The Golden Bell of St Mikos

[mikos khan]

A few weeks ago I got inspired to do a Vikings vs Arabs game (with El Cid thrown in) by watching a rerun of the 1960's Viking movie the Long Ships.  Our version (with apologies to Richard Widmark, Sydney Poitier & Charleston Heston) involved a 4 way attack on the compound of the Dalai Chuck by two opposing forces of Vikings, an Almoravid force and El Cid.  The goal for the Vikings was (as usual) to grab as much loot as possible and the Almoravids were attempting to kill the apostate Dalai Chuck and get as much loot as possible.  Meanwhile El Cid had to rescue the beautiful Jimena (Sophia Loren) from the vile clutches of the Dalai Chuck and return the Golden Bell of St. Mikos to it's monastery.  The game began with a general advance from randomly generated entry points.  Fortunately for one of the Viking players (Johngar the Bold) this placed him within striking distance of the building where Jimena was being held and after decimating the guard force he was able to capture her.  However, while he was doing so El Cid entered the board on Johngar's flank and after shooting him up pretty badly was able to corner him against the palace complex.  This led to some hasty negotiations which resulted in the Vikings releasing Jimena in return for being allowed to withdraw from the board with their remaining loot.  While this was occurring the other Viking player was able to loot a number of the palace buildings without much opposition until he attempted to breach the inner palace defenses and capture the Dalai Chucks harem.  This brought him into conflict with the souped up Palace Guard unit which destroyed two units of Huscarls but was almost annihilated in the process.  At this point the Andalusian reinforcements (two heavy cavalry units) entered the board and in an epic melee destroyed the Almoravid cavalry but were forced to retreat off the board as well. The remaining Almoravid infantry were then worsted by the second Viking force and withdrew.  At this point  El Cid made a deal with the Dalai Chuck to leave his harem in exchange for the Golden Bell which pretty much ended the game.  Ultimate winner - El Cid.     

[mikos khan]

The palace complex

[mikos khan]

The Vikings attack. 

[mikos khan]

Andalusians vs Almoravids

[mikos khan]

The melee continues

[mikos khan]

El Cid saves the day.

[has.been]

A fun looking game. Bet you all had a great time.

[leadfool]

  It was a great game to play in.  Sacramento Great Escape Games, Friday night irregulars. 

[Bloggard]

great stuff.

the orchestral theme-music to that Widmark movie was 'it' for me when I first saw it (on the tv) as a kid.
Was on TV quite recently here in the Uk...
hadn't remembered that Sidney Poitier had been made to wear a James Brown (i.e. Godfather of soul) toupee for the part!

[KD47]

The game looks great.   Well painted minis and terrain.    Looks like tons o fun.   And if you don't know who Sophia Loren was, go ahead and look her up.  You won't be disappointed.