Vikings in Lion Rampant

As well as the Wars of the Roses, I am interested in using Lion Rampant for games set in the early medieval period (or late dark ages if you prefer), specifically the period from around 950-1066 CE. The three main armies of this period for me are Vikings, English and Normans with a possible foray into Wales, Ireland and Scotland should it all go well. I am using the term Vikings to cover any Scandinavian group such as Danes, Norse and everywhere they settled, such as Ireland and the Danelaw. Not technically correct but everyone knows what you mean by Viking without going into details. The same goes for English covering both Saxon and later Anglo-Danish. All the units and rules are there in the book for this end of the period but they are not explicitly covered in the suggested army lists. This leaves a little work to do in order to field an army of vicious Vikings or steadfast Saxons.

So starting with the Northmen it is merely a matter of choosing how I want my little Danes and Norwegians to perform on the battlefield. In my (admittedly amateur) understanding of the subject, Viking armies can be broken down into the following broad divisions, excluding allies, for gaming purposes:

• Hirdmen – the more professional end of the spectrum including the leader (King, Jarl, Hersir etc.) and his bodyguard or just bands of seasoned warriors in helmets, chainmail hauberks, carrying a shield and using a spear, axe or sword. The backbone of any Viking army, probably available in reasonable numbers even in smaller warbands. I will depict the Hirdmen as Foot Men at Arms in my retinues.

• Bondi – less professional or merely less well-off types, usually sporting a helmet and shield and carrying a spear, with an axe or sword in reserve. These would probably be fairly numerous second-line troops in a large army and well represented in a typical Lion Rampant retinue. For me these are Foot Serjeants, with the ability to form schiltron depicting the shieldwall.

• Levy – thralls and paupers, told to bring a spear and shield and to try not to mess it up or run away. Not much used outside the homelands due to the logistics of moving large numbers of poor troops but could be applicable to a Viking vs Viking game or one set in the borders of the Danelaw. Probably best represented as Serfs.

Which is all easily translated into Lion Rampant units but lacks a little flavour. To these I would add a couple of other types:

• Raiders, youths and other enthusiastic types – not even remotely trained in forming shieldwalls, battlefield tactics or restraint. These are the expendable first few off the boats or into the fray, possibly including the odd berserker or two and a lot of nobodies trying to make a name for themselves. These obviously lend themselves to Fierce Foot in Lion Rampant terms.

• Missile troops – not as numerous or as well formed as in Norman armies but could be found among the Bondi, sporting either javelins or bows to harass the enemy and keep their heads down. The lesser classes of missile troops in Lion Rampant are best represented by Bidowers with bows, javelins or a mix of the two.

So they are my five preferred troop types for my Viking armies. Fortunately Dan Mersey has posted his own idea for a Viking army on Boardgame Geek (http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1223593/1066-retinues) where he gives his 24pt Viking army as:

2 Foot Men-at-Arms* @ 12 points
2 Foot Serjeants @ 8 points
1 Fierce Foot @ 4 points

This translates as 12 Hirdmen, 24 Bondi and 12 Raiders in my own terms. The Hirdmen and Bondi are easily put together using a box each of Viking Hirdmen and Dark Age Warriors that I bought from Gripping Beast for use with Saga. I am not sure how I am going to represent the Raiders yet, they may be best served by using more dynamic poses in metal. Now all I need to do is paint all these plastic Vikings up! Pictures soon.

The Beginning

Earlier this year I had all but given up wargaming in favour of Subbuteo (see my other blog Snapped off at the ankles for more). However I had forgotten that I had a copy of Dan Mersey's "Lion Rampant" on Amazon pre-order. When the package dropped through the letterbox I was ready to put it straight up on eBay but I spent half an hour leafing through it and by the end of that brief read through I was convinced that I was going to give it a try.

For those that have yet to encounter Lion Rampant, it is a very fast play, cinematic set of rules. By cinematic I mean that they capture the dramatic flavour of medieval warfare as told in the romances of troubadours and the movies rather than the grim reality of peasants dying knee deep in dysentery. The rules work with most basing systems including my favourite GW-style (20mm square infantry and 25x50mm cavalry) and only use six-sided dice so my own preferences are pretty much catered for from the start. Units come in two sizes, 6 or 12 which makes finishing a unit achievable for even my ailing painting mojo. There are also fewer than half a dozen units in most standard sized armies which makes finishing an army far more likely for me than the 200+ figures needed for many rule sets. All told, I am excited by the possibilities of these rules for three main periods, The Norman Conquest, The Wars of the Roses (very topical since Dickie Three was found not too long ago) and Tolkienesque Fantasy, like GW used to do before they went spiky. The Norman Conquest and Fantasy will need some working out beforehand but it should be easily done.

I will probably not be updating this blog too regularly, just when I have something to say or to show but as my interest in wargaming returns I hope to add in a few other games and historical periods. For now I will leave you with some photographs of my first completed unit - a unit of Expert Foot Serjeants (Billmen) in the service of Lord Henry Grey of Codnor, the local big nob around here.

Billmen - Perry Miniatures plastic War of the Roses Infantry.

Same lot from the back showing the badge on the back of the few livery coats.

Well that is it for now, I'm off to paint some bowmen, or maybe some Vikings...