The Defence of Dernland - EKPS
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 new EKPS rules from Nordic Weasel and my own Solo rules and Solo Campaign structure.
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 documented the playtest battles as posts and am now (May 2025) ready to start the campaign for real. But lets start the models and army lists, and to get us started, lets take a look at our heroes.
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.
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.
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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 (Gripping Beast) will be Levy, and there are two different Skeleton units (Highland 3D prints) to use as Light.
Followed by another Skeleton unit (Highland) of Missile, a slightly heavier unit for Shield (Gripping Beast), and heavier still for Great Weapons (GB as well).
I’ve kept the riders separate from the horses, even the four horses for the two chariots are based individually and not glued to the chariots, so I can use whatever mix of the 15 riders I want. 6 for Shock Troops, 6 for Shields, and 3 Individuals
I should note that I have written my own rules for Chariots, in case you have a copy of the current EKPS and wondered why they are not in there.
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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.
Again, these are not currently in EKPS, so I have written their rules myself.
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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 (slings), Shields, and Missile (crossbows).
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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.
I recently also added Oathmark Goblin Wolf Riders to this army, matching them in by colour scheme.
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1 It Begins
The first turn threw the scenario where our brave forces choose who to fight, and this was such an obvious opportunity to play the new Reptile rules that the backstory wrote itself, especially after the roll for the enemy had them sending in a wave of light troops first.
Things had been relatively peaceful for a few years. The odd raiding party of Orcs or Gnolls, the occasional incursion by a few Undead, nothing the border forts couldn’t handle on their own. Howvere, a new power was stirring up trouble from the East, Reptiles from the islands looking for new lands to conquer. On their own they would probably not be much of a threat, but it was bound to make our other neighbours fancy their chances. We were soon to find out as a runner from Ostfort reported nearly forty had come ashore and were heading inland in two groups.
With just the Scout Odger and his Lights at Ostfort, and the concern about the other borders, Captain Gunnarson set out from Dernkirk with Shield, Missile and Skirmish, while the Priest Gothi was ordered to take both the Shield and Missile from Talthorpe.
These three forces then came together in time to see what looked like Skirmishers and two Lights commanded by a Scout. We would need to act quickly before the rest showed up. Then both Gunnarson and Gothi realised that their Missile troops were missing, just delayed somewhere hopefully, but they could not be waited for. On to battle!
Turn 1 - our heroes leap towards the enemy, eager to close the gap, worried about the enemy skirmishers trying to crest the hill, hoping to draw forward the lights, who were not taken in. The second enemy contingent became visible far too soon to split their force, while the two missing missile units were still not in sight.
Turn 2 - all forwards again, and the leaders start to make their presence felt. Gothi blesses the Shield troops, and the enemy scout takes a shot at him but misses. Odger fared better though, downing a snakeman, first blood had been drawn. A cheer then sounded from the two missing missile units appearing to the rear, would they reach positions to have an impact in time?
Turn 3 - and timing is everything, the shield troops had reached the crest of the hill after the lizard skirmishers so they couldn’t fire, and now they charge before they can fire. With the blessings to hand the melee ends with two lizard skirmishers dead and a further three wounded, which proves too much for them and they retreat running up against the missile troops behind and stopping them from firing until they recovered enough to move out of the way. When the missiles could fire their shields came to their aid stopping two shots but they did have one man killed and another wounded, but at that point they were a bit exposed and happy to retreat.
On the other flank, Odger shot another snakeman, leaving just four to face his light unit that killed another and wounded a third, though did take one wound themselves. This forced the snakes to retreat.
The Lizard scout again shot at Gothi, but again missed. The lizardman light unit in the centre advanced, but were met by slingshot from the skirmishers, downing two, wounding a third and sending them backwards too. At this point the middle of the reptile force was becoming very congested and slowed their advance, while the barbarian missiles were sprinting forward and Captain Gunnarson halted the advance so they could catch up. Meanwhile Gothi joined the Slingers and blessed them.
Turn 4 - and now something strange happened, as the three groups of reptiles that had retreated went into some kind of torpor state and took no action. The snakemen missile troops wer too far over the brow of the hill from the retreating shield troops so had to move up rather than fire. Gothi went back and blessed the troops again and then they were ready to attack, five against six but the barbarians hacked down four and the remaining two had had enough and routed. The lizard scout didn’t like that much and shot one of them, it seemed like just a wound but the poor man dropped to the ground anyway, curtesy of the poisoned arrow.
Odger shot and killed one of the torpid snakeman on the left leaving just two of them, so the troops with him repositioned themselves for the advancing Heavy Weapon reptiles in the centre. The slingers then let lose at them and with the blessings of Gothi on them, all six hit and scoring 3 kills and the remaining 3 were all wounded, so they promptly retreated!
Turn 5 - Gothi used the last gasp of his power to cast a final blessing on the shield troops before the lizard shock troops charged home. Even with the blessing this was never going to go well, the lizards took down two and the remaining two routed, but that left the lizards on the brow of the hill and the archers finally able to fire. They were not having a good day though, and all six missed.
Odger shot and killed another snakeman on the right, and the last one fled. The shields in the centre attacked the four lights that had come back from their torpor, they killed two and again it was too much for the remaining two who also fled. That left one of their number a bit exposed though and the huge snakelike thing that was the reptile captain struck him down. With a bellowed command from Captain Gunnarson, another barbarian leapt in and wounded the thing, followed immediately by Gunnarson himself who beheaded the beast. That was witness by the remaining heavy weapons reptiles who turned and fled.
The slingers were down to their last ammunition but really made it count by taking out the lizard scout.
Turn 6 (final) - the lizard skirmishers made it into range of the slingers and fired off four shots without hitting anything. The missile unit that failed so badly at shooting lizards redeemed themselves, killing one, wounding another, and sending them into retreat. The slingers, having no ammo left, got out of the way of the other archers, who finally got three shots off, but all missed. No other barbarians could reach the last remaining reptiles though, and light was failing, so Gunnarson declared victory and sent the various units back to their garrisons.
Aftermath - the Eastern border is now a little safer with the Reptilian Empire less of a threat. The brunt of the battle was borne by the shield troops Gothi brought with him from Talthorpe, of the four casualties two were dead and the two that routed returned, there was only one other casualty and they survived. With 8 resources available, two recruits were outfitted for the shield troop, bringing the roster back to full strength and the unit as a whole have such a spirit of espri de corps now that they will not test for morale for any reason in their next battle.
Of the rest of the troops, only the Slingers gained experience, their three volleys proved so useful that they were promoted! Both Captain Gunnarson and the Scout Odger were rewarded too.
None of these troops would be available for whatever comes next though.
Great start to your campaign! I look forward to reading more battle reports...
ReplyDeleteCheers Mike, I'm aiming for one a month, alongside GoTT, 5 Klicks that feels doable
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