Battle of Fulford Gate 1066 AAR - Impetus 2

A few sessions ago we went back to the Dark Ages and the least well know of the Trilogy of 1066 Invasion of Britain battles, the Battle of Fulford Gate! We used Impetus II to play this scenario! George and Rolf controlled the Vikings whilst Maurice and I handled the Anglo Saxons. The full scenario details are included.

The Anglo Saxon Leaders Morcar and Edwin...

The Armies...

Viking Army (VD 22/34)
Tostig Godwinson AKA George (VD 11)       King Hardrada AKA Rolf (VD 11)
1 x Hird                                                         1 x Huscarl
2 x Irish                                                         3 x Hird
2 x Raiders                                                   1 x Skirmish Bowman SB (B)
2 x Skirmish Bowman SB (B)                       1 x Skirmish Javelin
1 x Skirmish Javelin
 
Reserve for King Hardrada (VD 12) (on table edge by River Ouse 4 turns after the first turn featuring a melee initiated by the Anglo Saxons)
4 x Huscarl
 
Anglo Saxon Army (VD 25)
 
Earl Edwin AKA Maurice (VD 14)                  Earl Morcar AKA Pete (VD 11)
2 x Hird                                                          3 x Selected Fryd
3 x Selected Fryd                                          2 x Greater Fryd
1 x Greater Fryd                                            2 x Skirmish Bowman SB (B)
1 x Skirmish Bowman SB (B)                        1 x Skirmish Javelin

Deployment Picture

Tabletop

180cm x 120cm

River Ouse is at one short edge with a Swamp on its bank

A Swamp on the other short edge

A Road across the table centre long edge to long edge

Stream, Germany Beck across the table short edge, swamp to the River Ouse

Fords at the Road crossing and 2 BWs from the Swamp on Stream

Fords can be crossed without Disorder

The River Ouse can not be entered by Units

The Stream and Swamp Disorder Units

Unit Bases are 12cm

Anglo Saxons to Left

Earl Edwin deployed between the River and the Road

Earl Morcar deployed between the Road and the Swamp

Vikings to the Right

King Hardrada deployed between the River and the Road

Tostig Godwinson deployed between the River and the Road

 
Victory Conditions...
 
Anglo Saxons Win a Marginal Victory breaking the Viking army
Anglo Saxons Win a Major Victory breaking the Viking army with at least ONE Unit South of the Germany Beck
Vikings Win a Marginal Victory breaking the Anglo-Saxon army
Vikings Win a Major Victory breaking the Anglo Saxons army with at least ONE Unit North of the Germany Beck
 
Special Rules...

Shield Wall if used as a reaction requires a test and will FAIL on a roll of ‘1’, no shield walls allowed on first turn of close combat/melee (not shooting) in the game.
Breakpoints is by Army only.
Anglo Saxon Army Break Point Value is 16
Viking Army Break Point value before Reinforcements is 12
Viking Army Break Point value before once Reinforced is 18
Vikings may only form Groups of like named Units ie. Raiders, Irish etc
Vikings Units must advance northward at least 1 full move each of the first 3 turns, they need not attack
The Vikings initial Huscarl Unit may not attack until the other Huscarl Reinforcements arrive, it may advance northwards but not into the ZOC of an Anglo-Saxon Unit, it defends normally it can form a shield wall if attacked and it can’t pursue if successful in combat

The AAR...

The Leaders of Anglo Saxons seeing the Vikings deploying toward the Fulford from the south decided to take the initiative and attack them across the Germany Beck before they were fully organised! Meanwhile King Hardrada moved his army north to the Germany Beck there he planned to halt and await his heavily armoured Huscarls who were still unloading from the Viking  long boats to the south, but his plans were thrown into chaos when a Viking scout signalled that the enemy were attacking across the stream!

Earl Edwin with his strong force astride the River Ouse had taken the lead and advanced quickly to come to grips with the invaders south of the stream, meanwhile Earl Morcar manoeuvred to pin the Vikings right while Edwin used his superior numbers to break through!

The Vikings skirmishers drew first blood dispersing most of Edwin's archers drawing the Anglo Saxons supporting Greater Fyrd forward into combat with Tostig's superior fighters this led to high losses amongst the Fyrd!

Morcar's Warriors eagerly pushed across the Germany Beck and hammered King Hardrada's Vikings! A series of close combats ensued that favoured the Anglo Saxons and they slowly ground down the Vikings facing them. The men from the North were pushed to the limit and within a whisker of breaking as Morcar's axe wielding fighter took out many Vikings!

Despite Morcar’s successes the Battle was at this point being decided on the Anglo Saxons Left as Tostig decisively defeated Earl Edwin's poorer quality Fyrd with his Raiders and Irishmen. He then turned his men to strike at Morcar’s flank and support King Hardrada’s beleaguered forces.

With his flank in peril Earl Morcar launched a final grand charge to break through King Hardrada's thinning shield wall, unfortunately this attack was unsuccessful, this failure plus the arrival from the Viking boats of Hardrada's Huscarls ensured a victory for the invaders! The Anglo Saxons were broken and fled from the field!

Some Pictures...

The opposing armies face off Anglo Saxons to the left and Vikings to the right!

Earl Edwin...

The Anglo Saxon right advances...

...as does its left!

King Hardrada's Vikings prepare to accept combat with the oncoming Anglo Saxons.

Tostig's Command holds off the advancing Fyrd at a frightful cost.

Hardrada's men take heavy losses from the Anglo Saxons of Earl Edwin and fall back from the Germany Beck.

Morcar's weaker forces begin to crumble before hammer blows from the Viking right wing!

Earl Morcar's last effective force of Fyrd try to support the left flank of earl Edwin's rampaging men...

The Fyrd on the extreme right of the Anglo Saxons line advance!

Viking reinforcements arrive just in the nick of time to save King Hardrada's Army!

The Anglo Saxons remaining units fall back as the fresh Viking Huscarls advance, the battle is over!

Comments...

A near run thing indeed, the Anglo Saxons stronger right (Maurice) did very well and were a Unit away from breaking the initial Viking force! Once the Viking reinforcements arrived the game was up for the Anglo Saxons (as it was historically)! The scenario played out well, the Anglo Saxons have two options; the short game trying to break the Vikings early (which we tried) or the long game hope to break the Vikings defending the Germany Beck and try for minor victory. Again Impetus rules worked great! We really enjoyed playing it hopefully others may give this a try and let us know how it plays out for them!

Impetus Ancients AAR - 'TSOG Christmas Game 2025'

Well 2025 went like a shot and we're already in February for 2026 my where does the time go? Actually I've read an interesting article on how time seems to go quicker the older you get but I won't bore you with that on the TSOG Blog! Okay went with an old favourite scenario of mine there's a central objective and you need to have a unit within a set distance of it (in this case 2 Base Widths) when you break your opponents Army, it works well to get both sides moving so you can't just sit back and defend! Note if you break your opposition while not close enough to the objective the games ends in a DRAW! This time we had Romans and Barbarians in play using Impetus rules!

Our Christmas themed objective can just be made out in the centre of the battlefield ss the armies advance! A pretty tenuous Christmas link I know but worked for us...

Forces

Romans (Maurice & Pete)

2 x Reliable Leaders

6 x FP Legionary Units

2 x Auxilia Units

4 x S Bowman/Slinger Units

2 x CM Cavalry

2 x CL Cavalry

Off Table Reserve

2 x Auxilia Units

The Barbarians (George)

2 X Reliable Leaders

14 x FP Impetuous warrior Units

6 x S Slinger/Bowman Units

6 x CM Cavalry Units

AAR

This was a pretty balanced all in fight!

Both sides were required to advance to secure victory so there was no hanging around. The Barbarians acted as a single force advancing along the whole line whilst Roman Consuls Maurice and Peter both tried different tactics!

In the early turns the Roman Left handily destroyed the Barbarian Cavalry guarding their opponents flank and then moved into a line near the objective and awaited the Barbarians, meanwhile the Roman Right charged the Barbarians but their Units ran out of steam and did not make contact with their foes leaving their Legionaries with no skirmisher screen.

The Barbarians then launched a barrage of missile fire at the Romans and charged home! During the next three turns there was continuous combat along the whole line! The Roman Left held firm and pushed the attacking masses back with grievous casualties but the Barbarians inflicted losses on the Roman Left pushing it back and they came within a whisker of breaking the line!

With a reserve Unit moving up to assist Consul Maurice, the Roman Left destroyed the Barbarians facing them (eg broke them) which was enough to put the entire Barbarian army into flight!

A Great Roma Victory, well just...

Some Pictures

The Armies advance the Romans are to the right, Barbarians the left...

Surprisingly the Roman Horse on their extreme Left brush the Barbarian Horse aside... 

allowing them to focus their attention on the Foot Warriors!

The Barbarian Left taunts their Roman foes, it works and draws them forward!

The Roman Right Brazenly Charges but falls short of the Barbarian line!

Uh Oh...

The Barbarians unleash their fury on the stalled Roman Right Wing!

It is not long before the Roman Right's line buckles and losses are taken!

On the other flank of the battlefield the Roman and Barbarian lines meet, the advantage here though was with the romans as they had dispersed the Barbarian's horsemen! It only took a couple of turns and the Men of the Tiber put these fellows to the Sword and their leader fled in his chariot!

The Roman Right with a Unit of reinforcements holds their foes long enough for the battle to be decided on their other flank (above)!

Quickly Maurice  dash of a victory note to the Senate!

My favourite barbarian Unit, they had no Standard/Banner so I grabbed a chook from the Warlord Farm animal set, they worship the sacred God of Poulette...they performed well in this game!

Summary

So another Roman Victory but only just this time, their Right Wing was close to breaking when the Barbarian Right broke! It was a no brainer not to continue even with the Roman Right teetering their Left was virtually intact, wisely the remaining Barbarians withdrew! We are pretty happy now that we have reached a balanced forces for the Roman and Barbarians, we have found that trying to make balanced points armies with the Romans and Gauls etc lists never gives the non Roman a chance, perhaps these Rules were written by an Italian! 😁 Next time we may forget the Command Morale and just use Army Total Morale Rules this works well with our Dark Ages games giving longer and closer results with those armies?

Battle of Northam 1069 AAR - Impetus 2 Rules

Last Monday we gathered on a cold evening to recreate the battle of Northam from 1069 on our tabletop. We used my 28mm sized figures and Impetus 2 Rules.

A quick summary of what is known of the actual Battle;

It was fought in June 1069 near ironically Northam. The sons of King Harold landed on the Devon coast with an invading force to reclaim their father’s crown the army was backed by Diarmait High King of Ireland. The defending army was made up of Normans, Bretons and Anglo Saxons led by Brian of Brittany who had fought with William. There were actually two battles during the day, an initial one was a raiding skirmish encounter then there was major action where the Brothers defended their boats while awaiting the tide (this is the battle we’re covering). The battle was bloody and a draw. The brothers withdrew on their boats and vanished from history last heard of in Denmark after losing the support of their Irish patrons…

Brian of Brittany urging his men forward...

The Forces;

The Godwinsons, Edmund & Godwine's Anglo Saxon Irish
Edmund Godwinson Reliable 4H Command
Godwine Godwinson Reliable 4H Command
2 x Huscarls
5 x Select Fyrd
4 x Irish Foot
2 x Archers
3 x Skirmishers

Norman Brenton Anglo Saxon Army
Brian of Brittany Reliable 4H Command
William de Vauville Reliable 4H Command
3 x Brenton Horse
4 x Brenton Heavy Infantry
2 x Brenton Javelinmen
3 x Select Fyrd
3 x Greater Fyrd
3 x Archers

Victory Conditions;

The Normans must capture the road edge behind the Godwinson Brother's Raiders for a Total Victory they score a Minor Victory Breaking the Raiders Army.

The Godwinson Brothers gain a Victory by Breaking the Norman Army.

Note - ignore Command Morale only monitor Army Morale for both sides.

Game Length; 8 Turn

The AAR;

Both sides faced off across a valley near Northam on that fateful June day in 1069, there were only a few hours of daylight left and the fate of William’s fledgling Kingdom hung in the balance! The Leaders of both great hosts ordered them to advance and it was not long before archers and javelin men were exchanging fire.

The Brenton Horsemen on Brian of Brittany’s right were sent a missive to turn the flank of the Raiders Army and end the battle swiftly so they charged forward! The long spear armed Anglo Saxons facing them under the direct leadership of Edmund Godwinson cunningly deployed so the mass of horsemen was broken up and hit multiple bands of warriors at the same time! The great surge of the Brenton Knights broke like a wave hitting the shore, many fell to the rabid spearman who drove them back! This one action smashed the Brenton Horsemen and they were no longer strong enough to play any decisive part in the battle, spent they retired under pressure to play little part in the rest of the battle spending it screening the Norman Army’s right!

Brian though dismayed at his setback urged his line of foot forward aware that William de Vauville's flank of his army were already in action against the invaders right wing!

After seeing off the Brenton Knights the Godwinson Brothers were confident they could defeat the enemy before them and pressed the advantage on their left with Edmund’s personal Body Guard leading the way! A grinding clash of shield walls occurred in the centre of the line with the Normans slowly giving way.

William de Vauville now proved his metal and launched his extreme left at Godwine’s flank, led by archers the local Fyrd had great success pushing back the Irishmen guarding this part of the Godwinson’s line! Gritty hard fought melees were now occurring all along the line and both sides believed they were on the brink of victory!

The whole battle line started to pivot around the central units, the Norman right pulling back while their left advanced! The fighting continued with heavy losses on both sides niether would break though!

The light was failing with the two battered lines still fighting and with darkness the fighting subsided. Brian of Brittany had failed to destroy the Raiders and capture their ships but importantly he was not defeated, King Harold’s Sons had not been defeated but their grievous losses and failure to establish a base for themselves on mainland England meant their attempt to regain their Father’s Crown was over, for now!

A DRAW!

The Raiding Anglo Saxon Irish Army lost 9 VDs 6 short of breaking

The Norman Brenton Anglo Saxon Army lost 10 VDs 4 short of breaking

Some Pictures;

Our Battlefield Raiders to the right and the Normans to the left…

Both sides advanced…

Edmund’s flank troops watch the Brenton Knights approach with confidence!

A few final taunts are exchanged before the biffo begins…

The Brenton Horse find their charge contacts multiple foot units thanks to Edmund’s clever deployment! They are soundly defeated!

The Horsemen are repulsed and Edmund’s foot soldiers attack them in turn!

Long Spears are useful against mounted troops as the Brentons found at great cost!

The overall situation after Brian’s failed attempt to roll up the Godwinson Brothers army with a great cavalry charge…

William de Vauville's local troops advanced on Godwine's Raiders with success!

The Brenton Foot form a line and move out, to the right their Horsemen can be seen under attack from Edmund's Spearmen...

Godwine's Body Guard engages and defeat some Fyrd...

...while more of his warriors come to grips with a Band of Select Fyrd they were not so fortunate!

de Vauville begin his attempt to turn Godwine's flank, but the sun was setting and time was running out!

All the while on the Raiders other flank they press the Brentons back!

The Brenton Knights continued to withdrew before the Raiding Forces!

With darkness gathering Godwine's Body Guard take a pounding from a second Band of Anglo Saxons!

The back and forth continued as a group of the Godwinson Brothers Irish grind more Brenton Heavy Infantry into the Ground! Despite losses both armies continue to fight on the action only  ceased with night falling.

Summary;

Well this was a hum dinger of a game, I planned for eight game turns but added a ninth on the night to see if the battle could be resolved, that didn’t help, it was definitely a bloody draw! We recreated history to a tee! The rules played well and we completed the game in around two and a half hours giving us a time for coffee and a chat. Everyone walked away having enjoyed the night!

Next time I think we’ll be play a Napoleonic scenario using Blucher Rules.

Romans vs Barbarians - Impetus 2 AAR

Still on catch-ups this time a game from May 2025 featuring Romans and ‘Barbarians’ using Impetus 2 rules!

I don’t have the exact OBs for this clash but we started with two balanced forces per side from the Impetus lists and then removed two bases from the Roman line up and added a few bases to the Barbarians side! Yeah so far with balanced lists we haven’t been able to beat the formidable Roman Legionaries! The ‘removed’ Roman bases were available as reinforcements to them during the game if they got into a tight spot.

The Game;

Both sides set up in traditional ancients style, foot in the centre with some light troops screening them and horse on the flanks. The Barbarians took advantage of the large units option, these are less mobile but give the unit more hitting power and resilience.

Both sides advanced their horse units on both flanks engaging while all across the line light troops started exchanging rocks and javelins.

Rome's horsemen were on song and on both flanks were prevailing over the Barbarians!

With their horse failing to flank the Roman Legionnaires the Barbarians pushed their massed foot forward. The Romans seeing this advance girded up their loins and prepared their Pilums! A great crash rang across the battlefield as both sides foot came to blows in close combat. As usual the Roman Pilums were deadly but the Barbarians continued to press on.

At great cost the  fierce warriors inflicted losses on the Roman adversaries and pushed their line back but importantly it did not break. Victory was in the grasp of the horde but it slipped through their fingers when the Roman horse intervened on the Barbarian’s right and turned the tide of the action decisively in the favour of the Men of the Tiber.

Broken the Barbarians fled a hard fought win to the Romans!

Some Pictures;

The Roman Legions line up...

...as does the Barbarian Horde

The Roman Leaders were in the van!

The Barbarian Leaders were travelling in style...

Both side horse units engage while the foot shuffled around before each other trying to gain an advantage.

The Roman left and Barbarian right come to grips with each other while the horse continue to fight on the flanks!

The Barbarian large units were being reduced in strength but they were slowly whittling down the Roman cohorts!

Whilst engaged to their front a Roman unit in the centre of the line is attacked by more Barbarians! They hold their ground despite great pressure.

On the Roman right their horse prevail and promptly charge the Barbarian foot with great effect...

Barbarian skirmishers and a large unit of warriors...

Surprisingly the Roman horse also secure the left flank and they were promptly engaged by rampaging Barbarian warriors!

The Roman’s centre held and inflicted losses that pushed the Barbarian army past its breaking point and they rout from the battlefield!

Summary;

Well this battle turned out to be one of the closest encounters we’ve had between Romans and their foes but as usual they triumphed and without the need for their reinforcements! The rules worked well as usual and the game played out in a timely fashion, we had time for coffee and a chin wag after!

This Monday we’re on again not sure whether to go with WW II and Iron Cross again or something different!