BLOOD AND CROWNS... PUSHING BACK THE ENVELOPE!

I really enjoy Blood and Crowns but, to be honest, I'm not a massive fan of gaming the Hundred Years War! To play the game as written, would mean investing in a whole new load of figures and, probably, quite a lot of new terrain to go with it. I've already tried using the rules with my collection of late 12th century figures for the Great Revolt of Henry II's reign and they work seamlessly; some of the heavier armour of the Hundred Years War can be left out, as can the rules concerning the longbow, but all the fundamental game mechanics fit perfectly with the earlier period.

Today, I'm pushing back the clock another 650 years and using Blood and Crowns with my armies of Post Roman Britain! The heroic forces of Alt Clut and a band of bloodthirsty Scotti raiders encounter each other in Northern Britannia around the year 510 AD. Can a set of rules written for the Hundred Years War cope with all the peculiarities of the Age of Arthur? Hmm, I wonder!

Brother Flirtatius and his band of Pagenses stoutly prepare to defend the farmstead against the approaching hordes of despicable Scotti warriors. The Holy Man special character gives the unit a Favour Token of their own, to use when things get a little scary and a re-roll might just save the day.

Donnchad Luthmor, War Lord of Dal Riatta, and his beastly warband advance, comfortable in the belief that the lone unit of Pagenses are all that stand between them and the alluring delights of the farmstead.

However... beyond the farmstead, Lord Pellinore hastens to the aid of Brother Flirtatius, with his personal Teuli, a unit of Combrogi, archers and yet more Pagenses. To reflect the nature of warfare 800 years before the Hundred Years War, the Arthurians have the Special Rule, Shieldwall, which is similar to Brace and gives a bonus to the Save roll in both missile and melee combat situations.

Lord Pellinore and his band of brothers, with a string of factors of 5 and Shieldwall(1), Stalwart and Tough special rules. Not a unit to be taken lightly with mail armour, big shields and a barrel full of bad ass attitude.

Donnchad and his personal retinue are equally tough opposition, but their use of buckler shields means they don't have the option to form Shieldwall.

Let battle commence... the good brother inspires his quivering flock to hold fast against the wave of Scotti nastiness, which is about to crash against their rather flimsy fence!

The slings and more slings of outrageous fortune rain a shower of rocky missiles down upon the heads of the Pagenses, but they hold fast under the protective umbrella of Brother Flirtatius' fathomless faith.

Until the tsunami of Donnchad and his armoured swarm smash into the insubstantial wicker... will the Brother and his trembling band be able to hold against the ferocious onslaught?

Not when the Gods of the Dice are laughing in your face... three of the Pagenses go down, but they do manage to take one of the Scotti warriors with them...

Taking advantage of his initial success, Donnchad pushes his warriors on and another three Pagenses bite the dust, forcing the remaining two to fall back and their fatigue is more than they can bare... the brave Brother and his lone surviving companion break and flee the field, leaving it (the field) in the hands of the all conquering Scotti Warlord.

On the opposite side of the farmstead, Scotti warriors advanced against Lord Pellinore. They are Impetuous, Hard Chargers and Ruthless, with a melee factor of 5, which makes them potentially devastating in the charge, however, their lack of armour and small shields makes them incredibly vulnerable if they fail to get the upper hand in that initial contact.

Lord Pellinore had already formed his warriors into Shieldwall, making the Scotti effort to gain the upper hand that much more difficult.

The Scotti combat roll was stunning and it looked as though the Arthurians may well be overwhelmed in the initial combat...

The Arthurian response is equally exceptional and all but one of the hits were cancelled out, leaving the Scotti vulnerable to the counter-blow from Pellinore's warriors.

 
The Scotti lost half of their number in the Arthurian Fight-Back and were forced Fall Back following their Resolve Test.

With the tide turning against the Scotti Raiders, time ran out and the game was brought to an early close. Battle will resume however as I fight more actions between the Scotti and Alt Clut, bringing mounted forces into the action to see how they fare using Blood and Crowns rules.

Can you use Blood and Crowns with battles in the Age of Arthur? This was just one small game, but, on the basis of how this played out, the answer is definitely YES! Clearly, there are parts of the game that are not appropriate to Arthurian age games, but the basic systems involving activation, movement, combat combat outcomes work perfectly. So far, the only aspect of warfare in the earlier period that I've added to the original rules, is the use of the Shieldwall. In this game, the Arthurian Teuli gained hugely from being formed in Shieldwall, with the minus 1 to Save Rolls cutting their losses from three to one in the combat against the Scotti Warriors. It's not a lot of data to base a conclusion from, but it did what it was supposed to do... for an Arthurian unit with large shields, forming Shieldwall makes your defence more effective and it blunted the initial Scotti charge, making it very difficult for them to gain the upper hand. Forming Shieldwall is an action that costs more the lower a unit's experience level is, reflecting the complexity of carrying out the manoeuvre on the battlefield. I've also gone for a simple mechanic of the Shieldwall being broken following any movement at all; so if you decide to pursue or consolidate, for example, the Shieldwall would need to be reformed on the next activation. Becoming Shaken also causes the break up of the Shieldwall formation.

The future is looking good as far as I can see; Blood and Crowns has became my go to game; I love the systems it has for activation and combat and now I can get my Age of Arthur figures out on the table top and enjoy a game of Blood and Crowns with my favourite toy soldiers! And my other favourite toy soldiers... the ones from the 12th Century... who knows what might come next!