Tangle in the Terrain with the Pagan Rus

Moorish mounted hearthguard skirt the edge of a forest in an attempt to encircle the enemy

 Reining in his horse, the warlord Majik ibn Battuta al-Waqaa shook his head as he regarded the hostile lands all around his small force. A giant rocky hill loomed on the left, while a dark, tangled forest to his right. Ahead, where his army had to pass through to get home, were two more wolf-haunted forests. The howls of the packs roaming beneath the tangled branches made his cheetah Scirocco pace nervously, the delicate links of her chain scraping against the rocky ground. This was not the type of terrain that favored his mounted Moorish warriors. He prayed that Allah would see he and his men through, and that they could find a way to return home to Cordoba.

The core of Adrian's Pagan Rus - 8-man hearthguard, warlord, Shield Maidens

For what may have been the first time, Jenny and I stayed for a second round of Saga Gaming at the Dragons Guildhall during our November meeting. Six total players stayed (of our original eight), so we matched up against new opponents. It had been awhile since Adrian J and I had played, so we selected a table and began to set up. Adrian is one of the top players in our Saga Ohio group, having been playing the game longer than just about anyone except maybe Andy S. He racks up victories with regularity, too, and is also the one many of us go to for that rules question we aren't certain how to answer.

Two 6-man units of Pagan Rus warrior infantry creep around the edges a wolf-haunted woods

Adrian enjoys scenarios from the Book of Battles Saga supplement, particularly Battle of Heroes -- which randomizes Scenery, Deployment, Game Length, Victory Conditions, and Special Rules. Players roll 1d6 for each and can add or subtract one from the roll for a selection they prefer. As first player, Adrian rolled for "Hostile Land" (which makes all uneven terrain Dangerous) and "Sacrifice" (bonus if your unit is destroyed by some means other than melee...shooting, perhaps?). I rolled for the other three categories. I chose Unknown Land (which allowed Adrian to set our four terrain pieces), "Confusion" (resulting in a diagonal deployment), and "Pitched Battle" (5 turn limit, but I begin the game rolling 4 Saga dice and placing them on the board before his first turn).

Decisive moment - the Moorish Cavalry prepares to charge the Pagan Rus' toughest unit

As Adrian had switched from his Anglo-Saxons to Pagan Rus, he set up a death trap of terrain for my mounted units. Throw in the "dangerous" rule -- which I rationalized by saying the forests were wolf-haunted -- and there were LOTS of places on the board my mounted couldn't go. Knowing he has the "Frozen Wind" ability on his Pagan Rus battle board, I tried to spread myself out as much as possible. However, the terrain kept me constricted. Adrian is a master at devising a pregame plan for a Saga encounter. I had a feeling that my undefeated streak was going to take a lot of Kismet (Fate) to survive this encounter! Little did I know, Adrian had other plans for me to make it even more challenging!

After the charge, the victorious Moors have pulled back on the left to regroup, enemy eliminated!

Adrian's Pagan Rus warband was an interesting mix of troops. Besides his foot warlord, he fielded one 8-man foot hearthguard unit (his hammer), and one unit of mercenary Shield Maidens. The other 3 points were foot warriors divided into four units of six. These "penny packets" of warriors he kept hidden as much as possible for the entire game. They scurried into the woods whenever my mounted warriors headed their way. Essentially, they were simply Saga dice generators for the three main strike units of hearthguard, warlord, and Shield Maidens. I used the same breakdown as I have in my previous two games with the Moors: mounted warlord, two 6-man mounted hearthguard units with javelins, two 8-man warrior units, and one 12-man levy archer unit.

Adrian's final gambit falls short - Moors withstand the charge of his warlord and Shield Maidens

I deployed my archers in the forest on my right to cover the front of his army. In fact, due to his "Long Winter" ability on his battle board, they would shoot only once the entire game. Still, their threat kept his troops shying away from the center of the board, and made his maneuvers much more cautious than I would have expected. In fact, I thought Adrian played a very cautious game throughout, which meant we had about as few melees as I had in my first "Ambush" game with Jenny's Vikings earlier. I placed one of my warrior infantry units to cover the central gap between the marsh and rocky hill, while the second one supported it from a distance in reserve. I placed one mounted unit on the far side of the rocky hill on my left and the other poised to skirt around the marsh on my right. The warlord kept his distance from his troops in the center.

Jim B, left, teaches his friend Mark the finer points of Saga in a first-round game

Adrian began with a tentative advance in the center with his hearthguard hammer unit, his warlord, the Shield Maidens, and one supporting warrior infantry unit. The other three crept forward on the flanks, though the two on his far left darted back into the woods when my mounted hearthguard galloped around the marsh on my turn. Majik ordered the left flank cavalry unit around towards the right, as I planned to sweep around on that flank to attack his center and rear. When one galloped forward to hurl javelins on turn two, Adrian sprung his "trap." Having played the Pagan Rus, I knew about "Biting Cold" -- which freezes an enemy unit after any activation. What I didn't realize was that my free shooting activation with javelins on a movement was a separate activation. Thus, I could move up, yes, but not shoot.  

Second round action: Bob's Crusaders tangle with Jenny's Vikings in the woods

Majik stroked his beard and gazed across at the burly Pagan Rus warlord with new respect, "Hmmm..." One of my mounted hearthguard units was hung out to dry, frozen, and facing his Shield Maidens. Knowing his cavalry would be left within the maidens' charge range, Majik ordered a warrior infantry from the center to support them. Shield Maidens, in general, don't like to sully themselves against warriors, receiving no bonuses against them. All that succeeded in doing was pinning a giant bullseye on them for his hammer unit. The hearthguard double moved forward, laughing off the extra fatigue as they eyed all the melee abilities Adrian had lined up for them on his board. I forget how many dice he ended up rolling, but he fueled it with a succession of abilities, beginning with "Wrath of the East," "Blood Feud," "White Wolves," and "Black Bears." In the end, he inflicted 20 casualties and also had five bonus defense dice. The warrior spear disappeared under their flashing axe blades. However, Adrian chose not to charge the frozen cavalry unit - having used all his Saga abilities in that melee. He did pull the hearthguard back a move, leaving them with two fatigues.

Toward the bitter end of a slugfest - mounted Crusades charge Vikings on foot

Both of my cavalry units galloped forward to toss their javelins at the murderous Norsemen. Of course, "Biting Cold" stopped one unit from throwing, and the other's shooting rolls caused only one kill. To make him think twice about using the hearthguard again, I played Discord for the first time. This requires me to place a fatigue on any three of my units, but I get to choose three of his to place on him, as well. His hammer unit entered his turn Exhausted. I thought he would charge with either his Shield Maidens or Warlord, but he played cautiously, and loaded me up with as much fatigue as he could with Frozen Wind. 

Consistently difficult opponent on Saga Game Days -- Jenny's Vikings (with new measuring sticks!)

On my turn, it was decision time. Shooting was not going to win me the game (again!). I played Discord again, exhausting his hearthguard once more, and then charged in. I played both "Torrent of Iron" (my bottom right corner "alpha ability" on my board). This gives me a +1 on all attack dice, in addition to "Inspiration's" rerolls of any ones on the dice. He reluctantly closed ranks, which turned out for the best for him as I manipulated the fatigue to give me armor of 6 -- which meant he couldn't hit me as an Exhausted unit. I also made his armor a "2", so that I scored hits on everything but 1's (and rerolled those!). Needless to say, I hit with all 12 dice. The moment of truth came and Adrian passed on only five of his saves, which meant he lost seven figures -- the entire unit! His hammer was broken!

The next turn was the final one - Turn 5. Adrian knew he was down on points. Of his two remaining major weapons, he trusted his warlord the most. He sent him in to charge one of my cavalry units (the victorious one had actually pulled back to stay out of any charge ranges of the Rus). The warlord killed four of the Moorish riders, but Adrian has played Saga enough to know that would still leave him short on points. He sent the Shield Maidens in, as well. They were unable to cause any casualties, whereas we killed one of them. Adrian conceded at that point, but I played out my final turn to see if we could rack up any shooting kills. Par for the day, our shooting was poor and the score did not change. Majik pulled off a narrow victory, 9 1/2 to 8. 

In the other battles, Bob's Crusaders continued their slugfest run. He and Jenny played Clash of Warlords, with the Crusaders outlasting the Vikings, 26-22. In the third battle, Jim B had also switched armies. He commanded Vikings against Dave E's Romans. They ended up in a 24-23 tie, with the Romans up by one point but not enough to avoid a draw. It was a long day, but fun. With COVID getting worse all throughout Ohio, who knows? It may be our last chance to enjoy some Saga fun on the tabletop for awhile. Crossing our fingers, though, and we can meet again on the first Sunday of December in Columbus!

Here are the results of the Round 2 battles:

• Mike D's Moors defeat Adrian J's Pagan Rus in Battle of Heroes, 9 1/2 to 8
• Bob B's Crusaders defeat Jenny's Vikings in Clash of Warlords, 26 to 22
• Dave E's Romans and Jim B's Vikings fight to a tie, 24-23, in Clash of Warlords