Saga - My Anglo-Danes

I started reading the book and realized that the original rule set only comes with a battle board for Anglo-Danes and I had originally had my heart set on Anglo-Saxons, as history wise, this was what I knew marginally more about.

Saxons? Dane? Anglo confusion?

I started some google based research because sadly apart from my love for Bernard Conwell’s character Uhtred of Bebbanburg from his Saxon Tales novel series I have no books on the Dark Age period.

So much so that when I made a Saga page to show off my efforts on Facebook that I titled it as a “Dark AGES skirmish game from Gripping Beast”. My friend Andy Zack graciously pointed out that there was a Dark Age, not a multiple of Dark Ages (at this point any way). And also that the game was actually made by Studio Tomahawk and that Gripping Beast were the model makers actively supporting the rule set miniatures wise.

My understanding is that the term Anglo-Saxons represents the Saxon era kings like Alfred The Great and Harold Godwinson. But there is some overlap with the likes of King Cnut. The reign of King Cnut (1016–1035) saw the links between the Viking Danes culture and that of Saxon “England” forced together into a new amalgam. The claim that Cnut was “King of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes” was a bloodily forged one. As far as gaming goes, the Anglo-Dane impact was to see a rise in use of the two handed Dane axe in battle, introduced primarily in body guard units or in small groups to bolster weaker fyrd militia units in the battle line.

The Dane-axe could smash shields, cleave men from shoulder to waist and hopefully break the enemy’s faith in the impregnability and safety of being in a shield-wall.

The  prevalence of kite shields also grew as the Anglo-Danes were less adverse to the use of cavalry than the Anglo-Saxons. The kite shield was designed mostly to protect riders, with the boarder top half protecting the left torso and arm, leading down to a point down across the thigh and ending close to the stirruped foot. On horse back a round shield or smaller buckler didn’t project the left flank and leg of a rider as well as a kite shield could, especially if you were busy with your focus heavily on your right hand with a spear, lance or javelin.

I did buy the Northern Fury expansion book which included the Anglo-Saxons, Bretons, Jomsvikings & Scots battle boards. My initial force was meant to be a Saxon one, with a Saxon warlord, but soon found that in-game the Anglo-Danes felt easier to win with.