Alfred the Great: The Great Heathen Army is a low complexity Wargame. The game portrays the period from January to May 871 AD when King Aethelred (Alfred’s brother) and Prince Alfred confront the might of the Viking Army led by Kings Halfdan and Bagsecg.

The Viking Army, having previously defeated the East Anglicans and subdued Saxon Mercia, next moved into the Royal Estate of Reading and were poised to attack the kingdom of Wessex. At this time Wessex was the Last Kingdom of the Saxons not under Viking subjection.

The game is as much strategic as tactical, while there will be pitched battles in which players will have to make the decision as to when and where to fight, and how best to maximize their strengths whether as the Viking or Saxon player.

Kings are of great importance in the game. When they are leading the warriors in combat your moral and thereby fighting ability is increased, but their loss will leave the survivors considerably weakened.

In a time of strong and aggressive Kings there was no greater leader than the indomitable Alfred (to be eventually known as the Great). His leadership with his brother Aethelred in this dark period made the Saxons of Wessex a formidable foe.