Hwæt

Okay so this post is not intended in anyway as a review of Age of Penda…but it sort of is.

I bought the Age of Penda Rules by Daniel Mersey because they went along with a lovely range of Copplestone sculpted 18mm miniatures (available from Northstar) and the rules didn’t cost a lot extra. In for a penny and all that.

Now I’ve never had a bad set of rules from Mr Mersey but these looked VERY different and the first time I saw the pre plotted actions section I thought oh God no it’s going to be some sort of SAGA knock off. 

Let me assure you the Age of Penda rules are very far from that. 

For average commanders you get to pick 4 actions for your force per turn, each player taking it in turns to choose one from a suite of options. Once chosen you can use them in any order you want and one unit could perform all of the actions you chose in one turn if that’s your fancy. There is a subtle degree of strategy involved since once an action has been marked by a player it is blocked to his opponent. Reckon you’re about to get pelted by skirmishers? Choose the “shoot” action if you can and deny it to the enemy! I would go so far as to say there’s even a faint whiff of chess about it. 

I’m not going to laboriously go through a game turn by turn, but here are a few sample pictures taken from a recent testing sesh which might help illuminate a couple of points. 

Gratuitous eye candy shot of the 18mm lads in action.

The tactics chart. Both commanders were average so get to place 4 counters each, one at a time. Initially the red player rolled highest on a 1D6 so got to choose a tactic first. They chose “seize the initiative” which means they get to choose a tactic first in the next turn with no die roll off  - the down side being that only leaves three actions to use for their force. The “special tactics” box has a suite of associated actions to pick from (the paper on the left), but you don’t have to commit to what the chosen action will be until the moment you play it. 

For his first turn the red player selects “special tactics” and chooses “rush” which allows him to move mounted or skirmish units up to two hexes rather than the usual one. Red’s skirmish units move into the trees.

The green player uses “move” to hustle forward two units of armoured warriors to contest the woods. A chosen tactic is applied to all friendly units in an area, but only three units of any type from either side may occupy an area at one time.

The results of the warrior / skirmishers clash were that the attacking warriors took one hit and the skirmishers two. The dice strengths do not directly relate to the number of men killed but are rather a reflection of the units fighting ability - which can, handily, be rallied back if you’re lucky. 

About a turn or so later the skirmishers have retired and rallied back their strength. The red players three big blocks of armoured warriors advance far enough to potentially move into green’s square so their special tactic was used to form a shieldwall. A shieldwall only lasts for the turn but I made a crappy marker out of unused mdf bases and green stuff as you can see as an aide mémoire.

Ignoring the shieldwall red’s units enter the green leaders square and a huge old bucket of dice is rolled - needing 4, 5 or 6’s for a hit. I won’t bore you with the outcome. 

If you’ve limited space a moderate budget and an interest in gaming this period I would highly recommend these rules. Take it from me as an early medieval / dark age nerd. 

If you want to know how much of a nerd, here are some period related books in my library. 

Proof of nerdiness - should proof be needed.

Two tomes that are highly recommended for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of fighting in this period.

Lair of the uber nerd. Learning to read and speak olde englisc is not necessary - but I went there anyway. The devil finds work for idle hands to do. lol. 

Till next time gesithas!