, at that very moment, the levy under Maxinus Minimus, reinforced with others of their bretheren, did crash into the Saex flank, breaking their battle array and smiting with spears that turned bloody red. The banner of the grey wolf did fall into the mud as the Saex did fall in droves!! Sensing utter defeat, the Saex Lord did pull his men from the bloodbath and withdrew the field. Our own men were themselves exhausted from their great endeavours and did not pursue.

However, across the wold, all had not gone well with Geraint and the remainder of the force. Caught by the Saex while pursuing the stag, they were handed bloody defeat and the decurio himself did receive a wound, the stag escaping the field while warriors from both sides did withdraw to lick their wounds!!!

A bloody day and a bloody stand off!! Truth to tell, there was no victor this day, though the felling of the Saex banner did no doubt prompt His Royal Majesty’s claim to victory – a somewhat hollow claim, when one considers the sight of the pitiful remnant of Geraint’s command stumbling back to the camp after the affray.

And the stag did escape! But it is still out there, somewhere. We shall find it yet!

The diminutive decurio Maximus Minimus did this day also receive the Garland of Bravery for his mighty assault on the Saex flank. This young man’s prestige doth grow daily!

This was the first play test of a new scenario written by Mike Whitaker for the upcoming Dux Compendium. It played really well, giving us a host of real 'head scratching' moments where tactical decisions were genuinely very hard to make. It needs a few tweaks, mostly to wording, the stag's random movement and to deployment rules (and the stag was maybe a tad hard to kill) but the core scenario works. The deployment (no formations allowed and groups coming on in random places), though fiddly, meant that we had to work really hard to get our forces into a situation where they could actually fight, which meant careful use of characters and ordering un-commanded troops at the end of each turn of cards. This  is what caused the tactical decisions... Definitely a keeper!!

Here are a few pics...

Hmmm...a bit outnumbered here... Luckily, two of the 3 Saex groups in the bigger formation broke away to chase the stag...

View from behind the Saex lines on the 'hill of doom'...

Aaarg...so near, but so far away!! The stag activated first and what you can't see is the mass of Saex threatening this formation at top left... 

Aahhh... Now you can see them! The stag, sensibly, is now heading for safety...

The Saex try to tempt the Britons to attack. They succeeded!!

Flank charge!!!! The levy pile in with a Carpe Diem card so this was a flank assault that slaughtered every last warrior in the nearest Saex group. Both hearth guard formations are in trouble here as all groups are heavily (in fact excess) shocked before the levy even started...

The Annals of Linnius Chapter 11: Raid on the Wagon Train

"Early Spring in the year of Our Lord 476 AD. These are the chronicles of the kingdom of Linnius, recorded by myself, Publius Librarius, scribe to his Royal Majesty King Mascuidius.

For months now the land has been quiet. No sign has been seen of Saxon raiders coming from the North from the lands around our old Royal city. It seems strange to wake in strange halls, to walk unfamiliar streets and to sleep in halls that, fine as they are, in no way resemble home. But this is where we are, brought to this by the Saex raiders from north of the Humbre river.

Shortly after the last frosts of winter, spies in the old kingdom did report that the Saex lord’s men did grow restless. It is said that they did grow bored, fat and lazy, living off the fat of the land…OUR land stolen from us after the Great Defeat. Hearing this news, the Paefectus Andrucius did double the guards, increase the patrols and increase the training of the levy in preparation for the new campaign season.

It began sooner than we thought. The Praefectus did march his main force North towards the border, taking wagons full of supplies to the Decurio Maximius Minimus who did command the garrison of the newly constructed fort at Slea-Ford through the winter.

Marching through wooded and marshy terrain just south of the fort, the wagon train did fall victim to  dastardly ambush by the Saex! Fortunately, the Saex lord’s men were not under good control and did spring the ambush early, thus allowing the Praefectus to deploy the shieldwall in defence of the wagons while the diminutive decurio could be seen bringing levy from the fort to his aid.

The fight was fierce and in the balance for some time. The Saex hearthguard did resort to their goading, thus allowing their companions to shatter the shieldwall and drive the milites back into the woods. The decurio Geraint did attempt to bring the levy to their aid but was caught by a Saex charge and driven back with the milites into the woods. This did result in two wagons being lost to enemy, although the Praefectus did soon regain control of his men, forcing the Saex back, shattering a group of the enemy hearthguard whose volleys of javelins did simply bounce ineffectually from the shieldwall.

Maximus Minimus did undertake sterling work with the levy and did prevent the remaining Saex warriors from cutting the remaining wagon off from the fort. The levy under the diminutive decurio did earn much accolade in this fight for their shieldwall did hold firm under the heathen assault!

Eventually, the Saex lord did withdraw from the field, leaving two of the wagons still in the Praefectus’ possession. While the Praefectus will no doubt mourn the loss of the food and the handful of spears within that one wagon, its loss will not greatly disadvantage the kingdom. The Saex did lose more men in this fight, largely due to the shieldwalls holding firm and this is more important to the kingdom."

This was the first time that Mike and I had played Dux Britanniarum since late 2012!! We felt it was time to resurrect the campaign and this game was the result. We made very few mistakes despite feeling very uncertain of the rules! In the event, the game was tense and very enjoyable, although Mike did consistently roll below average dice, whereas mine tended to average out. Of particular cringeworthyness was the 12 dice rolled for 'strong arm' javelin attack which caused no hits at all!!  Also, my shield walls were particularly effective in this game, especially the levy under Maximus Minimus near the fort!

Here are some pictures.....

The wagon train outpaces its escort...

The Saex spring the ambush...

Maximus Minimus leads the levy from the fort...

Shieldwall formed, awaiting the onslaught. The wagons trundle onward , now moving at snail's pace!!

View of the shield wall from behind the Saex hearth guard...

Saex attack!!! Dead milites...not good...

Geraint's levy get caught napping...

Wider view of the combat...

After the combats. Half the Saex hearth guard are gone, but there's big hole in the line...

Maximus Minimus' levy about to show the Saex how it's done...

That wagon is our's!!!

Dux Britanniarum - The Wagon Train

The other week, I played a superb game of Dux Britanniarum against one of the many other 'Andys' at the war-games club. Andy and I are not yet playing a campaign, but we do occasionally play a scenario and that was the case this evening. We decided to play the wagon train scenario, simply because Andy had never played it and I had only played it once, being thoroughly mauled by Mike W in the process. This game was rather different!

In the first place, I began the game with 3 turns of movement for the wagons and for my escort and an extra point of force morale! This should have been fine, but a series of bungled dice rolls meant that the wagons crawled along the road and the escorting troops ended up bunched on one side of the train. Inevitably, the Saxons appeared in the very worst place, with every possibility of attacking the train in the rear and slaughtering my escort.

The pic above shows why I was a little concerned as we turned the cards for the first turn!! Anyway, I was luckily able to swing my forces to meet the Saxon threat, although I was not able to form into a shieldwall. So, Andy launched his first attack, aiming to hit my troops hard early on...unluckily for him, the dice let him down and he came up short.

At this point, I launched an attack of my own so the group of Saxons that was meant to be the attackers became the attacked. By virtue of a helpful 'Strong Arm' card for the warriors in the formation, the Saxons were forced back and fled off the table. Strike one to the British as the wagon train crawled onwards towards the fort, whose escort were by now on the way...

However, the Saxon elites now crashed into the victorious Britons, smashing them apart and driving them back in disarray. Only the fact that the British commanipulares and accompanying warriors were forming up safely and the fact that the wagon train was now actually beginning to motor along the road gave any cause for celebration in the British camp at the end of turn two...

At this point, the battle hung in the balance. The fort's garrison of levy was hurrying to the escort's aid, the wagons were moving like the proverbial greased lightning, but the Saxons severely outnumbered the escort and were in position to flank them, destroy them and then take the wagons at their leisure. However, getting the drop on the warriors opposing them, the British lord's formation launched a blistering assault that smashed the enemy apart, aided, if memory serves me, by a very effective 'Strong Arm' card.  However, this left them very vulnerable  to being flanked. It was vital that they activated before the Saxon lord in the next turn...

Fortunately, they did! This enabled the British lord to move out of the Saxons' line of sight and thus prevent the flank charge. Accordingly, Andy sent his elites on a long advance after the wagons, which continued to fairly gallop along the dirt track to the dubious safety of the fort. This advance also brought them up to within striking distance of the sally party of levy that had advanced from the fort to meet the train.

Andy was really going for it at this point. He had lost 60% of his force, the morale was getting low and the wagons were getting away, so he shot after them as fast as possible. However, the levy provided an important distraction. I had advanced them over there with the sole purpose of forcing Andy to fight them, as this would slow him down, hopefully just enough for me to get there with my elites and then it would be game over. Would the levy do their job? With 33% of my own force out of action, this was the key moment. The levy formed shield wall and waited, while the wagons hurtled onwards...

This combat was a monster! It lasted over two activations (The Saxon Lord and the British noble with the levy) and thanks to two 'shield wall braced' cards meant that the Saxons were only hitting at full throttle on two out of four rounds of combat. The end result was inevitable and the levy were sent flying back in disarray due to excess shock, but they did hold just long enough for the British lord to mount his assault on the rear of the Saxon elites. As this attack went in with a carpe diem hand (including 'Aggressive Charge') there was only one way that this would end...

The Saxon force morale dropped below zero as their last group lost its amphora and, to add insult to injury, the wagon train reached the fort, with the first of the three wagons getting through the gate at the end of the game! A resounding British win, albeit at the loss of 66% of the force.

If this had been a campaign game, we would have probably played it a bit differently, as Andy wouldn't have wanted to risk losing so many troops, but as a stand-alone bloodbath, it worked a treat. From my initial worry caused by the difficult deployment I ended up with a great victory in a closely contested and great fun encounter!