Viking Beach Assault - An LOTR SBG Battle Report

Harrold Harroldson had heard tales of Vinland for years. He set sale for that far off world with 5 well crewed ships. After a month at rough seas, his ship is the only one to make it to the rocky shores of the modern Labrador coast. As he sails along the shore looking for a suitable spot to land his beleaguered ship, he fails to notice the shadowed forms flitting through the misty trees. Spotting a creek that has cut a ravine through the rocky bluffs, Harold makes for it as his men cheer their imminent return to solid ground. 

 

The skraeling chieftain has had his scouts watching the strange ship since the early dawn. He has never seen the white demons before but has heard tales of slaughter and rape from other coastal villages. He knows that the closest place the ship can safely land is near the creek, and prepares a savage welcome for the white ghosts. 

The skraeling archers conceal themselves in the trees on top of the cliff. The chief orders a small group of men to hide in the boulders on the far side of the creek while he prepares the majority of his men to block the ravine entrance.  

The ships keel grinds onto the shingle beach while the skraelings lie in wait

As they notice the skraelings moving down the beach towards them the vikings pile out of their ship as fast as possible. Limited room means they will only be able to reach the sand a few at a time. As stone tipped arrows fly from the cliff one viking is snatched to an early grave.

With the ship as cover from the archers, the vikings try to get men on the beach to defend against the fast approaching attack of the advancing Skraelings.  

The archers drop two more vikings as they leap over the gunwales of their ship.

Keeping the initiative for the moment, the vikings manage to throw together a small shieldwall before the skraelings meet them. With weak flanks and few men, it is unlikely they will be able to hold on long. 3 are killed in the first skraeling charge, while the skraeling chief takes a minor wound. 

 

As more vikings reach the beach, the skraelings push in closer to the boat. In the melee, two warriors from each side are slain the surf.

leaping to the beach on the other side, another viking falls to the archers. 

 

The skraelings seize the initiative and pin the vikings up against the boat, removing any opportunity for reinforcements to join them on this side. The viking chief hurls himself over the gunwale and manages to dodge all 6 arrows that the archers launch at him.

The pinned vikings are slaughtered, losing 3 more men. The skraelings begin to lose their zeal as 2 more are skewered by viking steel. 

The chief orders a couple of warriors to block the reinforcements on the far side of the ship while he moves in on the remaining vikings.

The vikings are surrounded but not defeated, giving as good as they get with each side losing another 2 men.

The viking chief attempts to organize his few remaining men for a final push. They are pinned in a bad spot as the arrows fell another warrior.

Seeing the end in sight, the archers take careful aim and drop 4 of the viking warriors with arrows to the back. All hope is lost for the vikings as the chief and his last man are surrounded and clubbed down.

The vikings inability to get men on the beach had them constantly overwhelmed by numbers. This, coupled with the excellent shooting by the native archers led to their demise. With 20/20 hindsight, the vikings should have sent a detachment to deal with the archers and then sweep around behind the rear of the main skraeling attack.