DBM Multiplayer Game - Vikings vs. Slavs

- Contributed by Peter Dunn

As it was the Open Day at the Warlords' and given the recent passing of solstice there were a number of games based on a wintery theme (southern hemisphere remember).

I organised a small multiplayer based on a hypothetical Viking raid on a Slavic village situated on the banks of a major eastern river (read waterway). There were three commands on each side but under the terms of the scenario they were not all on the table at the start of the game. Points on each side were in the vicinity of 400-450 AP.

The Slavic commander (Blair Christian) had about 40% of the Slavic troops on the table at the start of the game, mostly irregular Sp(I), a few Ps and importantly a couple of Light Horse. Facing him was a force of 8 longboats carrying some freelancers (Bd(F)) and a column of another dozen or so Bd(F) on foot. Blair was told that this was just the forward force of a larger Viking army and that he had the option of fighting them himself or he could use his PIPs to get help from two neighbouring villages.

Blair decided discretion was the better part of valour and spent the 6 PIPs he threw on both his first two turns to run his LH along the roads to summon help. While this was occurring the advance force of Vikings (led by list member Bruce Ferguson) closed on the Slav village. As the Slavic messengers left the table to collect reinforcements a second Viking force arrived, composed largely of Huscarls ( the leader of this force was later to disgrace himself when during the lunch break he refused the traditional meat pie for a bowl of salad he had brought from home - Viking indeed!).

Two columns of reinforcements arrived to help the Slavic cause. One from the nearest village led by Mike Anastadiadis was entirely more Sp(I) while from the far table edge came a column of a dozen cavalry led by Mike Campbell. As they deployed on the table the final force of Vikings arrived, twenty more freelancers.

The battle proceeded rapidly from here. Blair's initial spearwall traded casualties with Bruce's freelancers but the tide turned once Bruce was able to work around their flank. Due to the size of his command he was able to continue fighting for a number of subsequent turns in the hope his allies would be able to beat off the rest of the invaders. Mike's cavalry had initial success against the third Viking force but eventually his force was faced by the Huscarls as well as the freelancers (in Mike's defence he had to leave before the end but it was probably not a bad decision given his general had been isolated and now faced threats to the flank as well as the front). Eventually weight of numbers told on the mounted Slavs and they broke in the same turn as Blair. During all this Mike Anastadiadis spears calmly manoeuvred in the rear and by the end of the game had suffered no casualties (the years Mike has spent as a Byzantine general obviously coming to the fore here..... afterwards he was referred to by the Vikings as Mikhail the Reluctant, far nicer terms than those of his Slavic 'allies'?).

So the Vikings won the game but there were large numbers of casualties on both sides.

The game provided an opportunity for a number of people to try out v3.0 for the first time. Certainly using the new grading system had an effect on the outcome of a number of the combats, given the large numbers of (F) and (I) troops on the table. Both are more resilient under the new system. The other major impact was the turning onto flanks by irregulars for one rather than two pips. This certainly allowed both sides to exploit opportunities when they made holes.

From my point of view it was a fun game to watch and I hope that the guys enjoyed it. An added bonus was the club signing up three new members.