Showing posts with label Saga - Carolingians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saga - Carolingians. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

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!

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Count Drogo Holds Off Crafty Welsh Warlord

    Lee's sharp-looking Hospitallers saw their unveiling, using the Milites Christi battle board
Count Drogo sighed as Lord Merovus, High Counselor to the Frankish Emperor, lectured him about what to expect from the Welsh warband blocking their path to the coast, and home to Frankia. Even the count's dog Griffo seemed to have a downcast look about him as the Frankish noble droned on about his experience. Only Drogo's standard bearer Ranulf seemed to be paying close attention, nodding frequently and murmuring "Yes, my lord." Merovus was close to the emperor, though, and Drogo had to keep him safe in the upcoming battle. Excusing himself, he made his dispositions of his archers, spearmen, and cavalry. His wily Welsh foe would require all of his attention. 

    Joe studies his Anglo-Dane battleboard to figure out how to deal with Jason's Carthaginian elephant
We had 10 players for our September Saga game day at the Guardtower East in Columbus, OH. Two were either fairly new or brand new to Saga, so we set up a couple "mirrored matchups" (two of the same armies playing each other). I've found that it provides a good teaching game as the novice sees how the more veteran player is using his same battle board and gets ideas from it. It was also the unveiling of Lee P's newly-painted Milites Christi army from Age of Crusades. He's painted them up in the black robes of the Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John. They looked fantastic -- and it was interesting contrast seeing them arrayed against Bob B's mostly white-robed Baltic Crusaders in a civil war.

   Climactic confrontation: Baltic Crusader warlord vs. Hospitaller grand master
Other matchups included Andy S teaching Saga Version 1 player Lowell L how to use the Anglo-Saxon battleboard. Merica vs. Wessex? Either way, there were a LOT of Saxon foot on that table! Our #1 teacher, Jenny T, was introducing Jason V to the game, giving him a taste of Viking vs. Viking Dark Age warfare. Our one out-of-period matchup featured Jason S giving his Dad's Carthaginians a try against Joe M's Anglo-Danes. 

    Carthaginian advance, led by their elephant into the Anglo-Danish battle line
My opponent was Dave W, using my borrowed Welsh army. I know how tough that warband is, so I was anticipating a difficult match. I had been contemplating shelving my Carolingians, as I am not finding them as exciting to run as I'd hoped. To be at their most effective, the best tactics seem to be shooting, shooting, and more shooting. It is just a matter of maximizing my shooting and keeping the archers as safe as possible. At least that has been my impression over the last several games. I'd been contemplating a switch, but really don't know what else to play. I'd love to try the Age of Invasion Britions, Picts, or Franks from the soon-to-be-released book. Alas, I am not one of the ones gifted with an advanced look at the battle boards from Studio Tomahawk...! So, I decided to give the Carolingians another go.

    Jenny uses a Viking vs. Viking matchup to explain the basics of Saga to Jason V
We decided to play Old Feud, since it is one of the scenarios scheduled for the Advance the Colors Saga tournament. I let Dave have first pick of characters (going out of the strict setup sequence), and he chose the Princess. I picked the Counselor, though in hindsight I never would need his extra Saga die. With three of my eight dice tied up in the Proelium, I was always able to roll all of my available dice. The Counselor's "We Obey" did come in handy, though!

    Count Drogo's Carolingian warband deployed to face a wily, Welsh adversary
Dave started the terrain placement with a small woods on his side opposite my right flank, overlooking the center. I placed a Ruins in the center of the board, a little close to my edge in case he moved it towards his lines. Next, he placed a small gentle hill opposite my left. I countered with Rocky Ground facing his Woods. That ended the terrain placement, and then we began deploying troops, alternating units after placing our "Challenger" characters. Count Drogo directed Counselor Merovus into the back of the Ruins to keep him safe. After that, we had to deploy each unit within Very Short of previously deployed troops. As he probably expected, both of my large, 12-man Warrior Bow units were deployed in cover -- one in the Ruins and the other in Rocky Ground. The warrior spear were in the center, next to the ruins, and the two small units of mounted hearthguard nobles were stepped back obliquely towards the Rocky Ground.

    The Carolingian warband after turn 1 -- a formation Dave cried foul with and called "Turtle-ing!"
I showed Dave the shooting battle board abilities of the Carolingians, to give him a fair chance. He had never faced this army before (most people haven't, I think -- for some reason, very few people run Carolingians, I've found). He was a bit flabbergasted with the shooting firepower and I could tell he was struggling to think of a counter. That said, he had the perfect army to counter an opponent's battle plans. The Welsh have three Activation/Reaction abilities. These allow them to move in the opponent's turn and mess with the other player's plans. Dave would do that regularly throughout the game, and proved a very crafty opponent.

    The Welsh mounted nobles gallop forward and "Taunt" my archers into charging them
He took his first turn using Maneuver actions to move up his troops slightly, remaining outside of Long bow distance from the edge of the Ruins and Rocky Ground. On my half of the opening turn, I crept my archers to the edge of those terrain pieces, and redeployed one unit of mounted nobles to watch the right flank while the other kept an eye on the center. Ever the busybody, Counselor Merovus followed the archers in the Ruins, pointing out likely targets to the unit commander. At this point, Dave grumbled about me "turtle-ing," or sitting in my defensive positions and waiting for him to come to me. I told him it was only the first turn and to be patient. 

    A brutal melee ensued and the archers killed 7 of 8 of the mounted nobles, losing 8 of their own
Dave looked over his battleboard and had what he believed to be an "Ah-HA!" moment. On his second turn, his 8-man mounted hearthguard unit of Welsh nobles galloped up to the archers in the Rocky Ground. Dave then employed his favorite advanced Saga ability, "Taunt." This forces an enemy unit to charge a designated enemy unit. My archers came streaming out of the rocky ground, horribly offended by being called a bunch of terrapins! I wasn't that worried, though. I had loaded my battle board up the previous turn and used almost no abilities. So, I introduced him to Vinco (two automatic hits) and Potentia (rerolling up to 6 misses - as my Proelium was fully stocked on turn 1). I think Dave had a good idea, but what he should have done is Taunted my bowmen out with his warrior foot, then after we had fought and were fatigued, charged me with his mounted hearthguard. That way, he'd get the +1 bonus for javelin and would be hitting us on anything but 1's. A bloodbath ensued, and we lost 8 of 12 figures, but more importantly, the archers killed 7 of 8 of his hearthguard. Warrior bow may shoot only half of their figures, but they fight one-for-one in melee!

    Mounted nobles charge forward and chase off a unit of Welsh javelinmen, who retreat to the woods
Dave's goal, he admitted later, was simply to kill all of my archers -- no matter the cost! He moved up a unit of warriors twice, who threw javelins at the remaining four archers. Despite the heavy cover, they killed one. However, I noticed they were now fatigued. After losing to the Irish with my Moors awhile back, I've decided the thing you do to javelin-armed warriors is charge them. So, one of my units of mounted nobles hurtled forward on my turn. We used Potentia for the rerolls and our lucky Rare die for Fortis, which gave us three more attack dice, while taking three away from him. He rolled four 6's for saves, though, and lost only three figures - VERY fortunate outcome for him. We lost one rider, even though we had used his fatigue to raise our armor to 6. I pulled the nobles back to my rear, so they wouldn't get shot by his javelins. The remaining three archers shot down his last mounted hearthguard using Vinco for the two automatic hits.

    Dave continues his unwavering pursuit of his goal: Kill all the Carolingian archers!
On his turn 3, Dave kept his distance from my remaining full-strength archer unit in the ruins. Another unit of warriors came forward to relieve those who had been cut up by my mounted nobles. The damaged unit fell back to protect the Princess. In Old Feud, if one player's character is killed while his opponent's survives, they automatically lose. It doesn't matter what the score is on Massacre Points. That is used only if both characters survive or if both die.

    Meanwhile, Dave keeps his own Challenger, the Princess, safe amidst lots of potential bodyguards
On my turn 3, Count Drogo ordered the archers out of the Ruins, with the spearmen going along to protect them. Counselor Merovus was admonished to stay inside the ruins, though! Griffo growled his low-throated rumble to reinforce the count's orders, while Ranulf strained on the leash to keep the massive dog in check. The archers advanced to shoot Dave's own archers, but Dave cleverly played Evade to stay out of range. In fact, his Evade moves would frustrate not only my shooting, but also my charges in the second half of the game. The Welsh are a very fun and tactically interesting board to play. It is NOT line up and charge and roll dice. You can easily foil your opponent's plans and launch unexpected counter-attacks with their advanced Saga abilities.

    Count Drogo kept Counselor Merovus (in green cloak) hemmed in by troops to protect him
Once my archers were out of the woods, Dave's own warriors found their nerve and made a beeline for them. Two successive charges with the excellent melee abilities of the Welsh whittled down the archers to a single man. It didn't matter to Dave that his unit of warriors paid for their charges when charged by my warriors on my turn. He had succeeded in his goal. The vaunted Carolingian shooting of 24 archers was reduced to just four archers in two scattered units. I hammered his warrior javelinmen in revenge, and felt that I was comfortably ahead of points. Dave must have felts so, too, as he had one more gambit to launch. And yes, it involved "Taunt" again!

    The battlefield at game's end - both Challengers safe, but the Carolingians slightly ahead on points
Despite Count Drogo's best efforts, Counselor Merovus was not 100% safe. Dave double moved his last full-strength warrior unit to within short of my Challenger and played Taunt. I had expected something of that nature, and had kept "Defensor" active on my board (four bonus defense dice). Luckily, the position the Welsh javelinmen had to take so that Merovus could charge them put them close to one of my mounted nobles units. I would be able to use the Bodyguards rule if he would end up in Short, which luckily I could. The battle was fought, and Merovus took three hits. I used his Resilience rather than the Bodyguards rule. The javelinmen fell back. Dave tried to back them off with another move, but I used his fatigue to keep him close at hand. On my turn, the Carolingian nobles rode that unit down, punishing their impunity.

    Andy, left, and Lowell both fielded Anglo-Saxons armies in a Dark Ages civil war
It was a great back and forth game. Dave used his Activation/Reactions masterfully, and kept me from shooting and charging him throughout most of the game. His only mistake, in my opinion, was the Taunt which allowed me to take out his toughest unit, the double-strength mounted hearthguards. I ended up winning 23-17. Great game! Dave keeps getting better and better with the Welsh, which are a very deadly weapon in the hand of a clever general.

    An Anglo-Saxon civil war - Wessex vs. Merica?
We ended up having only one round of games. So, here were the full results of our game day:

  • Vikings (Jenny V) defeat Vikings (Jason V) 24-16 in Clash of Warlords.
  • Carthaginians (Jason S) defeat Anglo-Danes (Joe M) 13-10 in Clash of Warlords.
  • Anglo-Saxons (Andy S) defeat Anglo-Saxons (Lowell L) 15-12 in Clash of Warlords.
  • Baltic Crusaders (Bob B) defeat Milites Christi (Lee P) in Old Feud.
  • Carolingians (Mike D) defeat Welsh (Dave W) in Old Feud, 23-17.

    Crusader crossbowmen defended an area of ruins from attacking Hospitaller sergeants
We have one more tuneup week of Saga game days (Sept. 19) at Dragons Guildhall before the first of our Saga Ohio tournaments. Hopefully, we'll get a great turnout as players get one last chance to try out the scenarios before Advance the Colors 2021.

Monday, August 9, 2021

Count Drogo Crosses to Britain's Shores for 2 Saga Battles

    Anglo-Danes Warlord urges men forward to confront the Frankish invaders to Britain's shores
We had 10 players at our August Saga Game Day at the Guardtower East in Columbus, OH. I was able to get in two battles, one against a relatively new player, and another against one of our most experienced. I was using a new variant of my Carolingian army. Count Drogo's new warband dropped one of the 8-man units of foot warriors and instead shifted those men into the ranks of my warrior bow. So, my army consisted of a mounted warlord, two units of 4 mounted hearthguard nobles, 1 unit of 8 foot warriors, and two units of 12 warrior bow. 

    Dave checks the rules in his game against Jenny, while Mike and Joe square off in Battle of Heroes
I'd made the change because I tend to have three of my eight Saga dice locked up in the Proelium section of the board, which enhances the abilities that I use. I questioned why I needed enough units to be eligible to roll six Saga dice when I have only five available to roll (the game limits you to 8 Saga dice, which are used for command and control). Plus, my archers are my main weapon that I use in this battle board. So, why not strengthen that arm? I would get ample opportunity to see if this change made them more effective on the day.

   Dave's Welsh warriors hurl themselves towards Jenny's Viking shield maidens at the bottom
My first opponent was a relative new player, Tim P, who had not played since version 1 of the rules. He was happy to get a chance to shake the dust off of his Anglo-Danish army. He fielded an all foot army -- warlord, two units of 4 hearthguard, 3 units of 8 warriors, and 1 unit of sling-armed levy. We decided to play Clash of Warlords to make the game simpler, and proceeded to set up the terrain. I warned Tim that I had a LOT of archery fire in my army ahead of time, so he could adjust his terrain placement, deployment, and tactics accordingly. 

    Tim's Anglo-Danish warband, right, deploys to take on my Carolingians and their upgraded bowfire
He placed a large woods on his left and a gentle hill on his right, while I placed rocky ground and ruins on my half of the table as "firing bases" for my archers. I explained to him how solid cover affects melee, shooting, and movement. In hindsight, I probably should have walked Tim through the Carolingian's advanced Saga abilities so he truly understood how lethal their shooting can be. Tim placed his slingers in the woods to his left and his foot warriors across his battleline as a screen for the hearthguard and warlord.

    Tim's Anglo-Danes didn't flinch and courageously advanced into the Carolingian bowfire
We had rolled "Method C" for deployment, which meant that our units began the game spread out, each more than a Medium away from its fellows. I quickly consolidated my lines using Maneuvers, and pushed my bowmen to the edge of the ruins and rocky ground. The spearmen guarded the right of my army, while both units of mounted nobles and the warlord were held back in reserve. Count Drogo's entire warband was set up to protect and utilize the bowfire of the archers, who I hoped would win the day. Tim advanced steadily across the table, even pulling his slingers out of the woods, knowing I was out of range and would be unlikely to advance to attack them.

    My dice were hot and the bowfire intense - here a unit of 8 warriors has been reduced to 2 figures
Once Tim's warrior units came within range, we fired double volleys at each of them. One of the best abilities on the Carolingian battle board is Ardor, which allows you to activate as many units as you have dice in your Proelium (which is usually three) to move or fire. This doesn't generate fatigue. So, after shooting them the first time with normal activations, they fire the second time with Ardor. I will also try to use Vinco, which inflicts extra automatic hits equal to half your Proelium (rounded up, so two), and Potentia, which allows me to reroll misses equal to twice my Proelium (six dice). If I was lucky and rolled a Rare, I will typically use that on Domine, which allows me to use one of my previously-used Saga abilities a second time that turn. Typically, I use it for Vinco for the two extra automatic hits.

    Tim's hearthguard has reduced the Frankish warrior unit to 2 figures, but his casualties mount
I felt bad that my archers' shooting was so effective. We spent two turns mowing down his warriors, then switched to targeting his hearthguard. This was less effective, but still killed two men in his right-hand unit. His center unit had saved all hits and was still full strength, so I brought out my foot warriors to distract his huscarles. I hoped he'd charge them instead of my bowmen. He did so, and though they were eventually whittled down to just two men remaining, they did their job and allowed me to pour more bowfire into the Anglo-Dane hearthguard. My dice had finally cooled off, though, so it took a charge by one of the mounted noble units to finally finish them off the huscarles.

    Carolingian nobles charge to finish off the Anglo-Danish hearthguard, leaving the warlord alone
At this point, Tim realized the game was unwinnable. Rather than throw his last remaining figures into the fray, we decided to call it a Carolingian victory. My dice were VERY hot early on. Tim said he had fun, though, and hopefully he will be back for another of our Saga game days. He said it was nice to get his miniatures out again and test out version two of the rules.

    Andy, left, shows Todd the ropes in Saga, while Tim, front, studies the Anglo-Danes battle board
In our other four games, Jenny T was giving Dave W a Saga refresher. He had played with us a couple times before the pandemic -- and purchased the rules -- but we thought it would be good to give him a tune up "Clash of Warlords" game. He borrowed my Welsh and played against Jenny's Vikings. Todd, another new player showed up, as well. He borrowed my Moors, and Andy S took him under wing and set up a "Clash of Warlords" game with him. Jim R also made his first appearance since Covid, and he immediately challenged Bob B to a game. Bob was using his Last Romans, but Jim wanted to try something new. So, he chose to field Árpádian Hungarians from Age of Crusades "Old Friends, New Enemies." Our last game had Mike S and his Vikings squaring off against Joe M's "Anglo-Danes." Here were the results from Round 1:

  • Andy S's Anglo-Saxons defeated Todd's Moors in Clash of Warlords, 16-7
  • Jenny T's Vikings defeated Dave W's Welsh in Clash of Warlords, 24-13
  • Mike S's Vikings defeated Joe M's Anglo-Danes in Battle of Heroes, 19-17
  • Jim R's Árpádian Hungarians defeated Bob B's Last Romans in Clash of Warlords, "by a whisker" (they said)
  • Mike D's Carolingians defeated Tim P's Anglo-Danes in Clash of Warlords

    The Welsh warlord takes matters into his own hands and charges the Viking Shield Maidens
As a pleasant surprise, six of the players were eager for a second round of games. Mike S sat down with Todd so he could get in a second game. Jim R and Bob B had such good fun in their match that they immediately did a rematch. That gave me the opportunity to finally sit down for a one-on-one game with Andy, one of Saga Ohio's main founders. We had played only once before in a three-player game with Steve P (our other founder). We decided to try one of the scenarios that Adrian will be running at the Cincycon tournament, "Desecration" from Book of Battles.

    Swamps and a rocky hill divide the center of the board between Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian lines

I knew Andy's army was composed of six levy units (all "spearmen", i.e., no special weapons). They have a lot of very effective abilities on their battle board which allows them to fight like warriors and add attack or defense dice. Since he had no shooting, and that was my army's strength, I placed an array of terrain to slow down his advance. I wanted Low terrain that can be shot over and that provided no cover against shooting. So, I placed two swamps and one steep hill. This would complicate his advance to contact, which should provide me with more opportunities to shoot the Anglo-Saxons down.

Anglo-Saxon levy pour through the gaps between the terrain, blocking my nobles' path to the objectives

The fly in the ointment, so to speak, were the three objective markers we each placed. I would be hard-pressed to take any of them with my defensive tactics, while he should be able to get at least one or two. The markers act as a "cap" on your massacre points you total up for victory. If I took no markers, my maximum score would be 10 points. I was hoping for an opportunity to do a quick smash of one with my mounted nobles, so deployed them relatively forward in the gaps between the terrain. The archers also deployed forward, somewhat behind the swamps, while the foot warriors guarded the right flank. Their goal would be to hopefully race forward and prevent Andy taking the furthest forward of my objective markers in the right hand swamp.

    One unit of Anglo-Saxons has broken through, but has been shot down to 7 figures
It was not to be, though. Andy was first player and moved forward aggressively. He flooded into the gaps between the terrain blocking my cavalry's access to their objectives. One unit charged into the swamp and failed in its first attempt to desecrate the objective marker. They tried again and were successful, though. On my turn, I began my double volleys by my Frankish archers. My goal was to take his units below 10 figures. Many of the advanced Saga abilities on the Anglo-Saxon battle board are usable only by those with 10 figures or more. Our shooting caused a good number of casualties, but Andy immediately played an ability which makes each unit act as if it has two extra figures. D'oh - forgot about that one! So, our next goal was to shoot them down to 7 figures. Of course, then I figured the best bet is to take them below 6 so that the levy don't provide Saga dice. 

Frankish warrior spear on right plug the gap, but their charge causes fewer casualties than expected

The Frankish archers did a nice job of shooting down the first wave of attackers, but Andy immediately sent in his second wave. Much as I didn't want it, they stubborn Anglo-Saxons were going to close into hand-to-hand combat. One unit charged my archer unit on the left, but was thrown back. One good thing about warrior bowmen is they still roll 1 dice per man in combat (unlike levy archers). And a unit of 12 can cause some casualties! On the right, I sent in my noble cavalry to beat back a unit of levy that had broken through. We did, but at the cost of three of its four figures. At that point, I looked at the casualties each side had suffered. Andy had killed only 4 points of figures, so far. I had killed way more than my cap of 10 points. I figured that if I could hold him below 10 massacre points, then I could win.

So, I had a new strategy. Minimize my casualties, while continuing to wear away at his Saga dice. Soon, he was reduced to rolling four Saga dice. Then, down to three. He loaded up his Warlord with the "Bretwalda" ability, and I feared he was going to go charge Count Drogo. However, he waited a turn, and instead targeted the archers on the right. First, he sent in a levy unit to soften them up. However, we had cued up our Defensor ability, and the bonus 4 defense dice meant we weathered his attacks. Counting up the points at the end of his turn, Andy had destroyed only 6 points of troops. We skipped my final turn, as I was already at my "0 objective markers destroyed" cap of 10 points. We had withstood the onlsaught of the Anglo-Saxon hordes, 10-6! The results of the other second round games were:

  • Mike S's Vikings defeated Todd's Moors in Clash of Warlords, 13-9
  • Jim R's Hungarians defeated Bob B's Last Romans in Clash of Warlords
  • Mike D's Carolingians defeated Andy S's Anglo-Saxons in Desecration, 10-6

    Join the Saga Ohio crew at our first tournament at Advance the Colors, Oct. 2!
It was another great day of Saga, as the players continued their practice for the upcoming tournaments. The first will be held at Advance the Colors, Oct. 2. The second will be at Cincycon, Oct. 23. If you would like to make either tournament, please reach out to us and we can reserve you a spot!