The Defence of Dernland

 

I enjoyed playing my linked games using Saga AoM with my Viking Horde lead by Baldr the Unfortunate so much that I decided to make an actual solo campaign using the EKPS rules. 

Here we have the homeland of the Dernvolk, viewed by others as a Barbarian race, they do however have lands rich in resources, like iron rich mountains and huge tracks of hardwood forest, making them a target of all their neighbours.  This campaign will revolve around the armies and heroes of Dernland fighting off incursions from all sides as well as a few local challenges.  How each battle goes will determine the forces available for the following battles.

I’ll document the battles as posts, this page will be about the models and army lists. So to get us started, lets take a look at our heroes.

The guy with a shield and sword is Lief Gunnarson, Captain of the army.  The Fighter next to him is Magnhild, the Herald on the other side is Lars, and there are two Scout figures used for the five scouts that play a pivotal part in the campaign mechanics.  Then there are the Sorcerer, Stigandir, and Priest, Gothi. 

EKPS defines each troop unit (or Group) as one of 10 different types, each (apart from Levy) with their own special rule, and apart from certain races the unit size is usually 6. 

For my Barbarians I have represented all but three of the available types (Polearms and Great Weapons will appear in the enemy lists, there are no gunpowder (Fire) weapons in my campaign.  First up are two units of Shield troops, as these are the most common troops in the army of Dernland, represented by Hirdmen.

The basic Levy is the Bondi with spears, while the Bondi with hand weapons are representing Light troops.

Skirmishers are Bondi with Slings, and Missile troops are Bondi with Bows

For a Group of Shock Troops I went with Dane Axe armed Hirdmen

Finally for the Fanatics we have the Norse Berserkers

The bulk of these are Victrix from the Viking and Dark Age Archers and Slings plastic kits, bulked out by a few Gripping Beast metals, a 3D print scout and a kitbash of left over plastic parts for the other scout.

_____________________________________________________

As you will have gathered from the map, these brave warriors will face forces of Horde Orcs, Gnolls, Undead, and Reptiles.

The first enemy force, across the border to the North, are the Undead.  Here are the Individuals - Sorcerer (Necromancer), Herald, Captain, Fighter, and Scout.

I’m not a fan of the Egyptian style undead, so these have a more classic European look. These Ghouls will be Levy, and there are two different Skeleton units to use as Light.

Followed by another Skeleton unit of Missile and a slightly heavier unit for Shield.

Last for this army, the Great Weapons.

These are mainly Gripping Beast metals and 3D print for the skeletons, with the captain and the Necromancer from Alternative Armies.

_____________________________________________________

Also reworked from a Saga army is the Reptile army. These guys will be coming by sea to raid the East coast of Dernland.  Lead by the fierce Yuan-ti based on a coral snake, the individuals include a horn blowing Herald, a female Cobra Fighter, a lizard shaman, and a couple of scouts.

The army is also made up of units representing the different members of the reptile family.  A box set of North Star Snakemen provided Missile troops and Levy.

Various lizards for the Skirmishers and the Light Troops.

These lizards can classify as Tuatara (that there is a separate branch of reptiles from New Zealand that are not classified as lizards was news to me) and are the Shock Troops.

Finally, the Crocs, Gators, and Turtles banded together with their Great Weapons.

Apart from the Snakemen kit, these were all 3D prints, from a variety of designers and Etsy sellers.  It was quite a lot of fun finding all these.

_____________________________________________________

Gnolls next, moving up from the wide savannah plains to the South, these Hyena-kin have some interesting traits that should be fun to play. This whole force came out of two packs of North Star Frostgrave plastic kits, with some kitbashing to make the shaman, slingers and some of the other weapons.

Here’s the Individuals - Fighter, Scout, Shaman, Herald, and Captain.

Then we have Levy, Polearms, Skirmishers, Shields, and Missile.

_____________________________________________________

Finally, raiding from the West, we have the Horde Orcs.  Built from North Star Oathmark range plastic kits (Orc Infantry and Orc Heavy Infantry). 

I had a load of the Orcs as Dusklings for 5LB, but in EKPS the Horde Orcs fight in units of 8 (unlike the 6s most other Peoples use) so I needed some more to get some units to the right size.  These make up the Individuals (Scout, Herald, Captain, Shaman, and Fighter), plus the Levy, Light, and Skirmish units.

Then the heavies make up the Shield, Polearm, and Shock Troop units.

_____________________________________________________

The way my campaign works is that a Campaign Turn starts with Scouts bringing rumours of events going on in the world that will lead up to fighting a battle using the rules from EKPS. This is then followed by an accounting of the results of that battle and the availability of troops and resources to continue the fight as well as the impact on the four enemies.

Each turn the enemy forces are comprised of 3-4 Individuals and up to 5 Groups, but my troops need to move to counter and might not turn up as expected, plus they cannot fight again the next turn, so I have to be careful about who I send and how many. Troops and Individuals can progress as time goes on but of course can also die.  The enemy troops will alao get tougher as time goes on.