The skald's official account
Battle Report
| Faction | Final fate | Force left | Hired | Clash wins | Treasure | Gold left |
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War council
Choose your raiders
Use two to four factions. Every faction can be controlled by a person or by a computer opponent with its own difficulty.
Very Easy wanders cheerfully; Easy understands basic roles; Normal plans a full turn; Hard coordinates attacks and defence; Expert retains longer campaign plans. All receive identical gold, units and purchase opportunities.
The fjord awaits
The battle horn sounds
Hold fast — the raid begins when its final echo fades.
Your turn
Blue takes command
Viking Manoeuvres may begin.
Scout the fjord
Choose this battlefield?
Look over the fjord before the raid begins. Redrawing creates a completely fresh, fair map and starting arrangement.
Draw pile
Last Saga Card drawn
No card drawn yet The first card arrives after Round 1.Discard pile
Select one of your units, then choose a highlighted destination. Units travel in straight lines for up to nine spaces and stop at the first object.
Saga card drawn
Royal Ransom
Advice from the war council
Game Instructions
Everything required to raid responsibly. More or less.
Welcome to the fjord
Viking Raiderz is a light-hearted, turn-based strategy game for one to four human or computer-controlled factions. Raise Vikings, recover treasure, cross the fjord and capture every rival castle. A match should take roughly 20–30 minutes, depending on tactical genius, dramatic pauses, and how many Vikings stop for a drink.
⚑ Your turn
1. Viking Manoeuvres: move units, fight, board or leave Longboats, and fire Catapults in any order.
Press Viking Manoeuvres Complete when the raiding is done. Movement is then locked.
2. Loot Spending: buy units beside your home castle, then press Loot Spending Complete. A Saga Card may follow.
➜ Movement
Units travel in straight horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines.
Vikings may stop anywhere from 0–9 clear squares away. They may run farther only until the first object, terrain boundary or board edge stops them.
Longboats and Catapults move up to nine squares. Vikings cannot enter water unless safely aboard a friendly Longboat.
⚔ Vikings and Veterans
Vikings cost 2 gold. When one defeats another Viking, the survivor becomes a bare-chested, axe-waving Veteran.
Ordinary clashes are evenly matched. Veterans have a modest advantage over ordinary Vikings and a slightly better chance of capturing castles.
A victorious treasure-carrier keeps its loot and claims any chest carried by the defeated Viking. History is written by the winner—and apparently so are the luggage labels.
⛵ Longboats
Longboats cost 4 gold, occupy three horizontal squares and carry up to three sober Vikings.
Use them to ferry raiders across the fjord or ram enemy Longboats. A successful ram sinks the target; Catapult hits can sink boats too.
Enemy boats cannot be boarded by Vikings. This is considered poor ferry etiquette.
● Catapults
Catapults cost 8 gold, occupy two horizontal squares and fire up to eleven squares.
The stone follows an arc and may scatter away from the chosen square. A Catapult that moves must fire immediately or skip its shot before another unit acts.
Vikings always defeat Catapults in direct combat—expensive siege machinery dislikes axes at close range.
▣ Gold and treasure
Each faction begins with 50 gold and gains one gold at the start of later turns.
Move a sober Viking onto a chest to collect it. On a later turn, finish beside your home castle to bank the gold. Defeated carriers may lose their treasure to the victor.
New units must fit beside the home castle. If the courtyard is full, the quartermaster simply folds their arms.
✦ The Saga Deck
Saga Cards bring good fortune, bad bookkeeping and occasional goats. They are drawn after turns according to the option chosen at setup; round 1 is always card-free.
Cards may alter gold, move or change Vikings, create treasure, affect boats, or do absolutely nothing in a poetic fashion. Used cards enter the discard pile and are reshuffled when required.
❄ Winter Is Coming
When enabled, winter begins after a random completed round from 4–10 and advances from north to south over six full rounds.
Frozen water becomes passable ice for land units. Longboats caught in it are trapped and their crews disembark where space permits. Plan ahead, or perfect your dignified shivering.
🍺 Drinking Horns
A Viking who reaches a horn stops, drops carried treasure and becomes drunk. Drunk Vikings move unpredictably at the start of their turns and cannot board boats or carry chests.
An enemy attacking a drunk Viking recruits and sobers them instead. Apparently the opposing benefits package is very persuasive.
♜ Winning the saga
Attack an enemy castle with a Viking or Veteran. Failed attackers are lost; successful attackers remain beside the walls and capture the faction's surviving forces.
Be the last faction with a castle standing. A Battle Report will then record the glory, casualties, treasure and questionable honours.
Credits
- Mark Lucas, for the original game. Great work in 48K.
- Eddie, for playing this with his much younger brother in the 1980s—and losing a finger to earn a cool Viking name. That’s dedication.
- Wolkenwacht — music from this channel plays over the Battle Report at the end of the game.
Merry Makers
Those kind enough to buy me a mead will be listed here. Thanks, you glorious enablers.
Send word by raven
Spotted a bug? Found a clever tactic? Dreamed up a Saga Card involving a suspicious herring? Your feedback can help make the next raid better.