Who spilt my mead? - A Ravenfeast AAR
9th Century Norway. It started in Jarl Sten’s hall. The Rus Vikings of Jarl Radomir had been invited to feast, too much mead had been drunk, too many boasts made and then too many harsh words spoken. This had led to brawling and the men of Jarl Radomir had dishonoured their host. The only way this was to be settled was on the battle field and for there to be a Ravenfeast!
Norse - Jarl Sten the Unyielding, Huskarls x4, Berserker x1, Hirdmen x5, Bondi Archers x2, Bondi x6. 19 figures total of 447 points.
Rus - Jarl Radomir Thunder Axe, Huskarls x6, Berserker x1, Bondi Archers x3, Bondi x4, Thralls x3. 18 figures total of 450 points.
Turn One
Jarl Sten’s Norse win the Movement initiative and he moves his battle line forwards its maximum amount. The Rus also move up but some have their move reduced by the rough terrain.
All the missile armed troops have moved more than half their movement allowance, so there’s no missile fire in this round. No one is in melee and there’s’ been no casualties or need for any checks so that’s the end of the turn.
Turn Two
The Norse win the Movement initiative again. The main battle line moves forward but their movement is reduced by the rough terrain. The Norse Bondi archers hold their positions. The Rus move forward also impeded by the terrain and their missile troops also hold their positions.
Missile time! Both the Norwegian Bondi Archers miss with their attacks. It’s now the Rus’ turn. One of the Thralls hit the targeted Huskarl who fails his Armour roll so that’s a wound token applied to that figure. The Rus Archers fire at the Norse Berserker, hitting once but a roll for intervening cover saves the Berserker. That’s all the missile fire taken care of.
No one is in melee yet but one Huskarl has now been wounded. As he has the Tough attribute, he’s not removed from play but keeps the wound token. End of the turn.
Turn Three
The Rus gain the Initiative this time. They move slightly forward adjusting their line to give a continuous wall of iron. This also gives the Thralls nowhere to retreat in case they were thinking of slipping off! The Norse also advance but the ground makes them readjust their formation. The Norse Bondi spearmen form a two rank shield wall.
In this missile phase, the Rus Thralls all miss with their javelins. The Rus Archers fair better with two of the three of them hitting the Berserker. He deflects one hit but takes a Wound and is marked with a token. The Norse Archers both miss.
Still no melee so on to the End of Turn phase. The Berserker received a wound token so is removed from play. First blood to the Rus.
Turn Four
Once again the Rus gain the Initiative. The Bondi in shield wall move half their allowance forward. The Rus Huskarls move forward losing some of their allowance due to the terrain. The terrain is causing a bit of a problem for the Rus deployment. The Norse Huskarls charge into the Rus Bondi. The Norse Bondi move forward in Shield Wall towards the Rus Huskarls . The Norse Hirdmen move forwards.
Missile Phase. The Rus Archers can’t shoot as the Norse are in melee with Rus. The Thralls hurl another volley of javelins at the Norse Hirdmen but they all miss. The Norse Archers fire at the Rus Huskarls and also miss.
Melee phase. One Rus hits a Huskarl but his armour saves him. In reply the Huskarls led by Sten hit three times with only one of the Bondi successfully saving. Two wound tokens are applied to two Bondi. That’s the Melee over for this turn.
End of Turn phase. As they have each received a wound two of the Rus Bondi are removed from play. End of Turn.
Turn Five
The Initiative reverts to the Norse this time. Their Bondi Archers move to outflank the
Rus. The Bondi shield wall hold their
position as do the Hirdmen. The Huskarls will continue the melee. The Rus Huskarls move forward to attack the Norse Bondi shield wall. The Rus Jarl and Berserker move to support
their Bondi in melee with the Norse Huskarls .
The Rus Archers move round to try to find a target to shoot at. The Rus Thralls stay where they are with no
intention of getting involved.
In the Missile Phase the Norse Archers fire at the Rus Thralls hitting one who fails his armour save and takes a wound token. The Thralls lose more javelins at the Hirdmen but yet again fail to hit.
It’s Melee time. Jarl
Sten and his Huskarls press their attack on the Rus Bondi and their Jarl and two
of the Norse hit. The Save rolls
for the remaining Bondi and Berserker are all fails so they take wound
tokens. In response the Rus rolls are
feeble with only Jarl Radomir Thunder Axe hitting but even this is ineffectual
as his Huskarl opponent successfully saves.
Switching to the other side of the battleline, the two rank Norse Bondi shield wall attack but their dice are poor with only one hit which is shrugged off by the Rus Huskarl's armour. The Rus reply with two hits but as the Bondi are in shield wall they have increased Armour rating and the attacks fail to do any damage.
The final combat of the round is between a pair of Norse Hirdmen and Rus Huskarls. The Hirdmen hit twice with one wound inflicted on a Rus Huskarl and in response the Huskarls also cause one wound. This is worse for the Norse as that will be a fatality for them.
End of turn phase. There’s a bit to do now with one Norse Huskarl, the Rus Berserker, one Rus Thrall and two Rus Bondi to be removed from play due to wounds. The Rus are being whittled away.
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| The Raven's eye view |
Turn Six
The Initiative stays with the Norse this turn. Their Bondi Archers move slightly to get a
better line of sight on the Rus Thralls The Bondi shield wall stays in melee. The Hirdmen shuffle across so more of them
can engage the Rus. The Norse Huskarls move
forward with two engaging the Rus Thralls, and Jarl Sten and two others engaging
Jarl Radomir. The Rus Archers are the
only Rus warriors not engaged in melee and they move slightly to try to engage
the Norse with flanking fire.
Missile Phase. The
Rus Archers hit twice with their fire on the Norse Bondi shield wall. After the Save throws one hit is true and a
Bondi takes a wound token.
Melee Phase. The Norse
Bondi strike twice with the Rus Huskarls armour failing to save them. Two wound tokens applied. The Norse Hirdmen hit three times with two
attacks getting through. That’s another
two wounds applied across the Rus Huskarls.
Now they strike back with all six hitting. After all the saves are applied one Hirdman
is hit and one Bondi.
We cross to the other side of the battle One of the Rus Thralls is struck and takes a wound token. The Thralls fail to hit with their attacks. Jarl Sten misses with his attack but his two Huskarls hit one causing a wound. Jarl Radomir
hits Jarl Sten who fails his Armour roll and takes a hit. Both of the Jarls are wounded now.
It’s the end of the turn and there’s lots of tokens littering the table. The Rus lose one Thrall and one Huskarl with another three Huskarls and Jarl Radomir wounded. The Norse lose a Hirdman and two Bondi with their Jarl now wounded. The Rus are not far off needing to take Morale checks now
Turn Seven
The Norse retain the initiative. The Norse Archers move to attack the Rus Huskarls in the rear and the Rus Archers do the same to the Rus Huskarls.
There’s no missile fire this round with all troops in combat
so it’s straight into the melee action. The
Norse Bondi Shield Wall surges forwards and hits three times with one hit
getting through on the Rus Huskarls. The
reply is the same three hits and one wound caused. The Norse Hirdmen hit once but the Rus Huskarl successfully defend. His
response is to hit with a one rolled and the save roll is a six! Is it a Death Worthy of a Song? Alas, no as he misses with his free
attack! It’s still a wound on the Hirdman. The Norse Archers sneaky rear attack hits
once but it fails to do any damage.
In the other melee, Jarl Sten hits Jarl Radomir but his armour saves him. The response is the same. Distracted by the Jarl’s attack both Norse Huskarls slip in and both hit, one of them rolling a one. Both of the Rus Jarl’s save rolls are sixes
so he’ll suffer two wounds at the least.
The second Huskarl attack is a six, missing entirely. No Death Worthy of a Song again. The two other Huskarls both hit and the last
Thrall fails his armour save and is struck down. In the rear of the Huskarls two of the Rus
Archers hit with one getting through and that’s a wound token to a Huskarl.
There’s plenty to sort out in the End of Turn phase. One Norse Bondi and one Norse Hirdman have fallen and one Norse Huskarl has suffered a wound. On the Rus side it’s calamitous. One Huskarl and the last Thrall has fallen. But far worse is that Jarl Radomir has now accumulated three wounds and falls! All the Rus must now take Morale tests. All three Rus Archers fail and are marked with a Coward token. One of the Rus Huskarls fails and is marked but the other three pass.
Turn Eight
Unsurprisingly the Norse win the initiative this turn
The Rus Huskarl rallies in the Rally phase. One of the Rus Archers also rallies, but the other two
continue to run for the hills and are removed from the board.
In the Movement phase the Norse Huskarls led by Jarl Sten pursue the fleeing Rus Huskarl who has no choice but to enter melee.
A Norse Hirdman moves to support his comrade against a Rus Huskarl and
the melees continue.
The lone Rus Huskarl suffers a ferocious attack from Jarl Sten and his Huskarls who land a number of blows. In his last action he
manages one hit but it’s of no consequence failing to piece the Huskarl's armour.
In the combat of the Norse Hirdman and Bondi vs the Rus Huskarl the Hirdman hits but the Rus saves. The Rus is then hit by a Bondi and the Rus saves again. The same happens with the return attack. The Norse Archers’ rear attacks fail to do anything. After a flurry of blows nothing has changed.
The wounded Rus Huskarl is removed having now sustained two wounds. One Norse Hirdman is removed. As the Rus have taken more casualties they have to take another morale check which a Rus Huskarl fails and he takes a coward token.
Turn Nine
The Norse gain the initiative. The Rus Huskarl who fled in the last round
girds himself and passes his Rally test to return to the fray.
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| Jarl Sten and his surviving Huskarls |
Conclusion
Ravenfeast was released as a free set of rules by the Little Wars TV team to encourage new people into historical wargaming, therefore it uses simple mechanics. It's easy to learn and get a game going. Most importantly it gives an enjoyable game. There's enough in the system for experienced gamers and you could easily add in additional rules and troop types for other periods. I'd definitely play again.
It was great to get some of my old Gripping Beast collection of figures out and use them. These were the first 28mm figures I collected after I returned to wargaming around 97/98. Lots of these are the original Colin Patten sculpts from when GB was a tiny firm based in Ipswich. It's interesting to see how both the figures and company have grown and evolved over the years, as has my painting and basing. Many of these are painted in Humbrol enamels. Compared to the Victrix Dark Age figures I've recently been working on they seem very basic. However, I'd never get rid of them and would never repaint them. I'm very fond of them and they form a important part of my personal wargame story.
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