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| One of my units of Moorish horsemen in their usual spot -- sheltering behind the infantry shieldwall |
I'm on a group text chat with the Saga Ohio guys who meet weekly at the Guardtower West in Columbus. They were short one player and reached out to me to see if I could come so they would have an even number. I had a very boring week, sitting at home while repairmen tried a couple times to get installing a new water heater right. Jenny said I deserved an evening out of the house, so I drove off to meet Dan N, Joe D, and Janner H for a game of Saga. It was only my second time playing in more than a year, so I would definitely be rusty.
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| From left, three of the regular Thursday crew - Dan, Joe, and Janner (Bob B couldn't make it) |
The guys were wanting to practice Age of Crusades armies for an upcoming tournament, so I brought my Moors -- one of my favorite armies to play. They're probably the best looking Saga army that I've painted, in my opinion. Everyone insisted that I match up with Janner, who was trying out the Medieval Spanish list. We would be fighting one of the battles of the Reconquista -- a thematic historical battle (for a change...ha, ha!). Janner had never played the army before, and it had been several years or more since I played the Moors. Both had been vastly changed or "nerfed" by the all-too-frequent Studio Tomahawk updates. In fact, the copy of the 2024 FAQ for the Age of Crusades army wasn't even the most recent -- there had been another one this year.
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| Janner wanted to test out the Medieval Spanish board and proxied his Ancient Iberians |
This would cause some confusion for both Janner and I, as abilities we thought were very deadly and to watch out for ended up being not so scary. I understand avid tournament players want balance and updates to be made as some armies or abilities end up being too overpowering. However, the problem is the changes often radically redefine how the army plays. It was certainly the case for my Moors. One battle board ability that I relied upon regularly is called "Torrent of Iron." It was certainly weakened in the FAQ, and other board abilities were changed, as well. For Janner's Spanish, there was an ability that allowed his javelin-armed horsemen to move and shoot for free which frankly terrified me. Turns out, it terrified Stuido Tomahawk upon retrospect, and the "nerfed" version ended up being watered down enough that Janner never even used it.
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| The two armies deployed, my Moors at the bottom, bunched up with flanks guarded |
I deployed and moved first, decided to not advance and instead reinforce and wall off my right flank which was being held by only one unit of spearmen. Janner began a general advance with his army, but held off sending his cavalry too far forward. I rolled my best "Saga dice" at the start of turn 3, with 3 Rare dice. I loaded up my battle board with particularly lethal abilities, pulled the screen of spearmen aside in the center, and dashed both of my units of horsemen forward. In the old days, I would send them forward, have them throw their javelins, and then dash them back behind my infantry battle lines. However, the Moorish army has been reconfigured by the FAQ's into a charging army -- not a javelin tossing army.
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| Worried about the free-moving Spanish (an ability which had actually been 'nerfed') I redeploy |
Since only one of the two Moorish cavalry was in javelin tossing range, I said "What the heck?" Let's charge them in with the nerfed version of Torrent of Iron. The first unit plowed into his large unit of warrior missile men. I played all of my tough abilities, expecting to destroy the unit. I scored 14 hits, and with saving throws only on a 5 or 6 on 1d6, I expected carnage. Janner had his own amazing roll, saving seven of those, and killing two of my horsemen in return. NOT as good as I'd hoped! I decided to charge in the other unit into his javelin-armed horsemen. Once again, Janner's saves were amazing (6 of the 10 hits on a 1/3 chance!). Two more of my horsemen died. When I went to pull back my fatigued horsemen, he shortened one of the unit's move by using my fatigue, leaving them "hanging" out, unsupported and tired. Even though my two charges had reduced his two units badly, my two "hammers" were down to 2/3's strength.
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| The Spanish had moved up, so I dashed my two units of heavy cavalry forward and charged |
Lady luck helped me a little on the next turn. His horsemen rested and then charged in to mine, buffed up by his Saga abilities. He'd used a board trick to give my Moorish horse an additional fatigue before that. Amazingly, we won the battle, killing 4 of 5 of his horsemen and losing only one of ours. On my next turn, I pulled back both of my horse units behind my infantry battle line, resting them up. We wouldn't have long to recover, as Janner hurled his other cavalry unit, supported by a large infantry unit, towards my once again depleted right flank. The Moorish infantry held firm, though, and battered his cavalry while taking only one casualty ourselves. His infantry followed up and charged the same unit. Once again, the Moorish infantry on the right hurled the enemy back. They were definitely the heroes of the game, so far!
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| You can see at the top my horse have pulled back, their targets depleted but not as bad as I'd hoped |
Meanwhile, I began moving my rested units (and the rest of the army) towards the right to help out. Before they got there, Janner tried an interesting (and risky) gambit. He sent his general in to charge the same spearman unit that had been holding up his attack. This time, they were reduced to just three figures. Janner decided to pull his general back behind his cavalry unit we'd fought earlier. My second unit of infantry arrived and charged into those cavalrymen, shattering them. On our next turn, we charged his infantry unit that had been pushed back and reduced them, too.
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| Spanish are massing on my right, time to pull the horsemen back (if I can) to reinforce that flank! |
My reformed and rested (but depleted) cavalry units were waiting, behind the infantry, ready to exploit. Janner and I looked at the board and agreed to call it, though. His forces were depleted to the point that he had only one full strength infantry unit far away across a steep hill, and his general, to contest the battle on the right. Barring some crazy dice rolls (which we
had seen, granted), the Moors looked like they would carry the day. It was fun to get the Moors out on the battlefield, again. Janner was not particularly thrilled with the Medieval Spanish battle board. He declared it a one-shot wonder, and that he wouldn't be playing it again. Dan and I both quipped that it was no loss, as the figures he'd been using in our game were Spanish for the Ancient Iberian list. He could still use them to play that board!
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| Until help gets there, the infantry are on their own against Spanish horse and infantry behind them |
Does this mean I will be returning to Saga regularly? No. I don't mind an occasional friendly game. It is still fun to play. I have no desire to return to the tournament scene, though. Saga has such a high learning curve and the constant changes are difficult to keep up with and frankly frustrating. I painted an entire Mongol army only to have Studio Tomahawk "nerf" it, and drastically change how it plays. I'm done with that "now you know your army, now you don't" aspect of their regular FAQs. Even the upcoming release of Age of Caesars book will not be drawing me back in. I much more enjoy playing games of Lion or Dragon Rampant. Much more relaxed. Much more simple.
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| Help is on the way in the form of one of my cavalry units and my intrepid general |
Still, it was fun to sit down with some great guys and roll dice (mine
did eventually get better, and gave Janner a taste of his own medicine towards the end). I expect I will make it out to Guardtower West again, especially if they play some American Revolutionary War like they are currently building forces for. If you have Thursdays open, reach out to Dan or Joe to find out what they're doing that week. They typically meet around 4pm. Good times are guaranteed (good dice...well, that's up in the air...ha, ha)!
MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
- Miniatures painted in 2026: 91
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
- Terrain painted in 2026: 25
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Scatter acquired in 2026: 17
- Scatter painted in 2026: 59
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| Another unit of infantry joins in, as well, and leads the way to counter-attacking the Spanish thrust |
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| With 'Janner-like' rolling, the infantry turns back and breaks the Spanish attack, winning the battle |
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