Midgard : Britannia

[Little Odo]

A brief update has been published on my blog...

https://littleodo.blogspot.com/2025/04/midgard-britannia-update.html

And here are a couple of pictures of a few updates since the last post (I have run into a few minor delays and real life has got in the way recently, but that should be in the past now)...





Edited for better images

[Little Odo]

Not much more to add but the Britons are finally based up ready for action. Many still need painting, but at least the two armies are now ready for battle with regards bases and figures.

The full Briton army...


The leaders...


The elite warriors (these were the ones I had to make up and purchase a few more miniatures for)...


Hopefully I should be able to get on with the first scenario as soon as I get the time to do so.

[Little Odo]

I finally got my first battle played over the bank holiday weekend just gone.

Lucius Valerius Corvus versus Bellicus - their first encounter in the campaign

Combat of Champions:



End of Turn 1:





End of Turn 2:





End of Turn 3:





It was a Crushing Victory for the Romans, but I think if it was allowed to go on a little longer the British elites would have made for a different result.

More details on my blog...
https://littleodo.blogspot.com/2025/05/midgard-campaign-scenario-1-battle.html

[Little Odo]

Here is a prose version (apologies for the poor writing but I wanted to collate the after action report into a story that I can remember and refer back to...

Lucius Valerius Corvus deployed his troops smoothly and efficiently. Yes, he was outnumbered, but from scanning the lines opposing him on the other side of the glade he was aware that his men were better armed and armoured, and his enemy had no cavalry or massed ranks of missile troops.

As he scrutinised the enemy lines for weaknesses, his thoughts turned to the fate of the garrison of the burnt-out watch tower. The Britons were renowned head-hunters but no grisly trophies were being brandished. He prayed to the gods that the men stationed here had escaped that gruesome ending and were waiting for him somewhere in the wilderness.

He decided that he would have to chance a swift advance and try to break through the enemy's lines. He had mobility on his side in the form of his cavalry, but his legionaries with their attendant baggage train would be much slower.

Combat of Champions (Reputation B9, R8):


First blood to Rome

Just as he was about to order his troops forward, Luconianus, a belligerent, proud warrior strode out from the ranks of Britons and began shouting challenges and insults at the Roman lines. He made it to the mid-way point between the two armies before he bared his chest and began beating it with his sword. He then pointed the blade at Marcus Aurelius, who held the centre of the Roman line, and offered his challenge. Ordinarily, Romans should not accept single combat challenges, but this situation was different. He looked to his commander for guidance. The prefect nodded, so Marcus Aurelius drew his gladius from its scabbard, affirmed his grip on his scutum, and advanced.

Marcus Aurelius strode towards his opponent with sword and shield at the ready, as he was trained to do in the legion's training grounds. Luconianus didn't wait for any formal salute and charged the hated Roman officer. He swung his sword high and crashed it down onto Marcus Aurelius's head, but the Roman saw the blow coming, caught the blade upon his shield and twisted away from the strike. This opened up Luconianus's flank and Marcus Aurelius wasted no time in plunging his sword into his ribs. He gave the blade a harsh twist, pulled it out sharply and was on his way back to his own lines before the proud Briton had hit the green sward.

Turn 1 (Reputation B8, R11):

The Britons howled in dismay at the loss of their champion and their war leader Bellicus began to arrange their ranks for a charge. Lucius Valerius ordered his forces to advance in an orderly fashion, dressing the lines as they went.

As the Britons came into range, there was an exchange of arrows between the formed ranks of the Roman heavy archers and the smaller, skirmishing units of the British archers. The training of the Roman milites paid off as their massed shooting caused a few of the Britons to drop, but they did not retreat.

Ignoring what was happening on his flanks, Bellicus shouted for his warriors to engage with the enemy, and they did not disappoint. The massed ranks of several hundred warriors streamed forward toward their foes.

More arrows were exchanged which caused one century of the Roman formed archers to fall back to avoid the onslaught, whilst on the other flank, stones from the slings of the British skirmishers failed to find their mark amongst Lucius Valerius's cavalry squadron.


The lines at the end of Turn 1

Turn 2 (Reputation B8, R11):

The two armies clashed in the centre of the glade whilst the archers continued to trade arrows on the Roman left flank. Several of the British archers fell and many decided to retreat from the battle. This allowed the Gallic archers, who had retreated from the Celtic arrow storm moments earlier, to turn their attention to the charging warriors and caused them to stumble which slowed their advance. Unfortunately, for the archers, the warriors were surplus to the battle lines and they turned their attention onto them.

Lucius Valerius was confident that his cavalry would mow down the naked fanatics before him but their bravery was more than he had bargained for as he saw half his troop decimated. He noted that their leader seemed to be a more seasoned warrior than the stripling who had challenged Marcus Aurelius at the start of the battle. The skyclad Britons held their lines, encouraged by the failure of the Roman cavalry to break them.

The clash between the warriors in the centre of the field ground to a halt, with both sides straining for an advantage. Casualties mounted on both sides, but mostly it was the lightly armoured Britons that were slain. However, many legionaries fell to the mystical carp's tongue sword of Bellicus, who was left standing on the left flank of the Roman lines with just a few faithful warriors after the unit opposing him annihilated his troops.


The battle at the end of Turn 2

Turn 3 (Reputation B4, R12):

Gaia Pomponia knew that her troops were better armed and protected than the remnants of their Celtic counterparts, so decided to move in and attack them in hand-to-hand combat. They stowed their bows, drew their swords and advanced on the British skirmishers. Meanwhile, in the centre of the field, the legionaries held their position due to the threat posed by the British elite household troops that had manoeuvred into position for a devastating charge.

On the Roman right wing, Lucius Valerius fought for his life. His last remaining troops fought against the naked savagery of Maviloduus and his fanatics, but they managed to halt their attack long enough to enable Lucius Valerius to extricate himself from a difficult situation.

With the loss of dozens of his warriors, and seeing that many were beginning to slip away from the battle,  Bellicus realised that he must very soon pull something out of the bag if his fortunes were to change. Backed up by his last remaining troops, he ordered the nobles into the battle. The elite, armoured warbands joined the fray, and they destroyed the Roman century before them to a man. The mystical sword of Bellicus dealt more death wherever it went.

On their left flank, the armoured Roman archers shot down all of the warriors that had attacked them, and Gaia Pomponia's unit dealt many a death blow to her enemies, but not without her taking a wound for her troubles. The remaining few Briton archers turned tail and fled as a result of this onslaught.

Momentarily out of the fighting, Bellicus took stock of what had happened to his warband and ordered his elite warriors to back off. With their leader rescued, the Britons felt it was time to leave the field to the Romans. They had lost this battle, but the Romans had taken many casualties and they would be easier to eliminate on the next occasion that they met.

Lucius Valerius breathed a sigh of relief to see the Briton leave. Although it was a good victory, he had lost a lot of good men that he could ill afford to.


The battle at the end of Turn 3

This game only lasted three full turns plus the Combat of Champions round. A lot happened in this battle that made for an exciting narrative, but the Crushing Victory of the Romans means that Lucius Valerius Corvus can be proud of his small contingent. The next battle may not be as decisive.

Campaign Score: Romans 3 Briton 0

Link to this post...

https://littleodo.blogspot.com/2025/05/midgard-battle-of-ruined-watch-tower.html

[Little Odo]

Over the last week or so I have managed to sort out the reinforcements for the next battle. Many of the troops are more of the same, but I did roll for a unit of Female Warriors for the Britons...



Whilst prepping their movement trays (and a few others besides), I also undercoated a couple of units of cavalry for the Britons...





I also began work on assembling the chariot miniatures; I really hope I get to use them at some point.

Anyway, more details on my blog...

https://littleodo.blogspot.com/2025/05/midgard-campaign-scenario-1-aftermath.html

[Little Odo]

Today is the second UK Bank Holiday for this month, and I was able to get onto the dining room table again to play the second game in my Midgard : Britannia campaign. This battle report is for the second encounter between the Romans and the Britons in the campaign game - Scenario 4 : Encounter in the Mist.

Both armies are evenly matched despite the casualties taken in the last game and the number of reinforcements.

Britons (243pts):

Total Points = 243 (Heroes 97pts, Units 146pts)
Total Rep = 27 (6 3 2 4 4 2 4 2)
Rep Tokens = 8

    Bellicus 3 (47pts)
    Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
    Catuarus 1 (18pts)
    2x Warriors 3 (44pts)
    2x skyclad (32pts)
    2x slingers (20pts)
    2x Warriors 2 (34pts)
    1x Female Warriors (16pts)

Romans (245pts):

Total Points = 245 (Heroes 99pts, Units 146pts)
Total Rep = 25 (5 4 2 6 6 2)
Rep Tokens = 8

    Lucius Valerius Corvus 3 (43pts)
    Marcus Aurelius Bellator 2 (35pts)
    Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
    2x Legionaries (68pts)
    2x Archers (58pts)
    1x Cavalry (20pts)

Intended army deployments...


Actual deployments due to the effects of the fog...


The Romans arrived more or less where they intended, but more dispersed than they would ordinarily have deployed. Bellicus's skirmishers arrived way off to the left of their flank and would have to contend with a bit of boggy, rough ground in order to have a say in the forthcoming battle.

As the fog was too thick to see through properly, any challenges prior to the battle were not forthcoming. In the grim, eery silence the two forces advanced upon one another in the hope of surprising their enemy.

Turn 1 (Reputation B8, R8):

Each army could partially see each other through the mist and desperately wanted to come to blows. The Romans advanced cautiously in order to keep their lines, but the Britons streamed ahead where they could; the rough ground and woods slowed some of the skirmishers and young blood warriors meaning that their lines began to fray.



Turn 2 (Rep B8, R8):

As each side  advanced towards the other, the fog showed no signs of abating. Lucius Valerius took advantage of the Britons' troubles with the rough ground and charged into one of the slinger units that looked like it was on its own. Although the skirmishers were able to get off a volley of shots, narrowly missing Valerius, the impetus of the cavalry mowed them down to a man.

The rest of the skirmishers in the rough area split to achieve different objectives. The second unit of slingers shot a volley of stones at the cavalry, but the bullets that hit just pinged off of the Roman armour. The female warriors, seeing dozens of their men falling at the swords of the Romans, advanced to where they thought the cavalry would attack the remaining slingers. The skyclad, meanwhile, saw the opportunity to flank the Roman centre and advanced through the rough ground to make their presence felt, but the warband split after some confusing orders from the new chieftain Catuarus.

In the centre, Marcus Aurelius's legionaries came to blows with Bellicus's household troops. With a mighty crash of shield upon shield, the two forces fought for dominance of the centre ground. Bellicus's noble warriors were of a different mettle compared to their younger, more impetuous brethren the legionaries had faced in their previous encounter, and the Romans were forced back by the force of Bellicus's will and the defenders' skill at arms. Warriors fell on both sides and Marcus Aurelius took a mighty blow during the initial exchange.

Bellicus, sensing an easy victory with the Romans' retreat, spurred his men onto greater efforts and the Britons followed up the melee. There followed a gruelling test of strength with the Romans just taking the edge in the combat overall, but Bellicus's elite troops managed to kill the Roman Primus Pilus. His final actions, though, saw him and a few trusted legionaries destroy the remnants of Bellicus's warband with a cry of "Though I die, I smite thee!" as he fell.

On their left flank, the Roman archers could not make out the enemy approaching until it was too late. With whoops of anticipation the British warriors ran headlong into the last-second Roman arrow storm, but this did not stop their charge. Maviloduus and his warrior band pushed one century of archers back into the rough ground with ease. Gaia Pomponia was able to halt the attack on the right, but not without picking up another injury; the cuts and bruises she had amassed from the battle the day before had taken their toll on her.



Turn 3 (Rep B7, R9):

As the early morning wore on, the fog still showed no signs of abating. Lucius Valerius saw that he was being flanked by a number of enemy skirmisher warbands, but no matter how hard he tried he was unable to get his men to turn and face the enemy. More slingshot rattled against the unit's armour as the warrior women charged closer.

Hoping to keep their advantage in the centre, the Roman legionaries stepped up their assault on Bellicus's elite warriors. They pushed through the destroyed warband, forcing Bellicus into the other unit of warriors, and pressed their advantage. However, the Briton leader's carp's tongue sword carved its way through his enemy's ranks with ease, forcing the hard-pushed century backwards. The Roman legionaries left in the centre saw the rapidly approaching skyclad warriors and fought for their lives against a renewed British assault. Unfortunately for them, Bellicus's Legendary Weapon proved to be their undoing and the century was destroyed.

The combat in the rough ground to left of the Roman lines was beginning to take its toll on both sides. Maviloduus and his warband of youthful warriors pushed the Roman archers back further into the rough and finally destroyed them as a unit, but the Britons' left flank in the rough had crumbled allowing the other archer unit to escape the melee and regroup.



Turn 4 (Rep B5, R3):

The fog still refused to clear, even though the sun was trying to burn it away. The misty conditions were obviously beginning to favour the British forces as they were more used to the damp, cold weather.

Hemmed in and desperate to break free, Lucius Valerius got his cavalry moving and charged the oncoming female furies. A flurry of javelins took down half of Valerius's force before the iron and hooves of the remaining cavalrymen forced back the howling banshees facing them. Lucius Valerius decided to Hold Fast rather than be charged from behind by the slingers lurking in the rough ground to their left. The slingers, encouraged by seeing such a large number of cavalrymen fall to the javelins and knives of the warrior women, cast another volley of stones at the mounted troops. The last remaining cavalrymen either fell or ran off never to be seen again, leaving the Prefect to fight on on his own.

The legionaries in the centre of the field turned about and were about to charge Bellicus's warband from behind when the skyclad warriors hove into sight, running towards them at top speed. They decided that it would be easier to charge the naked fanatics and let Gaia Pomponia's archers take care of the Briton elites, but their charge fell short. The skyclad warriors pressed their charge home but many were impaled on the swords of the legionaries.

Gaia Pomponia's archers let fly but their arrows went awry in the mist; they just could not pick out their targets well enough to make their arrows count.



Turn 5 (Rep B5, R3):

As more warriors fell to the swords and shafts of their enemies, the sun began to win its battle against the fog. Patches of mist began to tear away, but would this save either side from defeat?

Lucius Valerius decided that caution formed the better part of valour and charged across the battlefield in order to join with one of his remaining units of troops. The surprise of the slingers' small victory over such a superior force momentarily stunned them and they were unable to move, but the enraged female warriors spun around and headed off in pursuit of the cowardly Roman chieftain.

The legionaries, seeing their commander racing towards them renewed their attacks on the skyclad and cut them down to a man.

Gaia Pomponia ordered her century of archers closer to the depleted elite warband of Bellicus and ordered them to loose their shafts. This time their arrows flew true, scything the last of the elite warriors down. However, her grin turned to a grimace when from directly behind the fallen elite, Bellicus formed up the last of the skyclad and charged home against the archers. The archers fell back just enough so that they wouldn't get attacked in the rear by the rapidly approaching young warriors.



Turn 6 (Rep B4, R3):

The sun finally broke up the mist and the carnage of the battlefield could be seen by all. So many men and women had laid down their lives for the glory of Rome or for the honour of their tribe.

The Roman leader galloped over to the last remaining century of legionaries and ordered them to about face whilst the maiden warriors and slingers continued their pursuit.

Gaia Pomponia had no choice but to keep fighting, but with Bellicus and Catuarus in the fight they were being pushed further and further back, taking more losses as they went. She prayed to the gods that help would arrive soon, but her century was overwhelmed in a melee that they were not used to. The archers were cut down as her unit was surrounded, but she survived with just a handful of troops.

In my excitement, I forgot to take  picture at the end of turn 6

Turn 7 (Rep B4, R0):

The thunder of hooves and the roar of a fully fit, victorious century of legionaries approaching from the rear caused Bellicus and his warriors to stop advancing to finish off Gaia Pomponia and her remaining handful of archers; it made them pause long enough for Gaia to make her escape. Seeing that she was safe, the rest of the Romans left the field to the Britons.



This game lasted six of the seven turns allowed, but it was a longer, more hard-fought battle than the previous one. The Britons managed to scrape a Narrow Victory, so some honour has been gained back by Bellicus and his warriors, but I think if deployment went a bit more in their favour this could have been a crushing victory - maybe the Romans could have been completely wiped out, thus ending the main characters of the story (although there are more Romans left from the cohort that could club together to fight on). Both sides took a lot of casualties again, which means the next game will take some thinking about to get the numbers back up for a decent skirmish.

Campaign Score: Romans 3 Britons 1

More details on the blog if anyone is interested...

https://littleodo.blogspot.com/2025/05/midgard-scenario-2-encounter-in-mist.html

[Mikai]

Thanks for the battle report! A very interesting read.

How does the fog mechanism work? It influences the starting positions as well as the sight for a couple of rounds?

[Little Odo]

Thanks Mikai

The fog rules affected quite a bit of the game play - the initial set up of the two forces was displaced which made things interesting, and lots to do with spheres of influence was hampered : archer range reduced, charge range reduced, influence of heroes reduced, and Command Tests were more difficult (the slingers in the rough ground hardly moved all game as they kept failing their Command Tests). I think I was also unlucky(?) with the fog clearing dice rolls - it kept on persisting - darned British weather 

The amendments made the game more tricky to play as most intended moves etc. didn't come to fruition. It was also quite difficult playing both sides whilst having a complete view of the tabletop but trying to give each side a realistic overview of the battle as seen by both commanders and their units in order to make logical decisions based on what their situation dictated. As this is a campaign with the Romans as the main protagonists, I am reduced to seeing it mostly from their viewpoint, and the AAR reflects this viewpoint bias. The dice rolls were much more in favour of the Britons in this game, whereas in the first game the dice rolls were inclined the other way - I am not fudging any rolls, so it is totally random - I don't actually have any skin in the outcome other than wanting to have a bit of fun and have the campaign last the full six games.

Hopefully the next battle will see a more even dice roll spread, but the one-sidedness seen so far actually makes for a better narrative imho.

[Little Odo]

I didn't realise it was so long, but rising, creaking from the annals of yesterday (well, three months ago!) I have managed to play another game in the campaign. Real life always tends to get in the way of my toy soldierly fun, but here is the latest instalment...

Today I was able to play the third encounter between the Romans and the Britons in my Midgard : Britannia campaign - None Shall Pass. Again, it was played solo, using some predetermined tactics that I have acquired as the other games have progressed - I have learned a lot from my previous mistakes.

The attacking British army (97/209=306pts):

    Bellicus 3 (47pts)
    Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
    Catuarus 1 (18pts)
    1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
    3x Warriors 2 (51pts)
    1x Female Warriors (16pts)
    1x Mounted Warriors (16pts)
    2x Skyclad (32pts)
    2x Archers (30pts)
    2x Slingers (20pts)
    1x Hounds (22pts)

The defending Roman army (85/121=206pts):
   
    Lucius Valerius Corvus 3 (43pts)
    Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
    Marius Pollux 2 (21pts)
    2x Legionaries (68pts)
    1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
    1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)

Starting positions...



Map of the campaign so far...



For this game, both armies start with the same Reputation score - for the Romans (the much smaller force), what would be more glorious than being able to hold up the enemy at this critical point? The game runs for six turns, and ends with the coming of night and the ability for any survivors to steal away from the confrontation.

Turn 1 (Reputation B9, R9):

Bellicus, hungry for a swift victory, yelled abuse and insults at his adversaries along with the rest of his men. After several minutes of taunting, the hubbub died down and Bellicus challenged Lucius Valerius to a single combat - winner takes all. If the Romans won, then Bellicus's army would allow the rag-tag unit to pass unmolested, along with all others along the way, back to Roman lines. If Bellicus won, then the Romans must leave all of their weapons and promise to never return to this territory again. Lucius Valerius stuck to standard Roman protocol and refused the challenge despite the loss of face this entailed.

Bellicus ordered his army forward and they made for the Roman lines in quick time. The only response from the Roman defence was a quick volley of arrows directed at the fast approaching hounds, but only a few arrows found their mark, not stopping their rapid advance.



Turn 2 (Rep B9, R8):

The slings and arrows from the British skirmishers had little effect against the heavy armour of the Roman legionaries holding the fords, and neither did the rapid assault by the mounted warriors, who were wiped out to a man in the swift running waters and treacherous footing of the shallows.

The Roman archers also failed to find their mark against the fast approaching skyclad Celtic warriors.



Turn 3 (Rep B7, R8):

The Britons kept up the assault, by taking the fight to the enemy, but found the combination of rough ground and heavily armoured troops a stern challenge. Again, Valerius ignored a direct challenge costing him reputation, but his troops did the talking for him as the legionaries cut down a unit of skyclad warriors, although not without taking a few casualties themselves. The Roman left flank also fared well with the legionaries there dispatching all of the Celtic war hounds.



Turn 4 (Rep B6, R9):

British slings and arrows failed to take out the Roman archers in support of the rest of the army, but the determination of Bellicus's army to eliminate the hated Romans drove them onto a fated victory. The push from the Celtic female warriors drove the Romans back on the British right flank, clearing the ford for any who would follow, but no-one was there as they were busy trying to eliminate Valerius on the left flank.

Catuarus and more of the skyclad warriors following him fell to the swords of the Romans, but not without them causing many casualties on the other side, including a deft wound to Valerius himself. The British slingers in the centre forced the Roman archers to step back under a hail of stone and lead shot.



Turn 5 (Rep B4, R8):

The Roman left recovered somewhat with the annihilation of the frenzied unit of British women. The ford was left to Maviloduus and his bodyguard to defend, but they were pushed back by the numbers still available to the Romans there. Today was certainly a good day for the Celtic champion to call upon the Favour of the Gods.

In the centre, the Roman archers were pushed back under the sling stone and arrow storms aimed at them, but Gaia Pomponia's bravery returned them to the fray every time they retreated.

Spurred on by the injury to Valerius, the British noble elite warriors pressed further into the ford. Again Valerius ignored the challenge from Bellicus. The British leader, was now becoming angry with the Roman leader's perceived cowardice and called his men forward for one more push. At last, Bellicus's Legendary sword came into play, and Valerius was pushed back to the reserve unit of auxilia milites when his century of legionaries were finally destroyed.

The counter-attack by Lucius Valerius's fresh spearmen surprised Bellicus and his household troops as the nobles were cut down to a man, but not without Lucius Valerius going down in the melee with a somewhat unremarkable death as he became Food for the Ravens.

This was the signal for the rest of the Roman contingent to pull out and try to stem the flow of losses that were rapidly piling up. They had almost made it to dusk, but the death of the prefect was the final nail. The death of the Roman leader and his first century of legionaries led to much celebration by Bellicus and his army that they ignored the retreating Romans and instead concentrated on violating the body of their hated enemy commander.



Final Tally (Rep B4, R-2):

The final Reputation tally difference was 6 in favour of the Britons - a Mighty Victory (2 points in campaign terms)

Bellicus finally saw the defeat of his hated enemy, Lucius Valerius, who had outwitted him at every turn except the last.


More details on my blog...

https://littleodo.blogspot.com/2025/08/midgard-scenario-3-none-shall-pass_25.html

[LouieN]

A fun write up.  I thought the Romans would hold till the end.