An Intriguing Idea for a Saga Tournament: 8-point Armies

    As always, the workhorses of my Moorish Saga army are my mounted hearthguard with javelins

It was an intriguing idea for a Saga tournament - using eight points of troops instead of six. In addition, players would be permitted to use Legendary warlords or units. I'm not a huge fan of legendary troops. In fact, I don't think I've ever used them in a game of Saga. However, I have played against others that have. I was planning on using my Moors for the tournament. Looking at the Moor troop list, I actually didn't have miniatures for either the infantry Black Guard or Camels painted up. Being able to field those troops was supposedly one of the main bonuses of using a legendary warlord. So, Legendary warlords or units were out! 

My next decision was whether I should use a mercenary unit? I checked, and I had exactly eight points of worth of Moorish troops painted up. The two new units I would be adding in were another unit of 12 levy bowmen and a unit of 8 mounted warriors. I've heard mounted, javelin-armed warriors can be effective in Saga, so I was interested in using them. They would be very vulnerable to missile fire, even more so than my armor class 4 mounted hearthguard with javelins. Saga Thorsday's Monty Luhmann had referred to them as a "magic missile," meaning you can send them to make an effective strike on an enemy unit. They'd likely be shattered after the charge, but the 12" range charge and +1 bonus for javelins charging seemed like a fun weapon to try, so I eschewed mercenaries as well and decided to go with a "vanilla" warband.

    My Round 3 matchup against the Saxon hordes of Alfred the Great

The tournament was held at Game Table Adventures in Newark, OH. This would actually be the third Saga tournament GTA had held since the start of the year. I had won the first one with my Picts, but did not play in the second. I set a goal for myself to win two games. There's no way I could get the combination of luck and beneficial match-ups or scenarios to repeat as champion, I warned myself. Just like in January, we had 14 players show up. From earliest to latest by time period, here were the armies and players that entered (with Legendary warlords in italics). Six of the 14 used Legendary warlords, but a number of others (1 Viking, 2 Byzantine) used Legendary units.

    Legendary warlord Scipio Africanus leads Michael Cooper's Republican Roman warband

• Republican Romans (Legendary: Scipio Africanus), Michael Cooper
  
• Ostrogoths, Jeff Gatlin
• Vikings, Mike Stelzer
• Vikings, Schawn Hennessy
  
• Carolingians (Legendary: Charlemagne), Jason Stelzer
• Anglo-Saxons (Legendary: Alfred the Great), Andy Swingle
  
• Normans, Dennis Lockhart
• Muttatawi'a (Legendary: Abduallah ibn Yasin), Joe Merz 
• Crusaders, Ted Hehemann
  
• Moors, Mike Demana
• Eastern Princes (Legendary: Alexander Nevsky), Jenny Torbett
  
• Mongols (Legendary: Subotai), Joe Dihrkop
• Byzantines, Bob Boggs
• Byzantines, Jim Randall 
  

The next very important consideration was which scenarios would we be playing in our three rounds? First up was the standard Clash of Warlords. Round 2 would be Desecration, and Round 3 was Change of Plans. Overall, I was happy with the choice of scenarios. None are ones I dislike and equally these didn't seem to be a bad pick for my Moors. We were told we would be given 2.5 hours per rounds, though I think in Rounds 2 & 3 the tourney director was squeezing that time be 15 minutes or so. In all three games, I came close on time limits - hopefully not because of slow play on my part!

I think most of us were also surprised to find that we would be deploying our own terrain. Typically, many Saga tournaments set up terrain ahead of time. Perhaps this is a good way to shave a few minutes off of the time needed for each round? Most agree that placing terrain is part of the skill at the game. However, as long as the tourney director does a relatively fair job of with their preset terrain, most Saga players don't seem to mind. I have been to only one tournament where players (including me) felt the terrain was unfair and hindered certain types of armies. Game Table Adventures provided each table with a packet of the mouse pad material 2D terrain for Saga. Of course, we didn't get to keep it - not that I would expect that!

My Moors deploy against Dennis Lockhart's Norman army - a force that has given me fits in the past

Round 1: Normans

My opponent for Round 1 was someone I hadn't seen in a long time, Newark gamer Dennis Lockhart. I used to see him at the local and regional conventions regularly, but hadn't seen him much lately. His Newark area group is very active, so my guess was he's been getting his fix in locally. He and a half dozen or so others were playing Saga regularly at the game store on Thursdays, so I was curious to see if there was anything different about their style of play from our group. His force was very weighted towards mounted knights - five units of four figures, and one point of 8 warriors split into two units of four. He also had two units of levy archers to use the dreaded Norman battle board ability, "Volley Fire," which allows them to shoot out to 24".

    My warlord encourages his infantry forward to protect the cavalry from Norman arrows and charges

We deployed terrain, with him placing a field in the middle of the board on my left. I countered with a ruins in my right center. He placed a rocky ground in his center rear. I took the opportunity to move his fields onto my half of the board so that I could have terrain to place each of my levy archers in. This seemed to wrong-foot Dennis. especially when my two warrior spear units deployed to the right and rear of each feature and my mounted units clustered along my baseline. We were playing Clash of Warlords, so he generated only 3 Saga command and control dice on round 1. He moved his archers up and loosed a Volley Fire, which caused a couple casualties among my center unit of spearmen.

    Moorish cavalry launches a 'Torrent of Iron' counter-attack against exhausted Norman knights

I countered by shooting with my levy archers and sending my mounted hearthguard forward to toss javelins. Our fire was ineffective, killing only one Norman heavy cavalryman. When he saw me pull back the cavalry and screen them with my infantry -- my normal Moorish tactic -- he seemed a bit surprised. Even though my shooting was poor, he recognized that it should have caused more casualties. He decided to test the strength of my infantry spear wall. One Norman cavalry unit galloped forward and charged into my spearmen guarding the right. We closed ranks and played "Forest of Spears," which ended up meaning we each took one casualty, and he recoiled. On my turn, I sent forward my mounted hearthguard and they slammed into the Normans, destroying them. We then pulled them back again behind the infantry. 

    Another unit of Norman knights prepares to charge the Moorish infantry, while my cavalry wait

On my left, I continued to send volleys of arrows and javelins into his mounted units, killing a figure or two with each shot. In response to his shooting, I made sure only infantry could be targeted, either keeping my horse out of Volley Fire range or tucked behind another unit. He sent forward another unit of Norman mounted hearthguard on my right and test my spear wall, again. Once again, we took few casualties. I was careful to NOT use his fatigue in melee vs. the infantry, ensuring he would end the turn with two. This meant my Torrent of Iron charge would inflict the third fatigue, leaving him exhausted for the fight and unable to hit my cavalry (once I used his fatigues to raise my armor to 6). Also, those 3 fatigues gave me 6 extra attack dice with "Wholehearted." My tactic of taking his blows with my infantry and counter-attacking the fatigued attackers with my mounted hearthguard was working perfectly this game. 

    Late game: Left, Norman cavalry has been whittled down by repeated volleys of arrows & javelins

After the game, we agreed he should have been more aggressive, and not sent just one unit forward each turn. Instead, he was loading up his Combat Pool to aid his shooting and setting up dice for just one mounted attack each turn. He did whittle down my center infantry to just two figures by the end of the game. However, as cynical as it may sound, that is the role of my warrior foot. They are there to be a wall that the enemy wastes their strength slowly wearing down. On my left, I was more aggressive and sent my other unit of mounted hearthguard forward to toss javelins, sometimes even accompanied by the mounted warriors. The infantry in the field kept up fire, too, supporting their volleys with their own. By the end of the game, his forces were worn down enough that I sent my cavalry forward to charge them rather than skirmish with javelins.

    Dennis' grandson cheers on the Normans while he surveys the battlefield and offers sage advice

All in all, it was one of those rare games where everything pretty much goes according to plan. Once we counted up points at the end, the Moors had a solid win. It was a good start to the tournament, and nice for my Moors to get some revenge against their hated Norman foes!

Round 1 Results

• Mike D's Moors defeat Dennis L's Normans
• Joe M's Mutatawwi'a defeat Ted H's Crusaders
• Jason S's Carolingians defeat Andy S's Anglo-Saxons
• Joe D's Mongols defeat Mike S's Vikings
• Jim R's Byzantines defeat Jeff G's Goths 
• Bob B's Byzantines defeat Schawn H's Vikings
  
• Jenny T's Eastern Princes tied Michael C's Republican Romans
  

    Republican Romans and Moors compete to desecrate each other's objectives (end of turn 1 picture)

Round 2: Republic Romans (Scipio Africanus)

Our round 2 scenario was Desecration, and my opponent was Cincinnati-area gamer Michael Cooper. He's been a regular player in the various tournaments and game days for a year or so. He's done a lot to help recruit and build the community in his area. He was playing his new favorite army, Republican Romans. He'd chosen to use not only the Legendary warlord Scipio Africanus, but also a unit of war pigs! The miniatures are great, with flames curling up on the back of the swine, who are herded towards the enemy by their handlers. He admitted that in a tournament with no elephants, they were of limited effectiveness, but had been looking forward to using them since he painted them up. This tourney gave him that opportunity.

    War pigs, Hastati warriors and Velite levy javelinmen make up the vanguard of the Roman advance

For terrain, I'd placed a ruins on my far left and a marsh on my left, with the intention of hiding objective markers that he had to attack behind them. Michael placed a large steep hill in the center and a woods guarding his left flank. Only one objective may be placed inside terrain, so I stuck mine on the closes edge of the hill, but so that he would have to cross 2/3's of it before he could get to it. My thought was the terrain would slow him down but provide no cover to my shooting. Little did I know that warpigs are no effected by terrain! Still, my archery and javelins should make approaching the objective marker dangerous. Michael did a similarly good job of hiding the objective marker. I identified one in the open just beyond his woods as being the most likely one I could take.

    As war pigs fall due to missile fire, the Velites backed by Hastati continue the Roman advance

Michael opened the game with an immediate advance by the vanguard of his army, which included the war pigs as the tip of the spear, squealing as they labored up the steep slopes. Supporting the swine were a unit of foot warrior Hastati and a unit of levy javelin-armed Velites. The rest of his army (two more units of warriors and one of Triarii hearthguard hung back with Scipio. On my half of the turn, I moved my archers in the ruins towards the center so they could begin to loose volleys at the war pags. My mounted warriors race up to the edge of the steep hill and hurled javelins. They would pull back after throwing, to remain out of charge range of the Romans.

    

    Michael's Velites toss javelins at my Moorish spearmen, who stand like a wall protecting the cavalry

 

Michael continued the advance of his vanguard, with the velites slipping in front of the Hastati to screen them and toss their own javelins. I continued to pour archery and javelins in an attempt to stop the implacable Roman advance. War pigs squealed and died on the slopes, and Velites fell. The Hastati shouldered past the skirmishing youths and prepared to charge. The Moorish warriors leveled their spears and made ready to repel their charge. Once again, my Moors closed ranks to minimize casualties. And once again, the cavalry launched a Torrent of Iron counter-charge on my turn and wiped out the tired enemy. The infantry climbed onto the slopes to place themselves between the enemy and our objective marker to protect it.

    The Velites withdraw and Hastati ready their pila for a charge into the men of Andalusia

Once Michael saw his legionaries eliminated and the ranks of the Velites depleted, he began to move his reserves to his right to reinforce the attack. This was the opening that I'd been waiting for. My mounted warriors darted forward and charged into the objective marker that was now unprotected. With 8 dice hitting on 4+, I should have caused four hits. However, I caused only one. Michael rolled two dice to save the objective marker and rolled equally badly, missing both. This gave me the comfort to stay back, defend my objectives, and keep wearing down his troops. With the last war pig dead and one unit of legionaries gone, I felt I had  a comfortable lead.

  Desecration is the scenario's name, and my mounted warriors obliterate a Roman objective marker 

I sent my units of mounted hearthguard forward to begin harassing the advance the Roman reinforcements. The Velites had retreated to the steep hill slopes to avoid the cavalry. Scipio advanced on two fronts with his reserves. Half threaded their way between the hill and the forest, while the others advanced across the open at the waiting Moorish cavalry. The terrain and forces I had defending the objectives proved too much, though. The Romans were unable to attack any markers and their charges were frustrated by closing ranks and defensive abilities of the Moors. 

    The infantry open lanes for the Moorish horsemen to ride through and harass the Roman advance

Meanwhile, the cavalry continued to dart forward, toss javelins, then retired out of range or behind the infantry. The Romans still had a strong force left, but they simply ran out of time and could not come to grips effectively to score enough points to win. Although I had my challenges with dice rolling this game, I was able to do tactically what I set out to do. Once again, I think things might have ended differently if my opponent had advanced more aggressively. However, I was 2-0, which was my goal in this tournament -- to win at least two games.

Round 2 Results

• Mike D's Moors defeat Michael C's Republican Romans
• Jason S's Carolingians defeat Joe M's Mutatawwi'a
• Bob B's Byzantines defeat Andy S's Anglo-Saxons
• Mike's Vikings defeat Jeff G's Goths
• Jim R's Byzantines defeat Joe D's Mongols 
• Schawn H's Vikings defeat Ted H's Crusaders
  
• Jenny T's Eastern Princes tied Dennis L's Normans

    My 3rd round opponent would by Alfred the Great's Anglo-Saxon horde of 84 levy figures!

Round 3: Anglo-Saxons

I fully expected to be matched up against one of the other three undefeated players this round -- Bob B's Byzantines, Jim R's Byzantines, or Jason S's Carolingians. I wasn't sure which army would be the better matchup, as all would likely have significant missile fire to counter my own. Much to my surprise, Andy waved me over and said he was my opponent for the final round. Andy was 0-2, though his first game against Charlemagne's Carolingians was a squeaker, I was told. He was fielding an all-levy Anglo-Saxon horde. The scenario was Change of Plans, which I also don't mind. The goals of the first two scoring phases are to kill enemy troops while preserving your own, which I think is pretty much the goal of any wargame, right? And with no missile troops of his own, shouldn't my cavalry have free rein to run forward, toss our javelins, and retire to safety?

    The Anglo-Saxon hordes raced down upon my left, outnumbering it quickly

Andy had other plans, of course. He was playing Alfred the Great who has incredible command and control ability. Every turn, he starts off the Orders phase placing any two of his Saga dice on whatever ability he wants and with whatever face he desires showing. Plus, he generates two Saga dice. So, the chances of whittling down Andy's levy forces enough to make him run short of Saga dice this game were slim. The net result would be Andy could move the bulk of his forces forward aggressively and more quickly than you could imagine. We were riding the horses, but they would be moving around the battlefield almost as quickly.

    As more Saxons flooded my left, the Moorish cavalry began shifting to the right

Another thing I hadn't counted on was a repeat of what happened in my last game against Andy. His dice -- particularly when it came to saving throws -- were phenomenal. At one point, one of my cavalry charges caused 14 casualties. He saved 10 of them! I got an early inkling as the game got underway. I raced my cavalry forward to throw javelins at his advancing troops and he kept saving against my hits. Repeatedly. After two turns, I had caused less than half a dozen casualties. Meanwhile, his pell-mell double advances had allowed him to crash into one of my Moorish warrior spear walls. His Anglo-Saxon levy smashed that wall down to half strength in one attack. On the next turn, he followed up and eliminated it. 

    The Moors pinwheel to the right leaving the Saxon hammer blow to fall on empty air

I tried my tactic that had worked earlier. I did not use his fatigue when he charged my foot, and then counter-attacked with my cavalry on my turn against his units with two or three fatigues. When my Moorish riders charge home with Torrent of Iron, it tends to completely wipe out enemy units. In this game, Andy would close ranks and I would cause perhaps 2-3 casualties. That simply wasn't going to do it against an army of seven units of levy foot (84 figures). Andy was ahead on points after the Turn 3 scoring. I kept hammering, though, hoping for his saving dice to cool off. Half the game was still left. A cold streak could make up ground quickly. 

    The ruins in the center was hotly contested - many Saxon charges were beaten back by my archers

Meanwhile, my cavalry retreated around behind the center ruins, where both my archer units were huddled, and towards the right flank. Andy did his best to follow my pinwheeling movement, but even with Alfred the Great's command and control, he was still foot troops trying to chase down cavalry. I actually was able to pull ahead on Turn 5 when we counted up Survival Points. Here, though, I made a critical error. The right hand spear warriors moved into the ruins to try to interpose themselves between the Anglo-Saxons and my archers. I should have been advancing them towards the enemy half of the board in preparation for the Conquest Points counting at the end of the game. I should have realized that after Turn 5 casualties are completely irrelevant. All that matters is you cross the midpoint of the battlefield completely with your unit. The more figures in your unit, the better.

    Andy was thinking ahead, and knew he had to get his levy "bum rush" across the center line

My attacks finally began to hammer a few of Andy's units, but then again, did that matter? He had rolled great saving rolls for the part of the game where it mattered. His aggressive advance had ensured the bulk of his army crossed the midpoint and scored as best as they could as levies. Only my mounted troops were able to cross the midpoint -- the surviving three foot units were mired in the ruins, which were on my half of the table. I think Andy cleverly realized the shift in focus of the game before I did. Still, it would be close. 

We counted up points and it was a dead-even tie! We recounted them to be sure, and it remained 47-47. The Anglo-Saxons' tough survivability coupled with Alfred's excellent command and control effectively countered the Moors maneuverability and punch. Andy played his army excellently. He used his battle board abilities in the correct order and with great effectiveness. Although it was not a loss for me, it still felt like one. With all of the Moors shooting and melee punch, plus my fairly extensive experience with them, I could not overcome the Anglo-Saxons in a fair fight with favorable terrain.

Still, it was a fun game (it is always fun playing Andy), and a great tournament. I had attained my goal of winning at least two games. To me, it proved January's victory wasn't an anomaly in view of my previous snake-bitten, Saga tournament performances. The only questionable part of the day was the questionable way the tournament director ran it. Not only were winners not matched up against winners for the most part, he used a bizarre scoring system that somehow failed to award victory to either of the 3-0 players. He declared a player who was 1-2 as victor, which left us all scratching our heads. Somehow, he said I was second, but with both Jim and Bob being 3-0 with their Byzantine armies, I counted myself as third place, at best.

Round 3 Results (scenario: Change of Plans)

• Bob B's Byzantines defeat Jason S's Carolingians
• Jim R's Byzantines defeat Michael C's Republican Romans
  
• Mike D's Moors tie Andy S's Anglo-Saxons
• Mike's Vikings defeat Jeff G's Goths
• Joe M's Mutatawwi'a defeat Joe D's Mongols 
• Jeff G's Goths defeat Schawn H's Vikings
• Ted H's Crusaders defeat Jenny T's Eastern Princes
  

 

TOURNAMENT WIN-LOSS STANDINGS

Finished 3 wins, 0 losses

• Bob Boggs, Byzantines
• Jim Randall, Byzantines

Finished 2 wins, 0 losses, 1 tie

• Mike D, Moors 

Finished 2 wins, 1 loss

• Jason Stelzer, Carolingians
  
• Joe Merz, Mutatawwi'a
  

Finished 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie

• Dennis Lockhart, Normans

Finished 1 win, 2 losses 

• Schawn Hennessy, Vikings
  
• Joe Dihrkop, Mongols  
• Ted Hehemann, Crusaders
• Mike Stelzer, Vikings
• Jeff Gatlin, Goths
  

Finished 0 wins, 1 loss, 2 ties

• Jenny Torbett, Easter Princes
  

Finished 0 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie

• Andy Swingle, Anglo-Saxons
• Michael Cooper, Republican Roman