For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign I (Steven Thomas) chose Strathclyde Welsh; Welsh because of my heritage and Strathclyde to remind people that all of Britain was once Welsh.
Dark Ages
Dark Ages are the Early Middle Ages which I interpret as from the fall of Rome (476 AD) to 1000 AD
James’s Wessex Saxons for Britannia 600 AD
For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign James Falkus chose Wessex Saxons. James went for a fairly straight army. Not quite the DBA official list, but fairly authentic.
Rich’s Powys Welsh (Western Cymry) for Britannia 600 AD
For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign Rich Wilcox chose army of his wife’s homeland, Wales. Rich was the first to get the bug for Britannia 600 campaign. He painted up a historical army, but was also the one to find the reference to the Giant of Snowdon, a character that subsequently joined his ranks.
Mike’s Northumbrian Saxons (aka North Angles) for Britannia 600 AD
For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign Mike Lowery chose the army of his homeland, Northumbria. With time short, and having avoided paint brushes for 10 years, Mike decided to paint the minimum number of figures necessary. This meant he was short an element of Spears relative to the official DBA list; instead he took more shooters and a Hero.
John’s Mercian Saxons (aka Lords of the March) for Britannia 600 AD
For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign John Mclennan chose Mercian. Or more accurately Mercians were the only option left when John chose.
Mapless version of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign
I wanted to try out the Mapless Campaign system with our armies from the Britannia 600 AD Campaign and convinced Mike Lowery and Chris Harrod to give it a go.
Big Day – Playing the Britannia 600 AD Campaign
It started with an email to a bunch of my friends:
Subject: Britannia 600 Who’s interested?
http://www.balagan.org.uk/introduction-to-the-britannia-600-ad-campaign
From such small beginnings a project team was formed. Six guys spread across England started assembling and painting armies for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign.
Six HOTT and/or DBA Armies of Britannia 600 AD
The six armies we field on the Big Day for Britannia 600 AD were:
Chris’s Alba Picts (aka Mysterious Painted People)
For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign Chris Harrod picked the Picts. All of the Picts. In other words he wanted all of the options in the Pict Army List. A fine aspiration.
Timeline of the Northumbrian v Welsh Conflict
My interest in the Northumbrian-Welsh conflict came about because I work with a patriotic Northumbrian (Mike Lowery) and I like playing the Thomas=Welsh ancestry card on him. This developed into the challenge of 15 mm DBA armies at 1 foot to decide the issue. We’re now gearing up to paint those armies (actually for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign).
Introduction to the Britannia 600 AD Campaign
I’ve always loved Britannia, the Avalon Hill board game, and it seemed an obvious setting for a DBA/HOTT style campaign. Rather than attempt to recreate the entire time span of the game (45-1085 AD) I thought I’d concentrate on a period that specifically interests me, 600-700 AD. That span of years corresponds to Turn 8 and 9 in the board game – hence Britannia 600 AD.
He glutted black ravens on the walls of the fort,
but he was no Arthur.
Excerpts from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
A few excerpts from the Anglo Saxon Chronicle to give a flavour for the period of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign. I’ve used the Anglo Saxon Chronicle because of its picturesque language rather than any clarity it might bring to the time. For a more accurate and complete account see Britannia: Anglo-Saxon History.
15mm Wargaming Figures for Britannia 600 AD
There are a few possible suppliers of 15 mm for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign. My existing Dark Age kit is from Donnington Miniatures and Essex Miniatures. I mix them together but this won’t appeal to some as Donnington Miniatures are much bigger than Essex Miniatures, in fact they are much bigger than anybody else. At the time I put my Gothic army together I didn’t have a choice, but now there is much more on offer …
Campaign Rules for Britannia 600 AD
These are the rules for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign. Use the DBA/HOTT Campaign Rules except as noted below.