Picts Triumph in Cincycon 2023 Saga Tourney

Opening stages of my Picts' Round 1 game against the Normans -- their cavalry attacking my right

After playing last month in the Ft. Wayne Saga tournament, I went back and forth a bit on which army to take to Adrian John and Jim Beegan's Cincycon 2023 tourney. On the drive back from Ft. Wayne, Jenny and I hashed out how her Eastern Princes and my Picts had performed. I floated the idea of taking a unit of mounted hearthguard with javelins to be able to shoot at armies that were keeping their distance from my Pictish levy occupying the terrain. Ostensibly, I could send them a Long distance away (12"), then they would toss their javelins a further Medium (6"). If I make sure they're close enough to terrain, they can get the bonus three dice from the "Stalking" ability on their battle board.

Jenny suggested squeezing a half army point out of my two units of Pictish levy. Instead of making them two full units of 12, instead field them at 9 figures each. Use that half point (and the new FAQ rules) to bump 1 army point of hearthguard up to a 6-man unit. My warband would be composed of those six cavalry, two levy units of 9 figs each -- one crossbow and one bows, three units of warriors, and my warlord. I honestly felt it would be a more flexible army than my previous list. Not only could those Pictish cavalry shoot, they could also charge in a pinch. The idea of using that army list convinced me to settle upon the Picts as my army for Cincycon.

    The Pictish left and center held in force, as the Normans do likewise across the table from us

The first scenario was a popular one for Saga tournaments, it seems: Desecration. Each player places three objective markers on their half of the board and is attempting to destroy the opponent's markers while defending their own. I used to like this one as a tourney scenario, but it is beginning to sour on me. Recently, I have seen very defensive armies place all their markers on one side edge and then draw a line across the table diagonally with their troops to protect them. If the opponent does the same, the game ends up being a tie (or an unexciting one). The scenario victory conditions cap your points at how many enemy markers you've destroyed. So, scores tend to be low in this one.

    One of my objective markers guarded by my center - warriors, archers, cavalry & warlord himself!

Thankfully, my opponent and I did not do that and we had a fun, much more freewheeling game. As the Picts, I placed as much terrain on the board as I could. The scenario has you place the objectives at various distances from your table edge. The furthest forward objective I hid inside an area of rocky ground occupied by my levy crossbowmen. The middle one was next to an area of ruins that my levy bowmen and a unit of warriors were holding down. And the one nearest my baseline had another unit of warriors hanging out nearby, in case my Norman opponents used their mounted troops to make a run for it.

    Dennis L's Norman mostly-mounted army deployed for our Round 1 battle, "Desecration"

 I was matched up against Dennis L from Newark, OH. They have a modest-sized group of Saga players there, although we don't get to see them that often. His army was composed of five units of mounted troops (three 4-man knights and two 8-man warriors with javelins) and one foot unit -- levy bowmen. I have played against a number of Norman armies and they often like to sit back and use their "Volley Fire" ability, which enables archers to fire at double range. They will pelt you with arrows and try to force you to come forward and attack them at a disadvantage. 

    Dennis's Breton cavalry hurl their vollies at my Pictish crossbowmen sheltering in the rocky terrain

Dennis did something a little different, though. He sent both of his mounted warriors, which represented Breton skirmishing cavalry armed with javelins, forward to hurl their spears at my crossbowmen in the rocky ground. This counts as "heavy cover," so I was expecting to be able to survive it with few casualties. My typically poor saving die rolls meant we lost two crossbowmen immediately. This took my already smaller 9-man unit down to 7 figures. I was very surprised to see that he did not pull the warriors back, and they remained in place for my return volley. My Pictish hunters fired back at the Bretons and caused a few casualties. This was only to soften them up, though. I sent a unit of warriors forward with "Scouts," then charged them in with "Swift as the Wind" (which allows a charge move with no fatigue). This is a combo I have used over and over in my games with the Picts, effectively giving infantry as 18" charge range.

The warriors wiped out the Breton skirmishing cavalry, which encouraged him to pull back his other unit of warriors on his half of the turn. Meanwhile, on my left, my two other units of warriors began edging forward across the table, their lines providing a screen for the Pictish cavalry behind them. My plan was to get the cavalry within range of his furthest forward objective marker and charge it. I could probably also get a second marker with my long range movement combos, but it would likely leave the unit on the opponent's side of the table and vulnerable to a counter-strike by his knights, which he was holding in reserve.

 

Screen by Pictish warriors, the mounted nobles line up for a charge against Dennis's sacred objective   

This was Dennis's first time facing the Picts, so he wasn't as aware of some of their tricks. One that I have finally begun to be able to use more lately is called "Secret Ways." When one of my units is shot at or charged, the unit (after suffering the enemy attack) can be picked up and redeployed near any uneven terrain on the board, as long as they are at least Medium away from enemy figures. Dennis planned to send one of his units of knights against my infantry that had cut down his Bretons. However, he decided to soften them up first with his archer's Volley Fire. I played Secret Ways and redeployed them in the woods on the flank of his levy archers. 

This left my crossbowmen all alone guarding my objective that was placed furthest forward. The remaining unit of Breton cavalry showed up, hurling javelins at my crossbowmen. Dennis decided to charge them into the rocky ground. He debated whether to go after my objective marker or the crossbowmen. He ended up deciding to take on the crossbowmen, who were a much lower armor class than the pagan wooden idol. The crossbowmen, sheltered by the hard cover, drove off the Bretons, and won the melee. On the next turn, the crossbowmen shot down the remaining cavalry men.

 

    After being shot at by the Norman archers, Pictish infantry reappears near the flank of the bowmen

Meanwhile, it took two Pictish cavalry charges against the Norman's center objective before we were finally able to destroy or "desecrate" it. I immediately pulled the cavalry back, so that they would be safe from his knight's counter-strike. The two units of infantry continued to screen the horse troopers, which was doubtless frustrating Dennis's archers and his knights. Finally, the impetuous Norman knights charged one of the warrior units, loading up the immense number of attack dice that the Normans can dish out. Five of the eight Picts were cut down. Luckily, I had Secret Ways queued up, and pulled the crippled unit back to the ruins in my center, behind the archers.

We had our own revenge on the knights on my half of the turn. The Pictish archers shot volley after volley into their ranks, turning their mounts into pin cushions and eliminating the unit. At this point, I felt my Picts had to the game firmly under control. I could potentially take out another objective, but since he hadn't taken any of mine, the maximum points he could score would be 10. I would be capped at 16, which I had already scored. That would be enough for a victory, so I played it a bit safe and let the Normans lick their wounds. The game ended with a Pictish victory, and I was off to a good start in the tournament!

Round 2: Change of Plans vs. Baltic Crusaders

 I knew I was in for a tough game when I was matched against Dan N. The winner of our Shore Wars tournament this past December, Dan is an avid Saga player who has been getting in a lot of games, lately. He was my co-host on the Saga Ohio podcast analyzing the 2023 FAQ changes, and knows the rules inside and out. In fact, I would probably say he's the top authority in our group on the rules, even though he has been playing the game less time than myself and several other players. Dan is a frequent contributor on not only the Saga Ohio (and other) Facebook groups, but also on the Discord channel. Plus, he was playing his Baltic Crusaders, which he had won with at Shore Wars.

    The Pictish battle line ready to advance and seize the terrain in the center & enemy side of the table

Our scenario was Change of Plans -- one that our tourney host Adrian enjoys. I am less enthusiastic about it in a tournament setting because you have to count victory points three separate times. The players are competing for Massacre Points through the end of turn 3, Survival Points in Round 5, and Conquest Points at the game end. Luckily, both Dan and I were playing relatively quickly and we were just able to get our game in within the allotted two hours of time. In fact, all three of my games ended on time, though none ended early. Dan was first player, which he felt was a disadvantage three times over since we'd be counting victory points at the end of the second player's turn three times. I'm not sure, though I agree that in Saga the "first player" often seems to be at a disadvantage.

    Not wanting to engage the Picts in the terrain, the Baltic Crusaders shift left to more open ground

Dan knew the Picts wanted uneven terrain, so immediately placed a large, gentle hill near the center of the board. I countered with a ruins even more dead center. Surprisingly, he then placed a swamp on his baseline in his left corner. That allowed me to place the other hard cover -- rocky ground -- on my left near the center of the board. He then chose to drag my ruins just across the center closer to HIS side of the table. I was permitted one final piece, so placed a large forest on his baseline in the right corner. I planned to use "Secret Ways" to redeploy units into that woods because the final turn victory conditions are based off of units being on the opponent's half of the table.

The Baltic Crusaders deployed a little back from their permitted 12" from their baseline. Only his crossbowmen, who were just touching the ruins I'd deployed, were the full Long distance forward in the center. The rest of his army hung back a bit. Dan had mirrored what I had done with my two units of levy. He had 9 crossbowmen in the center and 9 bowmen in the woods I'd deployed. The remainder of his army was hearthguard -- elite troops. All but five of the 18 were on foot. That, added with his defensive battle board abilities, meant my missile fire would struggle to cause casualties in his ranks. Still, I deployed forward aggressively. My three warrior units were stretched across the center, flanked on the left by my levy archers in the rocky ground. On the right, they were supported by the crossbowmen and mounted nobles in reserve.

    Baltic foot knights move back towards the ruins, hoping to take out my crossbowmen, but spearmen black their path

My plan was to advance forward and seize all three pieces of uneven terrain (woods, rocky ground ruins). The crossbowmen would follow the warriors into the ruins and begin firing into the enemy from that hardpoint. Surprisingly, his crossbowmen abandoned the ruins and pulled off to their left. In fact, his entire army seemed to be edging in that direction, except for the archers who would remain in the woods throughout the game. After my spearmen and crossbowmen had occupied the ruins, he advanced one of his 4-man foot hearthguard in a beeline towards the crossbowmen. On my half of that turn, I stretched one of the warrior units across the flank of the terrain, blocking their path to my levy. Dan wasn't dissuaded, and after softening them up with a volley from his crossbowmen, charged into the warriors, heavy weapons slashing to the left and right.

    Although the foot knights shattered the spearmen, the Pictish noble cavalry rode them down to a man and then pulled back behind a new line of spearmen

We both made mistakes in that melee. I had my Picts close ranks instead of trying to take out some of his hearthguard with their lower armor class. Dan forgot to play an ability that would remove the fatigue he would get from our combat, enabling him to charge a second time, fresh, into my levy crossbowmen. His foot knights shattered my tartan-clad spearmen, cutting down seven of eight, and sending the survivor fleeing. However, he thought better of pushing his luck, and charging in with a second fatigue against my crossbowmen in the ruins. This gave me a chance to take advantage of the foot knight's fatigued state. I ordered in my mounted nobles, playing "Ambush" to give us 4 bonus attack dice (it would be my 16 dice against his 8), each of us getting +1 to our rolls with my javelins and his heavy weapons. The foot knights were ridden down to a man, while my own troopers rolled my greatest saving roll of the day -- shrugging off ALL of their hits!

    Although used sparingly, the Pictish noble cavalry played key roles in winning my 1st and 2nd games

At that point, I honestly think Dan's morale broke. He felt that placed him on a downward slope. I was losing Warriors and he was losing Hearthguard. The game was still very close (I was up by one point at the end of turn 3). Even though my shooting was not being particularly effective, I kept picking off his own levy and targeting (unsuccessfully, for the most part) his knights. Meanwhile, Dan was rolling a LOT of rare dice, allowing him to use "Activation Pool" and getting to his maximum Saga dice turn after turn. It was an amazing display of rolling. It encouraged him to send his mounted knights on an end run. I knew he was gunning for my fatigued mounted nobles (who I had pulled back after their successful charge). However, I drew another line of infantry in front of them. He pulled out every trick in the Baltic Crusader book to remove fatigue from multiple moves, but in the end, didn't feel strong enough to charge the fresh warrior unit guarding the cavalry. Instead, he picked off the sole survivor of the shattered spear unit, causing a major "fatigue bomb" (as it is called in Saga when a unit within Short (4") of a destroyed unit receives a fatigue).

    Baltic Crusaders begin pulling back, away from the center, and moving to their left

In the meantime, my own Saga dice were failing me and I wasn't rolling Uncommon Dice, which I needed for Secret Ways. So, I began to move my force forward with activations, knowing we would have to get across the center point by our final turn. My archers loosed volleys into Dan's archers in the woods. My crossbowmen continued to shoot at targets of opportunity. I had my own failed charge late in the game when my warrior spearmen charged from the ruins to attack his depleted crossbowmen. Though rolling three times as many attack dice at an easier-to-hit target, we did little damage. I considered charging into his depleted archers in the woods with my other units of spearmen, but felt that I would be better off simply using them to screen his archers from shooting my horsemen. 

The game ended anti-climatically with both of us simply moving in a Yin-Yang towards the opponent's left side of the battlefield. Dan assured me that I was ahead, and when we counted up the points, I did come out victorious. A lot of that was due to edging him out just slightly in all three of the VP counting phases. I killed more points worth of troops, had more alive during Survival Points, and finally scored more Conquest Points with my larger units at the end of the game. It was a close game, but the Picts were now 2-0 and had a chance at another tournament victory!

    A closeup of my foe for Round 3 -- the Goths and their 12-man warrior infantry blocks

 

Round 3: The Crossing vs. the Goths

I had a couple "firsts" on tap in my final game of the tournament. I had never had the pleasure of matching up against Rob S, the son of a veteran Cincinnati area gamer I had known for decades. We had both entered in the same tournament before, but just never played. I had also never fought against my opponent's army, the Goths. Still, I felt I had a lot of advantages going into this game. Number one, our scenario was The Crossing. In this game, you are attempting to reunite your army which is split by deployment in opposite corners separated by a river. People who first play against the Picts are often astonished by the speed of this mostly foot army. I felt I would be able to use Secret Ways to move my units to my chosen side of the battlefield where we would reunite. Also, I would be able to use "Scouts," which allows a unit to move Long Distance (12") and cannot be slowed down by either terrain or an opponent utilizing their fatigue.

    A view of the right half of the board with two Gothic infantry blocks and my "moving force" opposite

Not only did I think the Picts would be able to muster together much more easily than the typical foot army, I found I had another advantage at deployment. Rob deployed his Goths into five units, while my Picts had seven units, counting each of our warlords. Each unit that ends the game within Medium (6") of their general receives 2 bonus victory points. If the unit ends on the opposite side of the river from where it started, that 2 points goes up to six. My goal would be to cross four units to join the three units. If I could do that, and keep the battle relatively even on destroyed enemy, then I should win simply by having more bonus points.

    The other half of the board, with my archers, crossbowmen and warriors. Opposite, Rob's large cataphract horse, archers & warlord.

That being said, I was wary of the reputation of the Goths.  I had heard that they are able to use their own and enemy fatigue to pile up impressive numbers of attack dice. I would have to weather Rob's blows, and dish out damage in somewhat equal numbers. Rob's army featured two large units of 12 warriors, one 8-man mounted hearthguard (cataphracts), one unit of 12 levy archers, and his mounted warlord. His infantry deployed on the bank opposite from my four unit command which would be attempting to move across the river. That wing was composed of my foot warlord (a mistake -- I should have mounted him for this game), two units of warriors, and my mounted nobles. The rest of my army was sheltering in the terrain on the opposite corner of the battlefield.

    One of my warrior units cross the river and move along behind the woods and Gothic infantry

Once we were deployed, we made what to me was the most critical roll of the game -- how difficult would it be to cross the river? If I rolled a "5" for the section next to my warlord, I would be screwed as it would be impassable. Luckily, I rolled "Dangerous," which means a unit ending their turn in its waters takes a fatigue. Rob rolled "Uneven" for the side opposite his warlord, cataphracts, and archers. The movement game was on, and my battle plan SHOULD work...! I was first player for the only time in the tournament, and limited to three Saga dice. I queued up Secret Ways and moved one of my warrior units in a screening line in front of the rest of the force. The other warrior unit moved to the river bank and the mounted nobles did likewise. The warlord moved into the woods towards the edge of the table, wondering why he'd left his horse behind in that battle!

    By the end of my turn 3, five of my seven units were assembled in the target corner of the battlefield

Rob obliged my plan and moved up his archers to shoot at the screening warriors. We used Secret Ways, and after taking two casualties (other than the roll last game with my cavalry, my saves were my usual terrible all tournament). The slightly depleted Pictish spearmen redeployed into the opposite corner, safe and sound in the ruins. They were effectively done for the game. On my next turn, I used a Rare dice on Scouts, which allowed both the cavalry and the other unit of warriors to cross the river. I had a line of activation dice ready to race the nobles all the way into their destination corner. Two of four units in position, two to go!

    The Gothic cataphracts begin to cross the bridge as our archer's arrows bounce off ineffectively

At this point, Rob may have surmised my plan, or simply wanted to do some fighting. Both his warrior units forged their way through the frozen woods towards my warriors who had crossed the river. They couldn't reach them this turn, but would easily next turn. On my half of the turn, I queued up Secret Ways again. When the Gothic foot warriors charged into my spearmen, they closed ranks to minimize casualties and were pushed back to the board edge. They were then picked up and redeployed to the destination corner. Three units in place! The only unit remaining was the most important of all -- the warlord. The way the scoring is set up in this game, if you lose your warlord, you effectively lose this game. You will receive zero bonus points because no one is within Medium of him.

    The first Gothic attempt to batter through to my warlord protected by a line of Pictish spearmen

It then became a cat and mouse game of me trying to move my warlord via Scouts and other moves to the corner where the rest of the army was waiting for him. Rob's cataphract cavalry came thundering across the bridge to try to ride him down. First, a unit of spearmen formed a battle line in front of their warlord. The Gothic heavy cavalry charged in, but I had many of the Picts' defensive abilities ready for the melee, and we lost only one figure. On our turn, we continued to fire at the cataphracts with our archers. At one point, Rob had shrugged off nearly a dozen hits (50% chance of saving a missile hit) in a row! Although his attack rolls were abysmal with the cataphracts, his saving dice were odds-defying. 

    The Pictish army is assembled, but the warlord is still in danger - not all the way inside the fields

Meanwhile, the warlord shunted along the back edge of the battleline towards the corner. Now, it was the turn of the archers to draw a line in front of the warlord. It was Turn 5, and Rob felt this was his last chance to catch my general, who was only partially within the frozen fields. Rob's cataphracts slammed home and drove back my archer unit. Rob then declared a follow up charge on the warlord, whose base edge projected out of the fields. I felt horrible to do it to him, but I used his cataphract's fatigue from the melee to shorten his move. He came up about a half inch short or the warlord's base, so his activation cancelled. He had no further dice to activate them, plus his warlord (being a cataphract) was too far away to dash forward and give them a "We Obey" command.

    Attempt #2, this time the Gothic cavalry thunders down upon my levy archers

On my Turn 6, the crossbowmen eyed the cataphracts, overjoyed to finally have an enemy within range for the first time in the game. The bolts flew, struck home, and broke the veneer of invincibility the cavalrymen had enjoyed all game. Four troopers tumbled from their saddles. Meanwhile, the warlord moved to the back edge of the fields, while the rest of the army collected around him. On Rob's half of the turn, he decided the best course was to start collecting his own army together. All of his units were able to successfully gather round their commander, and it was time to count up victory points. 

    Rob's Gothic cataphracts were near invincible in this battle, shrugging off hit after hit

As I had projected, my higher number of units offset his slight edge in kills. The Picts had emerged triumphant in all three battles. As it turned out, I was the only player in the field of 10 that went 3-0. So, for the second time in a year and a half, the Picts won a tournament for me. I really like the flexibility and speed of this Saga army. Their battle board gives them the ability to compete in many different kinds of scenarios. I think they are indeed more potent with the addition of a 6-man mounted hearthguard unit. Although they did nothing in game three except run for the opposite edge, they were a big part of my victories in round one and two. Thanks to Adrian and Jim for running the tournament, and to all of the players who came to Cincycon to play. My opponents were all gracious and tough adversaries, which makes the victory that much more satisfying.