This is the seventh oefficial game played by myself and Joe Kovar, to document the incredible career of Halfdan, the half Danish, half Swedish raider. After attacking England, Russia, and the Balkans, Halfdan was determined to set up his own kingdom. He left the Mediterranean and sailed for Greenland. There he met Snorri Thorfinnson, son of the Vinland settler, Thorfinn Karlsofinia. Although Snorri was the only native Vinlander to be of European ancestry, he had not seen Vinland since his father had been forced to leave by the Skraellings ("screaming wretches") who posed a very dangerous threat. [1]

Halfdan's glib tongue convinced Snorri to join him in a new expedition to Vinland. The initial expedition consisted of two longships, forty-one Greenlanders and thirty-nine Danes. All were pledged to follow Halfdan. Wives and children would be sent for as soon as land had been cleared, crops planted, and cabins raised.

The expedition sailed up the great river that one day the French would call St. Lawence. Eventually, the expedition reached the lake "Ontario", which would be known as Champlain. On the shore, the Vikings cleared the land. Cabins, long houses, and stockade were built.

One day, a large party of redskins approached the fort. These Skraelings moved their weapons in the same direction as the sun. Snorri deduced that this was a sign of peace. Halfdan gave their leader, Wyndeygo, a mail byrnie. At first, relations were cordial. Wyndeygo even established a trading village close to the stoockade. Blood Drinker, Medicine Man and War Chief, decided that the signs were right for war. He told Wyndeygo that the Grant Spirit had demanded that these pale faced foreigners be exterminated. The noise of ths war drums alerted the Vikings to the dangers.

Rules Modifications

In order to make the battle more equal, I amended my man-to-man rules slightly in favor of the Skraelings. Mail is limited to leaders and 3/4 of the Vikings wear lether armor. All Vikings have shields. Because the Vikings have leather armor and the Skraelings are using stone age weapons, armor struck by flint arrow heads or atone tomahawks will be rolled for. If a 6 is rolled, he will not be a casualty. Morale and numbers are the same for both aides. The Skraelings have twice as many bowmen and the leather globes on poleaxes are the Skraeling's "secret weapon". [2]

Most of the Skraelings have shields and one fourth of then are wearing armor constructed from wood. These are the "Flint and Feather" range of Indians from the French and Indian War. I had to make sure that some of the castings were carrying steel weapons. My Vikings are Essex and Ral Partha minatures.

Both Joe and myself wrote down our positions before the game commenced. Concealed on the long wooded island (worth 2 points) are, four shielded warriors. Hidden in the woods on the large island (worth 2 pts) are two war parties with shields. There are twelve bowman and fourteen tomahawk armed warriors. Canoes are beached on the south sides of each island.

Advancing through the left flank of the large forest on the mainland are eighteen armored, shielded warriors carrying four canoes. On the right flank of the forest are two war parties: seven bowmen and ten warriors. Three of the ten are carrying the secret weapon of the Skraelings: "globes on a stick". Wyndeygo commands from the forest (2 pts). In front of the trading village (2 points) is a war party of twelve bowmen concealed in an area of boulders.

Concealed in the stockade (2 points) are ten Danish bowmen and Snorri'e hiremen. All are wearing leather armor. Across the shallow stream is the cabin (8 points) of Olaf and his five sons. These Danish bowman have leather armor. To the left of North Island is the "Red Dragon" carrying a crew of unarmored axmen. On that island is the long house of Halfdan (2 points). To the right of North Inland is Halfdan's ship: "Great Snake", carrying twenty-two leather armored hiremen and Halfdan himself.

To win, a player must capture and hold a majority of points by turn twelve.

The Tabletop Battle

As the "Red Dragoar neared the shore of the large island, a blood-chilling war whoop was heard. A moment later, the sky was filled with arrows that poured into the vessel like a wave of hungry vultures. Although the shields tied to the gunwales of the long ship provided some cover, almost the Greenlanders were felled. To a man wearing no armor, an arrow head of flint is as deadly an an arrowhead of tempered steel.

As the "Red Dragon" ground ashore on the large island, Halfdan, hearing the dying screams of the Greenlanders and the victorious war whoops of the Skraelings, ordered the "Great Snake" hard to starboard. Halfdan, knowing that the crew of the "Red Dragon" had made coutact, abandoned his attempt to land on the south shore of the long wooded island in order to cut off the retreat of the single war party that would certainly run from the crew of the "Red Dragon," who now were leaping ashore. The crew of the "Red Dragon" charged the Skraeling bowmen. Soon, they thought, their two banded axes would be bathed in blood. A second flight of arrows, however, wiped out all but two of the Vikings. Snorri's Greenlanders fled in terror.

As the "Great Snake" entered the south shore of the large island, Halfdan saw a second war party in the woods. In the center, a war party of armored Skraelings emerged from the large forest on the mainland. Reaching the lake shore, they climbed into their canoes and began paddling furiously for the large island. As those canoes approached Halfdan from the east, another another darted out from the shore of the long island. Halfdan was almost completely surrounded. He could make a run for it in the long skip. Instead, he ordered his hiremen to attack the Skraelings and the island. Viking steel cut down the savages without mercy.

Blood Drinker and Halfdan met each other in mortal combat. The Viking, distracted by a golden amulet that hung from the savage's throat, could not deliver a death blow to the war chief. The lightly armed medicine man dodged every one of his thrusts. Suddenly, the haft of his axe was cut in two by the shaman's stone axe. A tomahawk swing slashed the Norseman's face. A lucky tomahawk blow broke the Viking's right arm, and a second blow fractured his skull. [3]

Before Blood Drinker could finish Halfdan off, the morale of the Skraelings on the island broke. The savages, led by their shaman, fled the island in their canoes. As the semi-conscious Halfdan was carried to his ship, he could see that more Skraelings were landing on the island. They wore wooden armor and they wew eager for a fight.

Snorri, in the meantime, ordered the garrison of the stockade to advance on the trading post. To no one's surprise, a war party of bowmen suddenly sprung up from behind the boulders and fired a volley of arrows. Snoorri and his lads charged into and routed the savages.

As Snorri's hiremen advanced on the village, Chief Wyndeygo ordered ten of his warriors to attack from the great forest. The globes on poles now launched at the Vikings. Only one Viking was killed and none ran in terror. So much for the Skraeling's secret weapon!

Viking arrows, however, proved to be most potent. As the second war party was shot to pieces, a third war party, carrying bows, likewise emerged from the woods. The Viking bownen, shot from the flank, were badly shaken. Before they could reface, the Skraslings were on then. The Viking bow routed and Snorri found himself being threatened by a war party to the flank and by the rallied bows to his front. In an attempt to cut his way to safety, Snorri was captured and all but one of his hiremen butchered. Olaf and his sons now moved in the direction of the fort.

Back on the large island, the armored Skraelings discovered how potent steel swords could be when thrust by experienced arms. Every Skraeling on the island but one, who made a swim for it, was slaughtered. It was turn twelve and Halfdan held a majority of points. Three quarters of the Vikings, however, were dead. Halfdan know that he could not establish his kingdom in this part of Vinland. He sent a message to Wyndeygo: "Release Snorri unharmed and we leave your land."

Snorri was returned. Blood Drinker, who had led the retreat from the island, was handed over to Halfdan by the indignant Wyndeygo. "Do whatever you want to this coward, he has disgraced his tribe"

Halfdan knew that Blood Drinker was no coward. He had the wounds to prove it. Wyndeygo, on the other hand, had not once left the cover or the large forest during the entire battle. Halfdan wanted no vengence on the shaman, Blood Drinker. What he wanted was gold.

"I will spare your life if you tell me whore your gold amulet came from," stated the Viking.

"Legend says it came from a land of eagle and cat warriors far to the southwest. They prastlee human sacrifice in the land of the eagle and serpent."

Before sailing away, Halfdan carved a message in rune letters on a slab of stone: It said simply: "Halfdan was here."

Halfdan and his crew sailed from Vinland to Iceland, where he recruited men for a new expedition. While in Iceland, he met Erik, a Norwegian adventurer who had escaped from the fortress of the Moorish tyrant, Mansur, by leaping from the window of the torture chamber to the sea below. Erik told Halfdan about a great treasure hidden on the Iberian coast, not far from Mansur's fortress. It was an enormous golden bell called the "Mother of Voice."

"I heard it myself, " declared Erik. "There's gold to the southeast."

"And to the southwest," answered Halfdan.

"Many will follow you," said Erik. "In what direction do we sail?"

Halfdan hurled a coin upwards. "Heads we sell to the land of the eagle and the serpent. Tails we sail for Iberia."

As the coin rang hard against the wooden table, Halfdan and Erik glared down at it. "So be Itt" declared the Viking raider.

Where will they sail? That is another story... [4]

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