Saga

The Battle of Williamsburg Plain

The old man startled me awake......."Get up Merfyn Frych. You must contend for the right to be King of Mercia."  Several days later now, I reflected on that midnight visit as I rode to the Plains of Williamsburg with my  Uchelwyr (hearthguard), Priodaur(Warriors) and a small contingent of bow armed Bonnedig.  It had been that ancient wizard Merlin or Myrddin as we Welsh called him.  He had visited 10 Warlords that night and invited us to the plains of Williamsburg that we should each contend for the Kingdom of Mercia.  Suddenly I see Norman Knights blocking my path and my levies are pelted with a shower of arrows.

Lord Peter blocks my path.  Two units of Knights, 1 Xbow armed warriors and one Bow armed Levi.

Turn 2:  I decide to rush my warriors forward on my left into the woods across from the grainfield and throw javelins at his Kinghts....1 knight dies.

His bow shoots at my levis to my right again and charges his knights into my warriors in the woods to my left front.  He kills 5 and I kill 1 knight, I bounce back out of the woods in the area between to woods and the hayfield.

Aftermath of turn 3

Turn 3:  I taunt his center knights forward and it rains Javelins and arrows in the center.  Once knight unit gone.  With his other knight unit he finishes off my warriors in the open on my left and his warlord charges forward into my levis and devastates (only 3 left) them then the coward runs back to the safety of his bow armed levis.

Turn 4:  During his turn he moves the cross bows forward and retreats his knights back behind the woods.  My warlord activates and brings a unit of Uchelwyr with him using we obey.  We all throw javelins at the Xbowmen.  Then my Uchelwyr activate again and charge in.  

Myrddin appears:  "Stop!"he cries "You both have other battles to fight today."

Peter and I have faced each other before.  We fought to a 10-10 tie.  He is a very good player....but not worthy of being King of Mercia.  So I rallied my warriors and we marched over the hill to the plain of Williamsburg.  In the valley below I could see a small settlement in the vale and we decided we would make our camp there.  I had an ill feeling about this place and deployed my levis to my left, my warriors to the right and my two units of Uchelwyr with me in the center.  Little did i know on the other side of the grainfield a Viking Warlord with Berserkers, Hearthguard and Warriors, also summoned by Myrddin to contend for Mercia,  had similar ideas to spend the knight in the settlement.

Deployment for round #2.  Vikings on the left, my Welsh on the right.  I have initiative.

Turn 1:  Activate Children of the land and my warlord and one unit of Uchelwyr run forward into the grain and throw our javalins at the berserkers.....three kills.  I then bring up the other unit of Uchelwyr to occupy the building.  Then all hell breaks loose on his turn.  The vikings, charge into my warlord three times that turn.  The first time with the remaining berserker, which I dispatch, but the next two come with a fresh unit of Hearthguard and the warlord.  I convert all my attack dice to defense dice both times and survive.  Hoping to get the initiative at the start of round #2 (tournament rule was to dice for initiative at the start of each turn)

One of 7 assaults against my Warlord, Merfyn Frych.  Not sure which assault this was.  

Turn #2:  The Viking wins initiative (not sure i like this tourny rule) and he piles up his dice on activations.  Merfyn (green cloaked fellow in the middle) succumbs after the 7th straight assault.  I killed off as many of my surrounding Uchelwyr as i could but eventually he got enough unsaved hits to get my Warlord.  7 times is the charm i guess.  Victory to the Vikings.

I awake with Myrddin standing over me salving my wounds with a most foul smelling substance.  "good you have come back to fight one last time" he announces.  Somehow I have been taken deep into the woods with most of my warband apparently feasting around me.  "Is this Valhalla?"  I query as it resembled that mythical place much more than the heaven I had heard the priests talk about.  He chuckled and simply stated, "you are not dead....yet.  As I said you have at least one more battle to fight this day.  The fates dictate it must be so.  Organize your men and head to the east.  The Anglo-Danish Warlord, Nicholas, awaits you there, and remember Merfyn.....Ambush in uneven ground whenever you can."  

I march my band to the east and find  similar terrain as I in the battle against the viking.  We were to contend for a longhouse again.  Again I have initiative at the start of turn 1 and rush into the building with my warlord and warriors.  No dice available for Ambush and so on his turn he rushes in with his warlord and two units of hearthguard.  He kills 5 warriors and exhausts them with Lords of Battle and they bounce out of the building.  Suddenly Merfyn is alone.  

End of turn #1

Turn #2.  I win initiative and bring up my stalwart Ulchwyr and we ambush the Anglo-danes and repulse them from the building.  I rest my Warriors and move up my archers to support.

End of my turn #2

Anglo-dane Turn #2 and #3:  He charges my Ulchwyr and wears them down in his turn #2 and then he gets the initiative for the start of turn #3 and charges in again.  My Ulchwyr are exhausted by the use of the Anglo Lords of Battle ability in turn #2 so they fight at half dice during the first combat in turn #3.  With no chance to rest that hurts.  My Ulchwyr are wiped out.  

"Where did my Ulchwyr go?"...Merfyn asks himself.  

My Turn #3:  Seeing the Danish Warlord through the broken and battered walls of the house, Merfyn rushes in with Ambush and a few extra dice piled onto my combat pool.  All my dice were hits and Nicholas does not save enough to survive....is that Myrddin I see out of the corner of my eye just around the corner.....or was that just a mist from the smoldering fire?  Grrr.....11-11 tie.  But his warloard is dead.

Merfyn is all in and ambushes Nicholas for the end.

Overall, I did not play well.  I stuck Merfyn out there to often and made him vulnerable.  The buildings in the center of the table also made for low scoring games for both me and my opponents in both of my last two games.  I am also not certain I like the dicing for initiative at the start of each turn.  I suggested if we play that way again it should be done as it is in the Feast of Crows scenario.  But overall it was fun.  Eric, who also ran Welsh ended up winning the overall tourney.  

Knowing I had bested Nicholas of Daneland was little comfort as I reflected on my feats and foils.  The Kingdom of Mercia was rightfully earned by Eric.  As my warband crossed the Ewyas into Gwent  on my way to Gwynllwg, I envied Eric and the fact he will gain wealth, power and perhaps a language with far fewer W's.