Raiding Season Week #6

This week the Normans raided the Holy Ground sector so the aim of the scenario was to try and hold the terrain pieces with victory points being awarded for holding a piece at the start of your move. This means you build up the points over the course of the seven turns to work out who is the victor.
The Normans started with a wide deployment and the Rus the normal 'pagan clump', both sides fielding the same armies as last week.

Both sides occupied the closest terrain piece on the first turn with the Normans choosing a hill for their side and the Rus a forest, this left the central hill unoccupied.

The Normans opened the combat with a charge by mounted Hearthguard in the centre on the largest Rus warrior unit which was repulsed with greater casualties on the Norman side. As the Normans did not start the move on the hill ( only ended on it ) they could not claim any VP's for the hill.

The Rus then moved onto the hill with the Normans opting to make a reaction move to get the Hearthguard to safety. This left a Warrior unit in charge range of the Rus who charged in and they almost managed to wipe the Normans out. With the Norman unit being below the three man threshold the Normans also lost a SAGA dice generation.

On the Norman left the mercenary Gall-Gaedhill stood watch opposite the Rus mercenary Scouts with neither side moving forwards. On the Norman right they charged from the hill and into the Rus warrior foot causing several casualties with the Rus being forced to retreat.

The Rus then charged back and whilst they were reduced to two men the Normans also suffered enough casualties to take them down to three remaining warriors. This meant that the Normans now only generated 4 SAGA dice each turn to the Rus's 5, with the Rus being more on the defensive.

On the Rus right it was all quiet as the Normans could not generate enough dice to make a decisive advance and the Rus started to use Frozen Winter to add fatigue and Blizzard to create areas of rough terrain the Norman cavalry did not want to enter.

 On the left the Normans wiped out the last of one Rus Warrior unit and looked to go around the Rus entrenched on the central hill.

This they did but again lacked the numbers to force the Rus off the terrain so could not stop the Rus from claiming a victory.

 The key to the Rus victory was claiming the second objective early and then tieing down the Normans so they could not get a good charge off so they could build a lead on the VP's. We did  not need to play the last turn as the Normans could not catch the Rus up. They did however claim the secondary objective so get a bonus roll next battle.

This leaves the scores very close with the Normans only getting one more choice of raiding square before the need to decide if they will stay for the Defend the Barricades scenario.

This week I also completed a few more of my Mythic Battles models with Athena and Aphrodite joining the Gods, Medusa joining the monsters and a troop of Hoplites joining the throng.

The Hoplites were the last unit I needed to complete the started battle forces and Athena sports Medusa's head on her shield so it was fitting to do them both at the same time.