Mystic Britain - Chronicles of Blood and Iron: Summer 495

Summer of Steel: The Road to Ruin

The spring fighting had ended with Hengst and his Dûrlingar warriors claiming the initiative. The early battles of this campaign are available here. 

From the Annals of Caer Sulis, as recorded by Brother Aldhelm:

"When summer came with heat and harvest, it brought also the reaping of men. Hengst the Grim, emboldened by his sons' spring victory, marched his host upon the ancient stones laid by Rome. The old road would run red ere autumn's first leaf fell, and the mists would hide horrors that no Christian man should witness."

The March of Hengst

After his son's triumph in late spring, Hengst sensed opportunity and moved to exploit it with ruthless speed. Rather than waiting for the full muster of his British allies, he marched immediately with a compact but formidable force: his elite housecarls, the witch Morgatha and her legions of shambling undead, and the remnants of his son's battle-hardened army.

The strategy was brutally simple—push up the old Roman road with all haste, reaching Arthur's capital before the British king could bring his reserves to bear.

But the wily Sagramoor's scouts had already brought word of the Dûrlingar movement. The Moorish general moved to block the western approach along a series of low, undulating hills. Both commanders believed they held the initiative. Neither had reckoned with the weather.

The Battle of the Mist

From the Chronicle of Camlann:

"They camped on facing ridges, each watching the other's fires burn through the dusk. When dawn broke, God had drawn a veil across the world. In that grey shroud, the dead walked unseen, and brave men's hearts turned to water. Islands of earth floated in seas of cloud, and in the depths between, shapes moved that had no right to move at all."

Overnight, both armies had made camp on opposite ridges. When morning came, the land lay smothered beneath a dense, clinging mist. Visibility shrank to mere yards. As both forces advanced, all they could discern were ghostly shapes in the murk and the occasional hilltop rising like a floating island above a sea of cloud. For the Britons, the fog brought special terror—within those mists, the insubstantial undead drifted silent as smoke.

    

The primary effect of the weather, beyond the fear it sowed, was the complete disruption of both armies' deployments. Flanking units drifted off course, becoming separated from the main body. When the mist began to lift as the armies closed, both battle lines were fragmented and broken—a circumstance that would cost Hengst dearly.

Yet Hengst, advancing blindly through the murk, remained unaware of how badly the mist had scattered his formations. His tactics were characteristically straightforward: charge along the entire front, break the British resolve, and march swiftly on Arthur's capital. Despite the limited visibility, it was the Dûrlingar who struck first, crashing into the British line. The howling dead, urged on by the necromancer witch Morgatha, caused the greatest terror among Arthur's loyal warriors.

The Fight Back

After the initial shock drove them back, the Britons found their courage and fought back with renewed determination. The mist's disruption had given them an unexpected tactical advantage. Hengst's army was small, and the broken formations created gaps that allowed the numerically superior Britons to isolate and overwhelm pockets of the enemy with minimal support.

Where the British counterattack struck, dwarven units shattered. Hengst himself found himself nearly surrounded, his standard in danger of being taken. Spotting a gap in the closing British ring, he and his death guard fought their way clear of the encirclement. But the battle was lost. The initiative had shifted once more.

From Brother Aldhelm's Chronicle:

"When the mist lifted at last, the field was a charnel house. The Dûrlingar withdrew in disorder, leaving their dead upon the ground they had thought to claim. Sagramoor's men were too exhausted to pursue with vigour, but victory was theirs nonetheless. The old Roman road would not see dwarf feet that day."

The Battle of Wolves' Wood

After his defeat in the Battle of the Mist, Hengst fell back to a wooded area straddling the old road. Here he could concentrate his forces along a narrow frontage, gaining, he hoped, some tactical advantage. His position was strengthened by the arrival of the pretender Modred, who brought cavalry to guard his more exposed flank.

Taking up position at the centre of his line, Hengst planted his standard near an old Roman milestone bearing an eagle motif—an edifice the dwarf chieftain considered a favourable omen.

From the Chronicle of Camlann:

"At the Wolves' Wood did Hengst make his stand, beneath the eagle of lost Rome. The trees themselves seemed to reject the abominations in his host, and the very earth rose against the walking dead. It was a day of axes and of blood, where heroes fell, and traitors paid the price of their ambition."

This would be no battle of sophisticated strategy. Sagramoor understood that only one path led to victory: continue up the road and burst throughHengst'ss strengthened position at the milestone. With this in mind, he deployed his best troops at the centre and began his advance, his flanks covered byGalahad'ss light cavalry on the right and the fierce Welsh warriors on the left.

Clash of Arms

The first clash came, unsurprisingly, between the British housecarls and Hengst's Death Guard, supported by the undead legion. But this day, the dead would find no fortune. The necromancer Morgatha struggled to maintain her hold over them or replenish their numbers. Some mystic force pervaded the ancient woods, rejecting these abominations of unlife. The undead wavered and dissipated like morning fog.

The battle became a brutal struggle along the main road itself. Slowly, the Britons began to push the dwarves back. At one desperate moment, arrows struck Hengst's armour—they failed to penetrate, but he was forced to invoke mighty deeds simply to preserve his life.

On the flanks, fortune also favoured the Britons. The Welsh slowly drove the undead from the woods into open ground. On the right flank, Galahad charged Modred's cavalry, and the two champions met in single combat—a duel that would cost the pretender his life. With Modred dead upon the field and his forces struggling, Hengst recognised the inevitable and withdrew to his coastal fortress.

Now the dwarf chieftain faced a grim calculation: should he attempt to hold the fortress through a siege, or abandon it and return to the Isle of Vectis to plan a new campaign for the following year?

For Sagramoor, victory had secured the southern hundreds of Arthur's kingdom, but his men were near exhaustion. His own decision loomed: should he, so late in the season—early September now—attempt to lay siege Hengst'st's stronghold? Such an undertaking would certainly require Arthur's support and, more importantly, his elite guards.

From the Annals of Caer Sulis"

"Thus ended the summer campaigns, with the Dûrlingar penned upon the coast and the pretender Modred lying cold upon contested ground. The witch Morgatha had fled, her dark arts proven insufficient against the ancient powers that slumber in Britain's soil. Yet Hengst remained unbroken, his fortress strong, and autumn would bring its own trials".

Observations from the Summer Campaigns

These two summer engagements proved markedly different from the cautious spring battles. Where the spring conflicts were drawn-out affairs of probing and manoeuvring, these were head-on clashes of terrible violence—especially the final battle, which became a true bloodbath. Many heroes either barely survived through the use of mighty deeds or, in Modred's case, failed to survive at all.

The Battle of the Mist demonstrated how numerical superiority can overcome elite forces, particularly when the battle line becomes divided. The fragmentation allowed the Britons to exploit gaps and bring superior numbers to bear at crucial points, supported by better dice rolls, ultimately giving them the edge.

The Battle Wolves' Wood was a more straightforward affair. Simply put, the dice favoured the Britons that day. Hengst should have recognised his ill fortune when he threw two double ones on ones on his risk to hero throw. This "Twist of Fate" was a warning of what was to follow. Though his mighty deeds saved him from fighting's worst effects, from that moment forward, the battle seemed lost to him.

Ironically, Modred's death also robbed Hengst of much of the propaganda value he had sought in this campaign. No longer could he claim to support a rightful British king against a usurper. He was now simply another would-be conqueror of these isles, following in the footsteps of the departed Roman masters.

From Brother Aldhelm's Chronicle"

"As summer waned and the harvest moon rose full, men on both sides sharpened their blades and wondered what autumn would bring. The war was far from over, but the balance had shifted. Whether Hengst would withdraw or make a final, desperate stand remained to be seen. The chronicler's hand grows weary, but the tale continues…"

The summer season has concluded with the Dûrlingar contained but not destroyed, their chieftain cornered but defiant. The question now is whether the autumn will bring siege, withdrawal, or some unexpected turn fate's wheel.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Workbench 2026

As we turn the page on another year of gaming, it's time for my annual look back at what's been happening on the tabletop here at Anglian Wargaming HQ.

Looking Back at 2025

2025 turned out to be a pretty productive year, even if I didn't manage quite as many games as I'd hoped. I wrapped up two campaigns that had been running for a while: the pulp adventure 'Tomb of the Serpent' using Pulp Alley, and 'DNA', a superhero romp played with SuperMission Force.

The real star of the year, though, was Midgard. This sandbox game arrived late in 2024, but didn't make it to my table until March. Since then, it's dominated my gaming time and sparked my largest 28mm painting project in years. I've run several Dark Ages games with these rules now, and I'm currently deep into my first Midgard campaign: Mystic Britain. This pits Arthur's Britain against the Durlingar dwarves and their allies. The campaign should reach its climax early in 2026, though after the evil dwarves' latest victory, the outcome is far from certain!




The other campaign I started in 2025 was 'The Spectacular Adventures of the Leopard', set during the English Civil War in the West Country. This follows Edward Clement and his band of followers as they battle against the Preacher and his Parliamentary Forces. I'm using the ever-versatile Pulp Alley rules for this one, with the campaign plotted using a simple Snakes and Ladders board game.

What's Coming in 2026

I've got two new campaigns lined up for the year ahead.

First up is a 'steampunk' superhero campaign in which the Keepers of the Hidden Ways take on the Charnel Society in their inaugural adventure. I've been having great fun developing this alternative London, complete with a female Sherlock Holmes and her colleagues with their supernatural abilities. This will be a straightforward linear campaign with three or four scenarios making up a 'series'. The aim is to capture the feel of comic books, with new supervillain teams appearing in each chapter.

The second campaign is historical: Edward I's conquest of Wales, based on a Charles Grant 'programmed' reconnaissance campaign. Set in 1277, the English probe the Tywi Valley and meet resistance from the Welsh lords of Deheubarth. Historically, these events were a sideshow to Edward's main invasion in the north and led to the region's submission. I'm planning to use Baron's War 2nd Edition rules, with a spring start once 'Mystic Britain' campaigns wrap up. One thing I've learned is that I can only handle two concurrent campaigns – any more and I lose track of the narratives.

Projects and Ambitions

One disappointment in 2025 was not getting more historical simulations to the table, particularly following the refight of the Battle of Pynda using the Strength and Honour rules. These games need considerable research to do correctly, plus there's often significant modelling and painting involved. I plan to streamline this by focusing on 6mm or 10mm miniatures where my collection is strongest. Cynoscephalae is nearly ready for the table, and this time I'm going to experiment with different ancient rules to see how they handle these battles.

Looking further ahead, I'm working on a crusader army list and rules using the Midgard rules. With luck, I'll have something to share by year's end. I'm also converting my trial WoFun War of the Roses figures into a 10mm army, though I'll squeeze in another quick game as the army comes together.

Two longer-term projects are still in the research phase. The first is a Kiss Me Hardy campaign based on the Jack Aubrey novels, though this depends on the new edition of those rules. The second is a Glorantha project based on the wonderful RuneQuest world. The idea is to follow a small group of characters through roleplaying, skirmish games, and finally as part of a unit in mass combat. Plenty of reading and testing ahead on both fronts!

The Blog and Beyond

The blog is starting to get some decent traffic, but I want to develop it further. I'm currently looking at sharing more scenarios and campaign logs. I also write a bit of background material for my games and would like to share my thoughts on wargaming mechanisms more generally. I'm not convinced the blog is the best format for all this material, so I'm exploring Substack as a way to complement the shorter content here. More on that later.

Here's to another year of dice rolling and tape measures!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Mystic Britain - Chronicles of Blood and Iron: Spring 495.

Mystic Britain is my current Midgard campaign set in Arthurian Britain in the late 5th century. The background to that campaign, including the main factions in this alternative history, can be found here.

From the Annals of Caer Sulis as recorded by Brother Ashelm

 "In the year of our Lord 495, in the season when the hawthorn blooms white as bone, the shadow of the Dûrlingar fell upon our land. Hengst the Grim had crossed the waters from Vectis with fire in his heart and slaughter in his wake. The fords would run red ere summer came, and many a mother's son would find his rest beneath the cold river stones."

Spring of Blood: The Campaign Begins

Mystic Britain stands as a land fractured by competing loyalties and shifting allegiances. The coming war will test whether Arthur can unite these diverse forces against the encroaching darkness of the Dûrlingar—those fell creatures who have replaced the Jutes in our history's unfolding. The outcome promises to reshape the destiny of this turbulent realm.

For my inaugural campaign, I've chosen to play through "Modred's Coming of Age," set in the fateful spring of 495 AD. The previous years had witnessed increased Dûrlingar activity along the southern coast, but spring brought something far more ominous. Hengst, chieftain of the dark dwarves, crossed from Vectis with his host and established a fortified camp at Noviomagus (Chichester).

Arthur's spies brought word swiftly, and the British king understood immediately—this would be no mere raid. The months that followed would determine who wore the crown and whether the Britons would survive as a people.

First Moves

The campaign opened with Hengst dispatching his sons, Oasric and Penda, to secure a crossing over the Avon. Their orders were clear: find a ford, hold it, and prepare the way for the primary host. There, they would rendezvous with the traitor Modred and his men to launch a coordinated assault on Arthur's stronghold at Aquae Sulis.

When word of Hengst's advance reached Arthur, he responded with characteristic decisiveness. He dispatched his most loyal lieutenant, Sagramoor, to harry the crossing and deny the enemy their bridgehead. The Battle of the Bloody Ford

From the Chronicle of Camlann

"At the Bloody Ford did Sagramoor stand, with water to his knees and resolve in his heart. The Dûrlingar came in their hundreds, axes gleaming like winter stars, and the river that ran clear at dawn ran crimson ere the sun reached noon."

The campaign's opening engagement proved cautious on both sides. Neither commander wished to commit—and potentially lose—his best troops so early in the fighting season. The headstrong Galahad chafed at this restraint, eager to carry the fight to the enemy. Sagramoor eventually placated him with a compromise: Galahad would lead his cavalry across the river with all speed to threaten the Dûrlingar left flank, a role the young warrior embraced with enthusiasm and no small skill.

The Lines Clash

The British advance proved ponderous, and both armies suffered from poor coordination as their battle lines fragmented in the ford's treacherous currents. When the Britons finally launched their assault across the river, they achieved initial success—but the Dûrlingar line held. Then the berserkers struck, their axes carving through the British ranks and driving the attackers back across the bloodied waters.

On the British right, Galahad's cavalry had pulled the Dûrlingar line dangerously out of position as it wheeled to face the mounted threat. Rather than charging home, Galahad's riders unleashed their javelins and retired, leaving frustration and gaps in the enemy formation. The engagement remained inconclusive.

Galahad threatens the Dûrlingar lines. 

The Death of Morfans the Ugly

As combat raged along the entire front, the Dûrlingar hero Ulfharlar threw himself into the melee, bellowing a challenge to Morfans. The armies parted as if by mutual consent, and the two champions stood alone in the stream, sword and axe at ready.

What followed was brutal and swift. Morfans charged with characteristic aggression, but Ulfharlar stood planted like an oak in the river's current. As the Briton champion Pellinor leapt to deliver his blow, the dwarf's axe found its mark in his opponent's side. The fight ended almost before it began. The Dûrlingar roared their approval and surged forward.

Morfans's death broke the spirit of the Britons around him. The Dûrlingar pushed them back across the river and gained a crucial flank overlap. The berserkers exacted a terrible toll on the British levies as the dwarven army surged forward. But on the right flank, fortune favoured the Britons. Galahad's cavalry continued to sow chaos without committing to melee, pinning the extreme left of the Dûrlingar line while British infantry closed on both front and flank. It became clear that this flank would soon collapse. The battle had become a race—victory would go to whichever side could break the opposing flank first.

After the Battle

A cautious engagement where both commanders held back their elite forces, unwilling to risk them so early in the campaign. The heroes showed less restraint, throwing themselves into desperate melees. Morfans paid the ultimate price—the only fatality among the champions. The battle also demonstrated the importance of Romano-British cavalry, a tactical advantage Hengst and his sons would need to counter in battles to come.

The Battle of Two Fords 

From the Annals of Caer Sulis:

"Twice did the rivers drink deep of Dûrlingar blood, and twice did brave Sagramoor harry them south. Yet pride oft goes before the fall, and the ravens whispered warnings that went unheeded."

Following his victory at the Bloody Ford, Sagramoor pursued the retreating Dûrlingar southward. Osric realised his surprise attack had failed utterly. To advance further, he would need reinforcements. He dispatched his brother Penda with the wounded back to their father's camp while he prepared to buy time by holding the Fords of Arun.

Soon, Sagramoor's battle lines emerged from the northern hills and woodlands.

Sagramoor had gained a powerful ally—Merlin himself had joined his retinue. The wizard proved cautious, warning that the ravens showed unfavourable omens until noon. But Sagramoor needed to maintain pressure on the retreating enemy. He ordered his army forward despite Merlin's warnings, placing his elite household troops, the comitatus, at the vanguard to storm both fords simultaneously.

Fortune smiled on the Britons, aided by Osric's poor tactical decisions. Still intent on preserving his best troops, the dwarf commander deployed his warbands in mixed bow-and-spear formations, hoping to blunt the British attack before committing his elite housecarls. The strategy failed spectacularly. The narrow chokepoints of the fords prevented Osric from correcting his deployment error once battle was joined.

The Dûrlingar warriors proved no match for the British comitatus. They were pushed back into their own housecarls, creating chaos in the dwarven ranks. The Dûrlingar line held briefly, but the warrior formations began to crumble under the relentless British advance. So, on both fronts, the defences collapsed almost simultaneously as British reserves moved forward to support the assault.

The Dûrlingar Warriors are no match for the Briton Elites

The Challenge

In desperation, Ulfharlar challenged a British champion to single combat, hoping to buy time for a retreat. His challenge was accepted, but this tim,e luck abandoned the dwarf hero. He fell into the blood-red river, adding his own lifeblood to the waters.

Osric, recognising that both fording points were lost beyond recovery, ordered a withdrawal. Rather than retreating directly to his father's main camp, he chose to follow the old Roman road to the coastal town, hoping to regroup and receive reinforcements there.

The Battle of the Old Road

Sagramoor, flush with victory, decided not to wait for support. He occupied the hills beyond the coast, positioning his army to block any Dûrlingar movement inland. Here he would await reinforcements before launching his final assault. But in this decision, he surrendered the initiative.

Osric, now reinforced by the young pretender Modred—Arthur's cousin and, to many, the rightful king—prepared to counterattack. Modred brought cavalry with him, providing the scouting and flank protection the Dûrlingar desperately needed. More ominously, Osric had gained supernatural aid: ancient, unknown warriors from ages past, ghostly shapes filled with relentless hunger for destruction. These undead would lead the assault.

From Brother Aldhelm's Chronicle:

"On that day, God and fortune both turned their faces from the righteous. The dead walked, and the living fell before them like wheat before the scythe. Even brave Galahad, unhorsed and with his standard in the dust, could not turn the tide. Sagramoor learned that victory's sister is often defeated, and they are twins who walk hand in hand."

Some days, luck simply abandons you. The gods turn away, and Lady Fortune shows her cruel face. This was such a day for Sagramoor.

As the undead crashed into the British lines, his men seemed to lose all will to fight. Shockingly poor fortune drove them backwards onto their supporting ranks. With limited room to manoeuvre between the hills, the Britons found themselves trapped and unable to seize the initiative. Slowly but inexorably, they were pushed back off the right-hand hill where their main force crumbled.

Death Arrives Causing Panic Amongst the Britons

In desperation, Galahad led his cavalry in a crushing charge against the Dûrlingar right wing, driving them back. For a moment, it seemed the tide might turn. But then disaster struck—Galahad was unhorsed, his standard falling to the ground. With that sight, British morale shattered completely.

The day was lost. All that remained was to extract the surviving forces and regroup. As June passed into the hot summer months, the Dûrlinga once again held the initiative.

Observations from the Spring Campaign

These three battles revealed important tactical lessons:

The first engagement demonstrated the crucial value of light cavalry. Galahad's horsemen crossed the ford before the battle lines closed, becoming a constant thorn in the Dûrlingar flank—threatening, harrying, disrupting—without ever committing to decisive combat.

The second battle exposed the dangers of poor deployment. Osric's mixed formations failed to achieve their intended purpose, and the confined battlespace prevented him from adjusting his strategy once combat began. The engagement was lost before it truly started.

The third battle proved that even a strong position and a winning streak guarantee nothing. Luck can be a faithless mistress. Perhaps Sagramoor should have had a contingency plan, but the day simply belonged to the Dûrlingar—they owned the dice godsfavour or completely.

One observation applies to all three spring battles: the campaign system encouraged commanders to carefully husband their elite and limited forces. The fact that Osric lost a unit of housecarls and a berserker band at the Bloody Ford may have unconsciously influenced his overly cautious deployment at Rwo Fords.

From the Chronicle of Camlann:

"Thus passed the spring of blood, and summer came with its heat and its harvest of sorrow. The Dûrlingar, emboldened by their victory at the Old Road, marched up the ancient Roman way toward Arthur's very capital. The true test was yet to come."

Now the summer season has begun, and the Dûrlingar once again hold the initiative, marching up the old Roman road toward Arthur's capital at Aquae Sulis. The fate of Britain hangs in the balance.

The chronicler's ink runs dry here, but the war continues. More tales of blood and valour await the telling… here