'On Bloody Ground' Dark Age Wargames rules - a first game.

 This week we tried a small game of a new set of rules specifically aimed at the Norman Conquest era in Britain called 'On Bloody Ground' produced by 'WiP Games and Miniatures'. At just £15 I think this is a well produced set of rules (and certainly cheaper than say taking my family to the cinema, so good value).  Also my order was promptly delivered within a couple of days, that is good service. 

So, having read through the rules a couple of times what do I think of them. The shooting and combat mechanics are very similar to 'Warhammer Ancient Battles' of 'WAB' (which is one of my all time favourite sets of rules) but On Bloody Ground has been developed beyond this to give a very period specific flavour to your games. The rules are clearly written although you do need to jump about a bit sometimes to find that rule you know you have read but just can't find. Happily there is an extensive contents page and index to help you. The rules don't come with a fast play sheet but these are available to print off for free online. The 'Momentum' device used in combat seems quite an inventive way to help settle who won a melee and I also liked the extra Command Points available to your army so you can interrupt the flow of play to try and gain an advantage. I was a little worried that the game is a figure removal set of rules, especially as we were playing with 15mm multi-based figures but as the writers themselves suggest we used casualty markers which worked just fine. Finally, our 15mm figures all being based in 2 ranks meant we could not deploy in 3 ranks which some of the varying weapon choices allow. However this would be easy to work around if we decide to adopt this set of rules as one of our regular sets by painting up a few extra bases of single ranked figures. I do have quite a lot of 28mm Dark Age figures too but these are all based in a variety of ways, something I need to sort out and re-base. 'WiP Games and Miniatures' are also producing some short you tube videos to talk players through the various stages of the rules which I have found quite helpful.  

So, how do the rules play? We set up a small game of just over 1100 points or several units per side (2,000 to 2,500 is recommended for a typical army).  Happily I had also just painted up a 15mm set of Saxon Village buildings from Forged in Battle. I really do prefer the deeply etched detail of resin buildings over mdf and these ones are full of character. I would also like to get some of their Viking ships, buildings and perhaps even their Norman Motte and Bailey. 

It was randomly decided that Ian would take charge of the Vikings (top of the photo) and I would be in charge of  the Saxons facing them. 

We were using quite small forces so we deployed just outside bow range and as we were playing in 15mm we used half an inch to represent each inch of movement and shooting. There are a variety of deployment options in the rule book but we just kept it simple as only I had read the rules. 

Initiative and movement were quite straightforward and we were soon into the game. Ian won the initiative roll but opted to let me go first. I sent my mounted scouts forward and over the following three turns they got shot to pieces and wiped out. Ian also had a small unit of light cavalry which he sent on a flanking manoeuvre (as he nearly always does). Ian's cavalry finally arrived right in the last turn. 

Over on my right flank Ian's Thrall's were skirmishing very effectively in the woods. In the end I chose to ignore them and just went for his formed units. 

Here comes Ian's light cavalry heading for the rear of some of my formed units. 

You may have spotted that a few of the figures look like fantasy Barbarians - we had to use these to make up numbers to get a decent sized game.  

Huge clash about to happen on the left flank. Happily for me, most of my troops emerged victorious. 

The red gems were used as counters to indicate how many 'orders' each commander had left. These orders allow the characters that players control to interrupt play with an extra move, shoot, charge etc..., a game mechanic that we both took advantage of but you have to use them wisely as you only get a few. . 

Last action of the game (turn 6) saw my Saxon Mercenary units of Freebooters defeat Ian's Hirdmen and capture his King. I had already captured his Ulfhednar Character. With my brave troops having destroyed nearly 3x as many points worth of troops as Ian's and his King captured it was a clear victory to my brave boys.

The white counters are to indicate 'momentum' in melee and things were going my way. 

The numbered counters were our way of keeping score of casualties and that seemed to work well. 

So, having played a game what did we think of the rules. Movement, melee and shooting seem quite straightforward although we did struggle a little with actual combat results at first. We did have a few questions, even asking one of the authors mid game and were delighted to get a response with the answer just a few minutes later. Once I have absorbed the game a little more I shall ask David (one of the co-authors) a few more questions. 

Overall we both enjoyed the game and plan to play again next week, perhaps with slightly enlarged armies.