Egil's Norsca Raiders
 Egil's Norsca Raiders hail from that bleak northern land. In appearance, they differ little from other bands from that land. In fact, they would be no different at all except for Egil's skill as a commander and diplomat. The first time he and his band entered Tilea, they came as raiders, striking at weak points in various city states, usually while the bulk of that state's armies were engaged elsewhere. They were various successful and carried off a lot of loot and many slaves, but Egil saw the potential for much more. He returned to his farm on Norsca, but as soon as possible, he raised another crew and sailed again for Tilea. This time though he approached the ruler of     openly and offered his services as a mercenary. Pavona was hard-pressed and had little chose but to accept, though Egil's rates were staggering. The investment proved a good one though as Egil and his men terrorized the pike blocks of their enemies, allowing Pavona not only to survive, but to thrive rise in power amongst the city states. Egil rose in power also, but not as quickly as he had hoped. Knowing that it was the distrust of his barbaric background that kept him from rising higher in Pavona, Egil promptly struck out on his own towards the land of the Border Princes. He and his band are still fighting and traveling across Tilea, working to raise the money for Egil to build his own kingdom. This dream though lies in the far future as the costs to keep his men in wine and women are very high, and truth be told, Egil enjoys a good brawl as much as the rest and so his happy leaving his kingdom for someday.

Captain- Egil Thorirsson
Motto- For wine, women and song, we'll fight all day, and drink all night long.
Battle-Cry- The raiders call for their gods attention in battle, so that if they fall, their deeds will be noted and they may be borne to the afterlife. The names Woden, Thyr, and Vreya are the most common.
Appearance- The Raiders appear as stereotypical Vikings- very big, broad men with long blonde or red hair and beards, "swords as long as spears, and spear points the size of sword blades" long coats of chain mail, and circular shields decorated with signs of dragons or sea monsters (note that they do not wear horned helmets). Helgi is the same, though he is large, even for a Norseman, being about six and a half feet tall, with a fiery red beard which almost reaches his waist. Before leaving with his boyhood friend, Egil, he was regarded as perhaps the strongest man in Norsca.
For Hire: Any army can hire the raiders (though why Chaos would do so when they have Marauders is beyond me).
Points: Egil, Helgi, and 4 more pairs of raiders (see special rules) cost 308 points (this includes a standard bearer and musician). This is the minimum unit you can hire. Further pairs of raiders can be hired for 26 points.

Profile      M  WS BS S  T  W  I  A  Ld
Egil         4  7  6  4  4  3  6  4  10
Helgi        4  5  4  5  4  1  5  2  7
Troops       4  4  3  4  3  1  3  1  7

Weapons/Armour: Each member of the raiders wears a byrnie (counts as light armor) and carries a shield.  They are armed with a variety of hand weapons, with axes being the most popular.
Amour Save: 4+ (see special rules)
Special Rules:
Mobility- Now that they have moved inland, all members of raiders have become horsemen. They use the horse to transport themselves and their weapons to the battlefield, but then dismount to fight. To represent the greater mobility this affords them, the raiders are allowed to make one march move (up to 8" after both sides have deployed.

Shield Brothers- Each member of the raiders has a close friend who will always fight beside him in battle (thus the raiders are bought in pairs). These shield brothers protect each other in battle, granting each a +1 to his armor save. If a raider is separated from his shield brother, his armor save drops to 5+.
Note that Helgi is one of Egil oldest and most trusted friends. This pair always fights together as shield brothers. If either is challenged, they can instead call on their opponents for the Holmgang, or "island going". In this form of ritual combat, each opponent attacks the other in turn and is protected by another man, his second or shield brother, who holds his shield. (Just use normal challenge rules with the additions below)
Since Helgi and Egil always fight together, they would have to both be involved challenge and this form of ritual combat allows them to do so. The enemy must nominate a second character to join in the challenge (if he cannot do so, no challenge takes place). Only one of the characters can fight. However, since Helgi and Egil are trained to be shield bearers for each other, which ever one fights in the challenge retains the +1 bonus to his armor class.  Additionally, the opponent will lose 1 attack as the well-placed shield will stop his blows.

Loose Formation- The raiders to do not fight in a standard formation of ranks and files. Instead, the shield brothers always remain in base to base contact, but can be up to 1Eaway from other pairs. In this was they resemble skirmishers, but do not follow the same rules. They can always test off Egil's leadership, are able to march move even when an enemy is within 8E suffer no terrain movement penalties, but do not gain the bonus for being shot at. Further, they can have a rank bonus of +1, (if there are more than 12 raiders [6 pairs including Egil and Helgi] they get +1 CR, if there are less, this bonus is lost).
 
 Dragvandil- Egil owns two weapons of which he is especially fond. His axe, Shield-Fiend, is a very fine weapon, and what he generally uses, though in game terms it is simply a hand weapon. His other weapon is a magical sword called Dragvandil, or Adder (I think). This blade has a very keen edge that can slice through armor and limbs. It gives a -2 to any armor save the opponent may have (combined with Egil’s str, the total is -3 to any saves), and on a roll of 6 to wound does two wounds instead of one, with no armor save possible. If Egil chooses to carry Dragvandil into the battle add 30 points to the cost above.