Dvx Britanniarum: Caravan to Onna

Another of my group's occasional games of Dvx Britanniarum. We had a go at the Raid on a Wagon Train scenario; a British caravan headed into the town of Onna (just outside modern Southampton) -see here for a previous game. The wagons by the way are from Irregular Miniatures, accompanied by porters from Essex. Here is the tale as told by Peredur one of the British leaders:

Saxons have been raiding our lands too freely of late. Our lord Constantine decided to accompany the caravan of supplies into Onna himself and asked me to go with him. We were almost there and I thought we would get home without trouble when we heard the Saxon horns and then Uffa and his men appeared through a gap in the hills.

Hastily Constantine  formed his companions and supporting milites into a shieldwall but as the Saxons closed he cunningly withdrew evading their initial fury. I formed my own men into a shieldwall to support him but before we could join the fray, Constantine took the fight to the Saxons and got the better of their hearthguard in the first blows.

I was torn between whether to stay and fight with Constantine or to keep moving toward the town with the caravan. In the end Constantine waved me to keep going so we broke our shieldwall and left the fight to him. Behind us we could hear the sounds of more battle as the the companions and hearthguard clashed again but I tried to concentrate on Onna, our goal. Soon I saw that Octavius and his levy had sallied forth from the town to cover us.

Uffa and Constantine clash while Peredur looks on

I thought we were there, but then Octavius signaled to me from the hill that more Saxon warriors were coming.  I saw they would soon be on the caravan. Octavius waved again; he was too far to catch them so I spurred my men on into their flank. It was a desperate struggle but we threw the Saxons back. Then beyond the Saxon warriors, I saw our boys with bows; they had been harrying the Saxons and now they loosed a final flurry of arrows, enough to dislodge our foes.

We had the edge now and the Saxons withdrew as our caravan nervously walked into the town. A little later later, Constantine arrived in town alone, pursued by Uffa's hearthguard. All of his companions had fallen and he himself had only escaped due to the selfless action of our champion, Conan; we drank much of the ale that was on the wagons in his memory.

The caravan makes it home to Onna

Another excellent game. The British companions and the warriors with them were soundly beaten by the Saxon hearthguard and the British morale was reduced to 1. However, the British were able to hold off the warriors threatening the caravan which sneaked home into town. Quite unusually this was a game where archers (British) made a real difference. The British do need a new champion, though.

My thanks to Derek & John (British) and Marcus & Phil (Saxons) who played the game in excellent spirit.