Darius ran a Pictish army which had no mounted troops. The foot were nearly all warriors. They were mostly Ordinary in quality but there were lots of them.

Darius’ initial set up can be seen in picture Centre 2 D.

Attilla used the Sea Raider list running a large number of Noble Warriors, some Ordinary Warriors and 1 extra command pip.

Attilla’s initial set up can be seen in picture Centre 1.

PLANS

Darius’ plan was to charge forward and take the hill. Once he had possession of the hill he could take advantage of being up hill of Atilla’s troops when they attacked. Then using his greater numbers he could turn both flanks.

Attilla’s plan was to get on the hill first, form a 3 sided box and fight with all his troops on the hill with the up-hill advantage. He positioned he Noble troops in the middle.

In the following pictures Attila’s army is the closest. All references to left or right flanks are from Attila’s perspective.

PICTURES.

Darius was the Attacker and moved first.

Centre 2, Left 1 and Right 1.

Darius threw a double 1 and his troops got onto the hill.

Centre 3, Left 2 and Right 2.

Attilla advanced. His troops being Warriors were able to advance the extra distance when making contact and thus make contact the Picts on top of the hill. No side has the uphill advantage.

Centre 4 and Left 3.

The fighting in the centre has started. There have been a number of push backs. Darius has not been able to move his right flank forward and into the battle.

Centre 5, Left 4 and Right 3.

The fight continues. Darius has been able to get his left flank into the battle and is threatening Attilla’s skirmishers. On Darius right flank his troops are having difficulty crossing the river and getting into the fight.

Centre 6 and Right 4.

The fighting on the hill is getting quite bloody. No units have broken yet.

Right 5 and Right 6.

Darius destroys one of Attilla’s Warrior units, and then destroys the skirmishers.

Centre 7.

Both sides lose a band of Warriors in the same battle on the right.

Centre 8.

Meanwhile, on the hill Darius loses another band of Warriors.

Centre 9.

Darius’ Companions are flanked and a band of Attilla’s Noble Warriors in the river have turned around to threaten the rear of one of Darius’ Ordinary Warrior units.

Centre 10.

Another band of Darius’ Warriors is destroyed on the right.

Centre 11 and Left 5.

Meanwhile, on the hill, Darius Companions and Commander are destroyed. And in the river Darius has lost another band of Warriors. This time attacked in the rear by an enemy band. Attilla lost the band of Noble Warriors that were fighting Darius’s unit.

Left 6.

Darius Loses another band of Warriors, this time to one of Attilla’s Ordinary Warriors.

END GAME

With the death of the Commander Darius army takes the moral test and fails.

I am now in a position where I can game with my old mates in Melbourne as we have purchased a “city crash pad”, so whilst this blog is not strictly a P.I.G.S. game, as the “keeper of the blog” (sounds a bit like someone who tends Irish pasture) I have decided to include these games on an on-going basis as well.

With the fledgling war games room still coming into shape, and me still feeling a bit like the country mouse visiting the city, the conditions were not ideal, but more than adequate as we found other ways to stay well lubricated (there is nothing sadder than a games room with over twenty metres of shelving void of figures – well………… maybe the space for the bar and no bar!!!!!).

The gaming choices are limited until the shelves are stocked but a standard 15mm Dux Bellorum 32 point game was organised.

I had built hex terrain some time ago for Command and Colours Ancient gaming with figures but have had limited opportunity to use it so this was a chance to roll out the hex mat and show-off the terrain.

“The Welsh historian, Nennius, records twelve great victories in battle during Arthur’s time as Dux Bellorum. Much of his material is mythical, however, and the magical number 12 does not sit well for historical evidence. Some historians have argued that this is too great a number for one man’s lifetime, and their locations may well have been too widespread for a single leader to have fought in each. Counteracting this view, some believe Arthur to have headed up a warband of cavalrymen traveling around the country and championing the British cause: hence his widespread popularity. True or not, it seems likely that, as with stories attached to the real Arthur, several of these battles may have been properly associated with alternative Arthur’s or just with other great Dark Age heroes. A tendency towards Northern locations may strengthen this theory. Unfortunately identifying the location of the battles is a highly controversial pass-time” (Wikipedia).

According to Nennius, Arthur’s first battle was at the “mouth of the river called Glein”.

This has been tentatively identified as one of the two Rivers “Glen” in Britain today; one in Lincolnshire and one in Northumberland.

Unfortunately, Glen stems from the Celtic word for “pure”, so there were probably many rivers thus named in 6th century Britain. A battle at the former would have presumably been against the first Bernician settlers and at the latter against the northward moving East Anglians. Either could be also attributed to King Arthuis of the Pennines as well as Arthur Pendragon but I am assuming the later.

So there we have it – our battle is set in 6^th Century Britain at the mouth of the River Glein between Arthur Pendragon and the Bernecian kingdom of Deiran.

Arthur’s army was controlled by John G. and the Saxon’s by Steve N.

The Saxon army of Deiran consisted of Foot companions, 2 Noble Riders, Noble Warriors and 4 Ordinary warriors.

Deiran King of the Bernicians

Deiran’s Bernician (Saxon) Army

The army of Arthur consisted of his “Round Table Companions, Noble Riders, 2 Noble Shield Wall 2 Ordinary Shield Wall, Close Order Bowmen and mounted and foot bow armed skirmishers.

Arthur Pendragon and his Knights of the Round Table

Arthur’s Romano British Army

The battle lines are drawn with Arthur advancing with his knights on the right flank.

Arthur’s shield wall await the Bernician warrior onslaught through the bog.

Arthur charging down hill to contact the Bernician Noble Warriors.

Romano British horsement v Bernician Warriors. The noble warriors on the Saxon right, just in picture, were destroyed in very short time.

The “Ordinary Warriors” on the left held of the cream of Arthur’s army, including himself and his Knights of the Round Table until almost the end of the battle.

Meanwhile the Saxon right wing Noble Riders have broken through the archer screen, and destroyed the majority of Arthur’s shield wall.

Hit in both the flank and rear by Noble Riders the warriors on the Saxon left are still holding on.

With the Romano British shield wall collapsed the centre is controlled by the Saxons.

With the last remaining shield wall covering the retreat Arthur’s battered knights flee to fight another day.

All in all a great game with which to “christen” the war games room.

Arthur myth or Legend? All I can say is that on this occasion he was certainly no legend!!