The Great Heathen Army

About this board game

The Great Heathen Army is a two-player historical battle game with an approximately 60-minute play time, released in 2018 as the fourth game in the Shields & Swords II series.

Its theme is the “mycel heathen here,” the terrifying Viking host that invaded England to conquer rather than simply loot and pillage. Across more scenarios than the previous three games combined, players revisit conflicts involving Alfred the Great, his descendants, Viking armies, and the rulers who resisted them.

The game includes eight battles spanning 871 to 1016, each presenting a distinct historical situation:

• Ashdown: two small battles fought side by side, with each army divided across a causeway.
• Marden: Saxon strength gives way as exhaustion lets the Vikings turn the tables.
• Cynwit: vastly outnumbered Saxons launch a surprise attack from their fort.
• Ethandun: Alfred’s decisive victory, featuring horses and archers on both sides.
• Wednesfield: Vikings attempting to cross a river face Aethelflaed of Mercia and Edward the Elder.
• Corbridge: three Viking columns are challenged before a hidden fourth column attacks.
• Maldon: Byhrtnoth’s “ofermode” and the flight of half his army turn victory into defeat.
• Assandun: a pre-game bid for Eadric Streona’s loyalty may shape the clash between Canute and Edmund Ironside.

From divided armies and surprise attacks to exhaustion, rivers, hidden forces, and shifting loyalty, The Great Heathen Army presents a broad chronicle of Viking encroachment and English resistance.