The Road from Fulford.
The Road from Fulford.
First off, thanks to everyone who took part in the Battle of Fulford collaborative project, and thanks to Job for the loan of a mat. Even though the Saxons got a severe beating (which was historically the case), I had a lot of fun with this from start to finish. Assembling and building a horde of Dark Age warriors was surprisingly easy and seeing the two massed armies squared off on the table was awesome. The game played fairly quickly and even the players taking up Hail Caesar for the first time seemed to get the gist of the rules pretty early in the game. HC may not be the most in-depth set of rules, but it handles big games with a minimum of fuss.
So, with Fulford done, the Anglo-saxon earls of Mercia and Northumbria defeated and York in the hands of Hardrada's triumphant Vikings, let's have a chat about what comes next.
I'm keen to keep playing Saga, and will probably upgrade to the 2nd edition in the near future. There are no problems with 1st edition, but the new books look gorgeous and I'm a sucker for eye-candy. I imagine Saga will be a regular game for me at Joshin so long as I can get an opponent or two, as it doesn't need particularly big armies or a large gaming space.
Historically The Battle of Fulford was followed by the Battle of Stamford Bridge. This time around the roles of attacker and defender were reversed, with the Anglo-saxon force under Harold Godwinson achieving near total surprise on the Vikings outside York. While Fulford was some 6000 Vikings vs. 5000 Saxons, Stamford was much larger. Hardrada's force is estimated to have been about 9000 in total and Harold's Saxon army was even larger, somewhere north of 10,000. I'm very keen to try a Stamford Bridge game in the future, but it would probably require more time and effort on the part of the Fulford group (sans Yellowstreak, who is leading his hirdmen off to explore the rumours of even further shores). Using the same ratios as Fulford, we'd be looking at around 360 Vikings and about 400+ Saxons between us. Obviously new players would be welcome to join in if they wanted, which would take some of the load off. Stamford was followed a mere three weeks later by the Battle of Hastings, which saw the Saxon army face down Duke William's Normans. After that, there were smaller, but still significant battles as the Normans took control of the country and a couple more invasions by Viking forces. So there are more opportunities for Dark Age battles in the British Isles.
Finally, this project was started as a way to get a group of people all working on the same era and focussed on a particular battle. By that definition, it was a success and we managed to get a good, big game out of it as well as several smaller skirmishes with Saga. At some stage in the future, maybe it would be good to do something like this again? We had a lot of great ideas floated about during the discussion phase, and I'm sure that people have had even more wild notions and crazy inspirations for periods, armies and eras since then. If people want to do this again, I'd be keen!
Well, that's enough from me, over to you. Whether you were a Fulforder or just a bystander, what do you think comes next? What would you like to try?
So, with Fulford done, the Anglo-saxon earls of Mercia and Northumbria defeated and York in the hands of Hardrada's triumphant Vikings, let's have a chat about what comes next.
I'm keen to keep playing Saga, and will probably upgrade to the 2nd edition in the near future. There are no problems with 1st edition, but the new books look gorgeous and I'm a sucker for eye-candy. I imagine Saga will be a regular game for me at Joshin so long as I can get an opponent or two, as it doesn't need particularly big armies or a large gaming space.
Historically The Battle of Fulford was followed by the Battle of Stamford Bridge. This time around the roles of attacker and defender were reversed, with the Anglo-saxon force under Harold Godwinson achieving near total surprise on the Vikings outside York. While Fulford was some 6000 Vikings vs. 5000 Saxons, Stamford was much larger. Hardrada's force is estimated to have been about 9000 in total and Harold's Saxon army was even larger, somewhere north of 10,000. I'm very keen to try a Stamford Bridge game in the future, but it would probably require more time and effort on the part of the Fulford group (sans Yellowstreak, who is leading his hirdmen off to explore the rumours of even further shores). Using the same ratios as Fulford, we'd be looking at around 360 Vikings and about 400+ Saxons between us. Obviously new players would be welcome to join in if they wanted, which would take some of the load off. Stamford was followed a mere three weeks later by the Battle of Hastings, which saw the Saxon army face down Duke William's Normans. After that, there were smaller, but still significant battles as the Normans took control of the country and a couple more invasions by Viking forces. So there are more opportunities for Dark Age battles in the British Isles.
Finally, this project was started as a way to get a group of people all working on the same era and focussed on a particular battle. By that definition, it was a success and we managed to get a good, big game out of it as well as several smaller skirmishes with Saga. At some stage in the future, maybe it would be good to do something like this again? We had a lot of great ideas floated about during the discussion phase, and I'm sure that people have had even more wild notions and crazy inspirations for periods, armies and eras since then. If people want to do this again, I'd be keen!
Well, that's enough from me, over to you. Whether you were a Fulforder or just a bystander, what do you think comes next? What would you like to try?
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: The Road from Fulford.
Personally, I mentioned Stamford Bridge because I've always had an interest in the battle. It may just be a case of seeing all the models on a table that suddenly piques my interest, but I'd be interested in joining a sequel.
Unfortunately the same limitation exists for me as before: time. Between work and family life I have less time for painting miniatures. With enough planning into the timing of a future event, I may be able to assemble the needed models (or compensate a local willing to help out).
Unfortunately the same limitation exists for me as before: time. Between work and family life I have less time for painting miniatures. With enough planning into the timing of a future event, I may be able to assemble the needed models (or compensate a local willing to help out).
Models Painted, 2020
70 28mm miniatureS
70 28mm miniatureS
Re: The Road from Fulford.
I can't see a Stamford game happening anytime soon. From when we settled on Fulford to the game itself was just over 1 year, (though that wasn't the only thing anyone was working on in that time).job wrote:Personally, I mentioned Stamford Bridge because I've always had an interest in the battle. It may just be a case of seeing all the models on a table that suddenly piques my interest, but I'd be interested in joining a sequel.
Unfortunately the same limitation exists for me as before: time. Between work and family life I have less time for painting miniatures. With enough planning into the timing of a future event, I may be able to assemble the needed models (or compensate a local willing to help out).
I'd be happy to help out with assembly/painting of minis if need be, though I do have quite a few minis of my own to do.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
- The Other Dave
- Destroyer of Worlds
- Posts: 5117
- Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 3:46 am
- Location: Nagoya
- Contact:
Re: The Road from Fulford.
I'd be happy to take part (and paint up the 2 units I somehow forgot I hadn't for Fulford ).
I'm pretty much in it just for the hanging out, ragging on Mike, and rolling dice though, so I don't have much to say on questions of "which historical battle should we focus on and how should we model it" - the Fulford event was fun, Hail Caesar is a good ruleset (it helps that it was designed explicitly to be playable while getting liquored up at the Perry brothers' house), and I don't really have all that much feedback to give, but count me in for round 2!
I'm pretty much in it just for the hanging out, ragging on Mike, and rolling dice though, so I don't have much to say on questions of "which historical battle should we focus on and how should we model it" - the Fulford event was fun, Hail Caesar is a good ruleset (it helps that it was designed explicitly to be playable while getting liquored up at the Perry brothers' house), and I don't really have all that much feedback to give, but count me in for round 2!
Feel free to call me Dave!
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Miniatures painted in 2023: 252
Miniatures painted in 2024:
Epic scale: 9 vehicles, 56 stands of infantry, a whole buncha terrain
32mm-ish: 17 infantry
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Miniatures painted in 2023: 252
Miniatures painted in 2024:
Epic scale: 9 vehicles, 56 stands of infantry, a whole buncha terrain
32mm-ish: 17 infantry
Re: The Road from Fulford.
Could you give me a chance to revenge Vikings?
Re: The Road from Fulford.
Hmm...how about an ancient history theme, maybe Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC? I'd be keen to paint some Spartans. Just an idea.
- YellowStreak
- Legend
- Posts: 1358
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:57 pm
- Location: Nagoya
Re: The Road from Fulford.
I’m sorry I won’t be there to take part, but look forward to the photos!
So many games, so little time....
Building a pile of shame since 1983
Building a pile of shame since 1983
Re: The Road from Fulford.
@Yellowstreak - You got it. I try and take photos of all of the big events, though I sometimes forget to post them.
@Kojibear - Spartans eh? Ancient Greeks are something I haven't really looked into much. Until now...
@Komura - We'll have our revenge, don't worry.
@Kojibear - Spartans eh? Ancient Greeks are something I haven't really looked into much. Until now...
@Komura - We'll have our revenge, don't worry.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450