Battered and bloody, Sigurd's Anglo-Danes survive

The hardest-fought and bloodiest battle Sigurd Skullsplitter's Anglo-Danes had faced was against Thomas' Crusaders

One of the things I am enjoying most about getting our Saga group together here is the interest we're getting from the next generation. My friend Mike's son Jason, along with his twin cousins Daniel and Thomas, have been enthusiastic about playing the game since we first coaxed them into trying it out. All three have bought figures and are painting armies (or getting them painted). My second matchup in our November Saga Day at the Guardtower East was against Thomas and his newly-painted Crusader army.

The deadliest of troops in Thomas' Crusader list, I felt, were its Fanatical pilgrims

Since this was a second game, we agreed to do Clash of the Warlords so we could get started right away. Our first round of games had taken close to two hours and learning a new scenario would take extra time, we felt. In the first round, Thomas had defeated his brother (who was running Romans) 6-5 in The Crossing scenario. Daniel was saying how tough Thomas' army was, and I had heard that the Crusader army -- especially one with fanatical pilgrims -- could be nasty, indeed. Never one to back down from a challenge, when some suggested me being the next one to take it on the chin from the buzzsaw of an army list, I agreed.

Thomas' mounted warriors prepare to charge my hearthguard as my whittled down units of warriors have fallen back from the crusader onslaught

I put more terrain on the table than Thomas did, expecting him to have crusader knights, who would struggle with that part of the board. However, there was an open middle, with a pond on one side and groves of palm trees on the other. I deployed with both of my large, 12-man warrior units guarding the center. The smaller, 6-man hearthguard units were deployed on my right. The left was safely blocked by the impassable pond. My warlord stayed near the joint between the warrior line and the hearthguard column. Sigurd would be the linchpin between the warriors in the center and the hearthguard racing through the palm grove on my right.

My hearthguard have stood like rocks, driving off both warrior knights and his double-size foot knights, while Sigurd stands ready to back them up

Although I'd read about the crusader list (and played it once), and even listened to a podcast which extolled its deadliness, I was NOT prepared for the avalanche about to descend upon me! The Crusader battleboard is viscious. It has a perfect balance of potent attack capabilities that boost their attacks, along with maneuver abilities which allow it to launch attack after attack, and even defensive abilities which ward off a major strike by the opponent. With my large units, I love to stack up the abilities on my battleboard to launch a major attack on my opponent which is capable of wiping out his unit.

Meanwhile, on Andy's gorgeous desert town board two pairs of opponents were fighting the Urban Uprising scenario

Thomas advanced quickly, and hurled both of his pilgrim units (one of which was fanatical) against my warriors. Thanks to his abilities, I could do little damage in return. Both of my warriors were recoiled. Meanwhile, my hearthguard units were hurrying through the palm grove to launch our counterattack. The lead unit was attacked at the same time by a unit of foot warriors, which we drove off. When it was my turn, I launched my own assaults. It was a dizzying affair of charge after charge. No fancy maneuvering - just load up on the battle board abilities and close to contact and unleash them upon your opponent.

Andy's Anglo-Saxons prepare to face Jason's Anglo-Danes in the narrow streets of the town

When it came to number of dice rolling, I thought I was setting up fairly favorable matchups. However, Thomas' die-rolling was phenomenal. Time and again, I would use the fatigue I had placed on his units with my abilities to raise my armor class to "6". He would still manage to get 50% hits (rolls of "6" on a six-sided die). I would also unleash upon him and do half a dozen or more hits, only to see him save three quarters of them. It was the first game where I honestly felt my army was going to get out pounded. It seemed there was no way I could stand up to his battering, especially while he was saving so well against my own lethal counter-attacks.

Vikings rampage through the dusty streets of the town, fighting both city guard and Anglo-Saxon foes alike

In the end, I figured out how to face the Crusaders. You must hit them hard when their battle board is empty of Saga dice. When they have nothing left to save themselves, throw everything you have at them. Also, I learned to avoid the fanatics. Do not charge them. Withdraw. Make them spend activations to close. In future games, I will close ranks against them (I didn't think of doing that). The main reason you don't necessarily want to kill their fanatics is because they get a Saga dice for each casualty, which they can immediately place and play. Another thing, on a technical side, is to keep track of which advanced abilities they have played to help make sure they don't accidentally use it on their turn, and then put dice on it again and use it again on YOUR turn. The rules state you can use advanced abilities only once per turn.

Thomas' first round opponent was his brother Daniel's Romans, who he triumphed over in a close-fought river crossing

When it came to the bitter end, both of my hearthguard units had been eliminated. Each warrior unit was whittled down to half of their figures or less. Only they and Sigurd stood to contest the field. But we had inflicted heavy casualties on them, as well. On the final turn, Thomas had his warlord charge mine, with each of his going into the clash with two fatigue. Neither used the opponent's fatigue to affect armor clas. We rolled our eight dice and counted them up. Each inflicted three hits. Thomas -- for once (I felt) -- muffed all three of his saves. His warlord was dead. I had to save two of my three to survive. I had been rolling terrible on saves all game. I tossed the dice after seeing his failure, and watch two saves come up. Sigurd had survived!

Another first round game was Dave's Romans against Mike's Vikings in Feasting & Pillaging, which Dave won

With few troops remaining, we called the game. It was the narrowest and bloodiest of victories for my troops from Jorvik. Bloody and battered, our survivors withdrew - full of respect for our Crusader foes...

In The Crossing, Thomas' knights prepare to cross the river to face his brother Daniel's Romans

As for the other games among our 12 players, I did not do as good of a job as last time in keeping track. Here are the results I am sure of:

1st Round

• Urban Uprising: Jason M's Anglo-Danes and Andy S's Anglo-Saxons tied at 8-8 
• Feasting & Pillaging: Dave E's Romans defeated Mike S's Vikings 20-8
• The Crossing: Thomas M's Crusaders defeated Daniel's Romans 6-5
• Pillage: Mike D's Anglo-Danes defeated Jenny T's Vikings, 15-4
• Urban Uprising: (Score and player names not verified: Vikings vs. Anglo-Saxons

2nd Round

• Clash of Warlords: Dave E's Romans defeated Jenny T's Vikings 20-16
• Clash of Warlords: Mike D's Anglo-Danes defeated Thomas M's Crusaders (score not tabulated)
• -- Not sure if there were other second-round games...my apologies! Nor did I get the score in Steve P and Jeff F's Age of Magic game. I guess my second round game wore me out...!!