1. Introduction

The Vikings are certainly one of the more popular armies among ancients gamers. The are also a personal favourite, since it was my first WRG 7th army and because they are definitely blessed by the gods when it comes to roiling the dice! There are a number of factors which contribute to the popularity of this army. The Vikings were the predominant force in Dark Ages Europe between 870 and 1066 AD.

Their far-flung raids and exploration had a significant influence on the history of Western civilization. The Viking sagas have left us with a rich mythology which is both useful and entertaining to the historical gamer. In addition to the sagas, the is a considerable volume of research available on the Vikings. Some hobbyists are drawn by the barbarity associated with the Vikings, although it turns out that they were highly civilized in some respects. (They bathed frequently and wore trousers: two things which did not characterize many of their enemies!) We should also not discount the fact that some of the coolest ancients figures on the market are the ranges of Vikings in 15mm and 25mm.

While the Vikings are a popular army for people to collect, it is not all that common to find Vikings in gaming tournaments, outside of the Dark Ages theme tournament at Bstoricon '92. The accepted wisdom is that the Vikings are a good "barbarian trash" army (and indeed they are!) but they cannot stand up to the more powerful armies which proliferate in the more competitive tournaments. While this may be so, it would not be wise to sell this army short. It offers a number of advantages as an army if a little imagination is employed in how it is used.

2. Fielding a Viking Army

When one looks at the Viking army list, it becomes clear that this is designed for purely Viking armies. If you want to do the "Viking" army at Clontarf, for example, you would be best advised to do a Norse-Irish army with a sizeable Viking command. One of those little ironies of building a Viking army is that the Viking allies of the Norse-Irish, Pre-Feudal Scots, Welsh, Anglo-Danish and Later Frankish armies seem to be better! Do not fear! Personal experience indicates that the Viking allies of your opponents will roll poorly in the face of your loyal followers.

For those of you who are considering fielding a Viking army, I would like to impart some advice on how to point up your army, starting at the top of the army list.

1. Put your CinC on a staff element comprised of mounted huscarls, accompanied by an additional element of the same. Mounting the CinC and his bodyguard on (stolen?) horses allows them to move around the battlefield quickly. Adding an additional element of mounted Huscarls for 24 points gives you an extra unit to be committed to combat. Adding only a single element allows the CinC to move during staff moves. This treatment of the CinC seems to be entirely realistic as well, since the CinC would typically be accompanied by a small group of Ffirdsmen, often mounted.

2. Buy the PA standard for the CinC. This is the best 15 points you can spend. With an army that is largely "Irreg C", the army standard can provide eagerness at critical points in the battle. Besides, Viking commanders were known to carry personal banners by which their progress in the battle could be measured, and why mess with success? I would only recommend buying the SAP standard in special circumstances, such as when confronted with an army with a large number of chariots, elephants or super-heavies.

3. Buy at least one sub-general. As an army comprised of irregulars, you need subgenerals to help reduce the problems involved in prompting units to do things. This is especially true when facing armies with a great deal of LI. I recommend that the subgeneral be on a staff element of Huscarls and accompanied by a single element of the same. Once again, this is to provide you with an extra unit at low cost while still permitting the sub-general to use staff moves. It can be useful to mount your subgenerals. A large Viking field army would often be comprised of a number of allied Jarls, indicating that it was common for a number of men to individually command parts of the army.

4. Buy all of the Berserkers, in 4 units of 6 figures each armed with 2HCW and shield. The use of 2SA is risky, since the unit will probably be exhausted after someone fights against it once. The shield is very useful in protecting the Berserkers from enemy shooting at least until they throw it aside when they charge! I do not recommend using the Berserkers as a detachment very often, since there are a number of restrictions and shortcomings involved with the use of detachments which probably outweigh the 15 points saved. These units provide much of the armies true hitting power. With an up roll and in wedge, these guys can beat nearly anything else in the rules. There is probably historical justification for using Berserkers in small units, as they tended to coexist only in small groups and other Vikings tended to avoid them.

5. Exercise restraint when buying Huscarls. It is very useful to have a few relatively small units in reserve. However, at 6 points per figure, an issue of cost-efficiency arises. It is not dear that a single Huscarl figure is worth two Bondi. You will also find that buying all of the Huscarls results in a much smaller army which cannot cover the entire table. The choice of weaponry for the Huscarls depends critically on the type of army you are facing. If your enemies are heavily armoured, they 2HCW is very useful. If your opponents are largely MI/LMI it is unclear whether the 2HCW is better than JLS, since it only hits one factor better while you are shieldless in the second round and can never skirmish.

6. Buy the LI: all 24 of 'em. I usually use two units: one of JLS and one of Bow. These two units are critical for preventing your army being pinned down in your own rear zone, especially when confronted by a army with a lot of LC or LI.

7. Buy all of the Gall Gael, just because something called "Sons of Death" is really cool. On a more serious note, this unit is great for anchoring your flank since it is never uneasy. It is also a great way to surprise your opponents, since they are LMI and could be mistaken for Bondi which are susceptible to unease. They are also great against Elephants, and if you are like most people who have faced elephants a lot, you probably derive considerable pleasure from killing elephants!

8. The Bondi spearmen will represent the bulk of your army. Buy lots of them. At three points per figure they are very cost effective. The have pretty good shooting power, although you have to get dose to the enemy to make it count. They are surprisingly effective in melee, and they are fairly flexible since they can skirmish to evade enemy charges. I don't recommend upgrading them to LI since it does not add significantly to their defence while adding significantly to their cost.

9. The Bondi axemen are not all that useful. The army already has 96 better figures which can use 2HCW. Besides, mine always roll down at least three and fail every waver test.

10. The Bondi archers can be very effective, especially against cavalry armies. Always spend the extra point to give them JLS. While many players use them in a second rank or third rank of units of Bondi spearmen, I recommend massing them into units of their own. The mixed units are really only effective in shooting at 1" range, and then only marginally better than a unit of JLS only. Furthermore, a mixed unit is very vulnerable when skirmishing, sine your opponent's shooting tactical factor will be determined against the shieldless archers as they move to the front to shoot. It may be worthwhile to upgrade these units to LHI since being shieldless LM it does aid their defence against enemy shooting significantly when compared to being shieldless LMI.

11. Don't bother with the 30 Irish LMI because they are not true Vikings, unless the 300 Viking bondi LMI is not enough.

13. The English Rebels and Flemings are useful against cavalry armies, but I would not recommended them using them all of the time.

3. Tactics with the Viking Army

The best armies, from a competitive perspective, are those which combine a good quantity of light troops to provide a screen and shoot up the enemy, backed us by some shock units which can take advantage of the opportunities created by the light troops. The Viking army can be used in this manner, if you use the Bondi in the role of light troops, screening the Berserkers and Huscarls, which can be remarkably effective shock troops.

Admittedly, using Bondi in a manner akin to LI is a mixed blessing: they are slow, have short missile range, are not always able to get into skirmish order and cause waver tests when they rout. but at least they are relatively more effective in hand-to-hand combat then most LI and cannot be ridden down with impunity by LC Likewise, the Huscarls and Berserkers are not ideal shock troops, but they do fulfil that role fairly effectively. Berserkers can beat most things with an up roll, but tend to loose against most things when they roll down. These rarely last more than two rounds of combat, so they need to be committed with care. Huscarls hit just as hard as Berserkers, and have superior lasting power due to their extra armour, but do not roll up as high as easily since they do not add the dreaded additional "+2" to a net plus combat roll.

Since the bulk of the Viking army is "Irreg C" LMI which come at a very economical price of three points per figure, the Vikings are usually capable of covering the table from one edge to the other. This is important since you are trying to avoid being outflanked and will often create opportunities for enveloping the enemy army. It also serves as a psychological weapon, since many players are intimidated by the veritable hoard of drooling infantry confronting them. Each flank should be anchored by either a unit of Huscarls or the Gall Gael since the lack of support does not automatically imply unease for these troops.

When choosing terrain for a battle involving Vikings, woods, brush and rocky hills provide good places to hide from enemy cavalry, elephants and pikes. A major water feature is very useful against cavalry armies, and a nicely constructed Viking longboat with a unit of Bondi archers can be quite effective and adds a nice touch. When positioning terrain, keep in ndnd that you will probably be outscouted, and therefore cannot deploy in ambush in your forward zone. Force marching your LI to the table centre line can be a very good tactic to avoid being pinned in your own rear zone. Flank marching, as always, is a risky venture. If you decide to flank march, the Gall Gael are probably the best unit since they are immune from unease.

As the battle evolves, the enemy will likely victimize some of your Bondi. Remember to be brave! Your Huscarls and Berserkers only fail waver tests on a one, and jumping an enemy just as they cease pursuit is the best way to rack up points.

What about those troops that are the bane of the existence of honest ancients gamers everywhere: pikes, triple-armed legionaries, elephants, light cavalry and wedging knights? All of these are difficult to deal with when using Vikings, but your best bet is as follows. Berserkers can rout sixteen figure pikes on contact with an up roll, but this is a risky endeavour, since failure to rout them on contact means near-certain death. Triple-armed legionnaries are even more difficult to beat, but once again Berserkers are your best shot.

Your best bet against this type of army is to screen the legionnaries and go after the supporting troops. The Gall Gael or double-armed Bondi archers work very well against elephants. If you are going after elephants with Bondi, be sure to have the CinC around with the PA standard to keep them eager thereby allowing them to be impetuous if it becomes necessary to charge the behemoths. Light cavalry itself does not represent much of a threat head-on, but if you let it get around you, it's time to head for the boats because defeat will surely follow. This can usually be avoided with shrewd terrain choices and by the sheer number of figures you will be able to field. All you can hope to do against LC is sucker it into traps or shoot it up with Bondi. There is not much you can do against SHK, other than catching it in the flank with impetuous Berserkers as it chases down your hapless Bondi. However, armies with SHK tend to lack light troops or have garbage supporting troops to go after while the knights plough ahead into your army.

4. Conclusion

The purpose of this article is not to demonstrate that the Vikings are really a terror army in disguise, but rather to suggest that they are a little more dangerous than usually recognized. Fighting with the Vikings is not for those who are faint of heart. You will need to pass waver tests and you will need to roll up with Berserkers in order to defeat any of the tougher armies. However, they are a simple army to fight with and are reasonably competitive, and therefore are probably ideal for a newcomer to WRG ancients.

As always, the best advice for someone contemplating building an army is to get something you can love, even if it looses. Long before I became involved in ancients gaming I had a keen interest in the Vikings and Dark Ages history. After all, the Isle of Lewis was originally settled by the Vikings! Over the last four years I have built many more armies and played many more games with these other armies, but the Vikings have remained as my favourite, in spite of their unremarkable record. Now if only I could convince more people to build Early Saxons....