More Historical HOTT - Vikings vs Norse Irish

This was a quick game of HOTT I played using my 6mm ancient/dark ages armies, in this case the Vikings and the Norse-Irish.

Vikings (Defenders)

10 x Blades (including the general)
1 x Shooters (Bondi Archers)
1 x Warband (Beserks)

Norse-Irish

9 x Warband (including the general)
2 x Lurkers (Ambushers)
2 x Blades (Ostmen Allies)

The Vikings went for a couple of fields (to break up the Irish attack) and a couple of hills (to defend on). The ended up fighting long the hills, and the Irish avoided the fields:

The Vikings (in the foreground) spread out to protect their village. The archers and beserks were on their right, and a small reserve as well, to protect against any breakthroughs. The Irish clumped their Warband in a big blob on one flank, and put the Ostmen on the other just to keep the Vikings occupied.

Here are the Vikings:

And the Irish:

The initial advances. The Vikings sent a force to attack the Ostmen, whilst the Irish rushed forward towards the Viking line.

The first Irish assault went in, but was repulsed, the Irish losing three of their nine Warbands in one round. Things weren't looking good for them.

A swirling melee developed, with the Vikings pushing the Irish back again and again, but the Irish coming back for more.

The Irish started making kills.

On the other flank the two elements of Ostmen were hard pressed against four elements of Viking Blades..

One was destroyed, and the other fell back.

Irish persistence paid off on the other flank. They slowly whittled down the Vikings, destroying the archers and the beserks. This left the Blades dangerously unsupported, and by use of double-ranks and overlaps the Irish Warband soon finished them off.

The end - a Viking Blade falls to give the Irish their victory.

The Viking losses were four Blades, the Shooter and the Warband. But it was a close battle - the Irish lost four Warband and a Blade, so were only one element off breaking themselves.

These figures were painted nearly 25 years ago, and were dull to start with. I am looking at ways of touching up the paint-work to make them stand out a little more - my eyesight isn't what it was when I first put them together ...