Saga Game Days Restart in Columbus

 

    Here come the Gauls! Andy continues to cut down his opponent's with his Age of Hannibal Gauls

A dozen Central Ohio Saga players showed up to restart the Saga Ohio game days at the Guardtower East this past Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. The group is in the midst of a recruiting boom and that, combined with the long, Covid-induced layoff for many players, meant I wanted to get a head start on figuring out the player matchups. I try to have a fairly experienced player (and good teacher) matched up against our novice warlords. That way, they can coach them through their game and help them learn the rules. Saga has a moderate learning curve, especially as it relates to managing an army's "battle board" -- the command and control function of the game. A couple last-minute player cancellations made me shuffle the matchups slightly, but on the whole, I was satisfied with the teaching that would be going on.

    Lots of teaching Saga! Here Jenny gives Lee a few pointers, while Anthony fields his Anglo-Danes

I had also been busily making new terrain specifically for Saga. I created four new fields, along with the same number of rocky areas and ruins. I reshuffled my terrain boxes to better stores the pieces and make them more accessible to players. I got a lot of compliments on the new terrain pieces, so I will eventually add in some more. More than likely, I will do a blog post on how I created them. So, stay tuned for that! 

    Jenny's Viking archers occupy one of my new Ruins terrains pieces I recently created

As it was, I have kind of taken over from Andy S and Steve P (who moved to San Diego) in providing most of the ground cloths and terrain that we use. I admit I was also very inspired by Jim B's terrain boards he unveiled two weeks ago at our Saga game day at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, Ohio. I figured that it was high time I step up my game in that area! Especially since I had no rocky areas or ruins for players to use during terrain deployment prior to creating these.

    Daniel advances his Norse-Gaels as Thomas' Crusaders await for what will be a bloody clash!

As players showed up, I let them know who'd they be matched against and nudged them to get started. So, the round one games began gradually. Thomas and Daniel M were stuck in a traffic jam driving over from Dayton, so were our last game to get started. I felt bad that the twins had to play each other, but they confessed they had yet to be matched against each other in Saga. They set up their battle on the table next to Jason S and my game. 

    The Norse-Gael battle line advances towards a deadly combo of knights and fanatic pilgrims

It was especially enjoyable to hear them banter back and forth while Jason and I were playing. In fact, the four of us on our table were the only ones to switch opponents and get in a second round of games. The other eight players were sated after one round. It is actually a rarity for me to get in two games in Columbus. I usually sit out the first round as I am busy matching folks up as they show up.

    A look at one of my Rocky Ground terrain pieces with its removable bases of larger boulders

The first game to get completed was a slugfest between Andy's Gauls and Allen S's borrowed Vikings. Allen is one of our novices and this was only his second game. Andy has been playing Saga longer than anyone else in our group, so he was a natural to help coach Allen through his first game. Apparently, the Gauls were able to bring the "Power of the Ancient Gods" ability on their battle board ability to bear regularly. Allen said later Andy was rolling more attack dice than his units were fairly consistently in melee. 

    Allen and Andy were the first game to finish as the "Power of the Ancient Gods" brought victory

Andy and Allen's scenario was Battle of Heroes, with Andy patiently explaining the more unusual deployment and game conditions in this scenario. Battle of Heroes is probably our second most popular scenario played in our meetings (after the standard "Clash of Warlords" from the book). Late in the game, Allen's forces had been cut down by the Gauls to such a degree that he conceded defeat. On a positive note, Allen said he is having fun learning Saga, so hopefully we have another long-term recruit.

    Allen's Vikings sound their battle horn as the waves of Andy's Gauls approach

My own first game was the next to finish. My Moors were taking on Jason's Romans from Age of Invasions in another Battle of Heroes. I felt lucky to be the first player, as it allowed me to turn our "Uplands" terrain condition into a roughly open battlefield. I did this by using the "Meeting Encounter" deployment option to make us fight with the short edges of the 4'x3' battlefield as our base edges. I will post another blog entry describing this game (and my second round matchup against Thomas' Crusaders) later, so stay tuned for that, as well. 

    Lee's Scots (my borrowed Picts) move through the woods to attack their Viking enemies

It was tough fight. Jason gets better and more skilled with the rules every meeting. He craftily laid an ambush for one of my units of mounted hearthguard, killing 5 out of 6 figures. He'd given up his small, 4-man mounted hearthguard unit in return, but appeared to win out on the exchange. However, with "Show of Force" victory conditions, his completely eliminated unit came back to bite him in the end, and he lost our game by a single point. I felt VERY fortunate to escape this game with a victory. 

    Dave's Romans from Age of Invasions march past one of my new Fields terrain pieces

Thomas and Daniel finished next, despite being last to start. They are both aggressive players, and the Levantine Crusaders fanatic pilgrims mean LOTS of charges and follow up attacks. Daniel's Norse-Gaels are no slackers either, and his "Spill Blood" ability meant carnage ruled on this battlefield. Between that and the lethal Crusader board with its boatloads of additional attack dice, figures died quickly. I laughed as each jokingly accused the other of using cheesy advanced Saga abilities. The fanatic pilgrims out-cheesed the Norse-Gaels in the end, apparently. Thomas won fairly handily 33-19.

    Jenny's Viking warlord watches the advance of the more lightly-armored and numerous Scots

Jenny T's teaching game with Lee P (who I believe was playing only his fourth game of Saga -- and first in many months -- was the next to finish, I believe. Lee had borrowed my Scots. Jenny said Lee wrong-footed her from the deployment when their Clash of Warlords game switched to the diagonal corner deployment method. Her archers were ineffective, and the Scots proved every bit as tough as I remember them. One of the things I like about Saga is novices are able to pull off the victory fairly often against a more veteran player. There is enough dice rolling, and plenty of openings for clever tactics that an opponent had not considered, to make a big difference. Lee pulled out a victory over Jenny, who has learned the Viking battle board quite well and routinely defeats opponents with it at our game days.

    Bob and Keith played an introspective game, as they regularly discussed the abilities of their armies

Another one who keeps getting better and better with their chosen army is Dave E with the Age of Invasions Romans. Last meeting, he defeated a very tough Norman army. This week, he was facing Anthony B with his Anglo-Danes. Dave was able to slough off Anthony's fatigue generating abilities and defeat him. I did not get a chance to see much of the game, as Jason and my game was a nail biter and very close.

    Bob's Last Romans, infantry sheltering in terrain, await the approach of Keith's Irish

The last first round game to finish was Bob B, who'd switched back to his Last Roman warband. He was teaching Keith F, who was playing Irish in his fourth game of Saga. As always, Bob is extremely patient, and Keith said the two spent a lot of time discussing the ramifications of each army's advanced Saga abilities so he could know what to expect. As us veteran Ancients players have done so many times in the past teaching new players, Bob coached Keith to victory over his Last Romans. 

    Keith's Irish, including their champion and war dogs, race forward to take on the Last Romans

The statistics for the first round games:

• Andy S's Gauls defeated Allen S's Vikings in Battle of Heroes (no score, game conceded)
  
• Lee P's Scots defeated Jenny T's Vikings in Clash of Warlords, 18-8
  
• Keith F's Irish defeated Bob B's Last Romans, 24.5-19
• Dave E's Romans defeated Anthony B's Anglo-Danes, 25-19
• Mike D's Moors defeated Jason S's Romans, 27-26
• Thomas M's Crusaders (Levantine) defeated Daniel M's Norse-Gaels, 33-19

    2nd Round action: Jason's Romans press forward to clash with Daniel's Norse-Gaels

The second set of games went VERY quickly. I let the "Next Generation" (Jason, Daniel, Thomas) choose the matchups. They decided that the Crusaders were the best chance to stop my Moor's winning streak. So, I would play Thomas and Daniel would seek redemption against Jason's Romans. I pulled out a Moorish battle board for Thomas to keep an eye on while we played (and also got out a copy of the Crusader board so I could remind myself about what he had queued up on his board). 

    Thomas' Levantine Crusaders are urged to charge into battle by a priest

I find it VERY useful to have on hand a copy of the opponent's battle board. After their order phase finishes, I always confirm with them which abilities they have activated so that I can know what to expect. With Saga, it is also a good time to double-check and make sure you both agree on exactly what those abilities can do! The last thing you want is arguments in the middle of a melee or turn. I try to be a gracious opponent, and would often point out abilities on my board to Thomas that he should plan for -- such as the Moors move of Long+Short with "Horses of the Maghreb." 

    Banners waving in the wind, the Scots surge forward in a riot of tartans, checkers, and stripes

Thomas surprised me by not playing his fanatic pilgrim heavy Levantine Crusader version. He said he wanted to try the Baltic Crusaders. I flipped to their entry in the Age of Crusades book and we discussed what changed for him on troop makeup. He wanted to try out Levy crosssbow, so I made sure he understood how the rules worked for shooting for them. On one turn, I stopped him as he was getting ready to move them to remind him to shoot first, THEN move if he wanted to get closer. That way, he could then fire a second time after the movement (as long as he didn't mind the extra fatigue!). I could swear I saw one of my Moorish spearmen crane his head around towards me quizzically, as if to ask why I was helping their enemy shower them with a second round of crossbow bolts!

Jenny and Anthony try to maneuver their way out of the straits their opponents' have placed them in

Here are the results of the second round of games (expect me to cover my game in detail in another blog post):

• Jason S's Romans defeated Daniel M's Norse-Gaels, 19-16 in Battle of Heroes
• Mike Ds' Moors defeated Thomas M's Baltic Crusaders  (no score, game conceded)

 I was happy with a dozen players in our first round back, especially since a bunch of our regulars had other commitments that weekend. It wasn't as many as Dragon's Guildhall's 18 two weeks ago, but I have a feeling we will be reaching those numbers very soon. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed being back to playing Saga in Columbus!