Redgrave Raiders Campaign

Although it was intended as a raid, my last medieval game felt more like a battle. For a raid, I wanted something more like Dux Brit - a small band of raiders crossing the countrywide toward a target while defenders frantically rush to the defense. I jotted down a set of rules pitting one or two opposing warbands. The raiders are trying to pillage the village and escape before the defenders arrive.

After coming up with the rules, I was too lazy to set up the board. Instead, I created a virtual board and ran a game on my computer.

Set Up
The map is shown below. First, I rolled to see if there were any defenders in the village; a band of levy had taken up arms. Then raiders (in red naturally) entered from the bottom edge and were able to move 2 turns (a randomly determined head start). Finally, a band of Imperial troops entered at a randomly determined location (in this case a band of horse came in at the top edge).

Starting Positions

The Raid
Each turn, both raiders and defenders must roll to determine if and how far they can move. I designed this to give a sense of suspense. Will the defenders be able to arrive in time or can the raiders escape? At this point in the game, the raiders dithered outside the village while the defending horsemen raced into the village.

The Imperial Horse make it to the village in time

 Finally, the Redgravians moved forward, launching an attack on the village. The Imperial Horse charged into battle. Bloodshed and mayhem ensued. Soon the raiders had taken grievous casualties, although the Imperials had lost some men as well.

The bloody battle for the village.
I used a yellow star burst as a casualty marker.

 At this point, the Redgravian commander realized that his situation was precarious. He tried to withdraw toward the woods but the enemy horse kept him locked in melee ( I made opposing dice rolls to see if the raiders could get away. The horse received a bonus due to their mobility. Unsurprisingly, the raiders failed to escape). With their fatalistic nature, the raiders became determined to sell their lives dearly. Seeing the raiders occupied, the levy decided to act and rushed upon the enemy flank.

The levy rushes the flank.

 The onslaught was too much for the raiders. One by one they fell to the Imperial swords. Yet they died valiantly, taking out the opposing horse before they finally collapsed from their wounds, only to be slaughtered by the levy.

The Aftermath
Dead and wounded horsemen and raiders littered the grounds of the village while the levy stood triumphant (even though they spent most of the fight hiding behind the Imperial horse). Word spread throughout the region of the valiant defense by Count Deleas's troops. The victory also bought a season of peace in the province.

The aftermath.
Only the levy remain

Campaign Notes
Inspired by Dux Brit and Kaptain Kobold's Dux Bellorum (located on this page - not to be confused with the published rules of the same name), I also jotted down some simple campaign rules. Each campaign turn represents a season; raids can occur randomly in the Spring through Autumn seasons. After 3 successful raids there will be a full-scale Redgravian invasion. The campaign shall last 5 years. Will the province last that long?

So far, Deleas's troops have defeated a raid in spring. Summer was quiet (note that a defeated raid makes a new raid less likely in the following turn while a successful raid makes another more likely) but in the autumn word has gone out that more Redgravians have been spotted.