Lead Legionaries: Let the Game Days Begin!

Byzantine cavalry charges Crusaders, who were in abundance in our first Saga game day in 2021

During the pandemic, most of us missed out on face-to-face miniatures gaming. Losing our twice-monthly Saga game days was a big blow to a lot of us, so we were eagerly looking forward to their resumption. I had a feeling that the turnout at our first game day of 2021 would be big. Even though the game days at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH, tend to be a big smaller than the ones in Columbus, I kept getting word from more and more players who would attend. It was exciting.

Keith and Daniel engage in a Norse-Gael civil war on one of Jim's new Winter boards

First, the "next generation" -- my friend Mike Stelzer's son Jason and his two cousins Daniel and Thomas -- said they'd be attending. Mike was in, as well. Next Andy said he'd make his first ride over from Columbus for the Dayton game days. Of course, our hosts Adrian and Jim would be there, as would Jenny and myself. A new group of Saga players starting up in the Cincinnati area said a couple of them would make. Michael Cooper and Ted H brought their Age of Crusades armies. At the last moment, three of my regular Sunday night gamers decided to come. It would be Allen and Mike W's first games of Saga, while Keith had played a couple times before when Jenny coached him through a couple learning games. When it was all said and done, 18 players participated on our April Saga game day -- our best ever turnout!

Jim and his Viking army deployed on one of his gorgeous new terrain boards

Jim was busy setting up the terrain on his brand new terrain boards that he'd created as a pandemic project. they looked amazing -- each was a thick, two-sided foamcore board. One side had a river cutting across the center (for "The Crossing" scenario in Book of Battles). The other had a flocked surface, with each themed for a season. There were Winter boards, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Each board had its own set of terrain to go along with it -- all of the choices from Saga terrain rules. So, each set included rocky ground, ruins, forests, fields, hills -- you name it! The terrain was similarly themed for the season, so the winter boards had a frozen-looking marsh with snow on its edges, snow-dappled trees -- it was incredible!

Mike Stelzer's newly-painted Carthaginian army saw its first action at the game day

Since Jim was busy, I decided to pitch in and help with the matchups. First order of business was getting the brand new players paired with a good, experienced teacher. Jenny volunteered to teach Allen, and Jim had previously agreed to play against Mike W and coach him through it. Mike S had finished his Carthaginian Age of Hannibal army, so I matched him up against Andy and his Gauls. Pretty soon, we had everyone paired up and playing a game (except me, as we began with 17 players). My original plan was to circulate around the room and do Saga Ohio podcast interviews. However, things were too hectic with the relatively new players needed help on rules questions and getting their games underway.

The Carthaginian's first opponent was Andy's Gauls - masses of warrior infantry ready to charge

It was great to look around and see eight games of Saga progressing. The armies were a nice variety, too, with Vikings and Crusaders being the most popular. We also had our first Milites Christi army on the table, along with two Norse-Gaels, Anglo-Saxons, Last Romans, Normans, Romans, and of course, the Carthaginians and Gauls. I moved around the room taking lots of photos, writing down the matchups and scenario choices. As games finished, I recorded the scores or outcomes for the groups that didn't total up the victory points.

In one of the teaching games, Jenny coaches Allen on aspects of the Viking army and battle board

Here were the results of the first round games:

Bob B's Baltic Crusaders defeated Jason S's Last Romans in Clash of Warlords, 24-20.5.
Andy S's Gauls defeated Mike S's Carthaginians in Battle of Heroes, 21-17.
Thomas M's Crusaders defeated Michael C's Milites Christi in Clash of Warlords, 32-24.
Adrian J's Anglo-Saxons defeated Ted H's Crusaders in Clash of Warlords, 24-9.
Daniel M's Norse-Gaels defeated Keith F's Norse-Gaels in Clash of Warlords, 29-20.
Jenny T's Vikings defeated Allen S's Vikings in Clash of Warlords, 22-18.
Mike W's Vikings defeated Jim B's Vikings in Clash of Warlords (no score).
Dave E's Romans defeated Aaron J's Normans in Clash of Warlords 19-13.

Fanatic pilgrims of Thomas' Crusader army pull down the Grand Master of the Milites Christi

I had a fun time watching the games in progress, giving the novice players some tips, and taking pictures. A couple players were concerned that I wasn't playing, but I told them that I would jump in on the action in Round 2. It was just good to see everyone and admire the armies that looked so good on Jim's new terrain boards. Most of the games were taking a bit longer. The players were a bit rusty on the rules after so much time off. The two teaching games were going even slower, of course, but that's fine. The ultimate goal is to interest the new player in Saga and make sure they understand what was going on. My friend Allen told me afterwards that he enjoyed it and plans to attend our next Saga game day at 11am at the Guardtower East in Columbus, May 2.

Jason S's Last Romans await the onslaught of Bob B's Crusaders

Due to the length of the games, we had fewer second round games than we might normally. There were only three games -- two of them involving new players. A Dayton area player and friend of Andy's wanted to get in a game. He borrowed my Viking/Anglo-Danish army and fielded them as Jomsvikings against Andy's Gauls. Good matchup -- fanatics against fanatics, haha! And almost as soon as they finished, Michael C and Thomas M played a rematch of their Milites Christi vs. Crusaders. I tried to help arrange a couple other matchups, but a lot of players were kind of worn out and ready to head home. So, I sat down to play my first game against Mike S's Carthaginians. I was a little leery, as some have told me that the Age of Hannibal armies were more powerful than the other historical ones.

Mike S rolls the die against Andy S in their Age of Hannibal "Battle of Heroes" scenario

Here are the results of the second round games:

Thomas M's Crusaders defeated Michael C's Milites Christi in Clash of Warlords, 43-40.
Andy S's Gauls defeated Taka's Jomsvikings in Clash of Warlords (no score given).
Mike D's Moors defeated Mike S's Carthaginians in Battle of Heroes (no score).

Mike W gets some pointers from veteran from Jim B in his first game of Saga

Jim Beegan proved his generosity again by buying gift cards to the Dragons Guildhall for all the attendees. He does it to support the store, but it is an incredibly nice touch. I saw most of the attendees busily shopping in the store before they left. I picked up some terrain for the interior of my 28mm MDF Brewpub that I built a couple years ago. They had a small selection of 28mm plastic miniature boxes, but being a "metal guy," I just couldn't force myself to buy one of those boxes.

Michael C's Milites Christi seize the high ground in a Crusader civil war with Daniel M

I will write up a separate report detailing my Moors' battle with the Carthaginians. Suffice to say, my army's victory was a perfect ending to a great day of gaming. It was amazing to be back playing Saga, again. The turnout was awesome, and a tribute to how the game's popularity is growing in this area. I look forward to a repeat of the great turnout in two weeks in Columbus!