We decided to prepare a 2×2 board with 15mm viking warbands. The miniatures we used were OOP Two Dragon Miniatures Vikings.

House Thorleif led by Cory, err, ahem Gaudlaug Thorleif.

House Valgard led by Chris, err, ahem Oliver Valgard. Ok, I know “Oliver” as a poweful Viking name… well, it’s what the name generator gave us. Maybe that was the first Omen.

Cory had printed and bound Howard’s rulebook. We love the rules! Great work Howard!

So how this works is there are a deck of cards that tell you which parts of your warband will play active roles in this act of the unfolding drama! Each player also has cards that represent desired offensive and defensive tactical actions that they can choose for themselves each engagement. In this instance, House Valgard’s Lieutenant felt so sure of himself he decided to run ahead of the group and take the fjord!

In response, Thorleif himself, and his Lieutenant thought they would take advantage of the situation and eliminate their lone opponent!

House Valgard’s Lieutenant held his own until both warbands finally clashed. In the process, a “horribly violent blow” was delivered to Thorleif himself which resulted in a great and inspiring speech to his men. (Which Cory delivered in a memorable fashion!)

After his speech, House Thorleif is able to rally, and Gudlaug is able to repell Oliver in hand-to-hand combat, where My commander (the great Oliver Valgard) rolls a folly and in a dramatic and unexpected fashion falls on his own dagger and receives a grave wound to his stomach. In an un-loyal manner the lowly members of house Valgard make a quick and smart decision to convert to House Thorleif! Will Oliver Valgard ever be remembered? We think not.