Another! This time we played Scenario 3: Take the High Ground. It was a good learning opportunity for my son on taking action. The battle is more-or-less what it sounds like: one side has a hill and the other has to capture it. The wrinkle is the defenders are missing 25% of their force until turn 4, so they have to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Reinforcements come on at a random point behind the defenders, so the further wrinkle is whether or not they show up in the right place to reinforce your line. Add to this several “Salient Points” which add reputation to whoever holds them and you have a recipe for an attacker rushing up a hill into a prepared defender.

My son failed to heed advice and took too long to come into contact with my line. By the time he arrived I already had my cavalry on the table. I was also uphill of him–this is bad. In the game, being uphill is represented by additional defensive saves, meaning your men will outlast the enemy so long as they’re relatively even. Knowing that his assault was now doomed, I did the foolish thing and charged down the hill to meet him.

What can I say? It makes for a better story than “And then we held the hill just fine, thanks.” The subsequent battle really didn’t go his way. I was able to get a flank attack in with my cavalry. That layered on some hot rolls meant the poor Vikings were going to remain hill-less for today.

Again, a scenario that is a little held back by my son’s inexperience. I look forward to flipping the script with him defending next time we play this. Further, next time through the rules he’ll be playing crusaders backed up by a dragon… so you can imagine turn 4 will be a lot more dramatic when a dragon comes sweeping in to save the day.

Still rather enjoying the game. Again, rank-and-flank-isms aside, I think it’s a great time. With my upcoming resin printer I now have better flexibility in finding mythological elements for my armies–I hope to take advantage of this and try out a little more mythos oriented battling. I may even use it as an excuse to dip my toe back into Tolkien. The latest Lard Magazine has a Fords of Isen scenario in it that looks like a lot of fun. We’ll see. Going into a new year is always so exciting–you feel like you’ll get every project done. Play every game. I’ll have 6mm this, and Battletech that, and my resin printer will solve world peace and and and…

You get the idea. Believe as I write this (two weeks in advance) this will be my final post for the year. Happy New Year, folks. May 2025 be a better year than 2024 both for the world and for your hobbying.