Picts' Young Lads Help Repel Roman Invasion

    We had 8 players for our cold, rainy November Saga Game Day, including this Norman civil war

Drust, son of Drust, looked out over the approaching column of iron-clad men. The heavy stamp of their boots caused leave to fall gently from the trees overhead. "The Romans have cut us off from our currachs," Drust growled to the men nearby. "We must drive them back before we can regain the sea. Prepare the clan - we fight!" The Pictish seaborne raid from Drust's home in the Orkney Islands had gone well at first. The pursuit by the local Roman garrison had been much faster than he'd guessed, though. Drust knew if he lost too many men on this raid, there would be repercussions back home. A big disgrace could even mean he might lose his name to his next younger brother. He liked being "Drust" -- the successor -- to his father, the chieftain of the Orkney Islands. Drust knew he would have to use all his cleverness in the battle, everything his father had taught him, to hold on to what was rightly his!

    Joe charges his troops into Jim's lines in a Norman vs. Norman civil war

Cold winds and rain were blowing on the third Sunday in November, making it a perfect day to stay inside and play Saga at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH. This Scottish-style weather would also be a fitting accompaniment to my second outing with the Picts from the recently-released Age of Invasions book. I had played these Pictish figures extensively as "Scots" from the Age of Vikings. Would Drust and his sons match the success of Nechtan Mac Fergus, my Pictish/Scottish warlord? Nechtan's triumphs had kept bards busy in his halls with his 11-1-1 record. The early tidings were as iffy as the weather, as my previous game a couple weeks before against Republican Romans had ended in a tie. 

    Adrian marshals his Baltic Crusaders for a Book of Battles 'Desecration' game against Byzantines

Over the last two weeks, I had re-examined the Pictish battle baord, pondering how to use its hit and run abilities. I decided to do something I'd never done before -- use three points of levy in my 6-point army. I would take one unit of archers and two of javelinmen. My thinking was that levy javelinmen could fit the fast-moving nature of this army. We could toss javelins and either dash off to safety or charge home with our +1 in melee for javelins. 

    The Baltic Crusaders march on Byzantine lands to dispute a point of Christian doctrine and heresy

The advanced Saga ability "Ambush" matches up well with this by granting +4 bonus attack dice in melee if the unit is within Medium of uneven or dangerous terrain. That very efficiently doubles a levy unit's melee combat pool of 4 AD to eight. What's more, three levy shooting units could soften up any target pretty effectively. Another ability encouraging me to try three levy was the excellent "Stalking" ability, which gives 3 bonus shooting dice if the firer is within Short of terrain. After all three units shoot, I could use "Swift as the Wind" on the final javelin unit to charge into melee with no fatigue (assuming we were near terrain). Doing the math, if all three levy units shoot and then the third charges home, the enemy unit would be on the receiving end of 29 attack dice!

   Bob seems confident his Byzantines are on the side of right in this Orthodox vs. Catholic clash

I was a little worried, though, about how many Uncommon dice I would need to move all those levy units and pull this off. If you plan on moving one Levy with the warlord's We Obey, that means you need two to move all three. Luckily, most of the advanced Saga abilities I planned on using could also use Common dice. Unfortunately, one of those that required an Uncommon was Swift as the Wind. That would likely be where my third Uncommon die would have to go if I planned on charging in.

    Caren's Vikings clash in the frozen wastes against Jenny's Pagan Rus

This meant that I would need a fourth Uncommon dice to be able to queue up "Secret Ways." This is a very clever ability on the battle board that allows a Pictish target of shooting or melee teleport to a piece of terrain after suffering the attack. I would end up being able to use it only once during the game, as Swift as the Wind and activating levy units ate up most of my Uncommons. That, and rolling only two rare dice the entire game may have had something to do with it!

As much as Uncommon dice, I would also need terrain to fully utilize the new Pictish battle board. Most of the best abilities on the battle board require the unit to be near terrain to use it to maximum effect. Luckily, my opponent for today, Dave E, out-rolled me for the dubious honor of First Player. That meant there would be at least four pieces of terrain on the board -- five if he moved one of the previously-placed ones. 

    Byzantines defend their loot in a game of Desecration against the Baltic Crusaders

Dave cleverly saw the trap of repositioning a piece, and declined to do so. This left my large woods in the center and another smaller woods on his left where I had placed them. He had placed a marsh in his own deployment area to park his manuballista artillery piece behind. Another marsh was placed on the left edge of the board. Seeing all the terrain, I was certain that this game I'd finally get to use Secret Ways. My strategy was to use Secret Ways to move a large javelin levy unit into the small woods in his deployment area. They could move once, throw javelins once to soften up the ballista, then use Swift as the Wind to charge and hopefully destroy the artillery. Clever plan, I thought. Dave unknowingly foiled my plan by keeping his his reserve units hanging next to the woods. This preventing me from using it, as "teleporting" units must be outside of a Medium of any enemy and within Very Short of the terrain. Foiled again!

    Dave finishes deploying his Roman army against my Picts - both new factions from Age of Invasions

My large wood contained both my archers and one of the Pictish Levy Javelin units, with my warlord close behind. To their right, in the open, was the remaining Levy unit, backed back up in reserve by two units of foot warriors. My third foot warrior unit guarded the gap between the large woods and the marsh on the flank. Opposing that flank, Dave deployed two units of legionary foot (who actually never moved the entire game). In the center behind the marsh was his ballista and his warlord. In the gap between the marsh and woods, Dave deployed another unit of legionaries, backed up by a double-strength hearthguard unit of 8 elite legionaries. On Dave's far left was his unit of four mounted hearthguard cataphracts.

    The Romans advance towards the Pictish lines, while the Pictish levies prepare to hurl their missiles

Dave opened the battle by advancing the legionaries on his left, the cataphracts keeping pace with them. The ballista shot its first volley and my spirits sank. My dice rolling woes appeared to be unending. He would hit my levy in the open on 3+, and scored 5 out of 6 hits. On my five saving rolls (4+), I rolled only one. One levy unit was down to 8 figures already! There was nothing to do but stick to the plan and hope the dice eventually turned in my favor. I queued up my Uncommon dice, put another on Stalking, and fired away at his legionary unit who had advanced towards our lines. We rolled 18 dice (needing 4+), scoring only 7 hits. Dave rolled his saves and got 5 out of 8 (4+). The consistency of his rolling above average and me rolling below average couldn't go on forever, could it?

    The Pictish levy units hurl their missiles, rolling 18 dice & killing only two legionaries - good armor!

Dave shot his ballista again on turn 2 at my weakened unit, giving me hope by scoring only one hit. Of course, I muffed the save, and the javelin men were down to 7 figures. Emboldened, he charged his legionary unit into my depleted levies. I had left queued up on my board both Sacred Tattoos (+4 defense dice in melee) and Ambush, mentioned above. This meant I was rolling 7 attack dice against his 9 -- Dave would play Ardor virtually every turn giving him bonus attack and defense dice. As the rain fell on the battlefield, the Picts took heart and finally began to fight with more spirit. We each scored four hits, but the worm really turned when the saving rolls were made. Even though he was able to re-roll four missed saves, Dave scored only two 5+ rolls. I saved 4 of my 8 -- finally, well above average! The levy javelinmen were driven back, but had survived the legionary charge and killing two more Romans!

Roman legionaries charge in and drive off Pictish levies, but at a cost   

Drust sang his clan's battle paean as he moved through the trees among the younger lads, who'd accompanied the raid as skirmishers. He slapped them on their backs and shook his spear stirring up their ardor. Fully one half of his raiding force was these young, enthusiastic teens. Success in this battle would rest on their shoulders. Drust knew if the lads fought with heart, then their superior numbers would wear down the Romans. If they shrank and ran, his own more experienced warriors would not stand up to the Roman arms and armor.

    A fresh unit of Pictish levy javelinmen charge in and wipe out the remaining legionaries!

Encouraged by the success (of sorts) in melee, I loaded up my board for turn with melee abilities. The other two units shot at the depleted unit of legionaries first. Then, my fresh unit of javelinmen rushed out of the trees, deferring their free javelin shot till later in the turn. This is a new wrinkle in the most recent FAQ. Javelin-armed troops that move get a free shooting activation, but apparently don't have to take it immediately after the move. I decided to save it till after the melee, as the levy followed up their advance with a charge with Swift as the Wind (taking no fatigue for the second activation). I played Ambush, as usual, doubling my dice to 8 attacks (with the +1 bonus for javelins). We wiped out the remaining legionaries, then took our deferred shooting attack against the hearthguard cavalry. Dave used one of our battle-gained fatigues to raise his armor to 6 (cataphracts are a base armor of 5 in both shooting and melee). We were lucky again and scored a hit on the armored horsemen.

    The 3-step levy plan worked! The unit in the woods dashes out and finishes off the legionaries

During the early years of the Roman Republic, the legions had a saying for a long and difficult battle: res ad triarios venit. It means "It came down to the Triarii" -- the veterans who were normally kept in reserve. Having lost his first probing attack, Dave decided the battle required intervention by his elite legionaries (the 8-man unit of foot hearthguard). He moved them forward and followed up with a charge against my victorious unit of levy. My battle board was empty -- I had thrown everything at him the last turn. I had anticipated this happening from time to time with the Picts, though. Levy units are 12 figures, and this often saves them. They will be charged by tough units, but the levy survive because of their numbers. This was the case here, as his elites cut down seven of my 12. The young javelinmen fled back towards the woods.

    My Picts were painted to play THIS army, though I used them about a dozen times as Scots

   The unit had survived, but was badly mauled. Worse, it had dropped below six figures, which is the minimum for a levy unit to generate a command and control Saga die. Now, it was time for revenge on my turn. All available levy units would shoot at the victorious elite legionaries, and hopefully take them down a peg. We rolled our dice and caused six hits on them. Apparently, they formed testudo right before our volley, as Dave rolled all six saves (for those doing the math at home, that is a 1.5% chance of doing that!). I have often discussed my luck (or lack thereof) with dice with my friends. I disagree with them that I have bad luck with dice. I have very streaky luck, I feel -- really bad streaks, then good streaks. I could only hope the tide would turn back again soon.

    Elite legionaries charge in and chase the javelinmen back to the woods, as my warriors advance

Having taken no casualties on my turn, Dave brought his hammer down, again. His elite legionaries chased down the unit they had beaten the previous turn, killing several more. Then, he turned them and charged my javelin levy unit facing off against his cataphracts. My awful luck streak was still running, and he killed all remaining 8 figures with no losses, once again. The Roman battle board has "Ardor" as an ability, that grants both attack defensive dice. These were key in cutting down on his casualties, or eliminating them altogether. I was down two Saga dice at this point, and my shooting capabilities had been cut in half.

    My archers provided supporting fire through most of the game - as long as I had Uncommon dice!

On my turn, I moved my archers through the woods over to the edge facing his elites. I also brought up my warriors, as my levy forces were about spent. Once again, the levies sent missiles raining down on the elite legionaries, once again no casualties resulted. On Dave's turn, he turned the invincible iron men on  my warriors, who were within their charge range. I had loaded up my board with defensive abilities for his half of the turn. The legionaries charged my warriors, and we both threw in all the advanced Saga abilities we could. Pict and Romans clashed in the driving rain. Blood was spilled, and in the end, we had lost four warriors. Three elite legionaries had fallen, though. Woo-hoo! They COULD die!! The clansmen recoiled, but we had cracked their shell, I felt.

    Dave's wrecking ball -- the near-invincible 8-man, foot hearthguard of elite legionaries

Now it was time to try a battle with my melee abilities loaded up for my warriors. In addition to Ambush, we also used Frenzy (+2 attack dice and re-roll misses) and Feint (+1 to roll on defense dice). I brought a full strength unit up and we charged into his elites. Dave closed ranks to minimize the Pictish savagery, but the clansmen drove his elites back, causing more casualties. I felt that if I could eliminate those elites, we could win the battle. You score one point for each slain enemy hearthguard. For Levy, it is one for every three slain, which should work out in my favor. I had also finally queued up Secret Ways for use on his turn, in case the elites weren't a spent force and they counter-attacked. It would allow me to "teleport" the target of his charge after the melee was fought into the safety of the woods.

    Pictish warriors create the first crack in his elite's iron shell, killing three before being driven off

Though pushed back, Dave's elites returned and charged the warriors who'd driven them back. He threw in the kitchen sink and was able to slaughter all but one of the previously victorious warriors. I used Secret Ways to squirrel the survivor away, deep in the woods. Otherwise, his cataphracts would have ridden them down as a follow up charge. The victory proved Pyrrhic for Dave, though. His elite legionaries had been whittled down to two survivors. 

    The victorious survivors of the hard-fought clash between Picts and Romans somewhere in Britain

On my final turn, I loaded up my board for both archery and melee. We started with the archers, and they proved to be all we needed. They slew the final two elites. I tried to figure out some way to get one of my warrior units within range to charge his ballista, which had nicked away at my figures all game. They were simply too far and safe behind their marsh. I decided to trust that we had killed more points worth of them than they had of us. We counted it up, and Dave had killed 12 of my warriors and 21 of my levies, with a bonus point for entirely wiping out one unit (14 points). The Picts had killed 12 of his hearthguard and 8 of his warriors, receiving two bonus points for wiping out two units (18 points). Final score 18-14, a hard-fought and narrow Pictish victory.

Drust watched as the Roman troops marched from the field in perfect order, their feet rising and falling as one. The iron men had proved a tough opponent, as he'd feared. Still, his tribesmen held the field and were victorious. He could recover his wounded, plunder the enemy dead, and bring back trophies to celebrate their triumph. His lads had fought well - their arrows and darts were key to the victory, as he had foreseen. Drust directed his older veterans to help the wounded, and begin stripping the Roman bodies. His name was safe, and his men would boast of this battle in the months ahead.

Interestingly, all four of the battles that were being fought that Sunday at the Dragons Guildhall were relatively historic encounters (or at least between contemporaries). Besides my Pict-Roman clash, Jenny T was trying out a new list and taking Pagan Rus against Caren's Vikings. Joe D and Jim R were fighting a Norman civil war. And Adrian J and Bob B were fighting a battle between Byzantines and Baltic Crusaders.

Here are the results of the day's games:

• Mike D's Picts defeated Dave's Romans in Clash of Warlords, 18-14
  
• Jenny T's Pagan Rus fought to a tie against Caren's Vikings in Clash of Warlords, 17-19
  
• Jim R's Normans defeated Joe D's Normans in Desecration, 16-10
  
• Adrian J's Baltic Crusaders defeated Bob B's Byzantines in Desecration, 16-10
  

Trying out Age of Invasions Picts at Saga Game Day

    Andy S's new Republican Romans saw their first battle against my Picts from Age of Invasions

Age of Invasions has come out since my last blog post and I am definitely intrigued to try out some of the newly retolled armies. First up would be the Picts -- which is actually what my Age of Vikings Scots are painted to depict (no pun intended). I listened to the Northern Tempest Saga Podcast episode, as well as the Saga Thorsday preview, giving a nice rundown on each of the eight armies in the supplement. The Picts interested me the most. Fortunately, the army was already painted, so I decided to try them out at our November Saga Game Day at the Guardtower East, Columbus, OH.

    We had a fantastic 14 players show up at Guardtower East for our November Saga Game Day

My army would be a foot warlord, 1 unit of 8 mounted warriors with javelins, 3 units of 8 warriors (spearmen, essentially), 1 unit of levy bows, and 1 unit of levy javelins. This would be my first warband ever featuring two levy units. Why? Well, the Pict battle board has a "Stalking" ability which gives a bonus 3 attack dice. Plus, I felt the javelinmen could morph into a charging group with all of their melee dice bonuses when around terrain. Twelve javelinmen plus the "Ambush" ability can be 8 attack dice at +1 for charging with javelins. Not an overwhelming attack, but a nice solid punch to finish off a depleted enemy unit. 

    Joe M, left, brought his newly-painted Mutatawi'a onto the field to face Dave W's dangerous Welsh

The mounted javelin could also be sent in to attack a unit like the levy javelinmen, being even more effective due to their Long charge range. What's more, the "Scouts" ability would allow me to withdraw them a Long move with no chance of their move being reduced to Short due to fatigue. Similarly, I could simply gallop them up to take a free shooting attack, as well (and then withdraw them so they don't get shot or counter-charged). There are a number of other Melee attack and defensive abilities on the Pictish battleboard which can buff up either the mounted unit or the foot ones.

    Bob B's Byzantines march across the table to try to engage Jim R's ever-elusive Normans (Bretons)

A key aspect of the Pictish board is the need for terrain (uneven preferably) to maximize their abilities. Five of their 10 abilities require the unit to be near terrain or have terrain ontable to maximize its use. There is one Orders ability (which converts an area of terrain into solid cover for your troops but does not slow their movement in it), three Activation abilities, one nifty Activation/Reaction ability which essentially allows one of your units suffering a shooting or melee attack to teleport to within Very Short of a piece of uneven terrain, one Shooting ability, and four Melee abilities. It seems to me that the Picts will have to use their mobility and nimbleness around terrain to make up for devastating attacks that other boards may have. We shall see, though!

    Andy S's Republican Romans get their first game in, as do my Picts (bottom) - armies at deployment

My first opponent was Saga Ohio founder Andy Swingle, playing his Republican Romans from Age of Hannibal -- also for the very first time! His list featured mostly warrior foot with two units of mercenaries (Thureophoroi and Cretain Archers). Luckily, I was second player so was able to get the fourth piece of terrain on the table. Our Clash of Warlords game featured a large woods on my left, fields in my center, and Andy placed a marsh guarding his left rear and a rocky area his right rear. He deployed the Cretans in the rocky area and the rest of the army between the two pieces of cover. The Theureophoroi led the center, supported by five (all but one 6-man) units of warrior foot Hastati/Princeps legionaries. His warlord was a Tribune, which would give him an extra "We Obey". This allowed him to advance steadily, yet still utilize at least one or two Activation/Reaction abilities to stiffen his legionaries' defensive abilities.

Picts meet the Roman advance on their half of turn 1 with their only effective shooting of the game

I deployed my levy bow in the center, ready to enter the fields. They ended up not needing to do that as Andy's aggressive advance meant they had targets within range from Turn 1. The bows were flanked by one unit of warrior foot on their left and two on the right. The mounted warriors were in reserve, while the levy javelinmen were in the woods, ready to dart out using the Scouts ability when a target presented itself.

    Roman turn 2 - Theurophoroi (in blue) and legionaries (white) lead the Roman advance

As Andy's legion marched forward, I decided to seize that opportunity on the very first turn. His entire formation except for the Cretans advanced steadily forward. The archers fired at the far left hand legionary unit in front of the Cretans. Next, the javelinmen dashed out and took a shot, as well. Our rolls were above average and with 15 attacks we caused five casualties. Little did I know, this would be our high point of the game when it came to rolling. An even more ominous, that was Andy's low point. From that point on, he would continue the tradition that began at Cincyon game two of my opponents rolling spectacularly. Andy was quite disconcerted that one of his legionaries was down to one man already, but he need not worry. We apparently ran out of missiles after that first shot!

    A small unit of Hastati legionaries chase of Pictish levy javelinmen

I also moved up the warrior unit in the gap between the fields and woods to support the javelinmen. Andy responded quickly, shooting with the Cretans at the levy and causing two casualties. The Theureophoroi entered the fields and hurled javelins, killing one warrior spearman. On his left, the main weight of his legion advanced against the two units on my right. During turn 1, I had also maneuvered the horsemen out to that side, thinking to maybe isolate a maniple of his legionaries. 

    We must be out of arrows! 15 attack dice yields only two casualties on advancing legionaries

I decided to load my board up and try an attack on turn 2. Let's see how good these Pictish spearmen are on this new battleboard! I had Ambush ready, to give the warrior unit a bonus 4 attack dice. Should be enough, right? First, I did my shooting, firing twice with my archers at the closest legionary unit advancing against my right. With 15 attack dice, I scored 2 hits -- well below average. With the levy javelinmen, I scored zero hits. Whoa...definitely subpar, and about to get worse. My warrior spear unit charged against the Theurophoroi. We had 12 attack dice, he had 8. My spearmen caused zero casualties against his mercenaries and lost two, dropping down to five figures and falling back.

    Pictish spearmen are repulsed, causing no casualties, despite having a 12-8 attack dice advantage

Andy saw he had the momentum and charged the Theurophoroi against my depleted warrior unit. I had saved "Sacred Tattoos" for the bonus 4 defense dice. I had also played "Feint" to give me a +1, so when I closed ranks it meant I saved on 3-6. Andy couldn't bump his attack dice because they were mercenaries, but as it turned out, it wouldn't be needed. He used my fatigue to lower my armor to 3 and managed to hit with all 8 dice. I rolled 12 defense dice, saving on 3+ and failed utterly, with the entire unit wiped out. Whaaat??? Would this be a repeat of the abysmal dice I suffered in my 1-1-1 performance at CincyCon? It appeared so. On his left, Andy charged with his legionaries. I closed ranks again, but suffered two hits again. Luckily, we scored two hits on them and they fell back. 

    Andy's mercenaries continue their superhuman exertions, wiping out the remaining Pictish spear

On my third turn, I decided to shoot some more, once again ineffectively for the most part. Nine attack dice should score 4-5 hits every turn on warrior targets, but I was way below average. And Andy's saves were sublime. At one point in the game, I hit him six times and he saved every single roll! I moved my horsemen back over to the left, because I thought I would need them. I was hoping my Pictish spear could hold off his legionaries. All in all, it was two completely ineffective turns in a row.

    The horsemen get their revenge, riding down the Thereuphoroi and then withdrawing out of range

Andy's legion continued to pressure my warband. Another legionary unit charged my javelin levy, while the legionaries facing my right switched targets and charged my levy bow. Andy loaded up on his defensive abilities against melee in both my and his turns. He was content to nick away at me, knowing that with his bonus defense dice and my inept rolling he would come out on top, consistently. The javelinmen were driven back into the woods. The archers lost half their number and recoiled away, too. 

    Andy's left of three legionary units begins to grind down the Pictish right wing

It was time for the horsemen, I decided. They galloped forward and charged the Thereophoroi. I had loaded up my battle board abilities, adding Frenzy (2 bonus attack dice, plus rerolling misses) to Ambush. This was finally enough, and we obliterated the mercenaries to a man.

 They continued to be the only unit doing any damage late in the game. On the next turn, they galloped forward again and hurled their missiles at the unit that had chased off my javelinmen. Two hits reduced the unit to three figures. With a little misdirection, the horsemen galloped past their targets and instead charged his single figure legionary from turn one who had been trying to withdraw from battle. I used "Swift as the Wind," which meant I suffered no fatigue on this second activation. I had Ambush queued up and rolled 12 attack dice against the single-figure unit, scoring six hits. He. Saved. Them. All. Nooooooo!!! 

    The Pictish horsemen would take over in the second half of the game as my only effective troops

I could see his eyes light up as he anticipated his Cretans decimating the low-armor mounted warriors with shooting on his turn. Not so fast, Tribune! I played "Scouts," which moves a unit a Long distance and cannot be reduced for fatigue or terrain. I used this to pull the horsemen back out of his range. The only satisfaction I got was a disappointed, "Oh, come on...!" Hey, if you can't fight, at least you better be able to move out of the way!

Andy got his revenge on Turn 5, though. He charged and wiped out my archers, and cut one of the warrior units on my right down to half strength. Of course, the numerous Roman bonus defense dice meant he was taking no casualties in these engagements. My saving rolls continued to be terrible, and my figures (especially the levy bow) died in droves. There wasn't a whole lot I could do about it, though. I launched some game end attacks, getting a second shot at his single-man legionary unit and failing equally as spectacularly. My levy javelin tried to charge his legionaries, but the +1 to my rolls made little difference. On my final turn, I even had the warlord charge one of his legionary units that had been chipped down a couple figures by my horsemen's javelins. 

    You  know I must be frustrated if I am charging in my warlord to get a couple kills late game!

By my calculation, I had lost abysmally. I simply couldn't seem to cause casualties. I know that the Romans' strength is their defensive abilities. However, Andy complimented that with superb saving rolls all game long, barring the first turn. He admitted the dice were in his favor this game as we counted up the points. Shockingly, it ended in a draw. He scored 20 points while I scored 18. Clash of Warlords requires you to beat your opponent by more than 3 points, so somehow my first outing with my Picts ended up in a tie.

I did make a major mistake, I admit. I misread "Secret Ways," thinking that the unit which teleports also needs to begin near terrain. It doesn't. It only had to end up within Very Short of uneven terrain and more than Medium from enemy figures. I should have withdrawn my right flank steadily as he charged it, bouncing it over to the woods on my left. That would have saved a lot of figures, and possibly won me the game. I probably also underestimated the steadiness of the Roman defense. I thought a couple bonus defense dice here and there would make only a minor impact. They contributed to my inability to do much damage to his legion. I look forward to trying out the Picts again -- hopefully soon. 

I probably should have mentioned his higher up in the blog post, but we had 14 players show up for our November game day. Three were brand new players brought by Lee P, and one was playing her second game. Here are the results of all the games (which I believe were all Clash of Warlords):

• Joe Merz's brand-new Muttatawi'a tied against Dave W's Welsh, 20-18
• Karen's Vikings defeated Jason's Vikings (no score recorded)
• Lee P's Milites Christi defeated Stan's Gauls (no score recorded)
• Jenny T's Vikings defeated Mike's Anglo-Saxons, 20-12
• Andy S's Republican Romans tied Mike D's Picts, 20-18
• Jim R's Normans (Breton) tied Bob B's Byzantines, 18-17
• Adrian J's Britons defeated Dave E's Romans (no score recorded)

Mystic Helps Picts Overcome Strange Invaders at Dayton Saga Game Day

Nechtan Mac Fergus' Picts advance to contact against their Saracen foes

Six of us gathered to play Saga at the Dragon's Guildhall for our monthly meeting in the Dayton area. Adrian and Jim hosted, and had brought along two newer players, Adrian's brother Aaron and Jim's friend Mark. Jenny and I drove over from Columbus, which made for three games. Jim set the matchups, with Jenny helping Aaron in an Viking vs. Irish battle, while he coached Mark in a Viking civil war. That left my Picts (Scots in Age of Vikings) to face Adrian and his Saracen army.

The right of the Saracen battleline - horse archers, foot warriors, and more Saracen horsemen

Adrian is a big fan of Saga's Book of Battles, so he randomly rolled one of the scenarios for us to square off in. "Old Feuds" was the result, which meant each of our armies would be bolstered by a "challenger" -- a single-figure "hero." As first player, I chose the Mystic -- not because I thought his abilities would be useful, but simply because I have a great druid-looking figure that would be perfect for him. Adrian chose the Brute for the same reason -- he had a great, loathsome slave master figure terrorizing a slave with a whip. The goal of the scenario was to kill the other's hero. If one player did that while preserving their own, they automatically won -- no matter what the army losses were. If both challengers died (or survived), the scenario would be decided by slaughter points. My Mystic's special ability was to possibly give me additional "Saga dice" to roll for my board, though I think that happened only once or twice. Luckily, I never rolled a "1-2" on 1d6 and lost Saga dice, though!

The Pictish spear advances obliquely on the enemy, while archers race through the woods on the left

Otherwise, battle setup was fairly normal for Saga. We each placed terrain, with me putting out several woods to mess with his horse archer's abilities to shoot at us (or scoot around the board too quickly). Examining the Saracen battle board, I noticed "Ruse" which he could use to remove a command dice from my Saga board if he isolated one of my units with two of his. Thus, my plan was to keep all of my units within at least a Short distance of another to prevent him from using that abilitly. Our Old Feuds deployment helped with that, as all units must begin within a Very Short of another friendly unit. My warlord, Nechtan Mac Fergus, planned on keeping his units close together and under his control -- much like when he faced the Huns many months ago. 

Saracen center - many of Adrian's awesome figures are converted Haradrim from Lord of the Rings

I deployed with my Levy archers in the large wood guarding our left flank, with the Mystic closely following them through the trees. In the center, our three large spear blocks (12 figures, 10 figures, 10 figures) were deployed obliquely, stepping back towards our baseline. Following up behind them were Nechtan Mac Fergus and also his small unit of mounted noble hearthguards. We would keep this relatively tight formation throughout most of the game. The Saracens had five mounted units, and I didn't want them isolating and encircling a lone unit. 

The Saracen's main weapon - their large, composite bow-armed warrior units

Adrian deployed with one of his larger units of composite bow-armed mounted warriors on his baseline opposite my woods with the Levy bow. To their left was a unit of 12 foot warriors. Their center was tightly packed together, as well. Behind the foot warriors was a smaller mounted unit of warriors armed with spears and swords. To their left was another large unit of composite bow-armed mounted warriors, backed up by a small unit of mounted hearthguard. Adrian's left was guarded by his warlord, brute, and a tiny unit of four foot warriors carrying along another cool figure on a palanquin.

With no charge coming, the Pictish spear advance to within Medium to use 'Reach'

I began the battle with a steady advance, the archers darting among the trees to get into firing position against either his horse archers or foot warriors. The staggered line of Pictish long spearmen advanced, followed by its supports. Adrian opened the battle galloping forward with the center unit of horse archers. Composite bows fire as a free action that does not generate fatigue. However, they must move or do something else between shots, and have a range of only a Medium distance (half of foot bow's long). Adrian had a strategy in mind, though, and had no plans on leaving the horse archers dangling, exposed in front of my long spearmen. The horse archers galloped to within Short distance of two of my spear units, firing at one of them using Armour-Piercing Shafts (+1 bonus to shooting). They followed this up by playing Multiple Shots on their battle board, which meant that each of my units within a Short of the horse archers must roll a die equal to or lower than their armor, or suffer an additional casualty. Luckily, we took only a limited number of hits from these initial volleys. 

The Pictish counterpunch of 'Reach' has hurled the first wave of Saracens back, killing many

Adrian then pulled the horse archers back out of my range with Thoroughbred. He would then begin the next turn resting the unit to take off the fatigue all of that shooting and moving had generated. This was an effective use of his battle board, and he employed it time and again during the game. However, his shooting rolls (and my saves) meant it caused fewer casualties than it probably should have. Other than the very beginning of the game, this seemed par for the course. Adrian's rolls were bad to awful, at times.

A close up of Adrian's Saracen foot warriors - great conversion job!

We continued our slow, steady advance. I kept my battle board stocked with my usual defensive advanced Saga abilities, expecting a charge at some point due to some particularly deadly melee abilities the Saracen battle board had. However, after three turns of this shooting and scooting, I realized there was no charge planned. The Saracens were going to try to whittle me down with bowfire. By then, my archers were in range, and they began to pour withering fire into his foot warriors (Adrian's saving dice rolls were well below average, and the unit began steadily shrinking, unable to hit back). Nechtan Mac Fergus then waved the spear line forward and all three units closed to within range to use Reach -- a surprisingly effective counterpunch that the Scots battle board has (allowing them to "fire" at Medium distance). The horse archers began to take casualties, trapped, unable to fall back as the second line of Saracens hemmed them in.

The Saracens have been whittle down, with the reach of Pictish long spears causing many casualties

His center stung, Adrian sent forward the next unit of horse archers on his right, and they tried the same tactics against the Levy bowmen lining the edge of the woods. I was a bit worried when, instead of retreating with Thoroughbred, they darted around the woods, threatening to circle around and fall upon my rear (or worse yet, try to target the Mystic in the woods!). A wave and a shouted command from Nechtan Mac Fergus sent the Pictish mounted nobles wheeling around to meet this threat. As the foot archers softened up the encircling horse archers with a volley, the mounted nobles charged into them, driving them headlong into the corner of the battlefield. Meanwhile, the Pictish spear line used Reach again and again. Soon, few Saracen foot warriors or horse archers remained in the center of the Saracen line. 

The end around attempted by the other horse archers meets its own end on the spears of Pict nobles

At this point, Adrian tried a gambit I had not expected in the least. He loaded up his battle board with four command dice in the Ghulams section of his board, which allows him to active hearthguard or hero units. Then his warlord went for a blazing ride across the battlefield, across the front of and around my spear line. The clansmen from the hills watched in admiration of his horsemanship as he encircled their lines and spurred his horse into the woods towards the Mystic, who was performing ancient, arcane rituals beneath the trees. However, it was a desperate gambit, as the warlord arrived Exhausted from his ride. The Mystic flung crackling potions from his deerskin pouch and wielded his bronze knife dangerously, driving the warlord back. 

The brave gambit of the Saracen warlord and his hearthguard leaves them in the midst of the Pict army

Seeing their lord in danger, the Saracen hearthguard embarked on an equally impressive ride of excellent, Bedouin horsemanship. They arrived tired, but their bodies blocking their lord from archery fire by the Levy foot. Nechtan Mac Fergus knew this was the moment when he could break the enemy army. He pondered for a few seconds. Too much haste could spoil this opportunity! In response to his gestures, the archers poured fire into the Saracen hearthguards, halving their numbers. The nearest unit of spear then shouted a battle cry and charged into the horsemen, spearing them to the last (using Wall of Spears). Nechtan Mac Fergus heard a trumpet blast that signaled his nobles charging in again to slay the last of the cornered horse archers. 

Archery fire, the charge of a wall of spears, and Nechtan Mac Fergus' own blade ends the gambit

The moment had come for the stout Pictish warlord to unsheath his own sword. With his Scottish deerhound Broch bounding at his side, the warlord charged his Saracen counterpart. Nechtan still bore the scar from his last clash against the Jomsviking warlord a month ago, that had left him bleeding at his enemy's feet. He'd been saved that time only by Broch who leapt and snapped ferociously at the startled Viking driving him back until his men could rescue him. The old wound seemed completely healed, though, as he swung his sword. With a few strokes, he cut down the exhausted, dazzled Saracen commander. Behind him, his men roared in triumph, knowing the battle was won.

My Mystic exacts revenge for the Saracen intrusion upon his arcane rituals in the woods

At his point, Adrian and I called the game. He had no more chance to get the quick victory by killing my Mystic. I could possibly charge and kill the Brute, but there was no need. The slaughter points would favor me, as I had lost only a handful of spearmen and none of my Levy or Hearthguard. I felt bad that Adrian's rolls handicapped his good battle plan so thoroughly. He had structured his army around utilizing his horse archers as his main weapon. When that failed, the only thing left was to charge me. The Picts have great defensive abilities in melee, and he knew that probably wouldn't come out in his favor. His gambit with the warlord could have worked, especially if my consistently good die rolling had picked that moment to fail. I have to confess when I rolled those saves for my Mystic, I was worried. My luck didn't desert me, though, and the Picts triumped over their strange, new enemy from the faraway deserts.

Viking levy archers under attack by Irish warriors and an Irish hero in Jenny & Aaron's match

Meanwhile, Jenny and Aaron had a bloody confrontation that turned Ireland's green shores red with blood. Jenny came out on top, led once again by her shield maidens (along with her skillful use of the Odin battle board ability to blunt the Irish javelin fire.

Jenny's Shield Maidens (with banner) advance on the Irish in support of a unit of Viking warriors

In the remaining game, Jim fell into the trap that many of us veteran gamers have when playing a novice -- teaching them so well, and giving such good advice -- that he lost. Mark's Vikings triumphed over Jim's in a bloody battle for lordship of Norway. In addition to being a good coach, Jim is an amazingly generous man. He gave all five of the other participants $20 gift cards to the Dragons Guildhall. I found the store's stash of 28mm Dark Age figures, and picked up three packs of leaders from Warlord games. Jenny picked up a supplement for Terraforming Mars for us to try some Saturday evening.

Jim, at left, coaches Mark in the bloody slaughter that is a Saga Viking vs. Viking game!

Since it was getting late to start another game of Saga, Jim invited us all to play a game of Wingspan (which I had purchased at the Guardtower East on our last Saga Game Day there). It was a tight game, with me eking out a narrow victory over Adrian and Aaron. All five of us enjoyed the game, though. We closed out our trip to Dayton with our usual pizza dinner at Cassano's -- which Jenny, as a Dayton native, loves. All in all, a great way to spend my last day of summer (tomorrow, school starts up for me). Thanks to the Dayton crew for being such excellent, generous hosts! I am pondering a way to return the favor...!