I decided to have a second game of Lion Rampant and opted for the Fugitive Scenario where the defender must search certain areas of the table in order to locate a friend who has escaped the dastardly Normans.
Norman Deployment
Turn 1. The Norman were able to advance all their units across the board. The Saxons were not so lucky with Huscarls and Fyrd refusing to advance.
Turn 2. The Normans attempted to continue but the left wing infantry refused. Meanwhile, Robin and his chums reached the first hiding place but found nothing. This clearly demoralised the rest as nobody else moved.
Turn 3. Was a repeat of Turn 2 for the Normans as the cavalry continued to close while the left wing remained firm, as they preferred to term it. Robin raced to the second possible hiding place but again found nothing. The Huscarls finally began to advance while the right wing unit of the Great Fyrd formed a shieldwall in the face of the approaching cavalry.
Turn 4. The Norman advance continued, combat could not be far off now. The Saxon’s prepared to receive the inevitable charge while Robin fired on the advancing cavalry with no effect.
Turn 5. The Norman general crashed into the Great Fyrd on the left wing with both sides inflicting one casualty. Both sides passed the courage test and the Normans were first to retreat. On the other flank, the cavalry again charged and, despite losing two figures to the Saxon’s one, forced their opponents to retreat in a battered state. The Saxons were clearly stunned by this as their first attempt to move failed.
Turn 6. The left wing cavalry pressed their advantage and charged again inflicting two casualties on the disordered Saxons but losing a further figure themselves. This time the Saxons held firm and the Normans failed their courage test. On the left flank the cavalry again charged but lost two figures to the Saxon’s one with both sides failing their courage tests. The Saxons returned to hunting for their friend.
Turn 7. The Norman cavalry recovered and a general advance resumed with the right wing archers firing on the advancing Huscarls without success. Robin moved into the third possible hiding place. Success, Marian emerged, now to escape.
Turn 8. The Normans were in disarray and failed their first activation while the Saxon right moved to protect the escape.
Turn 9. Disaster for the Normans. Desperate to prevent an escape the Norman general charged the Saxon Huscarls and saw his unit destroyed. The majority of his men passed the subsequent courage test apart from the other cavalry unit.
Turns 10 & 11 saw both sides fail their activation tests.
Turn 12. The pursuit got underway with the Norman Infantry charging the Great Fyrd, inflicting two casualties to one of their own and the Great Fyrd retreated in disarray. The other unit of Norman Infantry also attacked but were repulsed suffering two figures lost. The Saxon retreat continued and it was clear that Robin would take Marian to safety so I decided to end the game.
Another Saxon victory and a complete disaster for the Norman cavalry with only one figure surviving. I’m beginning to wonder if they’re slightly underpowered although charging a shieldwall is never a good idea. I remain unconvinced by the activation system but it is, at least, fair to both sides.
That said, I’m really enjoying these rules and look forward to the next game. Hopefully I’ll have finished off the trees and some more scenery by then. Painting has also been continuing with the first diversion of the year...
