Being a Cycle of Wars, Alliances, Betrayals, Invocations to God and to Odin, Wars, Ravaging of Lands, Plagues, Rebellions, Famines, Wars, Wars and Dubious Personal Hygiene, in the Tumultuous Ninth Century

Cattle die, Kinsman die, I myself shall die, but there is one thing I know will never die...the reputation we leave behind at our Death.

From Hevamel, 'The Sayings: of the High One'

Blood Eagle is a campaign game set in the period of the Viking invasions of Britain. It begins, for no special reason, in the year 868 AD. In that year the Danish Army known as the Great Host, which had previously ravaged Thenet and forced the East Anglians to hand over tribute and horses, was settled at York, having conclusively defeated both sides of a succession dispute in Northumbria. This left two English kingdom to contend with - Mercia in Central England, no longer the power it had been in the days of Offa the Great, and the rising southern realm of Wessex. In the North was the Kingdom -of the Picts and Scots, known as Alban, united for a generation under the House of Kenneth Mac Alpin, and the British (Welsh) Kingdom of Strathclyde. Wales proper was dominated by the northern realm of Owynnedd, dominating its neighbour Dyfed, while the 'West Welsh' of Cornwall were often forced to accept the overlordship of the kings of Wessex. To the west and north the Vikings were increasingly powerful, but the rivalry of the Norse rulers of Dublin and the Hebrides, as well as opposition to then in Ireland and the Western Isles, served often to blunt their attempts to carve deeper into Britain. All this, however, is open to change as the game begins, for Blood Eagle allows - indeed, encourages - anything to happen; the more devious the better, in fact, as long as Honour and Reputation are not impugned. The lines are pretty thin, of course --

Game Structure

Blood Eagle requires 6-8 players, each portraying the ruler of one Dark Age kingdom. Each will have an army of 12 units organised as per Phil Barker's De Bellis Antiquitatis rules; in sane circumstances armies will be less than 12 elements, either for strategic advantage or from declining fortunes. There should be one or more umpires to keep things stirred up to a frenzy of medieval misconduct, prevent actual bodily harm, and administer the odd rule or two. Everyone gets a wildly inaccurate map and a set of what here pass for rules - actually a list of things you can attempt, the price of those efforts, and a 'Matrix' of key words/concepts to serve as reminders or 'pegs' on which to hook the reasons for each action in case the action is "Challenged" - but more of this later. There will be some things in this game that are a little unusual, but do not worry. The other poor devils will be at least as confused as you are -- work on the assumption that "Everything is allowed - it might just be difficult to pull off!" If you like diplomatic skullduggery and have a wicked imagination you'll beat the pants off those appalling rules lawyers and rules accountants we all heartily detest. Anyway, it's all very easy if you can do simple arithmetic and tell a few fibs.

Game Sequence

The game runs in turns of a season, starting with 'Winter Quarters' and proceed -ing through the year until the armies settle down at the end of Autumn to eat their way through the new harvest. The game may run for any numer of years, but around 1066 a bunch of ugly bowl-headed proto-fascists will show up around the area of Haestingas.

Each turn runs as follows:

1) Confer with any other players; keep a time limit!
2) Allocate Reputation Points for actions this turn. Write 'em down.
3) Declare your actions in order of a die roll , or however you like.
4) Issue challenges and intercepts.
5) Actions are resolved and movements made.
6) Battles are fought and sieges resolved.
7) Retreats, pursuits, desperate flights and triumphal entries.

All turns have the same sequence, with the exception that Winter turns should allow for more diplomacy - lots of sitting around in meadhalls while messengers ride around in the snow - while all movements cost twice as many Reputation Points as usual - moving Dark Age armies around in winter was no easy thing.

Let's look at these one by one.

1) Conferences represent the formal diplomacy of emissaries, counsels of war and elaborate feasting, though actually it consists of hushed wheeling and dealing in corners of the living room while other players try to listen in while queueing for the bathroom. You are rot obliged to live up to anything you promise to anyone. Whether you do will cane out very shortly --

2) Reputation Points (RPs) are the 'currency' of Blood Eagle, representing the essentials of power in the Early Middle Ages - honour, prestige, military organisation, political connections and , of course, silver. RPe can be hoarded avariciously, loaned to allies, given away as bribes or 'Denegeld', or spent on a variety of actions. As a rule, the harder the thing you hope to pull off, the more RPs it will cost. Actions vary from basic military affairs ("Raise the fyrd in Hwicce", " Move the army to York") to elaborate hopes and wishes (" Prey to St Cuthbert that the Scots king dies of a surfeit of overripe haggis) to sheer bloody-mindedness (" I think Lundonwic is due a plague about now, especially as the Danes are just about to arrive there this turn --").

This is the Dark Ages, you know, and if the monks can't pray up a good Act of God, it's back to the warlock for a few spells! Check the table of Actions for what your chosen activities cost. The umpire should allow any others you can think up at an appropriate cost.

Players get D6 x RPs each turn, and can be saved from season to season. Possession of a conquered area nets an extra RP, while the loss of a 'Homeland' area deducts one every turn. However, you always get a minim" of one RP each turn.

In addition (or subtrectionl) RPs are gained and lost for specific events. These reflect a ruler's fortune and the opinions of his peers:

Winning a victory +2
Losing a battle -2
Sent allied contingent to victory +1
Sent allied contingent to defeat -1
Becoming overlord of another king (per submission) +2
Submission to another's Overlordship -1
Any Dishonourable Act -1 to -3 (umpire/group decision)

Go to the table and decide where to spend your RPs for the turn. Extra points can be saved for challenges, interceptions, or next season's action.

3) Declaration of Actions can be done in any order, since the intentions are already written down (doubtless by monks brought along by our illiterate heroes). Watch for cheating; if you can get away with it, it is surely an omen! ( See mention of 'Dishonourable Acts').

4) Issues of Challenges and Interceptions.

If you have any RPs left, nows your chance for same extra mischief. An Interception is an attempt to jump on an enemy army as it marches past, at a cost of 2RPs for an ajdcent area, and 4 RP's if two areas away. This can be done either to join up with a friendly army also in that area ( roll a D6: 1,2 - total failure, 3,4 - finds enemy but not friends and has to fight the foe on ground of enemy's choosing, 5,6 meets friends and may gang up on the opposition) or to fight him singly (1,2 - can't find him, 3,4 - stumbles into ambush & fight on enemy's chosen field, 5,6 - enemy is surprised and has to fight on ground of your choice.

Challenges are attempts to prevent an action by another player. The premise is this. Every Action has a 50% chance of success, on a D6 roll of 1-3. The Challenger tries to weaken the dance of success by demanding that player justify the likelihood of his action. The player must give three reasons from the Matrix why his action is plausible. The challenger must give three reasons from the Matrix why it is not, or why the action should produce another result to that intended. The umpire and players will judge these arguments. If the initial action is held to be plausible, it will take place for a die roll of 1-3. If it is judged 'weak' it will only succeed on a roll of 1-2. However, if the judges consider that the challenger has failed in his bid to undermine the action, or has proved unconvincing in his own arguments, they can punish him by declaring the initial action a 'strong' one, passing on 1-4. If the challenge is that a different result will occur than that originally planned, judge the arguments, then 'dice off' until one player fails in the attempt - sudden death sort of thing.

This part is all a little unconventional; think of it as a way to create 'facts' by means of oratory rather than number charts - much more medieval.

5) Actions are resolved and Movements made. 'Nuff said. Roll your dice and see if what you spent your RPs on actually happened, or if your troops simply sat around or went home to plant barley and radishes. Update all novemnents, trace where the plagues and revolts are currently raging.

6) Battles are fought according to the DBA rules, with or without optional variations. Sieges were not the full-blown Viollet Le Duc affairs in this period. Follow the standard DBA rules for sieges. Work on the assumption that only areas with a * contain fortresses ( old Roman cities, incipient Burhs or whatever) suitable for whole armies (falls on roll of 6) but all feature forts suitale for up to 3 elements (fall an 5-6). Of course, you can build your own - the Viking alternative!

7) Retreats etc. After a battle, the loser retreats 1-2 areas, towards his homeland. If the king has been killed, deduct 1 extra RP for next turn while a successor is found (Dark Ages Kings did not leave the throne to infant sons). If the whole homeland has been overrun, the player rust either A) submit to an Overlord, B) Flee with D6 elements to an ally, or C) Enter a monastery / be blinded by his cousins.

SMALLER CAMPAIGNS

So you don't have eight players? Here are some ideas:

THREE - Ragnaresons, Hercia, Wessex or Strathclyde, Alban, the Isles.

FOUR - as above, but adding 1) Gwynnedd, or 2) Dublin

FIVE - 1) Wessex, Hercia, Ragnaresons, Gwynnedd, any one of Strathclyde, Dublin, All 2) Alban, Strathclyde, Dublin, the Isles, Ragnarssone.

six - 1) Wessex, Hercia, Ragnaresons, Gwynnedd, Strathclyde, Alban 2) Alban, Strathclyde, Dublin, the Isles, Gwynnedd, Ragnaresons

SEVEN - Drop any one contestant. 

Raising Armies

During every winter turn a ruler may raise an army of up to 12 DBA elements (less if he chooses, or if he has lost any home areas - 2 elements per area lost). This is free. However, if he needs to recruit more units later in the year (up to maximum total of 12) each element will cost 1 RP. New armies appear at the start of the Spring turn, fresh after a winter's feasting. All save D6 go hone after the Autumn turn (exception: Vikings may take winter quarters as an army in one area - but at a cost of 1RP per element after the first D6 - otherwise they spread out across the countryside). There are strategic advantages to having a smaller army viz nobility and supply, so for every 2 elements a ruler chooses not to raise for the spring turn, he gets an extra RP; this doesn't count if he raised them but lost then during the year.

Rep lacements recruited after the initial 'free' elements are raised at a cost of 1 RP per element in a rulers' ham areas; if he has lost all of them but is still scraping by on the margins (happened all the time, eg Alfred, Eric Bloodaxe) he cannot recruit until he returns to his home areas.

Overlordship

So why would anyone submit to the overlordship of another? Mainly out of fear, I suppose - but the cost is low, and the overlord has to guarantee his protection if the vassal canes under attack. In return, he must offer allied contingents (3 elements) to the overlord's army. This is accepted as an honourable arrangement, and any repudiation by the vassal must be done one season prior to taking an action against the overlord. Likewise, the overlord cannot repudiate a vassal who follows his agreement with the overlord. Any abuse of these relationships is likely to lead to lose of RPs for Dishonourable Acts.

Challenges cost half the RPs of the action they are designed to change, minimum being 1 RP.

Ships left without a guard will be stolen/burned by the locals. However, even a 3 element guard in a fortified camp won't hold off a passing army - watch out !

DESIGNER'S NOTES etc

"Blood Eagle" is essentially a collection of ideas I have stolen shamelessly from others, primarily Diplomacy ( and its more vicious cousin, 'Machiavelli') and the innovative "Matrix Games" concept devised by Chris Engle; these are then used in conjunction with Phil Barker's 'De Bellis Antiquitatis' - the only WRG product I have ever really liked - and mixed up with perhaps one or two minor things I actually devised myself --- players accustomed to getting their forces to follow orders will be suitably miffed by the 50% failure of all actions even before a Challenge is lodged, while anarchic characters will find plenty of room for anything that occurs to them. This system is still at the design stage, so I'd encourage any changes that work, developments that add something, and comments that make no reference to my parentage. Thanks a lot.

TABLE OF ACTIONS

1 RP Actions

Retreat - up to 2 areas.
Move Ruler & Retinue - 4 own areas or 2 anyone elses (AKA 4/2)
Build fortified camp for up to 3 units
Move small force (up to 3 units) for raid or allied contingent (2/1)
Recruit new unit after winter turn ( from Reserve)
Stand a siege

2 RP Actions

Move army (2/1) Intercept (one area)
Besiege a fortification (per turn)
Force march a small force (4/2)
Build fortified camp for whole army

4 RP Actions

Force march army (4/2)
Portage ships (2/1)

6 RP Actions

Move another player's army against his will (!)
Cause plague in 1 area ( wipes out D6 x elements of any force there)
Cause famine centred on 1 area and all adjacept areas - costs 1RP per 3 elements in affected areas to bring in provisions. If not, roll per element - destroyed on '6'
Cause a rebellion in 1 area - produces D6 elements of revolting peasants (Ax or Ps). Owner loses 1 RP as loss of homeland area. Peasants follow evil wishes of umpire or future player actions, counting as 'own army' to anyone except orignal ruler!
Cause an Act of God - discuss this with the umpire!

THE MATRIX

This list of words serve as 'pegs' to hang arguments on at Challenge time. Treat each as a guide, and feel free to make up your own. Be creative - use any word in a positive or negative context as fits the bill.

Example:

"Morale": 'Our men can force march because they have high morale', or your men will not force march because their morale is shaky'.

"Provisions": 'my men will withstand the siege since they have collected a lot of provisions' or 'your men will be untie to besiege ma since they have advanced too far to bring up a pack train'.

DBA ARMIES IN VIKING ERA BRITAIN

The armies used in my 'Blood Eagle' campaign are based on the DBA lists, with some period-specific modifications of my own.

MERCIA & WESSEX; Early Saxon (75). I prefer the 'Warband' interpretation of the English Fyrd to that of 'Spears' used in the Anglo-Danish list. I gave Wessex two 'Blades' elements marked as the personal hearth-troops of Aethelred (not, incidentall that Aethelred commonly recalled as 'The Unready') and Alfred, his adolescent brother later known as 'the Great'.

GWYHNEDD; Welsh (92), the early northern variant sans longbows.

ALBAN; Pre-Feudal Scots (Ill). I replaced the three "Blades' units with extra Spears as I suspect that the Scots thegnhood etc - the well armed blokes with swords & mail was more likely to serve as front ranks for the notoriously underequipped spearmen of the old Pictish lowlands. This option allows for lots of impressive, 2-element doe shiltrons, which flatten most opponents.

RAGNARSSONS; Vikings (106) with three Blade units, marked respectively "Ivarr", "Ubbe and "Halfdan", for the sons of Ragnar Hairy-Breeches himself.

DUBLIN; Horse-Irish (112) with a heavier emphasis on Ostmen and other Vikings than the list "as is". At this point, the Kingdom of Dublin was primarily Norwegian with Irish auxiliaries.

THE ISLES; basically an early version of list 128, Scots Isles & Highlands, with 4 Viking heavies backed with Picts & Scots to make up the numbers.

STRATHCLYDE; Sub-Roman Briton (82) without the Arthurian Knights.

As owner of, er, lots of Dark Ages figures, I have revised the DBA organisation to create a better visual effect. I use 15mm figures on 25mm sized bases (more or less) with 25mm movement rates. The close order infantry elements comprise 10-12 figures in two ranks, while auxilia have 8, cavalry 6, and light horse or Psiloi, 4 each. This works well without changing any rules. I assume that a figure equals around 50 men, meaning that whole armies add up to 5-7000 apiece, which would be the absolute top end of early medieval armies in Britain leaving aside, of course, the possibility that these armies only had a few hundred men at most, a theory that gained curregcy in the 1970s & 80s. 

THE CONTESTANTS

AETHELRED OF WESSEX (Sumorsaete, Hamtunscir, Suth Seaxe, Wiltunscir, Cantware, Lundunwic)

BURGRED OF MERCIA (N. Mercia, Hwicce, lindsey Chester, Middel Engle)

RHODRI MAWR OF GWYNNEDD (Mon, Gwynnedd, Harlech, Powys, Builltt)

THE RAGNARSSONS (Halfdan, Ubbe & Ivarr) (Denmark, York, Whitby, Elmet, E. Anglia)

CONSTANTINE OF ALBAN (Fortrenn, Atholl, Angus, Moray, Buchan)

OWEIN OF STRATHCLYDE (Al Cluit, Glasgui, Rheged, Cumbria, Guotoddin)

OLAF THE WHITE, OF DUBLIN (Dublin, Man, Galloway, Kintyre)

KETIL FLATNOSE, LORD OF THE ISLES (Orkney, Hebrides, Gait, Skye)

"DEBATEABLE LANDS" - Dyfed, Guent, W. Walas, Wirral, Lothian, Bernicia, Argyll, Ross.

RIVERS count as one area from the sea to the head of navigation. Ships can disembark at any area along the river.

PORTAGES for carrying ships overland are - Forth/Clyde (2 areas) Trent/Severn (2) Thames/Severn (2), The Great Glen (1)

Vikings can transport their whole force by sea, counting all areas as their own.

Others can transport up to 3 elements by sea, counting only areas adjacent to their coast as their own.