Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 62.142.248.1

Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 6
Badon, Day One
Modifiers
Arthur: +5, Aelle -5
Arthur outnumbered -5
Arthur on a hill +5
Arthur’s superior troops +5
Battle length
Eight Battle Rounds (two at night)
The Fight
Rounds 1-3: First Charge. The Saxons storm up Badon hill.
Cambrian bowmen trade salvoes with their Saxon counterparts.
Knights charge scildburhs. Saxon warriors try to drag
timbers and archers down from the breastworks. Furious
melees swirl around weak spots in the wall.
Round 4: Another Charge: Arthur Criticals his Battle Roll,
while Aelle Fumbles. Arthur’s hidden de Canis knights and
Round Table reserves charge the unprepared Saxons. Many
thegns die, and the Saxon army grudgingly falls back down
the hill.
Rounds 5-6: The Saxon retreat continues. Night falls: still
the knights attack.
Rounds 7-8: The Saxons form scildburhs at the base of the
hill and spend a sleepless night harassed by horsemen. All
characters suffer -10 from the darkness.
Day 3 - The Battle of Badon: Day One
“Barbury Castle” is two massive ramparts, separated by a
deep ditch. encircling the upper third of the gentle, accessible
Badon Hill. Two gates (east and west) break the circle
of ramparts. Arthur’s reinforced army has made hasty
breastworks around the inner rampart. Inside the fort,
Arthur places a cavalry reserve - mostly Round Table
knights - under his personal command, and mans the
outer rampart with footmen and archers. He places de
Canis knights and other still-mounted men behind a copse
of trees to the west.
The Saxons arrive not long after sunrise, and storm the
fort from the east and north. Arrows from both sides arc
out to kill and wound. Knights harry the flanks of the
Saxon columns, but cannot slow their advance. The first
line of earthworks falls, and the Saxons begin to assault
the improved inner ring. As more and more Saxons pour
up the hill, Arthur signals his hidden knights to charge.
They hit the Saxons from both flanks. carving their way
into the fyrd. At the same time, Arthur leads a charge of
his best knights through the east gate.
Hundreds of Saxons die, and the remainder slowly retreat
down Badon to form scildburhs at its base, fighting off
mounted knights and enduring a rain of arrows. The
attacks continue into the night, forcing the Saxons to stay
alert while most of Arthur’s army sleeps on the hill above.
After the Battle
The Irish, Picts, and French desert Aelle. Many French
never reach the Channel, either submitting to Britons as
vassals or becoming the bandit-knights that players will
fight in the middle phases of Arthur’s reign. Many ceorls
desert as well; those that stay behind enter the heorthwerods
of various cynings, made thegns on the spot.
Every remaining Saxon is now well equipped. Spare
weapons and shields are gathered and placed in strategic
positions.
Player Hooks
With the foreigners gone, many ceorls gone, and many
thegns dead, players might now command major parts of
the Saxon army.
Day Four - The Battle of Badon: Day Two
Dawn reveals slopes strewn with dead and wounded
warriors. Every man left in the Saxon camp - now a
quarter of its former size - is a thegn or a cyning. armed
with scavenged mail, helm, shield, and javelins. They are
not the kind to flee a glorious, hopeless battle. Yet