Viking tactics

Ok here comes my deranged insight on the matter: First: Play with Stephen's new lists instead. They are much more characterful and diverse. However in a tournament or up to now you're stuck with the ones in AoA. I'll talk about how I played with the ones in AoA. Starting form the top the General is just plain scary. He'll get Dark Ageish on anyone's ass and if you are feeling nasty just give him a huge axe to real put the fear of Odin into the weaklings. My usual choice of weapons is the throwing spear though since the axe is overkill. Give him the 2h axe If you want to slaughter Knights wholesale and let them try to hide behind armor when that S7 axe keeps loping their heads off. Standard bearer. Well same as every other army so take him but he is a lot tougher than those geeks the other armies allow to carry their standard. Now to the meat of the army the troops. Huscarls are truly powerful with their T of 4 and should form the backbone of every Viking army. Remember That they are Light inf so any rankbonus after 2+ is wasted. Take large units and FBIGO is your friend, I like to equip the units a little bit differently just to have some variety and to specialize them against certain opponents. The mixed weapons part is quite efficient if you mix throwing spears and 2 axes. I rarely use extra hand weapons since I don't picture the majority of Vikings wielding them and it's good with that 5+ save to augment the T4. 2h axes will hurt a lot but they strike last so my favorite ploy is to put the General and BSB in the middle of a large block of 2h axemen. Give the characters Throwing spears or just hand weapons and They get to strike before the enemy when charging to remove some of their attacks and then it's chopping time. I also use a variant which uses the fact the Huscarls (I prefer Hirdmen) are light inf. Put them in a skirmish formation and you have the meanest skirmishers in the game. T4 Ld8 and a throwing spear to reroll attacks will mince and careless opponent that thinks that they are just a screen. Place 12 or in a screen in front of your unit of choice and you have a very versatile unit. You can reform when needed and the rest of the time you've shielded your unit from unwanted attention from bowfire. The T4 of the Vikings usually means they laugh at bows but against huge arrays of bows it's better safe than sorry. The main reason I sometimes put them into a skirmish formation is to go through terrain or for setting up a trap. The fear ability are pretty useful but remember that you need large units for it to work to its fullest potential. The Bondir are actually better at fighting if you look at the rankbonus but they lack the staying power and general nastiness of the Huscarls. They are dirt cheap though so they give good bang for the buck. Keep them close to the General and they'll do fine. Archers are just plain archers but don't take too many since real men gets dirty in a fight. Thralls are cheap and expendable so they work quite well for that role although I've only used them once in a scenario since I don't have such an army. If you are going for power you can't go wrong a with a large unit close to the general and BSB for holding up something powerful. Berserkers are powerful although I don't like the rules for them since they are quite gimmicky. I prefer taking a unit of Ulfhednar to represent

Berserkers. They are rock hard and will hurt anything that gets into combat with them. They are excellent for holding a flank and to charge together with other units but remember that they lack ranks so be careful where you apply their frenzy. If you do take Berserkers they are wonderful for softening any units that comes within range and they usually make the enemy fear getting within 12 inch which is just great as an advantage. They sometimes manages to send your opponent fleeing if the rolls are good so they can turn the tide of any battle if you're lucky and apply them correctly. So now for tactics. Most people just march and charge but the trick with the Vikings need to be very careful when and where you charge. Usually you have tons of infantry in large units and if you start loosing momentum you're dead since it takes ages to respond to a counterattack without cavalry units. So refusing a flank or cornering your enemy is usually a good idea since in a straight fight you'll probably win. You really have to plan ahead when you are moving those big blocks of infantry and take the shortest route to your opponents and pay attention to the terrain. Sometimes you manage to sneak a unit of Ulfhednar onto your opponent’s flank and he'll die a messy death. Arranging your units in a checkerboard formation is also a good idea since against cavalry touting armies the countercharge can save your day and your opponent will not like it when your Huscarls charges them while they are stuck with your high T high Ld unit that they started attacking. The Vikings and the Saxons are a planner's army regardless of their reputation since it's vital that you attack at the right time and plan ahead. Go for a concentration of force and usually aim you general and his bodyguard against the largest threat on the board but do try to keep him in the center of the army. A useful trick is to use expendable units or skirmishers as a lure to fool your opponent into getting within range of your blocks of infantry since in the Dark ages charging is even more preferable. Actually it's hard to explain how to use your Vikings to the fullest since you have to see that flank attack coming a long time in advance and it's really vital to concentrate on what's important and not get fooled into running all over the battlefield chasing something. Practice makes perfect. Hope this helps. Hans "The only man tougher than a Viking is a Turk since the Turk has twelve wives" Hagbard