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!

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

Mongol Horde's Victory Appeases the Gods

Mongol warlord Budokhan surveys the battle as his men compete to bring him the skulls of his enemies

The Mongol khan stroked his mustache as he watched the Polish raiding force hurriedly organize themselves into a battle line. His Ordu had caught them by surprise as they were attempting to desecrate his Jurkin tribe's holy site. Doubtless, this was in response to the Mongol's own raid last month. He barked out deployment orders for his Mongols and immediately the air began to reverberate with the sound of kettle drums. His standard bearer lifted the great horse tail banner and swung it back and forth to indicate which formation Budokan's Ordu should take. Rapidly, the well-drilled Mongol warriors formed into a great line, overlapping the Polish raider's compact mass.

    My Mongol army's first game would be against Dan N's Polish army, also from the Age of Crusades

So, here it was. My Mongol warband's first game of Saga. I had spent many months painting them, detailing their pastel robes with various patterns. I had individualized the horses, switched out weapons, and mixed the different poses of 28mm Curteys Miniatures. I had been very happy with how the army had turned out. How would they perform on the battlefield, though? I had chosen the Mongols because I thought it would be a challenge to play a horse archer army on a usually terrain-cramped 3'x4' Saga battlefield. Would this be the start of a long, learning curve? Or would my previous game commanding the Mongols in a remote, game played via Skype (which had ended in a win) be a harbinger of victories to come?

    Dan's Poles deploy in a compact mass, ready for the trickery of the wily Mongol horse archers

My Mongols' opponent was a historical one, Dan N's Polish army. Dan had played them several times at our monthly Saga game days at the Guardtower East. He is a gracious opponent, enjoyable to play against, and accepts the vagaries of a game often decided by dice with equanimity. I was looking forward to getting in a game against his Poles because they are one of the more rare armies that are fielded from Age of Crusades. I believe Andy S has used his medieval figures to field Poles once or twice, but otherwise, Dan is the only Saga Ohio member to field an army of them. He's painted them historically, researching the heraldry of Eastern European nobility and they look resplendent on the tabletop.

    'Wrath of the Gods' features three objective markers representing pagan idols

Dan wanted a chance to practice the Wrath of the Gods scenario which we will be using in the upcoming Advance the Colors Saga Tournament, Oct. 8, at the Clark County Fairgrounds, Springfield, OH. I am very excited about what appears will be an incredible turnout. Nearly 30 players have committed to play, with several "maybes," as well. Dan will be one of the participants, and he was eager to practice this scenario, which was developed by Joe M from the Northern Tempest Saga Podcast. Opponents seek to control three objective markers roughly in the center of the table. For each pagan idol a player controls at the start of their turn, they can force their opponent to remove one of their figures. Scoring is done with standard Massacre Points, so the goal is still to defeat the enemy army. No points are awarded for controlling the idols (other than what you receive from the figures you've forced your enemy to remove).

    Action opens on the Polish left - Mongol horse archers fire volleys of arrows, slaying many sergeants

Dan was first player, so chose a Ruins to deploy in his left center, while I responded with a large, gentle hill in the center of the board. He then selected rocky ground for his right center. I chose to "pass" on a third piece of terrain, and instead pushed his ruins back against the base line. Dan placed the final fourth piece as a marsh on my half of the table, near my center. Predictably, the Polish army deployed both of their units of levy archers in the solid cover, one unit in the ruins and the other in the rocky ground. Surprisingly, he had a unit of mounted sergeants (warriors) far to the left, poised to take control of the leftmost pagan idol. His two small units of mounted knights sheltered between the terrain behind the line of warriors armed with heavy weapons.

    End of my turn 1, with most of my horse archers withdrawing to about the middle of the battlefield

I deployed my entire army along the back edge of the battlefield, knowing we had the mobility to gallop forward and skirmish with the enemy from great distances. Dan's Saga dice were not kind to him, and he did not receive either enough Rare or Uncommon dice to set up his most dangerous counter-strike, "Terror of the East" (which requires two Uncommon dice). This allows him to interrupt one of my moves with a mounted charge. Still, his mounted sergeants trotted far enough forward to take control of the pagan idol on his left. Those brave riders would be my Ordu's first target. With a pounding of kettle drums, the Mongol army galloped forward. One unit of horse archers seized the pagan idol on my left. Another moved towards the central one, and finally, two converged on the Polish mounted sergeants. We fired several volleys with our composite bows. I was rolling very good with my hits, but Dan was rolling well with his saving rolls, too. Finally, once the sergeants had been whittled down from 8 to 3 figures left, the two units Mongol horse archers withdrew and raced back to our lines.

    Polish bravery is legendary, and his mounted sergeants charge into my battlelines to prove it

I did screw up on my first turn, though. I was supposed to move forward my heavy cavalry hearthguard far enough so that my unit using the "Bow and the Lance" ability would end up next to them. I hadn't, so instead of just two fatigue markers, they came back Exhausted. Dan immediately took advantage of that and charged his depleted unit of sergeants forward to take out that unit. He caused 6 of 7 casualties, while my Mongols killed one of his remaining three. On our next turn, we would shoot the remaining two sergeants from their saddles, but Dan's counter-strike had caused me to also lose one of my Saga dice. As proof that my die rolling was exceptional today, Dan's foot archers launched a potentially devastating volley of 10 attack dice, causing 9 hits. I had played "Evasive Maneuvers," which allows me to re-roll any missed saves. I didn't have to re-roll any dice. All nine dice rolled 4+, saving against what should have been a withering volley.

    Horse archers fire volleys at the Polish levy archers, hoping to provoke the Polish knights to charge

My next target was his archers that had rolled so well. Our fire was not nearly as effective, but we began a steady process of whittling them down. I left one unit of horse archers out near the central objective marker, hoping to lure his knights out to charge them. His army doesn't have a lot of movement ability that would allow them to retire back to their lines after a charge. On turn 3, Dan finally rolled enough Uncommon dice to leave his "Terror of the East" ability queued up. This meant I had to be very careful. I brought my large, 11-man unit of horse archers up to fire at his levy again, hoping that would do it. He didn't take the bait. It was only when I declared a charge with my heavy cavalry that he launched his own countercharge against my smaller, "bait unit" of horse archers.

   The Polish foot sergeants advance, while the knights ensure they can counter-charge through the gap

Dan admitted he made a mistake when he placed the figures into contact with the doomed horse archers. The Polish army has the ability to launch deadly mounted charges, and he slaughtered the remaining figures easily. However, the slain horse archers were not close enough to my heavy cavalry to inflict a fatigue on them. This meant my charge against his foot sergeants could hit home. The Mongol mounted hearth guard have the ability to charge into melee with deadly effect. So, I figured it was time to use that weapon in my arsenal. 

Mongol heavy cavalry rest after their charge, slaughtering 6 foot sergeants at the cost of one horseman

We rode down all but two of the eight figures, and then, of course, withdrew backwards using "Hell for Leather." The big 11-man unit of horse archers then stretched itself between the knights and the rest of the army, and poured shots into the Polish nobility. As usual for this game, we rolled an above average number of hits. This time, though, Dan failed miserably on the saving rolls and all but one of the knights toppled from their saddles with a crash. To me, this was the moment when the Mongols won the game. He had simply lost too many figures, at this point.

Polish knights thunder forward, slaughtering horse archers, but not stopping my heavy cavalry charge

I think the part of commanding a Mongol army that requires the most skill is how to manage the movement of your forces so that the bulk of them are able to withdraw out of range of enemy counter-strikes. As I began to lose my smaller 7-man units of horse archers, the big "hammer" unit of 11 had to take over the role of screen. The good thing is it is large enough to stretch across my front and cover the heavy cavalry and both the warlord and kettle drummer. Plus, charging an 11-man warrior unit can be daunting for enemies -- especially if I leave "Master of Men" queued up on my board. This ability gives 4 bonus dice (either attack, defense, or a mix) if the unit is within Medium of the warlord or kettle drummer. The one remaining knight simply didn't have the gumption to do it. Dan pulled him back and then brought out the other levy unit to help screen his dwindling forces.

    My large horse archer unit screens the rest of the army, while pouring withering fire into the knights

By this point, I think Dan was feeling a little of the frustration of facing such an elusive foe. Doubtless, he was probably also frustrated by my consistently above average dice rolling. I was rolling well not only on shooting, but also in melee and on saving rolls! To add insult to injury, on the turn after he removed my third Saga dice due to losses of horse archers, I managed to go on a ridiculous run of Rare rolls which allowed me to use Activation Pool to stack my board with all 8 of my Saga command and control dice! Dan accepted it all with grace and shrugged off my apologies as unnecessary -- saying he was making good rolls, too.

    The Polish warlord rides to his doom, hurling himself upon the swarming Mongol horse archers

I think this was what lead him to strike his final blow of the game, though. He brought out his warlord and queued up his board with all of his deadly melee abilities. The warlord charged gloriously into the horse archer screen. Proving that he was having good rolls, too, the warlord cut down 9 of the remaining 10 Mongol horse archer! However, he ended up Exhausted, and stuck within range of my own warlord and heavy cavalry unit. It was only a decision in how to eliminate him. Loss of his warlord would seal the game, but if he took down an equal number of points, the score would still be fairly close. So, I used "Predators," which gives composite bow to my heavy cavalry. They galloped up, fired a volley, and the heroic Polish general fell to the ground. Meanwhile, another unit galloped over to his remaining two foot sergeants and slew them with archery, as well.

    The battlefield at game's end - the Poles with 2 units left, while the Mongols are also depleted

It was a good, hard-fought game. I felt like I was in control for most of it. I felt fortunate that I had to worry about his "Terror of the East" Activation/Reaction ability only once. If he'd rolled his Saga dice well enough all game long to have it queued up nearly every turn, I think the game might have turned out differently. Still, a charge during my turn by his mounted troops would likely end up with that unit also being either destroyed or badly damaged by my other units pouncing on the charger. 

    At left, Mike C maneuvers troops against Jim B in a Jomsviking civil war, while Dan N deploys

I felt that I did an okay job managing my moving forward and back with the Mongols. I took the suggestion of veteran Chicago Saga player Terry D how to organize my 4 points of mounted warriors. I used three units of 7 figures and one of 11. Typically, I would send forward two units against my selected enemy target. One of the smaller units would go up first and fire at the enemy. Then, the larger unit would go up and shoot, as well. That was typically when I would play "Short Range Volley," which forces the target to re-roll all successful saving throws against that shot. As amazing as it may seem, it is the ONLY shooting ability on the horse-archer heavy Mongol battle board.

   Jenny coaches two tables of relatively new players, from left Todd S, John B, and Randy W

We had a great turnout for the first week of September, too. Our game was only one of six. We had a dozen players show up, three of them relatively new. Thanks to Jenny T for shouldering the teaching duties this week. My Mongol army would NOT have been a good army to learn Saga playing against! Here are the results for the six games played:

• Jim B's Jomsvikings tied Mike C's Jomsvikings, 29-28, in Wrath of the Gods
• Mike D's Mongols defeated Dan N's Poles, 26-15, in Wrath of the Gods
• Joe M's Gauls defeated Dave E's Romans, 22-16, in Wrath of the Gods
• Adrian J's Anglo-Saxons defeated Karen C's Vikings, 24-25, in Wrath of the Gods
• Randy W's Vikings defeated Jenny T's Eastern Princes, 25-14, in Clash of Warlords
• Todd S's Anglo-Danes tied John B's Vikings in Clash of Warlords
  

    At left, Joe M and Dave E square off, while Adrian J prepares his assault against Karen C's Vikings

I highly encourage interested Saga players to show up for our tournament at Advance the Colors. A number of sponsors have promised prize support, including Gripping Beast, Badger Games, Game Table Adventures, and Jarl's Workshop. Saga Ohio will also be providing SIX painted warlord stands as prizes, too, with warlord, standard bearer, and musician or pet dog. If you are interested in attending, please contact me ahead of time so that I can have the appropriate number of tables set up. Hope to see you there...!