SAGA Battle Report - Anglo-Danish versus Welsh - Battle at the Ford Scenario

“From the north my lord!” shouted the guard from the tower. Denaan craned his head, hair blowing across his shoulders, to see them.
“Several are mounted.” The sentry added.
“Must be a Welsh warband, the Normans wouldn’t travel this far north. Rally the warriors Sigal, the guard is with me. We must get to the far side of the river and hold them off!”

This was a 6pt SAGA Battle between Welsh and Anglo-Danish Warbands this past Thursday with Sam up at Geneva College

Danes set up, from left (bottom) to right (top) with 10 Warriors and 6 Levies. Continuing to the right 6 additional Levies, 4 Hearthguard, the Warlord, 6 Warriors and finally 4 Hearthguard.

Welsh set up from their right (bottom) they had 8 Warriors on foot, 8 Warriors on horseback and 4 Hearthguard. Continuing to their left (top), 4 Hearthguard, Welsh Warlord, 4 Hearthguard and 8 mounted Warriors.

The Welsh had the initiative and wasted no time. The mounted warriors on the left flank moved double to crest the bridge, hurl their javelins and then retreat back to their side of the river. One Danish hearthguard fell to their attack. The Danes all moved forward, eager to get to grips with the enemy.

The Welsh Warriors fell back and to their left to allow their warlord and 2 hearthguard units to advance on the bridge. On the right flank the mounted Welsh warriors also advanced to the lower bridge.

Once again all the Danes advance, the levies reach the bottom of the lower bridge. On the right flank the small warrior unit reaches onto the base of the bridge to screen the warlord and hearthguard who are directly behind.

Turn three got off to an action packed start with the Welsh warlord and one hearthguard advancing to the crest of the upper bridge and hurl javelins killing two Danish warriors. The Warlord then falls back to their side of the bridge, bringing his hearthguard along for the retreat.

On the lower bridge the mounted Welsh warriors rode across the bridge and hurled their javelins at the archer levies slaying four of them.

In the Danish turn the 10 Warriors at the bottom bridge charged toward the mounted Welsh. The Welsh warriors attempted to use “Hit and Run” to move back across the bridge but the Danes countered with “Intimidation” thus neutralizing the mounted warriors. The Danish attack was ferocious, slaying four Welsh and losing only two of their own number. The four remaining Welsh retreated from the combat. On the upper bridge the Danish warriors move past the halfway point allowing the Danish Warlord and a Hearthguard to advance to the top of the bridge.

In the fourth round, the Welsh mounted warriors at the upper bridge advanced and hurled their javelins at the warlord’s entourage slaying a Hearthguard. This left three retainers with Breas Danaan. At the bottom bridge the four remaining mounted Welsh took to the bridge once more and slew 2 Danish warriors with their javelin attack.

The Danish Warriors were being frustrated by the continuous reign of Javelins while their own levy archers fired arrow after arrow and hit nothing. The six warriors at the bottom bridge charge into the remaining four mounted Welsh and hit four times but only kill one of their enemy losing none and forcing the Welsh back again. At the top bridge, the Danish warriors also charge and using “Stuborness” gain three additional attacks. They slay three Welsh and find themselves in a precarious position on the far side of the river!


In turn five the Welsh at the upper bridge are unable to advance due to the three Danish warriors. The Warlord and his retainers move slightly and hurl their javelins only managing to slay one. The Welsh warriors advance and are able to slay an additional Dane and the last remaining Danish warrior falls back to the bridge.

In the bottom of the fifth the Danish warriors at the bottom bridge charge once more and slay the remaining mounted Welsh warriors. Unfortunately they lose three of their own number leaving only three warriors. At the upper bridge there is a cheer from the levy archers as they actually score 2 hits and slay a mounted Welsh warrior. The last Danish warrior moves to his right to face the imposing Welsh warlord and his guard. This allows the Danish warlord and three hearthguard to descend onto the far side of the bridge, engage the Welsh warriors and slay them to the man. The Welsh not going easily take one Danish hearthguard to the grave with them.

The Welsh smelling victory used their continuous volley of javelins once more. At the bottom bridge, the fresh eight Welsh warriors slay the remaining three Danes standing between them and the bridge. At the upper bridge, the warlord and his hearthguard moved forward slightly and impaled the last Danish warrior with their javelins. The second unit of hearthguard hurled their javelins at the Danish hearthguard defending their warlord, slaying both of them. All four Welsh Hearthguard then charge the lone Danish warlord and score 3 hits. The warlord only saves one and thus falls to their attack and fails to take any Welsh with him.

With only 3 hearthguard and a handful of levies and two more turns left, the Danes cede the battleground to the Welsh.

It was a hard fought battle and the scenario really favored the Welsh with their hit and run style of fighting. The Anglo-Danish warband had a hard time getting into melee with the enemy. The Levies were pretty useless, only one kill, and an additional eight warriors might have made more of an impact at the end.

Removing their casualties and dead, the three household guards of Breas Danaan carried his body back across the river and continued the retreat toward their hall. As one of them stumbled the warlords body was jostled on the makeshift wood and bear skin stretcher. There was a faint groan from deep within the mighty warlord. The Hearthguard now hurried to return their lord home to seek the healer. Breas Danaan would not die so easily.



Hope you enjoyed the report!
Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

Late 18th Century Historical Military Miniatures at the Woodville Plantation

OK this post isn't all hobby related but it is chock full of history and early US military so I hope it will suffice! Woodville was the house of John and Presley Neville, located in southwestern Pennsylvania. It dates to the late18th century and can be toured on Sunday's for those in the area or passing through. John Neville was a general under George Washington during the revolution.

The house is a great interpretation of the 1780-1820 time period in the rural Pennsylvania countryside.

The Woodville house and entire plantation were integral during the Whiskey Rebellion of  1794.

One of the out buildings called "The Still House".

This weekend they had men depicting General Anthony Wayne's Fourth Sub-Legion. Also a display of 54mm military miniatures from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Demonstrating bayonet tactics and use.

The miniatures were all 54mm and part of a collection from one of the volunteers and reenactors. This group represents the First and Second Sub-Legion's stationed at Fort Lafayette. The First Legion has white trim on their hats and the Second has red trim.

Here are the Third and Fourth Sub-Legion's depicted by the yellow and green trim.

These miniatures represent the US Army during the early 1800's.

Lastly a depiction of West Point Academy parade regalia in 54mm. Could be inspirational to some of you!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

Matchstick Fleet by Phil Warren

Recently found this article on Phil  Warren from the UK and his "Matchstick Fleet"  Since completing his first 1/300th scale ship model in 1948, he's been adding continuously to his matchstick fleet. Phil's collection has now grown to over 400 different ship models, all were built entirely from the materials in a matchbox and nothing else.
That also includes over 1200 airplanes to go with the ships.

Phil has created every ship in the Royal Navy since 1945, over 60 ships from the US Navy and 18 other nations.

The average ship in uses around 1,500 matchsticks and takes about a month to complete.

Larger ships like the carriers use over 5,000 matchsticks and 200 wooden boxes. These took him about a year to complete.

Tallying up all his ships, Phillip Waren used around 650,000 matchsticks, to create his entire fleet.

 The oldest reference to Phil's Matchstick Fleet I found was from Model Warships website dated 2005, but it's news to me so enjoy the photos and you can see more on the modelwarships.com site.

Til next time, have a great battle!
The Old Crow

Anglo-Danish Warlord for SAGA Finished!

Finished off Breas Danaan the Mighty this past week along with a point of spear wielding warriors for his SAGA warband.

The model is from Gripping Beast and quite nice. Good detail and not overly done. Painting miniatures it what I love about wargaming and find myself painting more than playing.

Anyways, a few details like his fur cloak with gold clasp and striping on the cloak and sleeve help set him apart from the run of the mill warriors. I raised him on the base and added a ram skull, rocks and extra vegetation to also set him apart.

Here he is 2 points of his hearthguard...

and here with an additional point of 8 warriors armed with spear.

Looks Mighty defending the village from intruders!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

Building modular battle-boards for miniature war-gaming

We were in need of some boards to play Warhammer and SAGA on! And what if we started our Prussian Napoleonic army, what would we do? What a predicament we were in!

Alright, here's what we're going to build. Let's get started...

We decided a 4x6 modular board with a river feature would be the way to go. We wanted to have the option of a river bend so the plan was for three 2x4 sections with a two piece hill. Make yourself a good sketch or cut a small model from spare cardboard so you don’t waste your foamboard. Here’s our model, the bend can be covered with one of the 2 hill sections.

We started with 2 4x8 sheets of polystyrene insulation board and doubled them to enable cutting out the river sections. We used 1 inch thick boards, cut down the center of the river and then used a foam cutter to carve the edges. Using glue to hold the boards then coarse drywall screws to firm everything up and keep them together.

We use a light weight joint compound to fill in gaps and seams. After it thoroughly dries, we based the riverbank with burnt umber and the river with XXXX blue. For the time being we just painted the basic board a light shade of green with some mottling here and there. We’ll add flocking or grass matt in the near future.

Add a wash of black to seep into any crevices and cover any spots you may have missed with the brown. You could prime the boards in black if you prefer, just be careful with the primer you use as some will eat through the polystyrene. Always test on a scrap of foam before spraying your main boards.

We also added some dark wash in the deep parts of the stream and shaded areas around the rocks. Next were successive coats of terra cotta...

and then golden tan drybrush to pull out the highlights. The rocks were also painted in three shades of gray.

You can see where we added some lighter blues were the stream would foam up a bit.

Here are the two river boards after painting.

There are many products for creating water. Many of them are fairly expensive so if you are on a budget, try using a tube of clear silicon caulking. The cost for the brand we picked up was less than 3 dollars. You’ll need a caulking gun if you don’t have one.

You can spread it with a craft stick but a plastic spoon works very well for forming the ripples in the steam.

After the silicon is applied, you can smooth out the high peaks by wetting your fingers in a jar of water and running it over the high spots.

Keep in a warm area for faster drying times and don’t worry, it will dry clear!

Here are the finished boards with all three lined up lengthwise and the hill covering the corner river section.

Another view with the river bend in place and a corner hill.

Here the two hill sections are together.

And there you have it. Plenty of space and variety for any game you want to play! If you have any questions or would like a set built for you please let us know.

Have a Great Battle
The Old Crow