More Dux - this time introducing Tim and "Yorkshire" Ian

Tim had asked for a game of Dux so we duly obliged at Writtle yesterday - and Ian sat in too as he had never played.

A reminder of the Too Fat Lardies ruleset

We started with a Saxon raid as a simple intro to the system

Steve Clarke "mentored" Tim on how to play the Saxons

Here's the Romano-British force run by Ian and I

A resplendent religious banner to the fore !

This was an excuse to bring out the Watchtower.

Saxon forces appear

and the British hurry to meet them

Crash ! Straight into action for these Levy troops against hardened Saxon warriors

Both sides take casualties and shock - represented by blue or red shield emblems

Nevertheless, this has blunted the raiding ambitions of the Saxons

The struggle continues

The Saxon lord sees one of his groups break and retreat

The British are battered but still in fighting shape

Across the battlefield, a British patrol of trained warriors is trying to get across and assist but they are attacked by Saxon archers and retreat with one casualty and shock

The Saxon lord now tries to regroup his warriors

He and his Champion lead his elite troops into combat against British Levy

The inevitable happens - the Levy are beaten.

but the British Lord has brought up his Elite troops

and they throw back the enemy

Shock removed, the British warriors move to attack Saxon warriors facing them

Their charge gets them into contact and this group of Saxons break too. Raid over !

Next, we moved on to a battle, with its pre-battle events which are attempts to raise the morale of the troops by various means - drink, speeches, consulting the Gods etc. It resulted in British morale being two points above that of the Saxons.

Now the fight !

In this shot, it appears Tim is still looking to the heavens for inspiration !

Ah ... so this is the Deity !

The British get the initiative and the Levy advance and form shield wall 

Not to be outdone, the warriors and elite troops head for the enemy

They can see the whites of their eyes at this distance !

A view from the other side - whiled wall card in place !

This gives the British some protection both from missile fire and in combat

The British leader charges with his elite troops against an enemy formation

and they throw back there enemy with casualties (thanks to some good die rolls by Ian)

The British warriors move up on the right of the British lord to take over the assault

The Saxons are unable to disrupt the British whiled wall

and the British noble keeps shock under control

Now the Saxons play a hand of cards in their attack against the British lord - this is going to hurt !

The Lord's Champion is killed in the melee and his depleted force are forced to retreat

but now the British warriors get stuck in

taking on a group of Saxon warriors to their front

quite effectively - three dead enemy !

the British warriors now go into shield wall too

In desperation, the Saxons throw themselves against the British Levy whiled wall, cleverly playing a "Goad" card which prevents part of the British formation taking part

but the shield wall holds and the Saxons fail to break them.

Saxon morale is plummeting again and the Romano-British prevail.

Both Tim and Ian quickly picked up the mechanisms in this wonderful skirmish game - with cards used judiciously by both sides.

I think we have a couple more converts !