An Intriguing Idea for a Saga Tournament: 8-point Armies

    As always, the workhorses of my Moorish Saga army are my mounted hearthguard with javelins

It was an intriguing idea for a Saga tournament - using eight points of troops instead of six. In addition, players would be permitted to use Legendary warlords or units. I'm not a huge fan of legendary troops. In fact, I don't think I've ever used them in a game of Saga. However, I have played against others that have. I was planning on using my Moors for the tournament. Looking at the Moor troop list, I actually didn't have miniatures for either the infantry Black Guard or Camels painted up. Being able to field those troops was supposedly one of the main bonuses of using a legendary warlord. So, Legendary warlords or units were out! 

My next decision was whether I should use a mercenary unit? I checked, and I had exactly eight points of worth of Moorish troops painted up. The two new units I would be adding in were another unit of 12 levy bowmen and a unit of 8 mounted warriors. I've heard mounted, javelin-armed warriors can be effective in Saga, so I was interested in using them. They would be very vulnerable to missile fire, even more so than my armor class 4 mounted hearthguard with javelins. Saga Thorsday's Monty Luhmann had referred to them as a "magic missile," meaning you can send them to make an effective strike on an enemy unit. They'd likely be shattered after the charge, but the 12" range charge and +1 bonus for javelins charging seemed like a fun weapon to try, so I eschewed mercenaries as well and decided to go with a "vanilla" warband.

    My Round 3 matchup against the Saxon hordes of Alfred the Great

The tournament was held at Game Table Adventures in Newark, OH. This would actually be the third Saga tournament GTA had held since the start of the year. I had won the first one with my Picts, but did not play in the second. I set a goal for myself to win two games. There's no way I could get the combination of luck and beneficial match-ups or scenarios to repeat as champion, I warned myself. Just like in January, we had 14 players show up. From earliest to latest by time period, here were the armies and players that entered (with Legendary warlords in italics). Six of the 14 used Legendary warlords, but a number of others (1 Viking, 2 Byzantine) used Legendary units.

    Legendary warlord Scipio Africanus leads Michael Cooper's Republican Roman warband

• Republican Romans (Legendary: Scipio Africanus), Michael Cooper
  
• Ostrogoths, Jeff Gatlin
• Vikings, Mike Stelzer
• Vikings, Schawn Hennessy
  
• Carolingians (Legendary: Charlemagne), Jason Stelzer
• Anglo-Saxons (Legendary: Alfred the Great), Andy Swingle
  
• Normans, Dennis Lockhart
• Muttatawi'a (Legendary: Abduallah ibn Yasin), Joe Merz 
• Crusaders, Ted Hehemann
  
• Moors, Mike Demana
• Eastern Princes (Legendary: Alexander Nevsky), Jenny Torbett
  
• Mongols (Legendary: Subotai), Joe Dihrkop
• Byzantines, Bob Boggs
• Byzantines, Jim Randall 
  

The next very important consideration was which scenarios would we be playing in our three rounds? First up was the standard Clash of Warlords. Round 2 would be Desecration, and Round 3 was Change of Plans. Overall, I was happy with the choice of scenarios. None are ones I dislike and equally these didn't seem to be a bad pick for my Moors. We were told we would be given 2.5 hours per rounds, though I think in Rounds 2 & 3 the tourney director was squeezing that time be 15 minutes or so. In all three games, I came close on time limits - hopefully not because of slow play on my part!

I think most of us were also surprised to find that we would be deploying our own terrain. Typically, many Saga tournaments set up terrain ahead of time. Perhaps this is a good way to shave a few minutes off of the time needed for each round? Most agree that placing terrain is part of the skill at the game. However, as long as the tourney director does a relatively fair job of with their preset terrain, most Saga players don't seem to mind. I have been to only one tournament where players (including me) felt the terrain was unfair and hindered certain types of armies. Game Table Adventures provided each table with a packet of the mouse pad material 2D terrain for Saga. Of course, we didn't get to keep it - not that I would expect that!

My Moors deploy against Dennis Lockhart's Norman army - a force that has given me fits in the past

Round 1: Normans

My opponent for Round 1 was someone I hadn't seen in a long time, Newark gamer Dennis Lockhart. I used to see him at the local and regional conventions regularly, but hadn't seen him much lately. His Newark area group is very active, so my guess was he's been getting his fix in locally. He and a half dozen or so others were playing Saga regularly at the game store on Thursdays, so I was curious to see if there was anything different about their style of play from our group. His force was very weighted towards mounted knights - five units of four figures, and one point of 8 warriors split into two units of four. He also had two units of levy archers to use the dreaded Norman battle board ability, "Volley Fire," which allows them to shoot out to 24".

    My warlord encourages his infantry forward to protect the cavalry from Norman arrows and charges

We deployed terrain, with him placing a field in the middle of the board on my left. I countered with a ruins in my right center. He placed a rocky ground in his center rear. I took the opportunity to move his fields onto my half of the board so that I could have terrain to place each of my levy archers in. This seemed to wrong-foot Dennis. especially when my two warrior spear units deployed to the right and rear of each feature and my mounted units clustered along my baseline. We were playing Clash of Warlords, so he generated only 3 Saga command and control dice on round 1. He moved his archers up and loosed a Volley Fire, which caused a couple casualties among my center unit of spearmen.

    Moorish cavalry launches a 'Torrent of Iron' counter-attack against exhausted Norman knights

I countered by shooting with my levy archers and sending my mounted hearthguard forward to toss javelins. Our fire was ineffective, killing only one Norman heavy cavalryman. When he saw me pull back the cavalry and screen them with my infantry -- my normal Moorish tactic -- he seemed a bit surprised. Even though my shooting was poor, he recognized that it should have caused more casualties. He decided to test the strength of my infantry spear wall. One Norman cavalry unit galloped forward and charged into my spearmen guarding the right. We closed ranks and played "Forest of Spears," which ended up meaning we each took one casualty, and he recoiled. On my turn, I sent forward my mounted hearthguard and they slammed into the Normans, destroying them. We then pulled them back again behind the infantry. 

    Another unit of Norman knights prepares to charge the Moorish infantry, while my cavalry wait

On my left, I continued to send volleys of arrows and javelins into his mounted units, killing a figure or two with each shot. In response to his shooting, I made sure only infantry could be targeted, either keeping my horse out of Volley Fire range or tucked behind another unit. He sent forward another unit of Norman mounted hearthguard on my right and test my spear wall, again. Once again, we took few casualties. I was careful to NOT use his fatigue in melee vs. the infantry, ensuring he would end the turn with two. This meant my Torrent of Iron charge would inflict the third fatigue, leaving him exhausted for the fight and unable to hit my cavalry (once I used his fatigues to raise my armor to 6). Also, those 3 fatigues gave me 6 extra attack dice with "Wholehearted." My tactic of taking his blows with my infantry and counter-attacking the fatigued attackers with my mounted hearthguard was working perfectly this game. 

    Late game: Left, Norman cavalry has been whittled down by repeated volleys of arrows & javelins

After the game, we agreed he should have been more aggressive, and not sent just one unit forward each turn. Instead, he was loading up his Combat Pool to aid his shooting and setting up dice for just one mounted attack each turn. He did whittle down my center infantry to just two figures by the end of the game. However, as cynical as it may sound, that is the role of my warrior foot. They are there to be a wall that the enemy wastes their strength slowly wearing down. On my left, I was more aggressive and sent my other unit of mounted hearthguard forward to toss javelins, sometimes even accompanied by the mounted warriors. The infantry in the field kept up fire, too, supporting their volleys with their own. By the end of the game, his forces were worn down enough that I sent my cavalry forward to charge them rather than skirmish with javelins.

    Dennis' grandson cheers on the Normans while he surveys the battlefield and offers sage advice

All in all, it was one of those rare games where everything pretty much goes according to plan. Once we counted up points at the end, the Moors had a solid win. It was a good start to the tournament, and nice for my Moors to get some revenge against their hated Norman foes!

Round 1 Results

• Mike D's Moors defeat Dennis L's Normans
• Joe M's Mutatawwi'a defeat Ted H's Crusaders
• Jason S's Carolingians defeat Andy S's Anglo-Saxons
• Joe D's Mongols defeat Mike S's Vikings
• Jim R's Byzantines defeat Jeff G's Goths 
• Bob B's Byzantines defeat Schawn H's Vikings
  
• Jenny T's Eastern Princes tied Michael C's Republican Romans
  

    Republican Romans and Moors compete to desecrate each other's objectives (end of turn 1 picture)

Round 2: Republic Romans (Scipio Africanus)

Our round 2 scenario was Desecration, and my opponent was Cincinnati-area gamer Michael Cooper. He's been a regular player in the various tournaments and game days for a year or so. He's done a lot to help recruit and build the community in his area. He was playing his new favorite army, Republican Romans. He'd chosen to use not only the Legendary warlord Scipio Africanus, but also a unit of war pigs! The miniatures are great, with flames curling up on the back of the swine, who are herded towards the enemy by their handlers. He admitted that in a tournament with no elephants, they were of limited effectiveness, but had been looking forward to using them since he painted them up. This tourney gave him that opportunity.

    War pigs, Hastati warriors and Velite levy javelinmen make up the vanguard of the Roman advance

For terrain, I'd placed a ruins on my far left and a marsh on my left, with the intention of hiding objective markers that he had to attack behind them. Michael placed a large steep hill in the center and a woods guarding his left flank. Only one objective may be placed inside terrain, so I stuck mine on the closes edge of the hill, but so that he would have to cross 2/3's of it before he could get to it. My thought was the terrain would slow him down but provide no cover to my shooting. Little did I know that warpigs are no effected by terrain! Still, my archery and javelins should make approaching the objective marker dangerous. Michael did a similarly good job of hiding the objective marker. I identified one in the open just beyond his woods as being the most likely one I could take.

    As war pigs fall due to missile fire, the Velites backed by Hastati continue the Roman advance

Michael opened the game with an immediate advance by the vanguard of his army, which included the war pigs as the tip of the spear, squealing as they labored up the steep slopes. Supporting the swine were a unit of foot warrior Hastati and a unit of levy javelin-armed Velites. The rest of his army (two more units of warriors and one of Triarii hearthguard hung back with Scipio. On my half of the turn, I moved my archers in the ruins towards the center so they could begin to loose volleys at the war pags. My mounted warriors race up to the edge of the steep hill and hurled javelins. They would pull back after throwing, to remain out of charge range of the Romans.

    

    Michael's Velites toss javelins at my Moorish spearmen, who stand like a wall protecting the cavalry

 

Michael continued the advance of his vanguard, with the velites slipping in front of the Hastati to screen them and toss their own javelins. I continued to pour archery and javelins in an attempt to stop the implacable Roman advance. War pigs squealed and died on the slopes, and Velites fell. The Hastati shouldered past the skirmishing youths and prepared to charge. The Moorish warriors leveled their spears and made ready to repel their charge. Once again, my Moors closed ranks to minimize casualties. And once again, the cavalry launched a Torrent of Iron counter-charge on my turn and wiped out the tired enemy. The infantry climbed onto the slopes to place themselves between the enemy and our objective marker to protect it.

    The Velites withdraw and Hastati ready their pila for a charge into the men of Andalusia

Once Michael saw his legionaries eliminated and the ranks of the Velites depleted, he began to move his reserves to his right to reinforce the attack. This was the opening that I'd been waiting for. My mounted warriors darted forward and charged into the objective marker that was now unprotected. With 8 dice hitting on 4+, I should have caused four hits. However, I caused only one. Michael rolled two dice to save the objective marker and rolled equally badly, missing both. This gave me the comfort to stay back, defend my objectives, and keep wearing down his troops. With the last war pig dead and one unit of legionaries gone, I felt I had  a comfortable lead.

  Desecration is the scenario's name, and my mounted warriors obliterate a Roman objective marker 

I sent my units of mounted hearthguard forward to begin harassing the advance the Roman reinforcements. The Velites had retreated to the steep hill slopes to avoid the cavalry. Scipio advanced on two fronts with his reserves. Half threaded their way between the hill and the forest, while the others advanced across the open at the waiting Moorish cavalry. The terrain and forces I had defending the objectives proved too much, though. The Romans were unable to attack any markers and their charges were frustrated by closing ranks and defensive abilities of the Moors. 

    The infantry open lanes for the Moorish horsemen to ride through and harass the Roman advance

Meanwhile, the cavalry continued to dart forward, toss javelins, then retired out of range or behind the infantry. The Romans still had a strong force left, but they simply ran out of time and could not come to grips effectively to score enough points to win. Although I had my challenges with dice rolling this game, I was able to do tactically what I set out to do. Once again, I think things might have ended differently if my opponent had advanced more aggressively. However, I was 2-0, which was my goal in this tournament -- to win at least two games.

Round 2 Results

• Mike D's Moors defeat Michael C's Republican Romans
• Jason S's Carolingians defeat Joe M's Mutatawwi'a
• Bob B's Byzantines defeat Andy S's Anglo-Saxons
• Mike's Vikings defeat Jeff G's Goths
• Jim R's Byzantines defeat Joe D's Mongols 
• Schawn H's Vikings defeat Ted H's Crusaders
  
• Jenny T's Eastern Princes tied Dennis L's Normans

    My 3rd round opponent would by Alfred the Great's Anglo-Saxon horde of 84 levy figures!

Round 3: Anglo-Saxons

I fully expected to be matched up against one of the other three undefeated players this round -- Bob B's Byzantines, Jim R's Byzantines, or Jason S's Carolingians. I wasn't sure which army would be the better matchup, as all would likely have significant missile fire to counter my own. Much to my surprise, Andy waved me over and said he was my opponent for the final round. Andy was 0-2, though his first game against Charlemagne's Carolingians was a squeaker, I was told. He was fielding an all-levy Anglo-Saxon horde. The scenario was Change of Plans, which I also don't mind. The goals of the first two scoring phases are to kill enemy troops while preserving your own, which I think is pretty much the goal of any wargame, right? And with no missile troops of his own, shouldn't my cavalry have free rein to run forward, toss our javelins, and retire to safety?

    The Anglo-Saxon hordes raced down upon my left, outnumbering it quickly

Andy had other plans, of course. He was playing Alfred the Great who has incredible command and control ability. Every turn, he starts off the Orders phase placing any two of his Saga dice on whatever ability he wants and with whatever face he desires showing. Plus, he generates two Saga dice. So, the chances of whittling down Andy's levy forces enough to make him run short of Saga dice this game were slim. The net result would be Andy could move the bulk of his forces forward aggressively and more quickly than you could imagine. We were riding the horses, but they would be moving around the battlefield almost as quickly.

    As more Saxons flooded my left, the Moorish cavalry began shifting to the right

Another thing I hadn't counted on was a repeat of what happened in my last game against Andy. His dice -- particularly when it came to saving throws -- were phenomenal. At one point, one of my cavalry charges caused 14 casualties. He saved 10 of them! I got an early inkling as the game got underway. I raced my cavalry forward to throw javelins at his advancing troops and he kept saving against my hits. Repeatedly. After two turns, I had caused less than half a dozen casualties. Meanwhile, his pell-mell double advances had allowed him to crash into one of my Moorish warrior spear walls. His Anglo-Saxon levy smashed that wall down to half strength in one attack. On the next turn, he followed up and eliminated it. 

    The Moors pinwheel to the right leaving the Saxon hammer blow to fall on empty air

I tried my tactic that had worked earlier. I did not use his fatigue when he charged my foot, and then counter-attacked with my cavalry on my turn against his units with two or three fatigues. When my Moorish riders charge home with Torrent of Iron, it tends to completely wipe out enemy units. In this game, Andy would close ranks and I would cause perhaps 2-3 casualties. That simply wasn't going to do it against an army of seven units of levy foot (84 figures). Andy was ahead on points after the Turn 3 scoring. I kept hammering, though, hoping for his saving dice to cool off. Half the game was still left. A cold streak could make up ground quickly. 

    The ruins in the center was hotly contested - many Saxon charges were beaten back by my archers

Meanwhile, my cavalry retreated around behind the center ruins, where both my archer units were huddled, and towards the right flank. Andy did his best to follow my pinwheeling movement, but even with Alfred the Great's command and control, he was still foot troops trying to chase down cavalry. I actually was able to pull ahead on Turn 5 when we counted up Survival Points. Here, though, I made a critical error. The right hand spear warriors moved into the ruins to try to interpose themselves between the Anglo-Saxons and my archers. I should have been advancing them towards the enemy half of the board in preparation for the Conquest Points counting at the end of the game. I should have realized that after Turn 5 casualties are completely irrelevant. All that matters is you cross the midpoint of the battlefield completely with your unit. The more figures in your unit, the better.

    Andy was thinking ahead, and knew he had to get his levy "bum rush" across the center line

My attacks finally began to hammer a few of Andy's units, but then again, did that matter? He had rolled great saving rolls for the part of the game where it mattered. His aggressive advance had ensured the bulk of his army crossed the midpoint and scored as best as they could as levies. Only my mounted troops were able to cross the midpoint -- the surviving three foot units were mired in the ruins, which were on my half of the table. I think Andy cleverly realized the shift in focus of the game before I did. Still, it would be close. 

We counted up points and it was a dead-even tie! We recounted them to be sure, and it remained 47-47. The Anglo-Saxons' tough survivability coupled with Alfred's excellent command and control effectively countered the Moors maneuverability and punch. Andy played his army excellently. He used his battle board abilities in the correct order and with great effectiveness. Although it was not a loss for me, it still felt like one. With all of the Moors shooting and melee punch, plus my fairly extensive experience with them, I could not overcome the Anglo-Saxons in a fair fight with favorable terrain.

Still, it was a fun game (it is always fun playing Andy), and a great tournament. I had attained my goal of winning at least two games. To me, it proved January's victory wasn't an anomaly in view of my previous snake-bitten, Saga tournament performances. The only questionable part of the day was the questionable way the tournament director ran it. Not only were winners not matched up against winners for the most part, he used a bizarre scoring system that somehow failed to award victory to either of the 3-0 players. He declared a player who was 1-2 as victor, which left us all scratching our heads. Somehow, he said I was second, but with both Jim and Bob being 3-0 with their Byzantine armies, I counted myself as third place, at best.

Round 3 Results (scenario: Change of Plans)

• Bob B's Byzantines defeat Jason S's Carolingians
• Jim R's Byzantines defeat Michael C's Republican Romans
  
• Mike D's Moors tie Andy S's Anglo-Saxons
• Mike's Vikings defeat Jeff G's Goths
• Joe M's Mutatawwi'a defeat Joe D's Mongols 
• Jeff G's Goths defeat Schawn H's Vikings
• Ted H's Crusaders defeat Jenny T's Eastern Princes
  

 

TOURNAMENT WIN-LOSS STANDINGS

Finished 3 wins, 0 losses

• Bob Boggs, Byzantines
• Jim Randall, Byzantines

Finished 2 wins, 0 losses, 1 tie

• Mike D, Moors 

Finished 2 wins, 1 loss

• Jason Stelzer, Carolingians
  
• Joe Merz, Mutatawwi'a
  

Finished 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie

• Dennis Lockhart, Normans

Finished 1 win, 2 losses 

• Schawn Hennessy, Vikings
  
• Joe Dihrkop, Mongols  
• Ted Hehemann, Crusaders
• Mike Stelzer, Vikings
• Jeff Gatlin, Goths
  

Finished 0 wins, 1 loss, 2 ties

• Jenny Torbett, Easter Princes
  

Finished 0 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie

• Andy Swingle, Anglo-Saxons
• Michael Cooper, Republican Roman
  

New Post-Apocalyptic 'Team': the Night Stalkers

    The Night Stalkers patrol the rubble of a ruined town in the post-Apocalyptic future

I am not 100% sold on my name for this new gang or "team" as the Fistful of Lead rules call forces in their skirmish game. Don't get me wrong, I think "Night Stalkers" sounds really cool, and it will probably be what I end up using. However, I am open for suggestions for these high-tech, uniformed fighters. They all wear helmets with what appear to be night vision goggles attached to them. There are small bits of armor, as well, including a suggestion of kevlar or something underneath the outer uniform. So, I picture these guys as being a fairly well-organized group. The members are probably former military or law enforcement banding together to carve out a niche of territory to protect their families and friends.

    The Night Stalkers are painted in matching uniforms and equipment, so they are fairly well supplied

The figures come from Battle Valor Games, and are part of the former Sgt. Major Miniatures line that I like so much. The poses may be slightly different, but they definitely have a uniform appearance. In a skirmish game where each figure may have different traits, this means that I'm likely going to have to write their names on the edges of their bases for players to keep them straight. I have been threatening to do that for awhile, and likely will go whole hog into it soon. I've seen other gamers photos where they do that and I don't think it detracts from the look of the game.

    It took awhile (and several layers) before I came up with a tone that I was happy with for the helmets

Their base uniform was done in craft paint "Khaki," and I maintained that brownish theme throughout with tan backpacks, dark brown gloves, and ivory packs and pouches. I struggled most with the metallic bits -- the helmet and knee pads. I purchased a "brown metallic" craft paint, but still thought it was too bright of a gold tone. I did two black washes over it before I pronounced myself happy. The end result in person looks very San Francisco 49ers dark gold, in case it is hard to tell in the photos. For the firearms, I used Iron Wind Metals Steel with highlights of silver or gun metal craft paint.

   The color scheme was not intended to be a camouflage, but I like how it "blends in" on the table

Some of the accents were done in brighter colors to stand out more on the miniature. The "eyes" of the goggles were done in red with a tiny dot of pink in the middle. The main part of the goggles and attachments to the helmet were in Iron Wind Steel, again. Finally, the miniatures had patches on each shoulder. I did the right patch in orange with a white vertical stripe. The left was done as a nod to the Ukrainians fighting off the Russian invasion in the news, today. It was done in the yellow blue of their flag. I'm not saying these guys are Ukrainians in my post-Apocalyptic games, just that I was inspired by the actual defenders' bravery and wanted to commemorate it here.  

    Although this is not the vision I have for my games, this supplement still has some interesting sounding rules

So, what's next? I have one more "team" of miniatures to paint up to reach my target six. We typically have 6-7 of us show up on Sunday evenings, so I shouldn't need more than that. I know a couple players may want to use their own troops, but I think for the first game I am going to want to use mine to keep a coherent look on the tabletop. Afterwards, if they want to sub in their own team once they see the "flavor" of my post-Apocalyptic world, I would be open to it. As mentioned before, my games are looking for a Mad Max meets the Terminator feel. I don't want the mutations with multiple arms, psionic powers, etc., from Gamma World or Mutants and Death Ray Guns. As such, I am still considering buying Wiley Games' "Wasteland Warriors" title, which apparently goes heavily in on the mutants. However, I hear it also has a nice section on scavenging for supplies, which is definitely the world I am looking to create for my games.

Moors Drive Off Strange New Christian Military Order

    My Moorish cavalry poised to counter-attack Ted's Order of Crusading Knights

Majik Ibn Battuta al-Waqaa stroked his beard as he squinted across the blinding, snow-covered plains. Odd that the Christians would choose winter's coldest day -- and after a rare snowfall -- to launch an incursion into the lands of his lord, the Caliph of Cordoba. He had heard of a new Christian military order of knights forming, vowing to drive the followers of the Prophet from Andalusia. They called themselves The Order of the Holy Bear, and their blazons and crests featured snarling bears. "By the prophet's beard," Majik shouted, "they DO look like bears!"

The armor and barding of the knights made it appear if the Christians were riding bears rather than horses. Even Majik's cheetah Scirocco, padding at his horse's side, seemed fascinated by the appearance and approach of the Milites Christi. "No matter," Majik spoke to his commanders. "We men of Cordoba are nobly-born hunters one and all. We fear neither beast nor man! Ride, men of Cordoba!!"

    Ted's Milites Christi at top and my Moors deployed at bottom, ready for battle

My opponent for March's Saga game day at the Dragons Guildhall was Ted H, who was fielding a fairly new warband for him. He was playing his army as Milites Christi, though truth be told the miniatures were actually mostly 25mm Fantasy Dwarves. And indeed, the mounted troopers were dwarves mounted on bears, but I am always willing to show leeway to people fielding their armies with proxy troopers. I'd honestly rather play against a fantasy army posing as a historical one than an unpainted force - but that's just me...ha, ha! Ted had a LOT of those mounted bears, in fact -- three units of them! His force was composed of two units of 6 mounted hearthguard and one unit of 4. He also had two units of 8 warrior crossbow and his mounted general.

    The first Moorish toss of javelins is very successful, tumbling three knights from their saddles

I was fielding my Moors against him. I'd given Ted a choice of armies I'd brought for me to use and he selected the historical matchup of Milites Christi vs. Moors (both from the Age of Crusades book). In truth, I was happy to get the chance to field Majik and his army again. They are an incredibly fun and challenging army to play. My own mounted hearthguard with javelin are very vulnerable, being only armor 4 vs. both shooting and melee. A good volley or a hard enemy charge juiced up with Saga abilities could easily devastate one of my two 6-man units. So, I tend to shelter them behind my two units of warrior spear (both 8-man). Together with the levy archers, my Moors try to win the battle first with missile fire, and then charge home only when they see a vulnerable target.

    After pulling his cavalry back, Majik orders a wall of spearmen across their front to shelter them

This game would see those tactics brought to bear against an opponent who boldly charged into my spear wall time and again, seeking to batter it down with his knights. In keeping with his army's bravery, he had deployed all the way forward, well within the Long move (12") and javelin toss (6") of my Moorish cavalry. We decided to oblige Ted and galloped both units forward, hurling their javelins. Our first volley was very effective, downing three riders from their saddles. The next volley was less so, and killed only one. Still, one of his 6-man units was emasculated to 2-figures. A good start! We pulled the troopers back and then covered them up with a wall of spearmen stretching between the ruins on our left and the marsh in the center.  In the marsh, our archers had advanced and fired an ineffectual volley at the crossbowmen.

    Ted's crossbow volleys were even more successful as they winnowed my levy's ranks from 12 to 5

Irked, the Christian crossbowmen raised their deadly devices and sent a volley into the Moorish levy in the marsh. Despite playing Hasty Shot, which gives 2 bonus defense dice, we failed all saves. Ted advanced the unit again and fired another volley. We failed all of those rolls, too, and my 12-man unit had been whittled to five already. One Saga dice down (levy must be six figures or higher to generate a command and control Saga dice). The bearish grand master was not done, either. With a truly ursine roar, the unit of 4 mounted hearthguard galloped across the snowy field and slammed into one of my units of spear. Expecting this, we did our standard tactic of closing ranks and playing Forest of Spears, which gives three bonus defense dice. My horrible saving rolls continued, as Ted rolled six hits. Picking up 9 dice, I failed on all of them to roll a 4 or higher. Counting the levy unit's failures, I had just missed 18 consecutive 50% chances! I don't think I want to know the odds of this happening!!

    The Crusader knights followed up with a thundering charge against my Moorish spearmen

Majik's eyes widened as he saw his infantry being cut down and blood spattering the snow. He waved to his cavalry commanders, though, and the troopers paused to rest, then galloped forward, again. More volleys of javelins tumbled knights from their bear-disguised horses and the unit was slain to a man. My infantry had done little, but the Moorish troopers were once again being the right arm that I relied on in my battles. The second unit of infantry marched across to fill the gap left by their retreating companions, and once again, my cavalry rested behind their infantry wall, safe from immediate counter-attack. 

    With one spear unit devastated, the second takes it place walling off the enemy from the cavalry

On his turn, Ted brought over his remaining 6-man hearthguard unit and hurled it forward, as well. This was truly turning into a punch, counter-punch, type of fight. Once again, the Moorish warriors closed ranks and played Forest of Spears. Once again, our saves were below average, but at least now we were actually rolling some saves! Half the unit had been cut down, but at least at four figures they were still generating a Saga dice for me! 

    Unfazed, the knights charged again and drove back the second unit of Moorish spearmen

In addition, after the first two turns of rolling zero Rare dice for my command and control (and no Uncommons either on Turn 2!), I finally started to get some Rares on Turn 3. This gave me a lot more flexibility on movement (Perseverance is a great one - for one Uncommon die I get to move two units of either foot or mounted). After another brief rest, the valiant horsemen of Cordoba rode out to harry the bearish Christian riders. Once again, our darts found targets, though our first roll was horrible -- only two hits on 10 attack dice at 4+! The second unit's volley made up for it, and we continued to whittle away at the enemy knights until by turn 4 only one was left alive.

    After 3-4 turns of relentless javelin fire, the Moorish cavalry had killed all of the enemy knights

At this point, we could have simply held back from his two units of crossbow foot. We had definitely scored enough points by killing 15 hearthguard to win the game. However, on turn five, we had an amazing run of Rare dice rolls using Activation Pool. I looked at my board and counted the dice. We COULD launch one of our favorite Torrent of Iron charges. Majik signaled his orders to his faithful cavalry commanders and the first unit cantered ahead and cut down the remaining bear knight. With trumpets blaring, and ululations to Allah, the second unit thundered down on the closet unit of crossbowmen. The crossbowmen were Exhausted from their moving and shooting (plus the death of their brethren knights close by). This was my favorite tactic: a charge by my javelin-armed cavalry into an Exhausted unit. I planned on using two of his three fatigues to raise my own armor to 6 so he couldn't hit me...but wait! The wily bear had other plans!

    The Moorish cavalry were not done, though, and charged into and overran a unit of crossbowmen

In my impetuosity and haste, I had forgotten look at what Ted had queued up on his board. Oh no! He still had a dice on Spilt Blood on his board. That meant I would not be able to raise my armor above my starting level of 4. His sergeants would get their full attacks. My riders would be taking casualties here, for sure. My plan was to eliminate the unit, though. With Wholehearted (which grants 2 attack dice per enemy fatigue), my +1 for javelins in a charge, and using his fatigue, I would auto-hit with all 18 dice. It is fitting our final combat of the game was a bloody one. Four of my cavalry troopers were slain by their bear sergeants' valiant resistance, while all of their number went to Heaven. Victorious, but grimly silent at the loss of their friends, the noble cavalry of Cordoba pulled back one final time.

    The survivors of the Majik's warband gather out of the range of the remaining crossbow unit

There was some more maneuvering on the final turn of the game, but no significant casualties. I was not going to leave my troopers where they could suffer a volley from the remaining crossbow unit. I had pulled back my infantry, too, so I could keep them alive for victory points at the end. We called it a game, and the Moors had triumphed 17-6. We realized afterwards that we were supposed to keep track of victories in melee for victory conditions. We agreed it would not substantially alter the outcome. At best, that would have given Ted a couple more points and me another. 

The grand master of the Order of the Holy Bear led his sergeants from the field. As far as he could see, bright red patches marked the snow where Moor and Christian had fallen. This had been a bloody baptism for his new order of knights. Still, his men had fought well, and they still had their faith in Christ. They would return one day and drive the Unbelievers from the field, he vowed!

Dozen Warlords Assemble at Dragons Guildhall for Spring Game Day

    Phil's Elephant was one of two that he fielded in his Sassanid Persian army against Bob B

The return of spring saw a surge in players at our monthly Saga game day at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH. More than a dozen attended to show off new armies, try out new variants, or get in some games with armies that haven't seen the tabletop in awhile. It was great to see Jim B able to make it out after several months away. He was excited to get out his Skraeling army, and usher some new players in a Skraeling vs. Skraeling matchup. Irv had arrived with his grandson with his own Skraeling army, and we've found "mirror image" games to be a great learning tool for new players.

    Phil and Bob B square off in the foreground of our 12+ players we had attend our Saga game day

Otherwise, we had a couple players attend their first game day at the Guildhall, including Phil who fielded Saga Ohio's first-ever Sassanid Persian army. Bob B got the opportunity to see how this new faction fights as he squared off against Phil in a historical matchup with his Age of Invasions Romans. Phil's army was gorgeous with the brightly-painted cataphracts and two elephants. After playing Bob, he said he was "hooked," and would be returning for more Saga soon.

    Sassanid Persian cataphracts charge against Bob B's Roman foot

If I am correct, this was also Benny's first time at one of our regular game days, though he has competed in tournaments at Game Table Adventures previously. He offered to field a Gallic army so that Michael C could get in a historical match with his Republican Romans. Michael's legion looked great on the tabletop and has me looking forward to the arrival of the final figures I need to field my own Romans. For the first time ever, I will be sending them off as a commission to be painted by Ted Bender. I know Andy S also runs Republican Romans, so who knows? Maybe one day we can field a Punic Wars campaign at Saga Ohio?

    Jim B's awesome Skraeling army with this totem miniatures ready to fight off a rival tribe

Jenny was looking forward to her second game with her new Eastern Princes army (also painted by Ted!). She matched up against Joe D's Vikings in Battle of Heroes. Jenny reported that Joe had a momentous turn using the Ragnarok advanced ability that spelled ruin for her army. Still, she's 1-1 with a brand new army and battle board, so that isn't bad!

    Michael C's Republican Roman legion advances against a dangerous army of Gauls

My opponent, Ted H, was also getting in a second game with a new battle board - the Milites Christi. I offered to play my Moors for a period (and perhaps historic?) matchup, and Ted accepted. I was glad he did because I had been wanting to play Majik Ibn Battuta al-Waqaa's Moors again. They are a very fun army to play. You have to maneuver well, and keep your vulnerable mounted hearthguard javelin men protected on the opponent's turn, otherwise you can lose your best troops easily to either enemy shooting or melee. I'll do another post with a detailed game report on that matchup.

    Joe D's Vikings advance against Jenny's Eastern Princes in the frozen north

The final game was when Phil's friend Brian popped in to watch the action. I offered up my loaner Viking army, and Adrian graciously offered to teach him in a learning game. So, we had six battles raging, with everyone having a good time, it appeared.

Unfortunately, my own game was Ted was so gripping that I did not get a chance to circulate and find out the details on all of the other games. Here's what I was able to record:

• Bob S (helped by Jim B)'s Skraelings defeated Irv H (assisted by his grandson)'s Skraelings, 12-9.
• Bob B's Romans tied against Phil's Sassanid Persians, 20-21.
• Michael C's Republican Romans defeated Benny's Gauls, 28-25 in Ambush (?).
• Joe D's Vikings defeated Jenny T's Eastern Princes, 12-8.
• Mike D's Moors defeated Ted H's Milites Christi, 17-6.
• Adrian and Brian's Viking matchup was a training game and they did record points.
  

My First Command as Khan of the Mongols

 

    Much earlier than I expected, I got a chance to command a Mongol army in Saga recently!

Part of the reason that I chose to paint up a Mongol army and play it in Saga was because I felt it would be a difficult challenge. An all-mounted army is going to face serious issues on a tabletop battle board that includes significant amounts of terrain. In a standard "Clash of Warlords" game, the opponent will be able to place at least three pieces of terrain. They can also likely make them large and either "Uneven" or "Dangerous" terrain, which disadvantage mounted troops. On top of that, the composite bow (which more than half of my troops will use) is not exactly a world-beater in Saga. So, I was expecting some losses early on in my games.

    My own miniature Mongols have 21 completed of the 40+ figures I need to paint

Since I was less than halfway through the painting of my Mongol army, I figured the challenge was still a a ways off. Much to my surprise, it actually occurred on my birthday last month (Feb. 21). Graham of Graham's Wargame Vault invited me to play a game against him on Zoom. He's in the U.K., and I had interviewed him recently for Saga Ohio about one of his favorite armies, the Norse-Gaels. We had talked about doing a Zoom game then, and he reached out to me a few weeks ago to set it up. We picked Monday, Feb. 21, which I had off from school for President's Day.

    A screenshot of Graham's and my deployment from his YouTube video (Mongols at top)

Joining Graham was his friend and boon Saga companion Wayne. He would roll my dice, move my troops, and offer tactical advice. The banter between Wayne and Graham in their YouTube recordings of their games always keeps me chuckling, so I was looking forward to joining in the razzing back and forth. They both have a great sense of humor, so I was sure it would be a lot of fun. 

The game lived up to my expectations on all levels. Controlling the Mongols was difficult. There are so many "moving parts" with learning a new army's battle board. The advanced Saga abilities interact in many unique ways and even simply the sequencing of which abilities you want to use when and in what order can take awhile to master. So much more so in my first game! I did have the advantage of recently interviewing Chicago Saga player Terry Doner about his Mongols, and we had talked about this sequencing quite a bit in my podcast. In addition, I had the challenge of seeing the board in two dimensions on a laptop screen. I know I asked Wayne a number of times to measure things for me during our game.

    Graham sets up a tray so that viewers can watch the dice rolls and cheer or groan along with him

The game was a blast, of course, with groans and cheers for the die rolls. Graham's rolling started out hot but was eclipsed partway through by Wayne's run of a number of great rolls. There was a turning point when a 4-man unit of Graham's Baltic crusader mounted hearthguard charged a unit of my mounted warriors. Wayne saved above average against their attacks then proceeded to kill 3 of the 4 on my counter-strike. From that point on, Genghis Mike and Kettle Drummer Wayne took over the battle. We even eschewed my final turn of the game, as it was obvious the Mongols were going to come out on top.

Apparently, Graham enjoyed the banter and tactical discussion enough to not edit it down to fit one episode. He uploaded our game in two parts. I encourage everyone to check it out. Graham does a nice job on his YouTube uploads of his Saga games. See if you can spot when the momentum shifted in my favor! Thanks Graham and Wayne for a great birthday present of the transatlantic Saga game!!

I had not commanded Mongols before, but I had interviewed veteran players about them on Saga Ohio

 

Here are the links to watch the game:

• Part One: Saga Transatlantic, Mongols vs. Baltic Crusaders
• Part Two: Saga Transatlantic, Mongols vs. Baltic Crusaders