""Battle-Troll" - a Viking entertainment in miniature -----" Topic

---- with added taunting, some maiming, and quite a bit of falling down in sheep manure is very nearly almost released ----

Battle Troll is on the WV site, but only the PDF version so far. Roderick is waiting to hear that the paper version is available before we call it officially released.

You do need both the rules and the cards to play the game:

link

This is my favorite ruleset.

It is so engagingly written you could justify owning it simply for the pleasure of the prose.

If you play – know that it might be the most accurate ruleset ever written. "Accurate" in the sense of fidelity to the personal combat of the Sagas – "notable for its combination of grim humour, gymnastic violence and a graphic interest in the details of wounds, especially those with fatal consequences. Blows result in smashed shields or heads; limbs fly off with astonishing regularity, to the wry amusement of the saga-teller and the considerable chagrin of their erstwhile owners …"

It's fun read but I think it is, at heart, a serious and commendable effort to bring the Sagas to life, and perhaps find a new audience for this wonderful body of work. Interesting and relevant quotations from the Saga appear throughout the text and there are well-written appendices on the Sagas and Icelandic law.

I haven't played the fourteen-player "Smyrnadalasaga" scenario yet – but it should be on everyone's bucket list.

I haven't played the fourteen-player "Smyrnadalasaga" scenario yet – but it should be on everyone's bucket list.

Has to be a contender for my quote of the day ! I am just gathering some Vikings together so your summary is very useful gaiusrabirius …

Phil
Ancients on the Move

Excellent. Downloaded and getting ready to read it through. There goes my work progress for the day!

OK, I'm going to have to order this when the hard copy comes out. I've tried the free version as a solo game, and enjoyed it. Sounds like there is enough new material for me to feel justified in spending some money. Skoggr the Viking can abuse and insult his neighbors--again!

Grelber

It is so engagingly written you could justify owning it simply for the pleasure of the prose.

Disco. Sure to be a crowd favorite.

Wasn't Battle-Troll Skarphedin's pole-axe weapon in Njal's Saga? Great name!

Our group played Howard's Battle Troll back in the 90s (after playing a game at Siege of Augusta and then pestering him for the rules to play at home). It's always a blast and very cinematic in style.

Battle-Troll was indeed the name of Skarp-Hedin's axe.

The sagas were written down in the C13th, when Scandinavian weaponry had tilted towards using polearms rather than the older axes and spears. What this means is that the sagas tend to become a little confusing as to weapons used, and people swing spears and stab with axes in a way that just seems odd – because the writer thought in terms of halberd-like weapons.

In BT we mostly ignore this completely, because a proper hero can use any weapon any way he likes, being a hero and all ---

Okay, it's coming back to me now…Skarphedin leapt nine ells onto the frozen river, slid toward his opponent, wound up with Battle-Troll and smashed the guy so hard that his teeth came out of the back of his skull. Very saga-like.

"And now he is out of this saga."

Purchased! Love this rule set!

Lorne

I'm going to wait for the Dead Tree version, but can't wait!

There is a weapon called Ategir in the sagas which is gnerally translated as Halberd, there is some evidence for a halberd like weapon being used in the later part of the Viking age proper…

The Dead Tree version is now available.

link

(We'll let you have the PDF free if you buy the softcover rules)

A proper announcement has been sent to editor for Hobby News.

For those of us who have the Wargames Factory version, what is there that's new / changed to get us to part with our ill-gotten loot? :)

<< cricket, cricket >> Still, it is a major US holiday.

Inspired by Saga references, I re-read the rules in the Wargames Factory download version I have.

My review is that they are less of a set of rules and more of a "study" with some individual combat rules interspersed. However, the study is fun and interesting. They provide a general framework for heroic Viking fights.

But the lack of complete rules makes it more like a Gamemasters kit, except that any RPG I know would have more detailed rules for encounters. There are no scenarios/terrain generator, no campaign system or any other specific links between games. You can keep track of Reputation and Wounds and just play again.

The set needs tighter rules for a more definite game – this would help new players to the game a lot. I'd say that a new player to the hobby can't get started with the present framework. What the rules desperately cry out for is a campaign system that is authentic to the Saga genre. As long as this set of rules has been around, I would be surprised if Mr. Whitehouse doesn't have not only such a system but one that has been playtested thoroughly.

So that's what I'd be looking for in this published set:
- Clearer, more definite rules and optional rules,
- scenario generator,
- campaign system to link scenarios.
Otherwise, I can't see spending $20 USD on it.

I welcome a reply with some details.

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