4th July - Saga vs The Youngest

It's been a while and I felt like pulling out Saga so The Youngest and I decided to get a game in between her Irish and my Vikings. She set up the table yesterday and we got down to business this afternoon. Her favourite scenario is The Battle of the Warchiefs so that's what we decided to play.



The Youngest won the deployment roll, but I managed to win initiative and the battle was underway.






Hearing the hounds baying through the woods the warriors on the flank held their position waiting to see if the beasts appeared. Meanwhile the rest of the warband moved forward with the right flank of warriors moving at a rapid place to get into position. The Irish warband responded with their own advance with the warhounds bursting from the woods but falling just short of the Viking Beserkers.


The warriors took the opportunity to smash into the side of the Irish beasts killing two of them in the initial melee then following it up with a second attack killing another three beasts without sustaining a single casualty of their own and forcing the beasts back into the woods. The rest of the Viking warband held the line waiting to see how the Irish responded and looking for weak points in their line to get their chance at the enemy warchief. Some hidden Irishmen in the nearby rough ground attacked the Viking Beserkers with a hail of sling stones but the lightly clad warriors easily avoided the attacks.

On the right flank a band of Irish warriors moved forward harrying the Viking warriors killing one man with their Javelins.





On the other flank one of the Irish Champions charged the warriors standing upon the fallen warhounds and while three Viking men fell the brave Irish man was taken down and two of the Norsemen awoke to find themselves at the gates of Valhalla due to their valiant efforts.





He was quickly avenged however as the trailing Irish  Hearthguard swiftly connected with the bloodied warriors, killing the remnants of the tattered unit though at the cost of two of their own.

The dogs were suddenly silent as the Norse trickster Loki appeared and led them off to their doom. Meanwhile the Viking Warchief and his attending Hearthguard peel off in an attempt to close with his Irish counterpart and bring this skirmish to a close. Seeing their Warchief head over the Viking warriors close with the Irish unit but they are driven off.

The hidden Irish patriots attempt to kill some more Norse warriors but they are unable to bring down a single man. However fueled by their success in holding against the Viking assault the Irish Warriors hurl their javelins again felling the remaining men.

Finally the leash is removed from the Beserkers and they rush to close with the nearby Irish Hearthguard. But the Irish defense proves to be too high for the crazy Norsemen and after some intense fighting a single Beserker is left to stagger away leaving the Irish Hearthguard out of breath but undamaged. On the other flank the Hearthguard move to clear out the Warriors but the Viking assault seemed to be faltering and a half strength Viking unit was pushed back with killing a single Irish warrior.

Again the hidden Sons of Ireland send out an ineffective attack but once again the Warriors and two solid streams of javelins leave the men dead on the ground and the Warchief exposed. On the other flank the Irish hearthguard move up and finish off the last Beserker.




Seeing his men all taken down around him the Viking Warchief decides to go down fighting and charged into the Irish warriors. The fighting is fierce but he is forced to pull back as all his blows somehow managed to only hit the Irishmen exactly where their flimsy armour was. The mighty Viking Warchief was then peppered with stream after stream of Irish sling and javelin fire but their was no way he was going to fall to such a cowardly method of fighting. Realising this the Irish warchief sent his champion in to confront the lone Viking while pulling back slightly for safety himself the cowardly dog. The Champion closed with the Norse Warchief and while he did manage to connect with the giant warrior he succumbed to the Vikings fierce attacks.

Staring at the retreating form of the Irish Chieftain the Viking shook himself off and ran after the cowardly man deciding to bring him down, avenge his warband and send the rest of the Irish dogs slinking back to their kennels. He managed to chase him down and with a quick cry to Frigg for endurance the two opposing warchiefs clashed. The fighting was intense but the superior warrior won the day with the Irishman only managing to nick the Norseman while his blows fell heavily and true bringing the head of the Irish clan to his end and winning the day for the Vikings.

That was one of the most enjoyable games The Youngest and I have had to date. It was neck and neck the first few turns and I was pretty certain I was out of the running after my woeful fourth turn especially when she answered it rather strongly taking me down to the single man. Great game and hopefully we can squeeze in another game of something before she heads back to school next week.

I have got those Hordes models together so I'll get a quick update up tomorrow just showing the progress and if I get time I'll get The Wife's Retribution models together as well.