This was a first playtest of a scenario for 250pt. warbands on a 2’x2’ board. Terrain was woods, a cultivated field, a small fort, and scatter terrain that included several potential loot locations represented by barrels and crates.
The forces as deployed.
The Normans rolled as attacker and deployed on a randomized board edge. The Varangians deployed within 6” of the center of the board. The axemen took up defensive positions amidst the crates and barrels and the two bowmen deployed on the roof of the fort.
Turn one.
It’s snowing-the whole board is difficult terrain.
Varangians get initiative.
Unaffected by the driving snow, the Varangian chieftain moves up to defend against the encroaching Normans.
All others remain in place.
Norman Move: The fully armored infantry struggle to move forward. On the right, the spearmen move behind the tree line to flank the Varangians, the crossbowmen stay put to take aim and the chieftain spurs his mount up the left flank, struggling against the sudden snow storm.
No charges declared.
Shooting phase.
A rooftop Varangian bowman takes aim at a crossbowman. He needs a 6 due to range and misses on a result of 2. Second bowman shoots at the same target but also misses. *Missed rule: Bowmen can shoot twice if they don’t move. I remember this later in the game.
A Norman crossbowman on the left takes aim at a rooftop archer and fires only to have his bolt bounce harmlessly off the structure.
The Crossbowman on the right flank attempts to shoot a Dane Axe-wielding warrior but only manages to hit a bush.
No melee or fire phase. End of turn one.
Turn 2
Norman’s win initiative.
Movement
The chieftain continues to ride up the left flank. Both crossbowmen move up to get closer to targets. One Norman warrior on the right takes cover behind a bush. Another moves to explore some loot next to the collapsed granary and scores an exceptional loot result of 3!
But with the driving snow reducing the heavily armored warriors movement to 3”, he will have to hand some off to his fellow warriors to move with the loot!
Normans end movement phase.
Driven wild seeing their supplies being plundered, a Varangian shouts a curse and barrels at a Norman warrior, making his charge and raising his Dane axe high to strike.
The Varangian chief, unencumbered by the snow, races to block the Norman chieftains attempt to flank.
The axeman on the right charges the nearest crossbowman, having no issues making the charge.
The Varangian bowmen remain in place to pester the unengaged Norman crossbowman.
Shooting phase
The crossbowman on the left flank attempts to shoot the raving Varangian who charged the warrior next to him, but misses, and to his horror shoots his fellow Norman dead! 😵
With the other crossbowman in combat, the Varangian bowmen take their shots at the unengaged crossbowman, but both miss, needing sixes to hit.
Melee Phase
The Varangian on the right flank swings his Dane axe while the crossbowman strikes with only an improvised weapon.
The Varangian swings with a +1 to hit and misses, rolling a natural “1”. As he dodges the strike, the Norman picks up a large rock and bashes the Varangian in the head (rolling a six), instantly killing him having failed his armor save!
Fire phase
The Norman with the loot attempts to set the ruined granary ablaze without a torch and fails.
Turn 3
The Norman chieftain rounds the edge of the wood and is shocked to see the Varangian chieftain waiting for him. Surprised mid-gallop, the Norman lord fails to gain a charge bonus (rolled a 1, but double checking the rules I saw that cavalry never get a charge bonus in difficult terrain [snow makes all terrain difficult]), but makes contact regardless.
The Norman warrior on the left drops his loot to rush the Varangian axeman in an attempt to draw him away from the more lightly armored crossbowman.
The two Norman warriors on the right trudge through the falling snow towards potential loot. The Varangian bowmen stay put and take aim. Anyone with an axe has been charged and chose not to flee.
Shooting
The crossbowman on the left, not wanting to risk shooting into combat again, looses a bolt at the Varangian bowmen, hitting the building again. The crossbowman on the right, however, finds his mark and kills a bowman.
The remaining Varangian bowman takes two shots at an approaching warrior and hits him once, but the arrow is deflected by the warrior’s considerable armor.
Melee
The two chieftains clash: the Varangian chief swings twice and misses the Norman horse, and the Norman misses his spear thrusts. *Missed rule: a cavalry figure with a spear strikes first on the charge and a -1 to hit is suffered by the defender.
On the left, the Norman warrior and Varangian engage in a fight; the spearman missing, but the Varangian manages to cut the Norman in half, much to the horror of the onlooking Norman crossbowman.
With no more combat and no morale checks, we move to turn 4.
Turn 4
Normans take initiative.
The warriors and crossbow on the right move up a bit, the warriors reaching potential loot, but find nothing but spoiled grain.
The Varangian on the left charges at the screeching crossbowman who pulls his trigger, in response to the charge, and manages to kill the raging Northman before he could reach him!
Shooting
The crossbowman on the right takes a shot at the remaining bowman atop the old fort and sends him to Valhalla. No other shooting.
Melee
The Varangian chief swings and decapitates the Norman horse, whose rider falls and lands hard, taking a wound. The Norman Lord thrusts his spear at the Varangian, missing twice, and they remain locked in combat.
Morale
Even the mightiest warriors lose heart when they learn their fellow warriors have been cut down and the Varangian chief flees the battle! *Missed rule: Chieftains don’t roll to leave the board—they will continue to fight.
Lots of fun with this first game using all of the rules. There were some interesting moves I’d like to try that didn’t benefit anyone at the time, like shoving and cavalry disengagement. Looting wasn’t very important given that the heavy snow weather made it almost impossible to move while carrying the loot!
Looking forward to another game.
The DBA Gamer 
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