Lord Gwendawg Welsh Warlord Rebased

Lord Gwendawg rides triumphantly through the field on his new combined warlord base

Early on in playing Saga Dark Age skirmish games, I decided I like the look of the Warlord figure having a couple close retainers with him. I would usually plop down a standard bearer and horn blower next to the warlord and move them together as one. As I paint new warlords, they will all be based this way (although it's fun to include a pet on the base, too, like I did with my Pictish warlord).

A close up of Lord Gwendawg's religious banner - simply line art Photoshopped and printed out

Eventually, I decided that was a pain to move the three figures around and that I should simply rebase the figures. I did my Saxon and Viking warlords awhile back, but for some reason never got around to doing my Welsh warlord - Lord Gwendawg. Until now, that is! This one was simpler than the other two rebasing, as I'd learned my lesson -- DON'T USE BASS WOOD (or anything that might warp)! Lord Gwendawg was on a 1"x2" mounted base, while his bannerman and horn blower were on 1"x1" bases. I peeled off their magnet backings, then epoxied them to a 2"x2" piece of black styrene. This was then epoxied to a 2"x2" piece of magnetic material.

I really like Lord Gwendawg's dappled gray horse -- one of my favorites I've done

I had to reflock the warlord base, though. I'd painted the miniatures up at different points and they had a slightly different flocking scheme. Plus, I wanted to get rid of the lines of the individual bases. I painted the entire base with a 50/50 mixture of brown paint and white (PVA) glue. I dipped the figure in a tub of Woodland Scenics fine brown ballast. Once dry, I painted the ballast with a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water. I sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. After spraying it with Dullcoate, I then added the Blended Grass in an irregular pattern, glued on a few tufts, and he was done! Well, there was one more spray of Dullcoate, but now Lord Gwendawg's new base is done and he's ready to ride into battle with his companions at his side!

Lord Gwendawg Rides West to Fend off Viking Incursion

Vikings at top face off against Lord Gwendawg's men of Gododdin (Welsh) at the Dragon Guildhall in Beavercreek

Adrian and Jim from Dayton were hosting a Saga game day at the Dragon Guildhall, and things worked out for Jenny and I to be able to drive over from Columbus and attend. Jenny wanted to play Vikings, so I picked out her army list from the Viking and Saxon figures I have available. I decided that I would pull out Lord Gwendawg, Guardian of Gododdin (Welsh Saga list), and let him and his oft-victorious warband ride again.

I decided to bring out Lord Gwendawg and my victorious Saga Welsh list since Jenny wanted to play Vikings

As it turned out, four of the six players wanted to do Saga: Age of Magic. So, that left Jenny and I as the only Age of Vikings armies. Our hosts apologized that we drove an hour and a half to play against each other, but I'd never been to the Dragon Guildhall, and was interested in checking it out. What's more, Jenny needed to exchange some Christmas presents with her brother in Dayton, so we visited him before the store opened. And we finished off the afternoon with a visit to her favorite pizzeria -- Cassano's, in Dayton.

The Welsh left, with the levy javelins advancing into the woods, while one of my large warrior units marches forward

Jenny and I set up the Clash of Warlords from the rulebook, and I threw out three medium to large woods. Jenny placed only a gentle hill, perhaps realizing that one of my Welsh battleboard abilities allowed my foot units to move through terrain at no penalty. So, terrain is good for me -- but not too much, as my strongest unit is a double-size (8 figure), mounted hearthguard unit. Rounding out my six points were two 12-man warrior units, a 12-man levy unit, and my mounted warlord. All figures were armed with javelins, which I've found to be very useful with the free shot when moving.

The standoff between the Welsh javelinmen and Viking archers was precisely that -- neither unit driving the other off

I deployed half my army first, intending my levy javelinmen to sweep around the woods on my left, but she blocked them with her own 12-man Viking bow levy unit in the woods. In the center, I placed both of my large warrior units, backed up by both my mounted troopers and my warlord. Jenny deployed her berserkers on her far left, with two additional small units of hearthguard on the center left. Her two 8-man warrior units guarded the center, with the warlord in reserve.

A mistaken charge by one of Jenny's warrior units left her right vulnerable to the Gododdin counterattack

I sent my javelin levy forward to exchange volleys with her archers, successfully soaking up her very nasty battleboard "Odin" ability. I brought my mounted hearthguard up to fill the hole created by the right hand warrior unit moving to a woods on the right to await the certain charge of the berserkers. As the berserkers ran foward, taking two moves to engage, I used my battleboard ability to get a shot in on them at the halfway point, killing only one of the four (disappointing die rolls). However, it was enough to lessen their impact. The berserkers died to a man -- as they seem to do in every game -- while my large warrior unit was whittled down from 12 figures to four (juuust enough to generate a Saga dice...whew!).

The 8-man, mounted hearthguard ride down the remaining Viking warrior unit in the center with a "Wild Charge"

In an equally aggressive spirit, she launched one of her warrior units forward to take on my 1/3 larger warrior units. With no dice left on her battleboard, it was a straight roll of 12 dice vs. 8, which she lost horribly. I lost only one, while she lost all but two. The same warrior unit immediately followed up and charged the survivors next turn, slaughtering them. This put a fatigue on another 8-man, Viking hearthguard unit. Lord Gwendawg waved forward his mounted riders to seize this opportunity. With the "Wild Charge" ability on my battleboard, we rolled 24 dice and wiped out the outnumbered Vikings.

After evading the Viking counterattack, the troopers returned to ride down a Viking hearthguard unit next

Jenny tried to counterattack with a fresh hearthguard unit, but my mounted troopers pulled back with "Evade." Why give them anything close to a fair fight, when I can go back in on my turn with overwhelming attack dice? Which is exactly what the mounted nobles of Gododdin did on the next turn -- after the Vikings had been softened up by javelins volleys from Lord Gwendawg and the depleted warrior unit on the right. Another Viking hearthguard unit was eliminated. Desperate to counterattack, the remaining unit of hearthguard ran foward to engage my larger warrior unit on my left. We once again threw volleys of javelins to soften up their charge in between their two moves.

Jenny cleverly used the "Loki" ability on her battleboard to limit my use of her unit's fatigue on her turns, as well as the advanced ability I'd saved up to defend against her counterattacks. However, even that couldn't save her last unit of hearthguard, who were swarmed under by overwhelming numbers of Welsh javelinmen. We called the game at that point, as only her levy archers and warlord remained. All Welsh units were still on the board, though a few were getting chewed up in the process of defeating the Vikings.

A picture of the Age of Magic game going on at the other table, where Adrian and Jim taught two new players

Adrian and Jim VERY generously gave both Jenny and I $25 gift cards to the Dragon Guildhall for driving over. Each of us picked out some treasures, and then celebrated our bounty with pizza at Cassano's. The guys say they want to have a regular monthly Saga game day there, so players of the game will have yet another venue and date to get in more games of Saga. A fun day, and successful day, as once again Lord Gwendawg and his doughty warriors protected their kingdom of Gododdin.

Great Turnout at Saga Game Day in August

Clash of Cavalry as Lord Gwendawg of Gododdin faces the strange Saracen foes who have invaded Britain

We have been trying to grow our group of local and area players who come out and play the Dark Age/Medieval skirmish rules, Saga. This time, we had 10 people show up. Andy and Steve P chose to run and assist, as we had 3-4 people who had never played. The biggest contingent came from Springfield, OH, where Mike S brought his son Jason and two nephews, Daniel and Thomas. I had made a concerted effort to recruit them, as I thought they'd enjoy the rules. Both Jason and Thomas had a game or two under their belt, but Daniel, Jenny, and Joe were new to the rules.

Mike S & Jenny square off in a Byzantine Civil War while Jason and Thomas trade jibes as they ready to do battle

We were using six-point armies as we tried to match up experienced players (to help teach) against less experienced ones. This meant a first round that saw Mike S use his Byzantines (Last Romans) against Jenny, using the same list. Jason and Thomas squared off with Vikings vs. Normans, respectively, while I helped teach Daniel (who was using Saracens). Lord Gwendawg and my army of Gododdin (Welsh) was my usual force -- I think this is the fifth or sixth time I have played them. Latecomers Joe and Jeff were match up with Anglo-Danes and Crusaders. Meanwhile, Andy and Steve generously gave up their playing time and hovered around, answering questions and helping out.

The right hand side of my battlefield with center scrub brush and woods on the right

As it turned out, two groups got in two games, while two matchups played only one game apiece. My game with Daniel got off to a late start, as I encouraged Daniel to seize the opportunity of a visit by Steve V, who was selling off his Saga stuff, to pick up the rulebooks and some figures cheap. He ended up purchasing a lot of Steve's unpainted Anglo-Danes, along with the core rules and the Age of Vikings book. I originally was buying Steve's Anglo-Dane dice, but since Daniel was shelling out the money for the army, I let him buy them instead. I still picked up Book of Battles and the Viking dice Steve V was selling.

The center of our battlefield with my two units of warriors, Lord Gwendawg, and then the Saracen battle line beyond

Apparently, after being stopped by Charles "the Hammer" Martel in France, the Saracens tried a back door into Europe and invaded Britain. Lord Gwendawg gather a force of his mounted and foot warriors and was sent by the King of Gododdin to meet the foreign invasion. We met at a semi-wooded battlefield, which we felt favored our foot javelinmen. A large area of scrub brush in the center of the battlefield divided our armies, while a large woods dominated our right flank. Another woods guarded the Saracens' left flank, near their baseline. Lord Gwendawg deployed his two large units of warriors to attack through the scrub brush, while the javelin levy would advance through the woods on the right. The large mounted hearthguard contingent deployed on the left, where they were soon joined by the warlord himself.

The startling, if ill advised, charge of the Saracen warlord, who is soon peppered with javelins two both sides

Opposite our hearthguard was an equal-sized mounted warrior unit armed with composite bows. Beyond the scrub brush were two small units of Saracen warriors, supported in their rear by a small hearthguard cavalry unit, also armed with composite bows. Across from the gap between the scrub and wood were a unit of Saracen levy archers, supported to their rear by their warlord. Extending their left, and seeking to do an end-around flanking move, was another small unit of hearthguard cavalry with composite bows.

Daniel moves his cavalry up to try to break my mounted battle line on the left

Lord Gwendawg ordered an immediate advance, the foot units making their way through the terrain and the mounted Britons sweeping around our left. The flaking cavalry began its sweep, but quickly realized there would be nobody to outflank, as we were advancing too quickly. They began to double back, while sending out the mounted warriors and the right hand mounted hearthguard to meet the ride of the mounted arm of Gododdin. Surprisingly, the warlord himself advanced into the gap between the scrub and woods, but after receiving a shower of javelins from the levy and the warriors, he retreated quickly, badly shot up. Most opponents are surprised by the missile power of my Welsh army. Every figure in the army is armed with javelins. All can shoot 6" as a free action when they move, which often softens the enemy up prior to our charge.

A dogged shooting match ensured between Daniel's Saracen levy and my javelin-armed levy

After receiving a volley of composite bows from the Saracen mounted warriors, Lord Gwendawg ordered them to charge in reply. The entire unit was ridden down, and the supporting mounted Saracen hearthguard withdrew in fear before our ferocity. In the center, one of our warrior units charged into the smaller Arab warriors after softening them up with javelins, and also destroyed them to a man. And so it continued, our javelins and charges causing great losses among the Saracens. Surprisingly, their levy archers drove off not only our Levy javelinmen but a charge of our warriors.

The brave men of Gododdin push the Saracens back, whittling their numbers down with our javelins and charges

The Arab warlord was desperate, though, and sent a depleted unit of foot warriors to charge our mounted hearthguard. They fell to a man, but took a few Briton nobles with them. The Arab hearthguard cavalry also charged in, and they too were destroyed, but in the process, my mounted hammer was down to just two figures. However, we had backed the Saracens into a small cluster of foot archers, warlord, and hearthguard cavalry. The men of Gododdin closed in, hurling javelins. Shouting to Allah, the warlord charged my center warrior line, and went down in a hail of javelins. At this point, Daniel conceded.

First round cousin warfare, as Jason's Vikings left take on Thomas' twice-victorious Norman warband

It was a bloody battle, with Daniel's archery causing the most casualties. My Welsh army continues to be fearsome in both hand-to-hand and shooting. I really like this battle board -- its "advanced abilities" are VERY tactical. I can respond to what other players do AND use other abilities that augment our charges equally. Steve P and Andy both vowed that next time THEY would play me to end Lord Gwendawg's "reign of terror," as they put it. I glibly reminded Steve that our reign began months ago with my first game using the Welsh against his Romans...!

On the other battlefields, Jenny had defeated Mike S in the Byzantine civil war in her first game. Thomas' Normans had ridden down his cousin Jason's Vikings. They swapped opponents and Thomas continued his hammering of opponents as he defeated Mike in a scant three turns! Jenny and Jason had a slugfest, but the melee ability of the Vikings won out, and each ended the day with a 1-and-1 record. I am not sure how Jeff and Joe's game ended. They ended up playing 7-8 turns because outcome was still in balance. It looked like it could go either way to me, though the Crusaders seemed to hold the advantage in numbers of troops remaining.

All in all, it was a great day for Dark Age skirmishing at the Guardtower East. Our group is really growing, and our new players are purchasing armies so they can field their own troops. Good times, and Gododdin remains free of foreign invasion for another season, as Lord Gwendawg continues to protect his king's realm.

More Britons for my Saga army!

28mm Briton reinforcements for my Welsh Saga army

These are the last of the 28mm Britons that I had in my unpainted drawer. Since I am having fun playing Saga once a month with a group at the Guardtower East in Columbus, I figured I may as well get the rest of them done. As it is now, I have to draft some Saxon infantry to fill out my 24 (3 points worth) of warriors. And I also have to draft some Picts to field a unit of 12 Levy javelinmen. Getting these figures done means I have to borrow that many fewer figures to field my "Welsh" Saga army.

Two more Britons that will help fill out the ranks of my two units of warriors

I honestly forget which company these 28mm miniatures come from. I actually received them many years ago when I was helping judge the Origins Awards. The manufacturer sent a very generous amount of samples, and the detail, personality, and posing meant they got my vote! I still have a few mounted figures left from the samples, and I'll get around to painting them soon. Since I use only 8 mounted hearthguard in my army, I already have plenty painted up.

Three more javelin men for my levy unit in Saga

This last batch of three will probably be used in as javelin levy in Saga. They are unarmored, unlike the middle two, and are in a more active, "throwing" pose. Of course, one of the great things about Dark Ages troops is they can be used for so many other kingdoms. There was a lot of similarity in what troops looked like in this period -- at least as far as I have read. The horn blower in the first photo will probably take over as my Warlord's attendant. I like to base my Saga warlords with one leader figure, a musician, and a standard bearer. I know that under the rules they count as one, but it just looks better, I feel (and so do some others, I know!). The other guy in the first picture looks like a "battle line" type of troop. So, he will also fill out the warriors. Speaking of lending figures, he will likely one day get "borrowed" by the Picts when I get around to fielding a Saga Pictish army (which I will field as Scots, because the Picts in their lists are the "Ancient" ones that fought the Romans. The ones that fought the Vikings (the part of the Dark Ages for all my other figures) fought very similar to Saga Scots with bands of infantry with long spears.

What's next? More MDF buildings and -- believe it or not -- jet airplanes! 

Roman Civil War Intrudes on Gododdin

The men of Gododdin march to engage the two Roman invaders on the far corner of the board

Due to so much going on on our chosen weekend, we had only three players for our monthly Saga day at The Guard Tower East, today. The two mainstays of Saga in Columbus -- Andy Swingle and Steve Phallen, were both waiting when I arrived. We chatted for awhile, and then when no one else showed, decided to try a 3-way battle. Luckily, "Battle Royale" in the book of battles supplement has rules for three players, so we combined two 3'x4' mats into one 6'x4' one, and selected our armies.

Andy's Byzantine Roman army included a Legendary, heavily-armed cavalry unit (on hill)

I was playing the "Welsh" list, continuing the tale of Lord Gwendawg and his victorious (at least in the past) retainers. Andy chose the "Last Romans" list from the Age of Vikings book (representing the Byzantines), while Steve chose the Roman list from the Aetius & Arthur book. So, it was Romans vs. Romans vs. a list that used to be called Sub-Roman British in the old DBA days. The deployment sequence is clever, with a player choosing one of his units and placing them anywhere on the tabletop not within a Medium Move of an enemy unit. He then nominates one of his opponents to deploy a unit, who then does the same.

Andy and Steve's forces were deployed close to one another and were soon slaughtering each other

I deployed my units to essentially hide, out of sight. One of Steve's Roman units was a ballista, which is deadly against my large units. The effect is that my force was gathered in one corner of the board, while Andy and Steve were much more aggressive and intermixed their forces at short range, mostly in the opposite corner. I would have a long trek across the table to engage them, by which time the two would be savaging each other, suffering grievous losses. The movement system is equally clever, with each player having six markers (surrendering one after taking its turn and moving all of its forces). After finishing, the moving player nominates which of his opponents moves next (but it cannot be one with fewer movement markers left than the other).

Another look at the original deployment - the only enemy close were archers in the barn, top left, and woods, top right

Andy started off concentrating his forces better against Steve, though each kept one unit of archers to hold off the forces of Gododdin. It seemed he would make short work of Steve's troops, but Steve deftly turned the tables on him. Soon, it was Andy's forces who were dwindling. Meanwhile, we kept up a steady advance, bypassing the unit of Warrior Archers that Steve had left in the strongpoint of stone barn. Andy's Levy Archers were our first victim. After inflicting minimal casualties against them with our javelins, one of my 12-man warrior units charged in using the "Wild Charge" ability (which provides a bonus 6 attack dice). The men of Gododdin all but obliterated the archers, with one sole survivor fleeing deeper into the woods.

The tidal wave of brave men of Gododdin about to fall on the depleted Roman forces

Affronted, Andy's Warlord charged my own Levy javelinmen, who inflicted two fatigue on him before falling back. As he was in the middle of several of my units, it was obvious he would not survive his rashness. The Byzantine warlord went down under a hail of Gododdin javelins. Meanwhile, my mounted hearthguard (8 figures strong) and my own Warlord were hurrying to close with Steve's Romans before the game ended. Biding his time, Steve advanced his foot hearthguard unit towards my mounted ones, but had forgotten about the Welsh "Our Land" ability. This allows us to move or charge in reaction to an enemy move. The mounted heroes of Gododdin crashed into the elite foot legionaries. Bad dice kept the casualties equal, driving us off, but we followed up the next turn with another charge which eliminated the Romans.

To close at the battle, Lord Gwendawg charged the Roman Warlord and rode him down. Both enemy warlords had fallen to our javelins and swords. Most of my force was remaining, which also counts towards victory points (along with how many charges you launched), so Gododdin was declared the victor. I honestly think it was mostly due to the two of them wounding each other so savagely, allowing me to come in at full strength and finish them off. Granted, I felt I used my Welsh Battle Board well and augmented my superior numbers with key abilities. 

Kingdom of Gododdin Repels Viking Invasion

The Men of Gododdin - Lord Gwendawg and his Welsh warriors close with Jarl Jimsson and his unit of hearthguard

When word was spread by riders throughout the kingdom of Gododdin, Lord Gwendawg gathered his men - mounted hearthguards, foot warriors, and levy archers. Rumor flew that the Vikings were on the had plundered a monastery and were marching the monks back to their ships to sell overseas as slaves. Riding hard and fast the Welsh warriors caught up with the Vikings of Jarl Jimsson. The Vikings were tossed into confusion, but the jarl quickly reordered his men to face Lord Gwendawg's forces as they deployed.

Jim, left, finished his deployment while Mike Stelzer and his Byzantines faces off against Adrian and his Romano-Brits

This game of Saga was played as part of a game day at a local game store (Guardtower East). Steve Phallen organized it, and eight players showed up from Central Ohio, Springfield, and Dayton. I was matched against one of the Dayton player, Jim, and his borrowed Viking army. Jim suggested we play a game from his friend Adrian's copy of Book of Battles, so we did. I forget the exact scenario name, but it involved four objectives on the battlefield -- two on each side of the table -- that the armies were attempting to hold onto. We received points each turn for being within 2" of them with no enemy within 4". We used monks for the objectives (though they counted as impassable terrain and would remain stationary). Each of us deployed to maximize our chances at holding onto the ones on our side of the board and seizing those on our opponent's.

My mounted hearthguard charge up the hill on the left while my two center units of warriors and Warlord advance

I deployed my large unit of 8 mounted hearthguards on the left, so that they could race across a gentle hill and rescue the monks from the two units of 8 Viking warriors each guarding them. I figured my mounted troops should be up to the challenge, even though they were outnumbered 16 to 12. In the center, I placed my two large units of 12 warriors, supported by my mounted Warlord. Across from them were a unit of 4 berserkers, another unit of 4 Viking hearthguard, and his Warlord. This could be a nearer thing, I thought. On the right, I would have to delay with my unit of 12 Levy archers who marched onto a hill to shoot the enemy, yet still keep men near the objective. Across from them was another unit of 8 Viking warriors. I had five units vs. Jim's six, but most of my units were bigger, which should make them more survivable, I hoped.

Breakthrough! My mounted hearthguard have almost eliminated his first unit of warriors, and ready to charge the other

On my left, the mounted hearthguard of Gododdin raced towards the Vikings and crashed into the first unit. We smashed into them, killing six of them while losing only two. They were driven back to the corner of the battlefield. In the center, Jim advanced his three units, but I felt their attack was somewhat piecemeal. First, his small hearthguard unit tried to charge my archers, but I had saved an "Evade" move on our board and we withdrew before his charge. His berserkers targeted my warrior units, and I crossed my fingers and hoped our numbers could absorb his attack. In the ensuing combat, I lost 7 warriors, but he lost all of his berserkers. His hearthguard were ground down by my combined javelin and bow fire, and by my other warrior unit. Soon, only his Warlord contest the center.

Late stages of the battle - the Viking Jarl nearly surrounded by four units of Welsh

The battle on the left continued to go in my favor. My hearthguard followed up their charge, slamming into the other unit of Viking warriors, killing four of them and driving the rest back into the woods. This left us in control of the objective for the rest of the game. We turned and destroyed the remaining two warriors of the first unit, and tossed javelins at the warriors on the edges of the woods.

Other battles taking place - Roman ballista and infantry target their enemy

Then began the heroics of Jarl Jimsson. Time and again, surrounded and opposed on three sides by larger units, he shrugged off the effects of our javelins and arrows. I wanted to kill his leader, and did manage to get him to two fatigue. However, I could never finish him off, despite numerous flights of arrows and javelins, and even a charge by a warrrior unit. When he brought his fresh unit of warriors from his left to reinforce his center, I sent a "Wild Charge" of javelin-armed warriors to scatter them, slaying most.

Adrian's warlord leads a charge against Brett's Vikings in a second round battle

Essentially down to his virtually surrounded Warlord, Jim conceded the field. Interestingly, this scenario gives zero points for enemy kills. However, I was way ahead in that category, too. It was a smashing victory for the men of Gododdin. I really enjoy playing this Welsh Saga army. It has speed, strong melee ability, and significant missile firepower, as well. It's command and control "board" has a lot of reaction moves which can allow a commander to stay one step ahead of his opponent's maneuvering. In thinking about it more, I may experiment and swap out my 12 Levy archers with 12 javelin-armed ones. It was a fun game, and Jim was a great opponent.

Another second round battle - Steve's Romans face off against Lowell's borrowed Saxon army

Our game lasted about 2 1/2 hours, though, and everyone else had finished and been matched up for a second round by the time we were done. Both of us were fine with playing one game. Jim wanted to shop a bit and I wanted to check out some of the other games. Thanks to Steve for organizing the game day, and providing loaner armies, terrain, dice, and more. The Welsh are my own figures, and several other players brought their own troops, too. Everyone seemed to have a good time. I'm looking forward to playing again soon, and continuing the saga of Lord Gwendawg of Gododdin.

A Viking warlord -- Brett's borrowed army with his berserkers and raven banner

A "Hold the Bridge" scenario

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John Pittenger deploys his borrowed Irish army and makes adjustments as the Lowell's Saxons close

First round game - Lowell's Saxons vs. John's Irish, while Jason at bottom marches on Brett while Steve oversees

Mike Stelzer's elite Byzantine army, led by Harald Hadrada

The Ride of the Men of Goddodin

Lord Gwendawg summons his forces to meet the Roman invader

Messengers riding on tired steeds brought word that men were marching on Gododdin. It strained belief, but the word was they were Romans -- returned to Britain to claim it as their own, again. Lord Gwendawg, Shield of Gododdin, scoffed at the idea of the past coming to life again. Surely, they were another Briton kingdom claiming the mantle of Roman rule -- or another trick by the Saxons to seize yet more land. So, the good Lord Gwendawg called out his hearthguard, who mounted their steeds and put on their mail, his warriors, who shouldered their shields and struck their javelins against their oaken faces to show they were ready to repel marauders yet again. Calling up bowmen of the local levy, Lord Gwendawg marched to meet these "Romans," and send them reeling from the lands of the British kingdom of Gododdin.

Some of my 28mm Dark Age troops from various manufacturers, assembled as a Welsh Saga army

We had been talking about doing Saga as a group for months, and a number of our regular gaming group had bought the rules and were painting armies. I owned quite a few individually-based, 28mm Dark Age figures already -- Vikings, Picts, Saxons, Irish, and my favorite, Britons. So, when I received the new Saga rules in the mail I decided I would play a Welsh army, which is what they categorize those Briton kingdoms that fought against the takeover of the Saxons and later Viking invasions. Strathcylde has always been one of my favorite kingdoms from Dark Age Britain, but the Saga army lists stipulate all figures are mounted for this army. I own only 12 mounted 28mm figures, so that wasn't happening! The Welsh list allows you to mount your Warlord, Hearthguard, and Warriors at your discretion, though, so I chose that army.

The invaders -- Steve's Late Romans with their shield decals from a surviving primary source from Roman times

The local Saga organizer and gamer extraordinaire, Andy, had set up a Sunday morning/afternoon Saga day at Game Table Adventures in Newark, OH. We ended up with only four players showing up, so I matched up against Steve P, and Andy and Jim squared off. Steve is a veteran Saga player, but I am a relative newbie. I'd played the old rules twice, and this would be my first time with the new rules and lists. Steve chose the Late Romans, so we were historically off by quite a few centuries. However, it was a friendly, learning game, so neither of us cared. We set up the Clash of Warlords scenario from the back of the new rulebook. Both of us placed a number of terrain pieces -- marshes, rocky areas, woods, and scrub brush -- till Steve decided that my Welsh army would be able to make better use of the terrain and ended the placement phase.

The invading Romans on the left, Lord Gwendawg of Gododdin's army on the right

He deployed half of his army first, then I deployed my whole army. He followed this up with deploying the remainder, and taking the first turn, albeit rolling only 3 Saga dice instead of his normal six (by the deployment rules). Both forces had to spread out -- we weren't allowed to deploy within a Medium move of a friendly unit. Steve spread from edge to edge, while I massed more in the center in depth. Steve's force contained:

Late Roman Army

• 1 Foot Warlord
• 1 Foot Hearthguard unit of 8 figures
• 3 Foot Warrior units of 8 figures
• 1 Levy unit of bow of 6 figures
• 1 Levy unit of Ballista

Facing him, Lord Gwendawg of Gododdin had brought:

Welsh Army of Lord Gwendawg

• 1 Mounted warlord
• 1 Mounted Hearthguard unit of 8 figures
• 2 Foot Warriors units of 12 figures
• 1 Levy Bow unit of 12 figures

The Roman ballista at top center has devastated both my archers and the Warrior unit in the rocky area to their left

Steve cleverly placed his ballista in front of my Warrior unit that was out in the open. He used his Saga dice rolls to fire off a couple shots each on two turns. Lord Gwendawg's men had never encountered such fearsome weaponry as the Roman ballista. Steve's rolling was fantastic, and my saving was abysmal. Five warriors were killed on the first turn, and five archers on the second (after I forced marched them to the center to cover the heavier units. Of my 33 figures, pretty much 1/3 were dead in the first two turns from what was essentially half of a Levy unit!

The first target of our advance - a small, 6-figure unit of Roman Levy archers in the woods

The Warrior unit immediately took cover in rocky ground, while the archers used two moves to fan out across the center (where they took it on the chin!). The mounted hearthguard moved up behind the archers, while the Warrior unit which had begun in the scrub emerged and advanced quickly towards the woods where the Roman archers were hiding. When we got within Javelin range, we tossed out missiles, causing five hits on the archers. My friends all laugh at my die rolling ability. However, what they don't realize is that I am not simply a bad die roller, I am streaky. When Steve saved all five hits that the archers took, that was the nadir of the streak. It would go up from there.

Gododdin's heroes leave the scrub brush and advance towards the woods, supported by the warlord and his bodyguards

 One of the really cool things about the Welsh army is that it has all kinds of great abilities on its "battle board" -- which simulates command and control. We had two very dangerous reactions -- Our Land, which allows me to move or charge in response to any enemy movement, and Guerrilla, which allows my troops to make a missile attack on enemy moving unit which comes within a Medium move (charge range, essentially). This made Steve very cautious, and his Warrior units lurked on the periphery of the battlefield rather than press forward.

The heroes enter the woods, and fight off the attacks of hearthguards to the left and warriors to their right

And then, the heroes of Gododdin strode forth. My Warrior unit which had emerged from the scrub entered the Roman archer's woods. Steve moved up his foot hearthguard and then charged them. I used my "War Dance" ability, and his fatigue for a second move to make it harder to him my warriors. The streak reversed itself, and my Warriors slaughtered his men who dared enter the wood to attack us. Steve lost six of his eight figures, while I lost only one. Steve's warriors then charged from the other side against the same Warriors. Much slaughter was done, but the Romans were driven back. On my turn, I rested my heroic Warriors, then charged them into the archers, who they drove from the woods in panic. One unit had devastated three enemy units.

After the charge of the mounted hearthguard and the warriors in the woods -- only scattered enemy remain in the center

Now, it was time for the ride of the men of Gododdin. My mounted hearthguard thundered across the field and slew the remaining Roman hearthguard. Meanwhile, the archers had been firing at the ballista crewmen themselves, and had succeeded in disabling its ability to fire. It needed one more casualty to be destroyed, but never again would it wound Gododdin's sons. The Warriors in rocks emerged and threw javelins at the Roman Warriors who had edged forward to support the ballista.

The end game -- only two Warrior units on Steve's right would be left to contest the field after the riders of Gododdin would slay the enemy warlord, and Lord Gwendawg revenged himself upon the ballista by killing its remaining crew

Here was where Steve made a fatal mistake. His first move was to bring his far right flank Warrior unit closer to the action. I used Our Land again and responded with a charge of the mounted nobles of Gododdin -- against his Warlord! Although it ended up taking us two turns of combat to slay his leader, this was the loss the broke the heart of the enemy warband. With only two units producing Saga dice (his two right flank warrior units), Steve conceded.

Sound the trumpets in victory! The men of Gododdin, and Lord Gwendawg - shield of the kingdom - triumphed!!

My heroes of the game were obviously the foot warriors who strode into the woods and defeated three enemy forces. The mounted hearthguards also were crucial to my success, slaying the remainder of his hearthguards and his warlord. My lucky streak changed from dismal to inspiring just when I needed it! It was a fun game, and I look forward to getting in some more games of Saga soon.