Dernland 3 - First battle against the Gnolls

Sydford has reported packs of Gnolls prowling around and the settlement of Skirkeld is asking for additional forces before they hunt down one of these packs and send these Gnolls a message that they aren’t wanted here.  Only Magnhild and a unit of Missile troops could be spared from Dernkirk but with the scout Svend and a Skirmish unit at the fort, and Captain Sten with Shields and Fanatics from Skirkeld, hopefully that would be enough. The various forces meet at Skirkeld without incident, but when they came across the Gnolls they saw they were outnumbered, so the only hope was to trap them between the hill and the rough ground.
 
Turn 1 - The Dernland forces prepare to meet the oncoming wave of Gnolls.

 
Turn 2 - First blood is drawn as the Viking Skirmishers wound a Gnoll Skirmisher.
 

Turn 3
 
The Gnoll Scout takes a shot at Magnhild but misses, and she charges in and wounds it.
The Gnoll Skirmishers turn out to be very handy with their slings, scoring 4 hits on the Berserkers which results in a kill and a wound, but they shrug it of and charge in five against three, and as soon as the first Gnoll goes down the other two retreat. Leaving the way free for the Gnoll Leader to engage the Berserkers, but is wounded.
 
The Viking Shields now plough into the other half of the Skirmishers and the same thing occurs, the first one goes down and the other two retreat.  The remaining four Gnolls then retreat further due to losing two of their number.
 
The Gnoll crossbows are not as good a shot as the skirmishers though and miss the shield troops.  The rest of the Gnolls surge forward, sensing that the enemy in front is a much weaker force than their own.

 
Turn 4
 
It’s Shields verses Shields first, but the Veterans from Skirkeld have the upper hand and again immediately kill one, forcing the others to retreat.
 
Magnhild dispatches the Gnoll Scout on the hill, the Gnoll Leader again tries his luck against the Berserkers and is cut down.  This forces the Gnolls behind him to also retreat.  At which point the Archers reach the edge of the hill! And wound one of the retreating Gnolls. 
 
The Viking Shields spot the Herald leading the Levy and plough in, the first one only manages a draw and the second one manages to lose and takes a wound.  This encourages the Levy to enter the fight and the first one manages to win and take out a Viking, but the next is felled and again the Gnolls break off and retreat.  The Viking Shield don’t like the fact they lost a man and have another wounded, so they back of themselves. This gives Svend a clear shot and he kills the Gnoll Herald.
 
The Gnoll Crossbows are the only ones not currently retreating and they let fly at the Berserkers, wounding one.  Captain Sten barks out an order and the Archers on the hill fire again, hitting three which kills one and wounds another.  This is too much for that set of Gnolls and they bolt off the table!

 
Turn 5
 
The Gnoll Crossbows take aim at the archers on the hill, and land four hits, killing two and wounding two more, but the hardy men of Dernland care nothing of missile fire and simply shoot back, wounding two.  The Gnolls do care however and take to their heels (not realising, or maybe not caring, that the archers have fired their third and therefore last salvo)!
 
The Gnoll Shields return to the fray, taunting the Berserkers who of course charge into them. It’s five on five.  Gnolls down a Berserker and wound one, the last Gnoll goes down.  The Gnolls retreat, the vikings would have but being Berserkers they don’t know the meaning of the word!  This gives the  Gnoll Skirmishers the opportunity to shoot at them, and they lose another wound and another is wounded.  There are three left, only one is unbloodied and yet they just don’t care, indeed they advance on the Skirmishers!  Then Captain Sten catches up to them and gives them a piece of his mind, they charge into the four hapless Gnoll Skirmishers!  Exhausted, outnumbered, and two already carry in wounds, it was just too much to ask of them, and all three lie lifeless at the feet of the Gnolls!
 
Magnhild, charges into the retreating Gnoll Shields, killing another one and the last three decide they have had enough and disappear from whence they came.  The remaining Gnolls are now outnumbered but prepare to fight on.

Turn 6
 
The Viking Skirmishers let fly with their slings at the Gnoll Levy, one down, one wounded, they unsurprisingly rout!  Only the Gnoll skirmishers left on the table, but heady from their destruction of the Berserkers they let fly at Captain Sten, and take him out!  This is too much for Magnhild who charges into them taking on two, killing the first so the rest retreat, and will not be coming back.  It’s over.
 
Aftermath
 
Captain Sten survived but only two of the Berserkers were still living, so that unit is disbanded and Skirkeld will raise and outfit a Levy unit instead.  The Archers will start their next battle able to fire four volleys.  Magnhild is now a Hero!