A Viking in Sicily

A Mini-Campaign from A Viking in the Sun

Previously, we followed the adventures of Harald Hardrada in the Holy Land (part 1 and part 2).

Now we turn to the second mini-campaign, using Dominion of the Spear rules to conduct the battles.

Background

The Byzantines launch an expedition to reclaim Sicily from its Muslim conquerors.

Harald commands part of the expeditionary force.

Harald's Command

Harald command consists of the following units:

• A contingent of the Varangian Guard (elite melee infantry)
• Archers (missile infantry)
• Byzantine heavy infantry (melee infantry)
• mercenary knights (armored melee cavalry)
• Byzantine cavalry (melee cavalry)

Battle 1 - The Landing

The Byzantine commander, Georgios Maniakes, decides to make a landing near Palermo. He hopes to catch the Muslims by surprise and seize the city by assault before the defenders get organized.

Harald's command lands on the beach of Sicily. A Muslim force (consisting of 2 units of missile infantry, 2 units of missile cavalry, cavalry, and spears) bars the way. Harald's cavalry is dismounted in reserve.

Harald leads a charge against the enemy archers. A hail of arrows cuts down the Varangians.

Then the Muslim archers pepper Harald's heavy infantry and dismounted knights.

The Byzantine heavy infantry charges the archers and wipes them out. But then they get flanked by more archers. The infantry does not last.

The remnants of Harald's force rush back to the boats. Maniakes's hope for a quick victory are dashed.

Rolling lots of 6's is a really effective way to win with missile troops. 😉

Battle 2 - Seize the Gate

The Byzantines settle in for a siege. After learning of a secret tunnel into the city, Harald proposes a bold stratagem. He will lead a force through the tunnel then rush the gates. His force will hold open the gates until the main army can relieve him.

Harald enters the city. His Varangians, the dismounted knights, and archers form the front line. Muslim heavy and light infantry contest Harald's assault.

Again, archers cut down the Varangians. The dismounted knights have better success.

And they continue to cut down archers.

The Byzantine spears take up the offensive in the center.

The knights fall! But Harald's archers clear out the right flank.

The reserve dismounted cavalry then clear the other flank.

Rushing past the remaining defenders, the flanking forces secure the gate.

The first part of Harald's plan succeeds!

Battle 3 - Hold the Gate

After seizing the gate, Harald manages to rally some of his force. Alas, his command his smaller due to casualties. Actually, I reduced both sides to reflect casualties.

The Muslims launch a counterattack to retake the gates.

The Muslim spears overrun Harald's archers.

The Varangians manage to check the spears, but are exhausted in the process. Meanwhile, Harald's infantry scatters the Muslim archers.

Harald's men close up to protect the gate. I know, not in the rules. It just made sense in the context.

The Byzantine spears take out their counterparts but then get flanked and defeated.

Note: The marker is on the wrong Muslim spear counter.

This leaves the dismounted knights alone. They are forced to retreat through the gate. The Muslims then shut the gates before Byzantine reinforcements arrive.

With this defeat, Maniakes abandons his campaign.

NOTES

• Harald loses this campaign with 1 victory and 2 losses.
• I had a turn limit for the last battle. Harald needed to hold for 2+D3 turns. This came out to 5 turns. I ended up forgetting to count turns, engrossed as I was in the narrative. Nevertheless, I don't think Harald made it.

Hassan vs. Harald

A Viking in the Sun campaign game

I'm completing my Viking in the Sun campaign. This time, I'm using Dominion rules on a 3 by 3 grid.

Previously

This campaign follows the exploits of Harald Hardrada in the Holy Land. He has led his force in two battles.

1. The bandit Hassan ambushed Harald's force, stopping him from escorting a Byzantine ambassador to his destination.
2. Then Harald ousted Hassan from a local shrine.

Set Up

Harald tracks Hassan's bandits to a box canyon. But Hassan is waiting on the cliffs, ready to attack.

Forces:

• Harald has his Varangians (elite), spears, archers, cavalry, and knights (armored). Harald is with the Varangians.
• Hassan has 2 horse archers, 1 cavalry, 2 archers, and a unit of spears. Hassan is with the spears.

Each leader wants to kill his opposite number (rout his unit).

The Battle

Harald (red) advances his forces. Hassan's horse archers on the right advance and engage the knights. The knights ride through the storm of arrows and rout the horse.

Then Harald's archers rout the horse archers on the left.

Harald's Varangians engage the cavalry on the hill. The cavalry routs.

Hassan can no longer skulk in the rear. His spears contest Harald's Varangians. But it is an unequal contest. The Varangians rout the spears.

Harald catches up with Hassan and kills him.

Aftermath

By killing Hassan and scattering the bandits, Harald helps bring a semblance of peace to the Holy Land (and wins the campaign!). Now his Byzantine overlords plan an invasion of Sicily. Harald prepares for his next adventure!

WHAT'S NEXT

Vikings in the Sun has two more mini campaigns. Before I get to those, however, I'm going back to Dominion. 

• First, I played some scenarios from the Dominion of the Spear supplement. 
• Then Dominion of Frederick the Great came out. I felt compelled to purchase it and to try it out. 

Stay tuned!

A Viking in the Sun - Part 1

On my old blog, I started a Viking in the Sun campaign, but never got far with it. I decided to rectify the situation using a mix of Dominion and 3x3 rules. I used a 3x3 grid but for the most part used Dominion of the Spear combat rules.

Ambush

Harald Hardrada leads a (red) force escorting a Byzantine ambassador. He gets waylaid by bandits.

• Harald has a company of elite Varangians (gold marker), heavy infantry, 2 squadrons of knights, and some archers. Probably should have made the knights armored. Oh well.
• The bandits have 2 bands of horse archers, 1 of cavalry, 2 archers, and some spears,

Harald must clear a path to the town before him. 

• The town is off the board in the bandit reserve area. 
• Because my mat is only 4 squares deep, Harald's reserve area is off the mat.

The bandit leader Hassan springs his ambush.

Harald destroys the spears in front of him but his flanks fall to hails of arrows.

Then bandit archers rout the Varangians. Harald must retreat with the ambassador.

• I assumed that the ambassador was with Harald and the Varangians. The loss of the Varangians meant game over.
• I gave units a chance to retreat instead of getting destroyed but Harald's losses kept failing the roll.

Disputed Shrine

Licking his wounds, Harald is spoiling for an opportunity to pay back the bandit leader Hassan. Harald learns that Hassan has seized a local shrine and is forcing pilgrims to pay an entry tax. Harald leaps into action.

I kind of messed this one up. I thought the bandit's back row was the reserve area, but it was really part of the board. This meant that the bandit troops weren't in the best formation. Ah, fog of war.

Harald crests a hill and sees the shrine below him.

Bandit archery takes out some of Harald's knights.

Harald attacks the shrine and routs the spearmen holding it. Meanwhile, knights from Harald's reserve wipe out the enemy archers.

Then the knights overrun more archers.

Looks like I'm missing a photo.

After the knights and bandit cavalry fight to a standstill, Harald's Varangians sally against some horse archers. The horse rout, leaving Harald in command of the shrine.

Aftermath

Harald has evened the score. Both leaders prepare for the climatic finale.

Stay tuned to find out what happens next!