Design Notes for Norsemen!

I originally thought it would be easy to design a purely fictional Medieval scenario. 
Within certain historical limitations, I could set up and adjust both armies as I saw fit,
and arrive at a logical conclusion by simply manipulating unit and map characteristics. 
In a word, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, though it did turn out to be an 
enjoyable "puzzle". Setting basic army/unit values was fairly straightforward, but adding 
the complexity of a fortified building along with missle resupply and reinforcements 
continually stirred the pot of game ingredients, and called for constant tinkering and 
adjusting of minute detail to achieve as close to a fair match for both sides as possible.

The Viking Army:
A decision the Viking player must make early on is to determine whether the cheap points 
for killing Irish peasants and livestock is worth drawing off a number of valuable units 
away from the main fighting. The points are indeed worth something, but may not be worth 
the effort later in the battle when forces are needed at key positions.

The Viking army is basically composed of three elements, and in fact, each element enters 
the battle in a series of three waves against the Irish Abbey. The Viking cavalry is fast 
and lethal, but does not possess an abundance of staying power. They are a probing strike 
force who in practice should sweep away the interfering peasant and livestock units, and 
also put a good dent in the frontline defending Irish army, after which they are pretty 
much blown and spent. Viking swordsmen then enter the fray and actually come to serious 
grips with the Irish near and around the stream/ford area. These offensive-minded Vikings 
will push the Irish uphill toward the Abbey and weaken them. Some may even get involved in
assaulting the Abbey and nearby villages. The third wave is the axemen and leader unit. 
These are slightly more steady units defensively but can do real damage when they close 
with the enemy or the Abbey itself, which should be held by the Bishop alone. As the Viking
player, it's advisable to concentrate on assaulting the Abbey with the intent of 
destroying/capturing the weak but victory point laden Bishop. Do not spend too much time 
chasing weakened Irish units as in most cases, the 14 turn limit offers just enough time to 
obtain your main objective.   

The Irish Army:
The Irish army is in a good defensive beginning position, capable of fighting downhill most 
of the game, or from defensive-bonus village hexes. Ideally, you should employ a fighting 
withdrawal toward the Abbey, slowing the Viking assault wherever possible with your own 
axemen. Your archers are good bowmen, but not good fighters. Protect them, see that they 
are in skirmish order when firing, and in column when moving. There are two missle 
resupplies in the Abbey, and the archers should immediately change to column and retrieve 
these missles after they spend their original supply.  The Irish leader unit is of course 
the centerpiece of your army...a hard hitter capable of sustaining quite a bit of damage. 
He also is worth 5 victory points though, so use him sparingly. The 6 victory-point Bishop 
is an unusual unit. Although he is totally defenseless and has no offensive power 
whatsoever, he carries a nasty sting in the form of a 25 man heavy crossbow escort. He 
usually can repulse any one attacker with a well aimed volley of crossbow bolts, but must 
rely on the strength of the Abbey for protection against melee. The AI WILL place him 
securely in the Abbey out of harms way, it's advisable you do the same as the Irish player. 
You have two cavalry units entering on turns 7 and 8, and four foot units entering on turns
10-13. They often are the units which victory depends on at game's end.

The Map and Units:
There are only two entrances/exits from the Abbey which are spanned by defensive stone 
bridges. Naturally the Vikings should attack both simultaneously as soon as possible to 
stretch limited Irish manpower. Because of the East/West only orientation of units, bridge 
and Abbey defenders will take flank attacks, but this is compensated for by the defensive 
bonus of the bridges. The Bishop's crossbowmen by necessity, also have a limited field of
fire, but it is focused on the Abbey's western side, the side which the Vikings normally
manuever on.

The Irish peasant and livestock units are more for atmosphere and effect than anything else.
Points gained by eliminating, (capturing) them can occasionally affect the game's outcome,
but that is offset by Viking units being drawn away from the center of action, and so the
tradeoff is up to the Viking player to determine.

On rare occasions you will witness some odd looking but humorous incidents, and I have 
left the possibility of this happening in the game. I've seen "cattle" units beserk attack
Viking archers, even killing a man or two in the process of themselves immediately getting
eliminated. In a few instances, even peasant units might muster a bit of courage and take
out a man or two with their rakes, again though at the cost of their own lives.

This scenario was specifically designed to be used with the following pre-game options. 
When playing as the Vikings, please adjust the Irish AI style of play to that of Cautious. 
When playing the Irish side, please adjust the Viking AI style to that of Aggresive.
I had fun designing this fictional scenario, I hope you enjoy playing it. If you see 
anything of interest or note any way to improve the game, please drop me an email at
pnatta@earthlink.net

Phil Natta   
   