Sunday 22nd December - A 5 Point Ding Dong.

Michael played Vikings and played the better game, I played the Danes badly; too laid back to start, but was incredibly unlucky with my dice roles. Saying that if my dice hadn't been jinxed with Loki's curse I'd have seen Olaf off again during the Warlords' head to head. But it was not to be.

 Battle lines are drawn

 Slingers slow the Viking left flank advance

 Al's low roles leave minimal casualties

 The Anglo Danes break cover

 The Viking Advance continues uncontested 

 Finally the Bondi get stuck in

 The danes lose ground

 Michael titled this 'Beserkers wreak havoc!'. I can't see them, I think I'd killed them by now ; )

 The Harold takes the fight to Olaf

 A last stand worthy of a Saga

Last man standing, but a fatal wound takes its toll.

A well deserved win for Michael.

Thursday December 19th. The Continuing Saga of Olaf the Lucky Sod. Final Chapter.

 battle lines are drawn

 The battle commences; Viking Warlord v Dane-axes

 Squeaky bum time for the Danes!

Hitting on 3's. Now that's an attack role!

 Faen!

Al goes in for the kill. Not so lucky now Olaf.

Al wins - total masacre.

Thursday 12th December

A Feast for Crows. The continuing Saga of Olaf the Lucky Sod.

Shieldwall!

 The Anglo-Danish crumble

 32 attack dice!?!

A win for Michael, bah!

Thursday 21st November

Whisht lairds, had ye gobs and ah'll tell ye the Saga of Olaf the lucky sod!

Race for the high ground

The end is nigh!

Everything seemed to be going well for the Danes until the end; good board control, Hearthguard picking of vulnerable units, and then the Warlord was slain and all because they relinquished the high ground. Win for Michael.

Mmmm, Danish. Thursday 14th November

Saga - Al played Anglo-Danes, Michael marauding Vikings on just part of Michael's fantastic new modular board. The Anglo-Danes concentrated on controlling the board, positioning themselves in elevated positions and using 'intimidation' to hold back the Vikings before making strikes which were effectively repelled. The Anglo-Danish warlord was hit twice saving himself by sacrificing a warrior, and casualties were significant on both sides.

The Viking Warlord attacked a tired and dwindling band of Anglo-Danish warriors on a one man run, his Hearthguards again denied the opportunity to support, and although casualties were taken, he was taken out on a second hit when they retaliated.

Thursday 25th Sept

Despite both A & M trying to convince each other they'd just thrown some models in a box and they'd almost forgotten they were playing, reams of notes and plans predated over the last fortnight fell from their carrying cases as they opened them! Consequently the battle was long, brutal and left both players broken. Extreme table-top!

Ashlynn fielded an infantry heavy army with the Mages performing well and Alexia playing in a very entertaining fashion. The Dogs however failed to make an impact and Eiryss was negated by Magnus' Bokur (or the Bokur by Eiryss, depends where you were sitting).

Magnus sat back and used ranged fire from two Mariners to pick away at the infantry before engaging after blowing his feat (long story). The Mariners were men of the match preventing Ashlynn from getting close enough to play her feat and picking off both Eiryss and Alexia in the last round. Victory for Magnus!

Al 19, Michael 10

 You sure we're both playing 30 points?

 

 No triple 6, no triple 6!!

 

 Mexican stand-off

 

Bloody magic bullets, where's my Jack gone?

Hit me with your rhythm stick

Thursday 12th Sept

 Here we go again

 Ashlyn's LOS

 Forest Dust-Up

 Where'd everybody go?

Crushed beneath my own Jack, sucks!

Massive casualties on both sides for both armies, but after round two there was only going to be one winner. Disruption from Eiryss, Oil from Gormann, and the Freebooter's throws ensured the tempo of the game remained in Michael's favour. Feat was well timed, Magnus was flattened. End of.

Freebooter Miniatures

http://www.freebooterminiatures.de/en

Sept 7th

two different Merc armies, but still under Magnus (Al) and Ashlynn (Michael). Michael was totally on top of his game; he'd considered every spell, every outcome, the synergy between all members of his faction, and even the most likely strategies that Al would put into place. Mages and Dogs knocked over Jacks and took out over 50% of the Halberdiers. Eilyss, relentless, was consistently accurate with disrupter robbing Magnus and his ward of all focus. However despite this lack of focus a final shot from one of the Renegades took out over 50% of the Mages and the Gun Mage Officer. Lucky and arguably undeserved win for Al, but that's the way it was.

 All Eyes on Magnus

 Melee at the Farm

Take your partners

Thursday 18th July

Yellow and purple, the revolutionary flag flew for Ashlyn, but the oppression continued...her Mule was taken out by the Mariner, Eiryss by Magnus' arcane spells through a Renegade, and although 40% of the Pretorians bravely met their end, the significant damage they inflicted on a Nomad was watched coldly by Magnus. 'Lash' prevented Magnus and the Mariner from being knocked down, both feats were played (Ashlyn's is vicious!), and bonds still need to be rolled. Good game.

20th June

Match two with Al & Michael playing the same armies; Magnus and Ashlyn. The dice were particularly lucky for Magnus with the Mariner taking out the Mule's gun and the Renegades taking out the Halberdiers in the second round. The Mangler inflicted a lot of damage too, but with a combination of a risky shot from Eiryss and some pounding from the Nomads the Mangler was taken out, meaning points wise a victory for Ashlyn.

Gripping Beast, home of SAGA

May 30th

Hosted by Master Terrain Builder and Painter Extraordinaire Michael at the Little Village Toy Shop, Chingford. It was a Soldiers of Fortune theme with Michael playing Ashlyn 'Vive la Revolution' D'Elyse, and me playing Magnus ‘he's behind you' The Traitor as a Skorne Minion (hence the Praetorians).

This is the moment when I thought it was all over for Magnus as a combination of ranged and melee attacks disabled the Mangler and damaged Renegade 1 (also tying it up in melee. However Renegade 2 managed to take a shot at Ashlyn in the last round taking all but two of her damage boxes and knocking her down. A long range shot from the Mariner then hit her square on with her having a defence of five, and the resulting damage was more than enough to take her out.

Much Kudos to Ashlyn’s Mule, Talon and Nomads, as if the Renegade had been unlucky Ashlyn would have won hands down.

19th April

Same Army, but a new scenario with a river, ford and bridge. The Mercs blew up the bridge, and blocked the ford with the Mangler, but then didn't take advantage of the amphibious Mariners or their long range firepower as effectively as they should, (although the Decimator was close to finished and had to retire gracefully). The Trenchers stood up well to the Widowmakers, but lost over 50% to the Woodsmen, but not before despatching the Manhunter. The Assault Commandos fell foul to the Mariners losing over 50%, and without the bridge were negated as a threat. The Woodsmen were men of the match, dispatching Eiryss and avoiding the Steelheads in deep cover. A last ditch assassination attempt using a Mariner and both Renagades had no effect. Result. Dead Heat.

23rd Jan

A new Merc army took a sound thrashing from Khador, rough terrain and forests proved to be too much of a constraint for 'Caster assassination attempts, and both the Khador Jacks' brute strength and the relentless efforts of the Assault Kommandos made this a fine example of a war of attrition, grinding the Mercs down and resulting in a a high casualty defeat.

Bonds achieved at end of game. Mercs; Mangler - Combat Positioning

Happy New Year

Have seriously neglected this blog, and indeed have not done much gaming for a while. Since March I've met up with Mr S a couple of times, playing Vikings against his Saxons; evenly matched; results 50/50. Like the way it plays. Tried out Warhammer Histioricals 'Trafalgar'; good, although haven't been able to find my own copy at a price I was prepared to pay. Gonna be harder now WH's dead and gone. Well now it's a new year I'm going to avoid tangling myself up in any new projects, and outside of family :) and work :( I'm going to focus on karate and painting up a backlog of models for more regular games with T. watch this space.