Gang Rumble in the Short North, Columbus

    The streets of the Short North in Columbus were taken over by gangs at Origins Game Day

A new Winter game day here in Columbus, OH, gave me the opportunity to host a gang rumble using my Mean Streets rules. The Origins Game Day was held Jan. 14, and was the brainchild of my old friend, Bryan Borgman. It was an incredible success, with 400+ folks coming out for a free day of gaming, flea market tables, and fun. I ran into a number of Columbus area gamers I had not seen for awhile, so it was good to catch up. I also spent the rest of my Christmas gaming money on some great purchases from Bryan's flea market table, and RRB Minis & More (who drove down for the day from Youngstown).

    I had full table of six players for Mean Streets -- three of them brand new to the rules!

I used the same six gang setup that I used for Historicon 2022, this past July. Each of the six gangs was given a primary mission and two secondary missions. As a GM, I like players to have choices on what to do with their forces in a game. Not only does it make the game more interactive, it also helps make each running of it a different outcome. Saturday's' game was a perfect example of that. The gang that scored the most points was the Eastmoor Kings. In the beginning of the game, they stayed away from the other five gangs, concentrating on "tagging" buildings with their gang logo - a green crown with a black "K" on it. I make up circular discs with each gang's logo that players place against the walls when they tag a building. John, who was playing them, had an opportunity to engage in some of the multi-gang scrums, but waited until it had broken up and his "payback target" -- the Santanas -- had split up. He pounced, and after knocking two of them out, finally headed off to Wallace's Brewpub to complete his primary mission -- steal some beer for the gang's Saturday night party!

    With five other gangs on the streets, the punk rockers, the Indianola Mohawks, stuck together

Some gangs stayed together as a mass, others split off 2-3 to complete their primary mission. The Indianola Mohawks, played by Michael, kept together and waded into a big melee by the Shell Station's pumps. He admitted his die rolls were above average while his opponent, Mike S (playing the clown-faced, Franklinton Flippos) continued his run of miserable die rolling. Normally that is MY specialty, but Mike took over the job in earnest, that day. His gang boss and two punks were knocked out in short order. The Warchief and another punk did make it to the Market Booths, though. They completed their primary mission of knocking out several of the vendors and convincing them to give the gang "protection money." After completing that, and seeing how the rest of the gang was laying, bleeding on the gas station's asphalt, they skulked off the table.

   Julio, Cruz, and Manana of the Santanas disembark after their joyride on the stolen car

Another gang that completed their primary mission towards the end was the Santanas. Not only did Julio and his gang mates steal the car from the Shell Service Station, his several of them went for a joyride around the table in their hot, blue convertible. I had never seen a player take the stolen car for a joyride, so it was kind of fun to see what Jenny (who was playing them) had in mind. The trio in the convertible were the only three from the gang not knocked out of action, though, as shortly after they split off from Ramona and El Lobo, those two were jumped by the Kings and taken down.

Hilltop Highlanders split up at the start of the rumble, though Lenny's calls brought the others back

Two gangs mixed it up almost immediately. The black martial arts gang, The Daos, ambushed the leader of the Hilltop Highlanders and an accompanying punk in the back alley behind Wallace's Brewpub. Lenny fought off the first wave of attackers, and his shouts brought the rest of the gang sprinting around the building to join in the melee. It was a fairly even fight for most of it, as each side knocked out opposing gang members. Slowly, the Highlanders began to get the better of it, though. Eventually, the two agreed to call it even, and scampered off to complete their primary missions. The Highlanders hightailed it to Jack & Benny's Diner, while the Daos made their way to Finn's factory. 

    Bobbie and the rest of the Eastmoor Kings are tempted to wade into the rumble at the gas station

There were three brand new players in this game, and they all said they had fun. I believe they also picked up the rules from RRB Minis & More. Rich, the owner of the store, said they needed a restock of the rules, so I ducked out to my car and got some for him. The thing I like about the Mean Streets rules is that it is very easy to teach. Typically, it takes only 20 minutes to go over the rules at a convention with new players. Within a turn or two of combat, the players have the mechanics down, too, and are figuring out their combat factors by themselves without my help.

    I like how my new wound markers look - clear bases with blood splotches arranged like a d6

One new thing I introduced for this game were my brand new wound markers. In the past, I've used red pom-poms from the craft store to mark on a figure's base how many wounds it has suffered. Recently, I picked up 100 clear square bases from Litko. I painted varying numbers of blood red splotches on them to indicate the number of wounds. I arranged the blood spots to match the pips on a six-sided dice. This makes it easy for a player to recognize with a quick glance whether the figure has suffered three wounds (three blood splotches arranged diagonally), or four wounds (one in each corner). I was much happier with how these bases looked on the table. I had coated the clear base with Vallejo Matte Clear, which takes the shine or reflection off the material, but it is still transparent and you can see the street underneath of it. Success!

    Gang Boss Marvin leads the creepy, clown-masked Franklinton Flippos through an alley

One of the players had signed up to play because he was interested in using Mean Streets rules for Mad Max-style, post-Apocalyptic biker gang battles. That was interesting, because I had just been exchanging emails with Rich about how to treat a character mounted on a motorcycle in the rules. We put some ideas together and he said he is going to play test them. I will probably also post on the Mean Streets Facebook group page and see if anyone else has ideas. I don't have any miniatures mounted on motorcycles, but biker gangs certainly fit the theme.

    Mohawks gang boss Sid taunts the Eastmoor Kings for avoiding the fight

I had planned on running my game only once, so I packed up, took my stuff out to the car, and returned to do my shopping. It was great to see so many people coming out to support Bryan's idea. Most of the tables in the room were still full when I finished my shopping and headed out for a late lunch. The weather had been as perfect as can be asked for in mid-January, Ohio. So, all in all, the game day was a success!

    The Linden Daos jump Lenny & Bo of the Hilltop Highlanders behind Wallace's Brewpub

    The rest of the Highlanders come running when they hear Lenny's shouts - the rumble is on!

    The Eastmoor Kings stayed disciplined and focused on their missions throughout the game

    The Kings get closer to their objective - the brewpub - and beers for their Saturday night party!

    After busting some heads in the rumble at the gas station, the Santanas head around the back

    Although gangs were completing their missions, there was still a lot of mayhem on the streets

    Great turnout at Origins Game Day - Bryan said more than 400 people showed up to game and shop!

Shore Wars 2022 Saga Tournament - what a birthday present!

    Mark B's Teutonic Knights charge Jenny T's Eastern Princes and their War Wagon at Shore Wars

How about a Saga tournament victory for a birthday present? That's what Dan Neal received this past Saturday at the inaugural Shore Wars convention in Mentor, OH. Dan's Baltic Crusaders scored two victories and one tie, beating out fellow Saga Ohio player Jim Randall on points for first place. Ten players battled it out in three rounds, bringing armies from Age of Alexander, Invasions, Vikings, and Crusades. Seven attendees were from our Saga Ohio group in Central Ohio. They were joined by a trio from Ft. Wayne, IN, making the very long drive there in back in one day. 

    Most of our 10 players who attended the Shore Wars 2022 Saga tournament in Mentor, OH

In the final round, Dan defeated Bob Boggs' Byzantine army to clinch the victory. It was a hard-fought game using the Clash of Warlords scenario, and spoiled Bob's 2-0 record going into the final round. In fact, a number of players had a chance at winning the tournament going into the final round (including me!). The final round was the only strictly "Swiss Chess" style round. I was trying to make sure people who showed up played new opponents. In particular, the last thing I wanted was for our Ft. Wayne friends  to have to play each other! 

    Dan N, left, knocks off Bob B in the final round to win the tournament - on his birthday, no less!

Since the seven Saga Ohio folks play each other fairly regularly, it wasn't always possible. Originally, I wasn't planning on playing. Jenny had volunteered to be my "odd person out," or ringer, as the tourney community is calling them, nowadays. However, she didn't see any events she wanted to enter and the others encouraged us to participate and join in on the fun. There was just enough table space to squeeze in one more game. Shore Wars was held at the rooms above a community ice rink, and it was a bit cramped quarters, at times. The good news is there was a lot of attendees for this inaugural convention. The bad news is it was a bit of a squeeze -- especially compared to the ample space we had at Advance the Colors!

    My Carolingians, at bottom, deploy against Jenny's Eastern Princes in Battle of Heroes, round 1

The first round was Battle of Heroes from the Book of Battles. It is one of our Columbus group's favorite scenarios to play on our monthly Sundays at the Guardtower East. There are six options for five different areas -- Scenery, Deployment, Special Rule, Game Length, and Victory Conditions. So, there are a countless number of options, making it a new challenge every game. I faced Jenny's Eastern Princes in the first round with my Carolingians. Our scenario rules we rolled up featured all uneven terrain counting as "dangerous," a diagonal deployment, and victory conditions that gave a bonus point to each unit which ended the game more than a Long from your base edge. Early on, I thought Jenny had me on the ropes. Her levy crossbowmen ensconced in the ruins were out-shooting my two units of Carolingian warrior bow. That's quite the feat, as the Carolingians have a lot of firepower. They can take multiple (and usually fatigue-free) shots each round. 

    My Frankish warband makes a concerted attack on the right vs. the more static Eastern Princes lines

Jenny sent her war-wagon to guard her left, and I targeted it as my first victim. It took a couple turns of shooting, but we eventually eliminated it. Meanwhile, she was whittling down my bowmen, reducing one of my big units to just four figures. My plan  was an aggressive advance on my right, circling around her weaker left wing. My hope was I would eke out a couple more bonus points being further from my base line and I could hopefully concentrate both bow units on one victim. Jenny had other ideas, and pretty soon I was left with just one effective bow unit.

    My Carolingian nobles charge into a line of Eastern Princes warriors, eliminating them

In the end, it was a very close game, but I received +5 points for having all but one of my units outside of a Long of my edge. Jenny had forgotten about the Victory Condition, and had only one unit advanced far enough to score that bonus. As the rounded ended and I scanned the score sheets, I noted to my dismay that all the Ft. Wayne guys came out on the losing end in Round 1. This would complicate my goal of matching players up against folks they usually don't play against. Still, I was able to cobble together the 2nd Round matchups while making a quick dash to Wendys for lunch. I usually try to schedule a 45-minute break between Round 1 and 2 so folks can have enough time to eat.

    Bob's Byzantine army certainly was gorgeous enough to win - here they take on the Ordenstaat

Our second round was a repeat from the Advance the Colors tournament: Wrath of the Gods. In this scenario designed by Joe from the Northern Tempest Saga Podcast, there are three objective markers across the rough center of the table. Players controlling markers at the start of their turn can force their opponent to discard a casualty of their choice. I had matched myself up against Mark Bishop, one of the main organizers of the Saga Indiana group. I was looking forward to chatting with him as we had never played each other before. Mark fielded his recently-painted Ordenstaat army. This was my first match against the Teutonic Knights in Saga, so figured it would be an interesting experience. 

    Round 2 'Wrath of the Gods' - my Carolingians take on the Ordenstaat (Mark B who drove 3+ hours)

Knowing the Carolingian's shooting prowess, Mark dismounted all his knights as foot hearthguard. I was surprised by the number of javelin-armed levy he brought to the table. I assumed he was planning on sacrificing them for the numerous battle board abilities that require the Ordenstaat player to remove his own figures as casualties. Instead, Mark also liked to use them aggressively, charging often with them. His favorite tactic was to use the "Slay the Pagans" ("Hey! Carolingians are Christians!") ability which activated two units to charge. He would charge in first with a levy unit, then follow up the charge with the knights (who would use the enemy fatigue to raise their armor and take fewer casualties.

    Mark's foot knights prepare to charge my bowmen in the ruins - and are in for a nasty surprise!

This caught me by surprise. I fully expected him to sacrifice some of the javelin men, as well as shoot with them, but not charge! Mark also had a nasty surprise when he sent in one of his 6-man foot knight units to charge my Warrior Bowmen, who were defending in the ruins. With 12 attack dice -- Warriors rolls one for one, unlike Levy Bowmen, our attacks destroyed the enemy hearthguard unit to a man. True, there was only one bowman left, but I felt this blunted his attack.

    My Frankish foot keep an eye on Mark's Turcopoles - who I wanted to charge, but miscalculated

Not to make excuses, but I was beginning to suffer the headache of both playing and running the tournament, and made several mistakes. The most important one was when I planned to use my own 6-man mounted hearthguard unit to take out his mercenary Turcopoles who had ended his turn isolated on the flank and within two moves of my nobles. My plan was to move them forward with one activation and then charge them with the "Illusio" abilitly (which generates a charge with no fatigue). However, I had completely forgotten that I had not rolled any Rares yet this game, so my Proelium was stocked with only two dice, instead of three! That meant Illusio would enable only a 4-man unit to charge (2x dice in Proelium). 

    Mark's faithful javelin levy are never far from his Teutonic foot knights, ready to support them

I had placed my Saga dice and made my plans centered on that charge. My a lack of concentration put my troops in danger. If I left the noble cavalry in place, the Turcopoles would dash over and shoot them. If I ran them away, they'd be out of the battle for awhile. I finally decided that since I had melee abilities loaded up and ready to go, why not pick another target? I decided to charge his other foot knight unit, which was within range of one movement and didn't need Illusio. I knew my surviving cavalry would then die on Mark's next turn to concentrated javelin fire. But it was better than accomplishing nothing. Think of it as akin to a chess player trading pieces. He would be left with only his warlord and levy to try to win the game, and I felt like my position would be ever so slightly stronger. 

    Round 1 (Battle of Heroes) - Joe D (right) and Mark moving troops while Andy and Bob watch

My prediction proved true. My noble cavalry wiped out his foot knights, then the two survivors died the next turn to his levy javelin men. At this point, neither Mark nor I had much punch left. However, Mark got very aggressive (he warned me he errs on the side of aggression in Saga). He charged his warlord into one of my warrior units, which left him heavily fatigued. I followed that up with a charge by mounted warlord against his weakened warlord, taking him out. In the end, that was what saved my Franks from defeat. Mark had won heavily on the "Wrath of the Gods" exchange, taking out more of my warriors than I had of his levy. The game ended up in a tie - a bruising, hard-fought draw, but a fun game for sure!

    Age of Alexander is already popular in Saga Ohio - here, Andy's Macedonians advance

At this stage, we had one 2-0 player (Bob and his Byzantines), and quite a few with a 1-0-1 record. Dan had the highest points of those and I matched him up with Bob (even though they had driven up to Mentor together!). I was up against the ever-dangerous Jim Randall, who was playing his Last Romans. I admonished Jim that he had to beat me. There was no way I wanted to win my own tournament. That is bad form, in my opinion. Jim said he approved of my sentiment, though I doubt he needed much encouragement to play his best against me. 

    Bob and Andy (left) maneuver their troops at Shore Wars, which was packed with 230+ attendees

I consider Jim one of the best players in Saga Ohio, so I'd given myself a hard matchup. My mind was not fully focused, with being called away to referee occasionally. I continued to make mistakes, including the same Illusio one! Jim's dice were hot and mine were not, so he was off to a good start in fulfilling my wishes and ensuring that I didn't win the tournament. 

    Jarl Sigvaldi & his mercs don't receive a casualty after eliminating a 12-man warrior unit in ruins!

I definitely didn't "lay down" in this game. I gave it my all, but was totally blind-sided by the hitting power of his mercenary unit, Jarl Sigvaldi. He charged my 12-man warrior bow unit (which had one fatigue) with Sigvaldi (who had two fatigues). I used those fatigues to lower his defense. I figured that I would do the same thing to Jim that I did to Mark in the last game and take out his unit, too. What I didn't count on was the 8 bonus defense dice Jim accumulated from his Last Roman battle board. That, and a high number of 5's and 6's meant he took zero casualties and wiped out the bowmen to a man (despite the fact we had a 50% chance on our saves). 

    The stubborn Carolingians pull back after the disaster in the ruins, hoping for bowfire to help

That set the tone for the game. Jim rolled about 2/3's "5's" and "6's" regularly throughout the game, while my defenders needing 4-6 rolled less than 1/3, typically. My mind was too frazzled, and on my final turn couldn't even count up the number of activations I needed for my mounted hearthguard to charge his general to take him out. Jim said that I did well, but tactically, it was one of the worst games I've played in ages. Mistakes, bad rolls, and not anticipating my opponent's moves did me in. But hey! The good news is I didn't win my own tournament....ha, ha!

    'Where's my chicken dinner??' - Tourney winner Dan N sets up his Baltic Crusader battle board

Here are the standings after three rounds of action at Shore Wars 2022:

Dan Neal, Baltic Crusaders, 2-0-1, 67 points

Jim Randall, Last Romans, 2-0-1, 55 points

Jenny Torbett, Eastern Princes, 2-1, 84 points

Bob Boggs, Byzantines, 2-1, 56 points

Mike Demana, Carolingians, 1-1-1, 74 points

Joe Dihrkop, Saxons,  1-1-1, 61 points

Eric Morrow, Normans, 1-1-1, 53 points

Andy Swingle, Macedonians, 1-2, 43 points

Mark Bishop, Ordenstaat, 0-2-1, 55 points

Phil Keifer, Mongols, 0-3, 32 points

   Phil K tried out my Mongols, showing no fear in playing a brand new army at a tournament!

Thanks to Shieldwall Gaming Club for the prize support and staging the convention. They had a phenomenal 230 attendees, including dealers. It was a fun way to close out this year's Saga tournaments and I am glad my players talked me into joining them!

Colombian Leftists & Paramilitaries Squeeze Narco Gang in Medellin

    Leftist guerrillas close in on the Mini-Mart where most of the Narcos are holed up in my ATC game

Ever since my visit this summer to Medellin, Colombia, I'd been fascinated by wargaming a conflict in that violence-plagued city with my Wars of Insurgency rules. Although things are peaceful there now, for decades there was war raging in the streets and hills above this densely-populated, South American city in the highlands. Left-wing guerrillas controlled the barrios -- or communas as they are called there -- that sprawl up the slopes above downtown Medellin. Right-wing paramilitaries, often sent by the government or on their own behest to attempt to drive them from the ramshackle (and illegal) settlements. When the drug trade put its stamp on Colombia's civil war, this added another violent twist to the conflict.

    Bob & Heidi, center, being squeezed by the Leftists (on the left) and paramilitaries (on the right)

My idea for a scenario for a wargame set in Medellin would be a push by the paramilitaries to clear out the guerrillas from one of the communas. The catch was they happen to choose a day when a strong narco gang was present in that barrio, guarding a drug shipment. It was supposed to be a chaotic, three-way clash with the left and right fighting over territory on the board while the narcos fired on whoever got too close to their shipment. The narcos advantage is they have heavier cover with the market building and stone huts, while their disadvantage is they are in the middle of the board. Leftists guerrillas start at one of the short sides of the 6'x4' table and the right-wing paramilitaries at the opposite. How would it play out? Would it truly play out as three-sided clash, or would two gang up on one?

    Heidi's Narco gang members jump out of cover to take a tempting shot at paramilitaries in the open

We all know how gamers can find a way to throw a curve ball in any scenario -- especially at conventions with people you may not be as familiar with. In our playtest with our Sunday evening crew, Jenny and I played the Narcos. We both agreed that we opened up on the guerrillas and paramilitaries too early. We should have let them get closer to each other. As it was, with only our narcos in effective range, they fired back on us and almost never let up. I rearranged the terrain a bit for the convention game, which I hoped would beef up the Narcos chances because Jenny and I got decimated.

    One squad of paramilitaries advances through the creek, taking advantage of better cover

It turned out that my changes to the deployment, mission briefings, and victory points for Advance the Colors 2022 didn't make much of a difference. Heidi, who was playing one of the two Narco positions, jumped out of hidden status and opened up on the paramilitaries right away. Her partner in crime, Bob, was a bit more circumspect. He waited a turn or two longer before shooting at the guerrillas as they crossed a bit of open ground. Almost the same thing happened at the convention that had happened at our Sunday night game. The paramilitaries and guerrillas blazed away at the hapless Narcos, slowly whittling them down. The Narcos had their successes and gunned down many leftists and paramilitaries. However, the attrition coming back on them was too much in the long run.

    Leftist guerrillas (using my 20mm Cuban figures from Liberation Minis) advance through the jungle

Next time I run this, I will likely tweak the terrain and even the starting forces a bit more. I think the scenario still has potential for a fun day or evening of gaming. Plus, the period is a fascinating one and a change of pace from my usual sub-Saharan Africa games. Luckily, I could field this game with the figures I have painted up, already. My Rhodesian/South Africans stood in as the paramilitaries. My Cubans made good leftist guerrillas, and for the Narcos, I used my African militia in civilian clothing. Unfortunately, the 20mm figures I used for my modern warfare games, have become hard to find. Anyone who's had luck in ordering from RH Models (Liberation Miniatures), I'd be eager to hear from you!

    The Narcos hunker down on the roof of the Mini-Mart, keeping an eye on their drug shipments

As always, it was a cinch to explain the rules and the players picked it up quickly. In fact, I find that as GM I often need to be LESS helpful when the players are doing their early shooting attacks. Let them walk their way through the modifiers on their own (while paying attention, of course). Once they have calculated their own shooting attack and saving roll, they have the rules down. Wars of Insurgency is meant to be a fast-play, easy-to-learn set of rules. Players are taking care of their own turns and I need only to focus on reminding folks who's up next. 

    The paramilitaries close in on the market area while taking advantage of the cover of a stand of trees

Speaking of which, for this six-player game, I experimented with running it as three teams of two players each, rather than six individual factions to move. When the Leftists were up, both John and Michael would each activate their next unit simultaneously. This cut down dramatically on the wait time for your next turn and the game seemed to flow quickly. That's encouraging and may allow me to try an 8-player, four team game one of these days. My games seem to fill up quickly, and I always feel bad for the folks who get closed out, but wanted to play. Plus, if I have an odd number, then either I can help out one faction or one more experienced player can run both player positions of his or her faction. I'm interested to see how that goes!

Center market area of the communa, with Narcos & Leftists scrambling for cover as gunfire breaks out

   Leftist guerrillas near one of the shacks they had to defend from the paramilitaries

    One squad advances past an area of dense brush while another clears one of the communa's shacks

    Leftists John & Michael advance towards the center as their opponents keep an eye on them

    Narcos pause as they file past the 'Morning Crower' - do the papers talk about their exploits??

    'That's close enough!' a Narco squad declares as they defend their shipment in the red pickup

Two Dozen Warlords Wage Battle at ATC 2022 Saga Tourney

    Joe M's Gallic chariots ride towards the enemy at the ATC 2022 Saga tournament

At one point it looked like we had 30 players confirmed for the Saga Ohio Advance the Colors 2022 Tournament. However, a Covid outbreak in the Fort Wayne group lost us a batch of players, and a couple others here and there had something pop up and couldn't attend. Still, 24 players was a nice turnout, and shows that Saga is thriving in this area. There was a great batch of prizes from sponsors including Gripping Beast, Jarl's Workshop, Father and Son Gaming, Game Table Adventures, and Saga Ohio. So, all players went home with a prizes, and the top finishers nabbed two.

    We had 24 players with a variety of armies for the ATC 2022 Saga tourney - up from 16 last year

After three rounds of battle, the field was narrowed to just two undefeated players -- the Anglo-Danish army commanded by D. J. Andrews from the Indianapolis area, and Daniel Broaddus from northwest Ohio, who fielded Vandals. The tie breakers after won-loss record was scenario points scored, and wouldn't you know it? Daniel and D.J. ended up with an identical 76 points, so were declared tournament co-champions! Although players traveled from Ohio, Indiana, California, and Canada to attend, they were a gracious and fun group to the man. I think I had fewer than a dozen rules questions to field as GM, which gave me plenty of time to roam around, take pictures, and join in on the camaraderie. Saga players are not your typical wargame tournament players, by most peoples' opinion. They are much more sporting, much more helpful, and willing to laugh off bad die rolls. 

    Adrian J and his Anglo-Saxons clash with Randy W's Vikings in Round 2 of the tournament

A good half of the players who attended were from our base "Saga Ohio" group. This enabled me to unofficially pool the players into two sets, which I called Home and Visitors. For the first round, I arranged both the Home and Visitor group from first to last in time period, beginning with the Age of Hannibal armies and going through Age of Crusades. I then cross-paired them, so Age of Hannibal armies were fighting other early period armies and Crusader armies were likewise fighting period enemies. Not only did this provide historical matchups regularly, it also ensure that players got to meet and game against new opponents. I continued this into the second round, too, with Home Winners vs. Visitor Winners, and Home Loser vs. Visitor Losers. Obviously, things did not work out evenly in wins and losses all three rounds. But in the final round at the "top tables" saw Daniel Broaddus (NW Ohio "visitor") against last year's defending champion Adrian John (Dayton). At the next table were D.J. Andrews (Indianapolis "Visitor") against Saga Ohio regular Joe Dihrkop, who had won one game and tied one. In the end, the visitors won both of those games, so the Saga Ohio crowd did not repeat last year's victory. Great competition and lots of close games all the way through all three rounds, though!

    Rusty Parker's Scots fared well in the tournament, carrying their Pictish banner into battle

I think the players enjoyed facing new opponents and meeting new people. I know I would be disappointed to drive several hours and end up facing my regular group from back home two to three times! It seemed like everyone was getting along well, which is honestly what most of us have come to expect from Saga. Another thing players likely enjoyed was the variety of armies players brought to the tournament. All four books were represented, though roughly half were from Age of Vikings. Here is a list of the armies that competed this year:

• Gauls
  
• Republican Roman
• Sassanid Persian
• Romans
  
• Vandals
• Irish
• Last Romans (2)
  
• Scots
  
• Anglo-Saxon (3)
  
• Anglo-Danes
• Viking (3)
  
• Jomsviking (3)
  
• Normans (2)
  
• Polish
• Ordenstaat
  
• Byzantine

 

    I did my best to arrange matchups so players were matched against people from a different area

The first round was A Tale of Challenges from Book of Battles. I announced it early in the tournament packet, hoping players would get a chance to try out the scenario. There are a lot of subtleties with some challenges working better for some types of armies and others not being as good of choices for them. I was worried that someone would succeed on all four of their challenges and build a relatively insurmountable lead (assuming they won all three of their games). That didn't happen, though, which scores being very low and very close, for the most part. There were plenty of failed challenges, and some games where the player who was edged out on Massacre Points actually won the game once the challenges were factored in. 

    Joe M, left, lines up his Gallic army to face Tourney co-champion Daniel B and his Anglo-Danes

I did go with preset terrain again this year. I felt the 10-15 minutes lost setting up terrain in each round would come back to bite me with unfinished games. As it was, even with preset terrain, every round there were games that did not finish in the allotted two hours. I think most people realize that in the gaming world there are some people who play faster and some who play a bit slower. That's fine. That's one of the main reasons I do preset terrain. Plus, I think it is a good tactical challenge to not always play on terrain that is at least partially of your own choice. I tried to be fair to both foot and mounted armies, though. One round featured relatively "heavy" terrain with five pieces (Tale of Challenges). The second round was "light" with three pieces (Wrath of the Gods). The final round (Clash of Warlords) was medium, with four pieces. I sent my tentative terrain maps off to a number of very experienced Saga players from across the world, who I knew would not be attending, to get their input. So, thanks to Rodge, Monty, Joe, and Mark for your feedback!

    Bob B's Last Romans take possession of a pagan idol during the Wrath of the Gods scenario, round 2

For those unfamiliar with the Wrath of the Gods scenario, it was developed by Joe of Northern Tempest Saga Podcast fame. It features a diagonal array of objective markers across the center of the table. Control of a marker at the start of your turn allows you to force the enemy player to remove one of their figures of their choice. The enemy loses one figure per objective marker you control, so it encourages players to advance and contest them. Like A Tale of Challenges, it uses Massacre Points for scoring scenario victory. In fact, all three games used Massacre Points. I did that on purpose because I wanted players to have their primary objective be to destroy the enemy's army. I even warned players in the pre-tourney briefing that skirmishing and getting slightly ahead then withdrawing the reset of the game would be counter-productive. This type of tactic would almost certainly ensure you ended up ranked below other players of a similar record. This was also intentional. I can think of no type of Saga game less satisfying than one against a player who scores an early success and then spends the rest of the game falling back from the enemy and evading any attempts to come to grips. 

    Steve P, left, one of the original founders of Saga Ohio, flew in from California & faces Bob B

The third and final round was Clash of Warlords. I know some veteran players don't like it as they feel it encourages defensive play. I have yet to notice that in our games here in Saga Ohio territory. What's more, players knew there would likely be others with the exact same record as them (even if they went 3-0), so they would need to score more Massacre Points to win. I also feel it is the scenario that Saga players are most familiar with, so it levels the playing field a bit in the final round. With no special scenario rules, it is your army against your opponent's. No advantage is given to mounted, armies good in terrain, or whatever.

    Norman cavalry charges into Viking infantry - we had 2 Norman armies & 3 Viking ones this year

 So, how did the two dozen warlords and their armies finish? Here are the final standings:

• (Co-champion) D.J. Andrews, Anglo-Danes, 3-0, 76 points
• (Co-champion) Daniel Broaddus, Vandals, 3-0, 76 points
• #3 Adrian John, Anglo-Saxon, 2-1, 67 points
• #4 Dave Eblin, Romans, 2-1, 64 points
• #5 Bob Boggs, Byzantine, 2-1, 62 points
• #6 Anthony Adams, Norman, 2-1, 57 points
• #7 Doug Dunn, Irish, 2-1, 48 points
• #8 Rusty Parker, Scots, 2-1, 46 points
• #9 Steve Phallen, Jomsviking, 1-0-2, 68 points
• #10 Dan Neal, Polish, 1-0-2, 54 points
• #11 Jim Randall, Last Romans, 1-1-1, 75 points
• #12 (tie) Joe Dihrkop, Ordenstaat, 1-1-1, 72 points
• #12 (tie) Joe Merz, Gauls, 1-1-1, 72 points
• #14 Benjamin Barber, Jomsviking, 1-1-1, 65 points
• #15 Jason Stelzer, Last Romans, 1-1-1, 64 points
• #16 James Tolbert, Vikings, 0-1-2, 68 points
• #17 Jim Beegan, Jomsviking, 0-1-2, 54 points
• #18 Philip Knapke, Sassanid Persian, 1-2, 48 points
• #19 Andy Swingle, Republican Roman, 1-2, 46 points
• #20 Randy Wapperom, Viking, 1-2, 36 points
• #21 Scott McPheeters, Anglo-Saxons, 1-2, 34 points
• #22 Bob French, 0-2-1, Norman, 55 points
• #23 Lowell Lufkin, 0-3, Anglo-Saxon, 39 points
• #24 Jason Viner, 0-3, Vikings, 20 points

    Jason V, left, squares off against Philip K and his Sassanid Persians in round 2

I was very pleased at how smoothly the tournament ran. Each round, there were one or two battles that went to cut-off time. The majority seemed to finish within the allotted two hours, though. Still, I may look into adding 15 minutes to each of the rounds next time I run a tournament. I think that would be enough to ensure most games finish. 

    A closeup of Philip K's Sassanid Persian cavalry and elephant

Here are the results of each round.

ROUND 1: A TALE OF CHALLENGES

• Joe Dihrkop's Ordenstaat defeated Bob French's Normans, 38-18
• Jim Randall's Last Romans defeated James Tolbert's Vikings, 31-20
• Adrian John's Anglo-Saxons defeated Scott McPheeters' Anglo-Saxons, 26-(-6)
• Rusty Parker's Scots defeated Philip Knapke's Sassanid Persians, 26-8
• Daniel Broaddus' Vandals defeated Joe Merz's Gauls 26-19
• Dave Eblin's Romans defeated Jason Viner's Vikings, 22-3
• Dan Neal's Polish defeated Benjamin Barber's Jomsvikings, 21-18
  
• D.J. Andrews' Anglo-Danes defeated Lowell Lufkin, Anglo-Saxons, 20-2
• Bob Boggs's Byzantines defeated Anthony Adams' Normans, 19-11
• Randy Wapperom's Vikings defeated Jason Stelzer's Last Romans, 17-15
  
• Andy Swingle's Republican Romans defeated Doug Dunn's Irish, 13-7
• Steve Phallen's Jomsvikings tied Jim Beegan's Jomsvikings, 22-22

- Notice the relatively low scores. Most winners were in the 20s, with only two of 12 games seeing someone score in the 30s. I think that was because of the high number of failed challenges. My "historical" ordering of the armies in the Home and Visitor slots meant we had two "civil wars," with Anglo-Saxons fighting each other and Jomsvikings doing the same. 

    The spacious Clark County Fairgrounds were a comfortable venue for the ATC 2022 tourney

ROUND 2: WRATH OF THE GODS

• D.J. Andrews' Anglo-Danes defeated Jim Randall's Last Romans, 31-16
• Philip Knapke's Sassanid Persians defeated Jason Viner's Vikings, 30-8
  
• Steve Phallen's Jomsvikings defeated Bob Boggs Byzantines, 30-23
• Adrian John's Anglo-Saxons defeated Randy Wapperom's Vikings, 27-7
• Daniel Broaddus' Vandals defeated Andy Swingle's Republican Romans, 26-12
• Doug Dunn's Irish defeated Lowell Lufkin's Anglo-Saxons, 25-14
• Jason Stelzer's Last Romans defeated Scott McPheeters' Anglo-Saxons, 21-17 
  
• Anthony Adams' Normans defeated Jim Beegan's Jomsvikings, 17-10
• Rusty Parker's Scots defeated Dave Eblin's Romans, 14-8
  
• Joe Merz's Gauls tied Benjamin Barber's Jomsvikings, 20-19
• James Tolbert's Vikings tied Bob French's Normans, 26-25
• Joe Dihrkop's Ordenstaat tied Dan Neal's Polish, 17-16

- Three ties in round 2! Like Clash of Warlords, Wrath of the Gods requires you to beat the enemy by three points or more. Also, the Yin-Yang map dynamic of this game perhaps encouraged more static play with each player holding the objective closer to their deployment and contesting only the center one. I would be interested hearing from those who tied and seeing if that is the case, or whether they were just close, hard-fought battles.

    A Norman civil war! Bob F, left, contests the right to rule in Normandy against Anthony A

 ROUND 3: CLASH OF WARLORDS

• Dave Eblin's Romans defeated Randy Wapperom's Vikings, 34-12
• Joe Merz's Gauls defeated Lowell Lufkin's Anglo-Saxons, 33-23
  
• Anthony Adams' Normans defeated Bob French's Normans, 29-12
  
• Benjamin Barber's Jomsvikings defeated Andy Swingle's Republican Romans, 28-21
• D.J. Andrews' Vandals defeated Joe Dihrkop's Ordenstaat, 25-17
• Daniel Broaddus' Anglo-Danes defeated Adrian John's Anglo-Saxons, 24-14
• Scott McPheeters' Anglo-Saxons defeated Jason Viner's Vikings, 23-9
  
• Bob Boggs' Byzantines defeated Rusty Parkers's Scots, 20-6
• Doug Dunn's Irish defeated Philip Knapke's Sassanid Persians, 16-10
• Jim Randall's Last Romans tied Jason Stelzer's Last Romans, 28-28
• James Tolbert's Vikings tied Jim Beegan's Jomsvikings, 22-22
• Steve Phallen's Jomsvikings tied Dan Neal's Polish, 16-17

 - Hmmm, three more ties this round! Obviously, I would rather have wins and losses for tournament purposes. I'm not so sure it is all that unusual in Saga, though. Two of the three ties appear to have been absolute slugfests. Jason and Jim were charging and fought melee after melee. Ending in a tie seems more the result of a closely-matched game rather than a flawed scenario. In Saga Ohio, we have a lot of players who chose to play Clash of Warlords because they are either teaching a new player or learning a new army or simply wanting a relatively simple game. We have nowhere near 25% ties, so I don't think Clash of Warlords or Wrath of the Gods are flawed because of the having to win by three rule. I think it was simply a result of close contests and great play by both warlords.

    Age of Viking armies continued to be the most popular, though all 4 books were represented

 All in all, the Saga tournament was a great success. My goal this year was to grow the tourney from its 16 players in 2021 to at least 24 in 2022. Flirting with 30 for a few weeks certainly got my hopes up for a record-breaking turnout. However, I am happy with the results and this gives me the chance to shoot for thirty next year! Feel free to comment with any questions, or contact me directly.

   Doug D, left, drove from Canada & brought his son along to learn the game - this one against Andy S

    A closeup of Doug's Irish and their gorgeous banner - the Irish fared well, going 2-1

    All the players were friendly and sportsmanlike, and to a man said they had a good time

    James T, left, and his Vikings face off against Jim B and his Jomsvikings in Clash of Warlords

   Dan N's Polish army forms their battle lines in Round 3 of the tournament

    Lowell L, left, deploys against Tourney co-champion D.J. Andrews from Indiana

    Foot knights from Joe D's Ordenstaat (Teutonic knights) enter a woods to close with the enemy