Viking tactics in raids aren't really described in great detail in contemporary sources, but were different to those used in pitched battles which are depicted in sources like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser's Vita Ælfredi, and The Battle of Maldon.

Some idea of raiding tactics is given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in its depiction of the Battle of Cynuit in the 860s and the attacks on Exeter in the 870s and Tamworth in the 940s. Viking raiding tactics in general were to avoid battle wherever possible, and only fight if numerical superiority was assured. From the accounts in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, tactics were based on mobility and surprise, trying to storm walls and surprise garrisons before an effective response could be organised. If possible, they attacked isolated villages and monasteries where there was little or no defensive presence at all.

Storming garrisons worked at Exeter, where they were able to seize the city gatehouse before the Royal army could catch up with them, had some success at Tamworth where they were able to storm the walls but at great cost after heavy fighting and were later forced to withdraw, and backfired badly at Cynuit, where the local fyrd militia was able to succesfully barricade themselves inside a Roman fort and organise a counter-attack which caught the Vikings by surprise.