Ambush at Bruthweald - Part 2

See Part 1 of this Battle Report for scenario, terrain setup and objectives here

To start the engagement, Lord Uhtred led the Saxons across the bridge, intent on destroying the hated foe in the village (click for bigger pics.  Note: Sorry about the pics - there was a blackout when we played the game, so the lighting wasn't very good.))

The Vikings setup with some initial forces pushing around the looted baggage, with some men, including the sorcerer, in cover.

With the Viking reinforcements hidden in the woods to the south, the Vikingr could only steel themselves to absorb the fury of the initial Saxon rush

All did not go so well for the Northmen this time, with several men crushed by superior Saxon numbers.  Even the sorcerer went down with a spear in his gullet.  Then the sound of war horns drew everyone's attention to the woods as a ragged but fearsome line of raiders emerged:

Closing time at the Pubs pushed Olaf's lads out into the cold - and they were angry!

ooh-err: thats a whopper!  The raven banner flies proudly as the Northmen spring their trap

But the Saxons had time to redeploy to meet the oncoming foe, especially as the charge was slowed by the crop fields.  Several more viking were felled by arrows including a fearsome Berserk;

Its only a few measly Saxons lads- have at 'em!

Hmmm...there seems to be a few less of here now...

Meanwhile, the Lad had an archer up next to the Church who was giving a rather remarkable demonstration - he felled four archers  with his arrows - an hitherto unseen lethality at medium to long range.  Ken had dispatched a trio of men to investigate the mysterious statue in the forest.

Cthulhu fhtagn!

Upon arrival, they searched for valuables, but in gazing upon the old one's visage, their minds were assaulted by unspeakable horror - one cracked up, one gained berserk fury, and the other is now mildly insane! (we rolled on the psychological war wounds table for each!)  However, they did gain a valuable artifact (a small Cthulhu idol) to add to the raid booty.

Back at the main line of battle, some of my warband shifted to the left flank to take the bridge, cutting off the Saxons retreat, and all became a whirling swirl of melee.

Hack-Slash-Chop: a good day out in the Dark Ages!

The Battle as seen from Chapel Hill (note the idol on the wagon on the extreme left)

But with their retreat cut off, and being pressed form both sides, the Saxons broke and dispersed into the swamps.  They had bloodied the Vikings but failed to drive them off, but at least the Church was intact.

As the so-called Arthur King would later say: Run Away!

Meanwhile the Vikings were victorious, but it was a costly battle and many casualties had been taken (including my very expensive Berzerker I might add).  The dead were stripped of weapons and armour and the Norsemen made their way back to their ships.