Fury of the Northman- Viking Age Rules

[Easy E]

One of my Wargame Design goals for 2022 was to publish a new historical rule set to the Blood and Spectacles page on the Wargame Vault.  My previous historical works include Men of Bronze and Wars of the Republic for Osprey Games.  The fundamentals of these games form a great basis for most pre-gunpowder historical time periods, with a few tweaks.  My first attempt to tweak these rules to a different time frame is to modify them into the Viking Age. 

This project has been ongoing for about 2 years or so, as I tweak the rules; adjust Lines of Battle, paint up models for post-production, and perform play testing.  However, it is now available on the Wargame Vault. 



As I tackle these rules, there are a few key concepts and ideas that I wanted to capture:

1. Scale and model agnostic
2. Use the Men of Bronze core rules as a base
3. Capture the Unique aspects of Viking Age warfare

The rules have a variety of Lines of Battle, new scenarios, new historical scenarios, and updated special rules to capture the feel of the period. 

You can read the full designer's notes on the blog here:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2022/09/wargame-design-fury-of-northman.html



Thanks for indulging my need to write more game rules!    I will use this thread to post up more photos, battle reports, painting progress, etc.  Feel free to jump in an add your own images, battle reports, and questions about the game as well. 

[Codsticker]

Well done EE. Is there a page on your blog where you discuss this:

3. Resource management for command and control

[Easy E]

This maybe what you are looking for Codsticker.

http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2017/05/wargame-design-command-and-control.html

This is not specific to Fury of the Northman, but covers the topic of Command and Control in general.

[Codsticker]

Awesome, thanks.

[Easy E]

Hello faithful readers!   Today, we will be delving into the Fury of the Northman rules as I take my Victrix Vikings out against my Wargames Atlantic Hibernian Irish. 

Erik Greybeard had heard the tales and seen the wealthy himself.  These islands had loot, and his fellows had told him how soft the brown frocked defenders had been.  It was incredulous to hear that they were unarmed, and had all that gold sitting around!  It was too good to pass up. 

He gathered enough of his kinsmen to buy a few ships, and they had set sail.  It had been several days of wet, grey, and rainy weather but they finally found land.  The routes he had been told about were true!  His men pulled up into a cove, and found a beach to disembark on. 

The first order of business would be to find food for his men.  They were tired of the dried fish and fruit, and the barreled water.  They wanted something fresh to dine on.  He heard the bellow of a cow in the distance and his mouth watered.  His men looked expectantly up into the dark woods and rolling hills. 

Of course, the approach of his ships had been seen.  The shepherds ran back to the local village and told the chief of the newcomers.  He sent runners to the other nearby hamlets, and soon the local king had gathered the men folk to defend their lands.  King Ercc went forth to meet the invaders.   

Mission:
The Vikings will be the attackers as they go on a Cattle Raid against the Irish.  They will be attacking as Dusk Approaches as the complication.

Forces:
Since this will be a Cattle Raid, the Vikings are allowed 10% more points then their Irish foes. 

Erik Greybeard's Vikings:
Nobles
- Shieldwall
- Boar's Head

Warriors

Warriors
- Shieldwall

Militia
- Shieldwall

Skirmishers

King Ercc:
Warriors
- Heedless Charge
- Throwing Spears

Warband
- Heedless Charge
-Throwing Spears

Skirmishers
- Throwing Spears

Skirmishers
-Throwing Spears

Slingers
-Skirmishers

Slingers
- Skirmisher

Set-up:
Today we are using a 72MU by 48MU board.  1 MU is equal to 1 inch. 

Per the rules for the Cattle Raid, we rolled up 4 cattle to be herded up and taken off the board.  Both players can deploy two cattle, at least 18MU in from the board edge, and 6 MU from any other cattle.

In addition, we placed terrain per the rules.  We split the board up into a grid with 6 spaces.  We then rolled off per the chart. 

Grid 1= 1 Level Hill
Grid 2= Difficult Terrain (Field)
Grid 3= Hedges and bushes
Grid 4 = No terrain
Grid 5= Difficult Terrain (Field)
Grid 6= Difficult Terrain (Woods)

Both sides place their cattle.   

The Vikings choose to deploy on Grids 1-3.  The two sides take turns deploying a unit until the following deployments are set. 

Irish deployment:


Viking Deployment:


If you are so inclined, you can read the full results of the game on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2022/09/battle-report-fury-of-northman-cattle.html

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Interesting read and AAR thank you for posting. I admit I don’t know the men of bronze rules but really want to find a ruleset for this period/focus. I tried original saga but it was just the same, game after game (I haven’t tried 2nd Ed).

Andrew
BALM

p.s the link to wargame vault on the blood and spectacles blog doesn’t go anywhere for me.

[Easy E]

Thanks for the heads up on the link.  I will try and get it fixed......

In the meantime, here you go:
https://www.wargamevault.com/browse.php?keywords=blood+and+spectacles&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=