RAID ON INCHCOLM ABBEY

After 2 weeks in the sun of Majorca enjoying 33C temperatures every day I returned to wet and windy  Scotland.   The first game I played on my return was a Viking era raid on the coast of Scotland.

Inchcolm Island

Donald Adamson came up with the scenario and Hugh Wilson provided the excellent terrain.  The game was set in the 10th century and was based on a raid on Inchcolm island in the Firth of Forth. There is a medieval monastery on the island , but this game goes back to the days of Culdees (Celtic priests) and the imagined fate of the shin-bone of St Andrew -- a fabled (at least around these parts) relic.

Viking ship aground

Three Viking warlords, each in a longship, wanted the treasure of Inchcolm (although they were possibly more interested in the associated church plate), and three Mormaers (Earls) wanted to save the abbey (although they intended to transfer the shin-bone to a church in their earldoms). Two of these came from the newly formed Scotland (The Mormaers of Fif and Fothrif), whilst one came from the southern shore of the Forth (The Mormaer of Lothian) -- still Northumbrian at the time.  Each player commanded 50 warriors.

We used Hail Caesar with the stats coming from the Hail Caesar Army Lists (Book II)

Below are sample briefing sheets for Vikings and Mormaers.

Snorri Karlson

Ship: The Raven’s Claw – crew 50 men.

Mission: To raid the Abbey of Inchcolm, and remove the treasure from it.  Unless you get the treasure home, your people will laugh at you. First you must combine with other Vikings, and ensure that the locals do not prevent you from capturing the hoard. Secondly, you must ensure it is on your ship that the treasure goes home.

Roll a dice to determine your landing spot. Race to the Abbey. Roll another dice if the first to enter it to determine how quickly you pillage the church. Get the treasure back to your ship, or remove it from those who have it.

Fight anyone who gets in your way.

Vikings engage the Scots

Lulach the Fair

Mormaer of Fif  with 50 men.

Mission: To protect the Abbey of Inchcolm, but remove the shin-bone of St Andrew from it.  Unless you get the shin-bone home to Dysart, your people will never respect you. First you must combine with other Scots and even Angles, and ensure that the island is swept free of Vikings. Secondly, you must ensure it is on your ship that the shin-bone goes home.

Roll a dice to determine how quickly you get to the island. Roll another dice to determine the landing point on the island. The rest is up to you.

Fight anyone who gets in your way.

More Scots Vs Viking combat

How it Played

I played the part of Lulach the Fair, Mormaer of Fif.  I was unfortunate in that my ship arrived at a remote cliff path only to discover that some Vikings had arrived at an adjacent path before me.  We engaged in a desperate battle and I luckily wiped out all 5 Viking units.  Sadly another Viking longship arrived with reinforcements and they destroyed all my units after some abysmal dice rolls.   Angus Konstam’s Vikings landed away from any opposition and unusually made quick moves and reached the Abbey and found the relic in record time.  On the way back to their ship they ran into the troops of Bart (Mormaer of Fothrif) who defeated them and captured the relic.  Despite attacks from more Vikings Bart still held the relic at the end of the game and so was declared the winner.