Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 62.142.248.1

Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 6
Arthur’s troops have also been reduced and exhausted, so
the outcome of Badon remains in doubt.
The Saxons form scildburhs that shrink as the day passes,
creating bulwarks of dead men and horses. Arthur rides
near the Saxon lines: Aelle and his heorthwerod sally out
to kill him. The Saxons lose the melee, dying to the last
man. Arthur sends a herald to offer the Saxons surrender
terms. The Saxons reply with the herald’s severed head.
Cerdic surrenders when his command is overrun and surrounded,
but no other Saxon gives up while he still has
breath. Dead thegns lie in heaps. British archers, out of
arrows, finish off wounded heroes with their dirks. Only
when the last Saxon dies is the battle is over.
Arthur has lost more than half of his army, including
many knights and lords. No Briton is unwounded. No
vulture goes hungry.
Arthur rests a day, then puts the British dead in a massive
common grave. A mound is raised over the grave, and
Badon, Day Two
Modifiers
Arthur: +lo, Aelle -10:
Arthur on a hill +5
Arthur has superior troops +5
Battle length
Six Battle rounds
The Fight
Rounds 1-2: First charge, Saxon scildburhs keep the knights
at bay, with occasional British breakthroughs or Saxon
counterattacks.
Round 3: Aelle fights Arthur and dies. His heorthwerod
goes berserk, killing many knights before they join their
master. The remaining cynings reject Arthur’s truce.
Round 4: Cerdic of West Saexe captured by British troops,
while his heorthwerod fall on their swords or surrender in
disgrace. The other Saxon cynings sell themselves dearly,
killing many knights.
Round 5: As the last cyning falls, the remaining thegns and
ealdormen throw themselves heedlessly at the Britons.
Round 6: The Britons must kill each Saxon; none will surrender,
and each tries to take a welsh with him into Hel.
After the Battle
Victory: Arthur, decisive
Plunder: 10f of goods
Glory: 60 per round, x2 for decisive victory
the swords of the Saxons are made into a fence surrounding
it. Nearby, the Saxon dead are cremated, deforesting
the area.
The Battle of Badon: Tables
The Forces
Use these tables to decide which contingent (nation,
leader, troops) player characters will oppose at Badon.
For variety, you might change the opposing contingent
after ld6 Battle Rounds. For the last two days of Badon,
you might re-roll every round, as each army’s starting
organization deteriorates. Remember that Aelle loses his
non-Saxon allies at the end of Day Three.
The British table lists traditional foes for each contingent:
find Saxon foes by working backward from the British list.
Forces may be pitted against their traditional foes early in
the battle for tactical reasons: later, old rivals like the
Cambrians and the Irish may seek each other out, pursuing
their feud despite Arthur’s or Aelle’s intentions. You
might instead assign opposing forces based on the Battle
Narrative section of this chapter.
Unit Events Table
Use this table in place of the one in Pendragon, finding
modifiers from the left column if Saxon, the right column
if British. You might instead base Event modifiers on the
Battle Narrative section of this chapter.
Random Battle Enemies
Use these tables in place of the one in Pendragon. You can
also choose random enemies based on the Force tables
(use Picts if you are engaged with Picts), or on the Battle
Narrative section of this chapter.
Casualties
To find the minimum casualties suffered by a unit at
Badon. find its parent army on the Battle of Badon
Casualties table on page 96. Treat the d20 total as the
percentage of KV lost, taken first from footsoldiers and
ceorls. then from their betters. For player-led units,
Follower’s Fate Table (Pendragon page 261) losses are in
addition to this number.
Some survivors from a totally annihilated unit may fight
under another king. Most Cymric lords will join Arthur,
and most Saxons will join Aelle: these two kings should
roll 2d20 less than indicated, while King Barant and
Cyning Ossa should roll ld20 less.