The taking of Lucius (the unlucky???)...

This is a report on the first raid of The Dux Britanniarum Rhegin Campaign from the Saxon perspective. You can view the first entry to the Saga of Aldred here with backstory and details on the force commands. ...and the Britons account of the same raid here. The rest of The Rhegin Campaign will be found here as it happens....

The raid started well, attempting to ambush a local lord heading back to his tower.  They were completely unaware and already home in their heads as they ambled straight past Aldred and his men.  They had not a care in the world, these were obviously a people who felt safe in their own lands.

The warband stood up as one charged out the shadows.  It was a beautiful site, a moment they had trained hard for.  Aldred and his warband was ready for a hard fight and this was their time for glory and fame.  Or so they hoped.  The effect was somewhat undermined when these British warriors had no sooner been engaged than they ran away.  This was a problem.  It was going to be very difficult to Kidnap any of them if they ran away at the first sight of them.

Aldred The Bearded himself, flanked by Orvyn his champion.  Pausing with the Saxons to take a family photo at their first raid.

But while they mulled round and tried to work out whether to proceed with the raid or go look for a more worthy foe.  Some more of the enemy were spotted emerging from the safety of their tower. Emerging very very slowly.  This was a form of combat Aldred and his companions had never encountered before. These Britons were standing shoulder to shoulder, shield to shield and inching towards them.  Though and interesting and potentially useful tactic it was unclear why they insisted on this from half a mile away.  Hey ho at least there was some more sport to be had.  Aldred could contain himself no more, not stopping to reform his formation of Geoguth (Warriors) he took the single unit that accompanied him calling Horsa the man-mountain to follow with his Gedridht (elite warriors).  The two units Hurled themselves against this shield-snail formation.  After all these slothful warriors appeared less well armed than the yellow bellied group they had first encountered.

But this was not so easy.  The fighting was fierce, they threw themselves against the shields of their foe again and again.  Though suffering very little from the melee which seemed to be endless they could not seem to break through that wall of shields.  As time went by it looked like Aldreds warriors were spent, the battle shock was building up.  Horsa had taken a hit that would have floored a lesser man.  It looked like Aldreds men were close to falling back with exhaustion.  As well as this the indecisive leader of the Britons finally looked like he may throw in his elite bodyguard who had been loitering in the trees on the right flank of the shield-snail formation.  This could be the end of Aldreds dream before it had even started.

A closer look at the Table Top Simulator mod we used adapted from an existing Saga mod

But no, just as it appeared the Saxon attack was about to falter.  Up steps Henguist on the Saxon right leading a group of Geoguth steeled with Gedridht.  Carpe Diem! With a bounding move their charge was so Aggressive the left flank of  the Britons dissolved.  The shield-snail was broken.  The leader of the Britons saw the writing was on the wall and called the retreat.  But that was not the end. Even though these Britons are obviously well practiced at running away they were not fast enough.  Henguist and his warriors had the momentum and managed to overpower Lucius (Level II Briton Leader) and his remaining Numeri (levy).

This allowed a short negotiation as Aldred secured a Tributes tribute for the release of Agricola the Flatulent’s favourite…

In the aftermath of the battle it became obvious the Britons had suffered a heavy defeat (+7 to the Saxons).  Meaning that Aldreds reputation grew and numerous men came to swell the ranks of his warband.  A new group of skirmishers (Turnip flingers?)  joined his merry band.  The Britons were so cowered that they even gave up a thief's horde in tax to pay Aldred off to not raid for another month.

Out of Character...

Well a heavy loss for the Britons - its not often i beat my brother... The reasons were a number of conspiring factors. Firstly the luck of the setup meant Atticus the Weak the British lord returning with his scouting party and all the Saxons were all entering the same sector (sixth) of the battlefield at the start. This was also the sector furthest from the tower and back up for poor Atticus.

Atticus didn't last long the British warriors were mostly fell in the first onslaught and Atticus fled the field with the remainder. This left the Britons with only two thirds of their force. ...and the saxons cursing a missed opportunity for kidnapping a leader. At this point with Heavy casualties on the Britons side already I think both sides considered retiring from the raid. But as this was a first play we were unsure of all the pros and cons and strategic benefits, and we were he to have a fight so on we ploughed as the narrative above outlined.

I hope you enjoyed the campaign fluff we will endeavor to keep it up.