Halfdan makes his move ....

 Backstory ...

Vikings have been sighted down the coast, Earl Wilfred has mustered the local fyrd and marched off to intercept the threat. After seeing off her husband Lady Hilda returns to the great hall accompanied by some of her female hearth guard and recently arrived cousin Beornwulf the Bold (and his dog Enar).

Halfdan, the Earl's nephew has long harboured a grudge against Lady Hilda (he was due to inherit but Lady Hilda had a son)... and has decided to kill her while her husband and son were away and take control.

---oXo---

The Action ....

Halfdan meets with 'Tiny' Sven and two of his supporters to check all is ready...

Lady Hilda and her escort approach the gateway to the enclosure around the great hall....

As Lady Hilda and her party pass the gate and approach the hall they find themselves confronted by Halfdan and 'Tiny' Sven....

they realise Halfdan's supporters are moving closer to surround them...

Halfdan gives the signal and they attack, some of his men hang back ...

The attack is partly repulsed,  Lady Hilda has winded Halfdan who falls back to recover...

The hearth guard sentries by the main hall are engaged and can't reach Lady Hilda; meanwhile as Halfdan gets his breath Lady Hilda attacks 'Tiny' Sven, while the rest of the party find themselves under attack from more of Halfdan's men

The second attack is repulsed, the heath guard sentries by the main hall are slowly pushing their way forward....

A couple of Halfdan's men attack again, while Lady Hilda and Beornwulf come to the assistance to two of the hearth guard who are hard pressed. Halfdan holds position looking for the best point of attack ... 

Another attack repulsed, but this time 'Tiny' Sven falls back wounded, 

Halfdan edges round towards the gateway, keeping an eye for an opening as his men now come under attack ....

The fighting continues, Beornwulf has disabled another of Hafdan's men, while 'Tiny' Sven has fallen back after being attacked by one of the hearth guard

Halfdan sees an opening and charges in to join the attack on one of the hearth guard...

as the fighting shifts, Halfdan finds himself face to face with Lady Hilda again ....

but two of her hearth guard are moving to defend her ....

'Tiny' Sven has been killed and Halfdan is now fighting with Lady Hilda and one of the hearth guard, Beornwulf keeps the men by the gate at bay ....

Halfdan is badly wounded and surrounded,  most of his men are disabled or have run away

Halfdan has failed, he is tied up and taken away - he awaits his fate ....

---oXo---

Solo game played out using the latest version of my more generalised Simple Combat rules.   

The scenario was setup so that Halfdan's group had double the numbers but some slightly lower skill levels; on the average they should have been able to have two men attacking each one of Lady Hilda's escort giving them the advantage; to balance that out somewhat Beornwulf was added to the escort.

Halfdan's attempt to kill off Lady Hilda failed mostly due to himself and his supporters sometimes getting poor dice rolls and not passing the engage in combat threshold - this meant his greater numbers could not be used to overwhelm the hearth guard. Once his men were wounded their fighting effectiveness was reduced...resulting in them being disabled or running away.

Result:

The Goodies:

• 1 of the hearth guard received a wound

The Baddies:

• Halfdan wounded and captured
• 5 disabled (or dead) including 'Tiny' Sven
• 3 received 2 wounds and ran away
• 2 received 1 wound and ran away
• 1 captured
• 1 escaped (not wounded)