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.