Age of Penda: Battle Games In Seventh Century Britain (2021)

In this gridded-layout miniature wargame, you take the role of a seventh-century warlord or king leading your army on the battlefield. You must choose where and how to focus your warriors' actions and control the battle’s impetus. The battle is partly fought on the tabletop like other miniature wargames but is also fought just as hard on the Tactics Chart, providing an additional mind-game against your opponent. Command your units to move and fight in the areas of the battlefield you wish, but leave the actual process of fighting to your units' commanders. This is represented by the random factor of dice and each of your units’ abstract but often-decreasing Battle Rating. Because of this, your focus is kept where it should be – out-thinking your opponent by using superior tactics and exploiting their weaknesses on the battlefield. Age of Penda is not intended as a heavy simulation of medieval warfare but as an enjoyable, simple, and fast-playing battle game themed around seventh-century warfare. You’ll find that much of the action is stylized and streamlined. Don’t think of “turns” in the usual wargaming way – in each turn your units may fight or move several times, countered by your opponent after every action, creating a very fluid game but at the same time making cohesive planning difficult to achieve.