Battle of "Bensham Bay" 966AD

The "Fab Four" of Paul,Brian,Graham and myself had a real fun game last night,pitting Vikings against Saxons.........................

As usual,the top photo is the scenario and the bottom photo shows the table before any movement.We drew lots and I was Harald,Paul was Edwin the Bishop of Bensham,Brian was Bloodaxe,and Graham was Longsword(in charge of the fleet)

A motley crew indeed!-in the background the fleet has landed and the Viking Horde is dis-embarking,to set fire to Bensham-not if the local Fyrd can help it!!

As I advanced with my Huscarls,Brian opted to attack me!!! whilst moving the waggons full of loot away towards the ships-the attack and defence of this section of the table went on for the whole game-thrilling stuff!

Meanwhile,Graham vigorously attacked Paul's Fyrd,who put up a magnificent defence and managed to beat 3 out of 5 viking "crews"-hurrah!!

After some bitter fighting,which saw alot of officers go down like nine-pins,the Vikings,are for the most part, being driven back towards their ships-this is not looking good for the troops under Brian's command!!

Brian has adopted a defensive formation,hoping to catch me in the flank as I cross the river-no chance matey!!!-this side of the board was touch and go,with neither of us gaining any real advantage,but my fighting points were a little bit better than Brian's,and eventually it would tell!

Graham is loosing too many casualties for comfort,and Paul's Huscarls are making their presence felt,I think it might be "back to the ships lads!"(leaving poor Bloodaxe right in the proverbial S--T!!)-but Graham wouldn't do that,would he?????

Oh yes he would!!-with a splash of oars and singing of sea shanties,the Viking are heading back to Denmark,leaving Brian almost speechless(which is a rarity!!) and at the mercy of King Harald(me!) and his army-all is lost-another hurrah!!

Abandoned and neglected,and almost surrounded,Brian had no other option than give up all hope and accept defeat!-this was the end of this most entertaining,colourful and exciting game-well done lads.
Next week we will be fighting the game we put on at Falkirk,but which was never fought to a conclusion,to see if it would have worked out the way it was planned.