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Made in us
Bounding Assault Marine




running amok, against the reality of defeat

I've been interested in getting the game for quite some time and I just took the plunge and bought Crescent and the Cross and some Templars from FireForge.

Anyone playing SAGA?

come join us
greg graffin 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Stonecold Gimster






I bought myself some Vikings and Anglo-saxons with the intention of playing. Built and painted to 6 points on vikings and 4 points on Anglo-saxons.
I was derailed slightly with a 3 month wait for the rulebook to come back into print, then another 9 month hiatus till the Anglo-saxon rules came back into print the other week.

I need to dig out the last few models to paint and get some games in now.

I do have the C&C rules but found them hard to read - including the layout of the boards. I prefered the original style.

Seems most Saga players are building and playing the Aetius and Arthur rules atm.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/04 20:01:14


My Painting Blog: http://gimgamgoo.com/
Currently most played: Silent Death, Xenos Rampant, Mars Code Aurora and Battletech.
I tried dabbling with 40k9/10 again and tried AoS3 - disliked both, but I'm enjoying HH2 and trying Battletech Classic and AS out 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

Currently running an Age of the Wolf campaign between my Normans and a friend's Vikings, recorded on my blog. Very interesting set of campaign rules, and pretty fun. One win for each side, but the Vikings were pretty well beat up in both games.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/04 20:29:56


   
Made in us
Bounding Assault Marine




running amok, against the reality of defeat

Got a link to the battle reports?

come join us
greg graffin 
   
Made in de
Primus





Palmerston North

I have not tried out Cresent and Cross, but Saga Dark Ages is one of my regular games.

I use Normans and my main opponent uses Jomsvikings.

I love it.

I find with Saga it is best if you make a plan for the turn and then you commit all your dice to it. this is especially true with Normans as they do not have and defensive tricks.

Converting up some Crossbowmen was a bit tricky, but it works for the most part. I used Fireforge Crossbow arms on Conquest Games Norman Infantry.

I also have some Vikings, I tried painting them in a more historical fashion, but it was too hard for me to stay motivated. So I went with a more fantasy paint scheme on my Norman and I found it much easier.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

 bound for glory wrote:
Got a link to the battle reports?


Opening Moves - Campaign Game 1

Ambush - Campaign Game 2

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/05 12:31:11


   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Thanks for sharing the campaign posts. Good read!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

Thanks! Saga's one of my 6x6 challenge games, so I'm hoping to finishing the campaign (which takes six seasons to complete) over the course of this month.

   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

I play Saga with my gaming group. Recently I've been building up some Late Romans, some terrain for them, and will be building up some Goths for them to fight.

Currently I have Normans (6 points), Vikings (5pts), Anglo Danes (4pts), Milites Christi (4pts).

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

I've also got Greeks on the painting bench to work up four points of Spartans and four points of Athenians.

You can get some of our batreps here:

http://wfhgs.com/

The current Warning Order has some Saga stuff, and the Friday Night updates have some.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

Next game of my Age of the Wolf campaign has been posted:

Flames of War - Campaign Game 3

   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

How are you guys liking mounted Norman warriors? My hearthguard are of course mounted, but I use foot warriors. I've thought of a single unit of mounted warriors, but two seems chancy. The foot are slower, and cannot use battle board abilities, but are better defensively and hold positions/grind things down well.

They are very useful for screening the crossbows and archers. It also feels more historically thematic to have a real combined arms force, I'm just not sure it is the wisest given the Norman board.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

If I was going to use foot warriors in a normal Norman list, I'd take a unit of Flemish Mercenaries. No Saga dice, and they can't use battleboard abilities. But they get a free activation, heavier armor, and get a "shieldwall" ability which gives them moveable hard cover. They're perfect to hide a Hearthguard unit or two behind, then use the Gallop ability to charge in.

Unfortunately, I can't take them in Age of the Wolf campaign. I might add them in if I get another Warrior unit from recruitment. Right now they're backup for the Hearthguard. Same goes for the Levy - I'll take them if I can get them.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/05/10 18:38:30


   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

I do usually take one as Flemish Mercenaries for the armor and area defense. It just hurts taking them and Levy sometimes. However, it has meant no opponent has successfully made contact with the crossbows. As a result the crossbows usually end up as a star unit chewing enemy groups up.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/10 19:17:00


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in de
Primus





Palmerston North

I run 3 points of mounted Norman Hearthguard, 6 models each. My Warlord is also mounted.

I think they work well, I was running 2 units of 4, but they would lose attacks too quickly. 6 seems to be the magic number.
   
Made in gb
Stitch Counter





The North

I play SAGA frequently. Love the game system.

I have:

Normans 6pts
Warlord
Hearthguard Mounted (3 x 4)
Warriors Crossbows (1 x 8)
Warriors Foot (1 x 8)
Levy Archers (1 x 12)

Vikings 6pts
Warlord
Hearthguard (2 x 4)
Hearthguard Beserkers (1 x 4)
Warriors (2 x 8)
Levy Archers (1 x 12)

Anglo Saxons 6pts
Warlord
Warriors (x4) (10, 10, 12)
Levy Spear
Levy Archers

Irish 6pts
Warlord
Hearthguard (1 x 6)
Hearthguard Dane Axes (1 x 4)
Curaidh (x2)
Warriors (2 x 8)
Warriors Hounds (1 x 8)

Irish 6pts (A second separate force)
Brian Boru
Ulf the Quarrelsome
Hearthguard (1 x 7)
Warriors (2 x 8)
Warriors Hounds (1 x 8)

Anglo Danes 6pts
Warlord
Hearthguard (2 x 4)
Hearthguard Dane Axes (1 x 4)
Warriors (2 x 8)
Levy Archers (1 x 12)

Scots 6pts
Warlord
Heathguard (3 x 4)
Warriors (2 x 8)
Levy Archers (1 x 12)

Jomsvikings 6pts
Warlord
Heathguard (6 x 4)

Romans 6pts
Warlord
Hearthguard (2 x 4)
Warriors Spear (2 x 8)
Warriors Bows (1 x 8)
Levy (1 x 6) and Scorpio


I have enough troops using from the forces above to also construct 6pts Saxons, 6pts Picts (still need to get a chariot), 6pts Norse Gael.

Next stop is making Late Roman Cavalry (x1 warrior, x1 hearthguard) for options when GB releases a plastic set this year as well as a 6 point Hun army (using kitbashed Fireforge Mongols)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/05/12 19:13:43


Thousand Sons: 3850pts / Space Marines Deathwatch 5000pts / Dark Eldar Webway Corsairs 2000pts / Scrapheap Challenged Orks 1500pts / Black Death 1500pts

Saga: (Vikings, Normans, Anglo Danes, Irish, Scots, Late Romans, Huns and Anglo Saxons), Lion Rampant, Ronin: (Bushi x2, Sohei), Frostgrave: (Enchanter, Thaumaturge, Illusionist)
 
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




I run Pagan Rus and Reconquista Spanish. The former are hated by my opponents due to their ability to drop movement and shooting to nothing. Unfortunately, the latter have a problem because one of my main opponents lately has been a Militis Cristi list. And the MC have a solid, cheap anti-interrupt ability that (due to some rulings I disagree with) cancels out much of the Reconquista board.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



Scotland

Saga is always something I've been interested in. Is there a ruleset or era that is considered the best?
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




Zond wrote:
Saga is always something I've been interested in. Is there a ruleset or era that is considered the best?


The rules are the same across the eras. There were a few things added when Crescent and Cross was released, but these were considered to be retroactive changes that also applied to the original release of SAGA. Additionally, all of the official battle boards are considered to be compatible with each other. There's no reason why your Saxons can't fight Moors.

Now having said that, it's time to discuss the releases...

The original SAGA rulebook was, obviously, the starting point. It included the rules, and four battle boards. It's now referred to as SAGA Dark Ages.
Northern Fury was the next book out, and it was an expansion. The SAGA rules are required to play, and not included. It added four new battle boards.
Raven's Shadow was the next expansion, and added an additional four new battle boards.
Finally, there was the Varjazi and Basileus expansion. This time, three new battle boards were added. And the focus was changed from Western and Northern Europe to Byzantium and Kiev.
Additionally, a Horse Nomads battleboard was published in an issue of Wargames Illustrated. It focuses on a group of mercenary troops added in V&B, fleshing them out into a full faction (instead of just a few extra mercenaries).

At this point, the decision was evidently made to switch periods. Crescent and Cross was released next as a standalone product. The complete SAGA rules were included and updated, and it's fully compatible with the original rulebook (the changes are very minor, and as I mentioned also meant to apply to 1st edition). Unlike the previous releases, Crescent and Cross included six battle boards - three for Christian factions, and three for Islamic factions.

An undead battle board was released as a one-time mail-order offer. It features a necromancer running a warband made up of zombies. It doesn't really fit with any era, and is the only battle board that is blatantly fantasy.

Official campaign rules were released in a book called 'The Age of the Wolf'. The book encourages you to organize your campaign by period and region (note that many of the groups that are familiar in Western Europe - like the Normans - also turned up in and around Byzantium), but you don't have to do so if you don't want to. The book is written as if the campaign will be conducted using the Dark Ages boards. But again, this is up to the players.

The latest release is Aetius and Arthur, which contains the rules for six factions during the period roughly around 400AD. Rome is in full retreat, the German tribes are running riot in Western Europe, and the British Isles are on their own. Note that this is only an expansion, and does not include the full rules. If you want to play one of the boards in this book, then you'll need either the Dark Ages book, or Crescent and Cross.


Early on, a Skraeling battle board was released, meant to represent the natives that the Vikings encountered during their brief time in the New World.

A battle board meant to represent pre-Crusade era Islam was published at one point in Wargames Illustrated. But while that board was created by Tomahawk, it doesn't have any historical opponents (the Byzantine board is from a much later period), and Tomahawk ignores it (for instance, if you go to a tournament, that board probably won't be allowed).


So, basically, grab the rule book that attracts your interest, pick a faction (or two, if you need to run demos) from that book, and build four point warbands (to start with - later, you'll probably want to expand to six points).
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Northern Fury includes rules/boards for: Bretons, Jomsvikings (previously mercenaries), Anglo-Saxons, and Scots.

Raven's Shadow includes rules/boards for: Franks, Norse-Gaels, Irish, and Strathclyde Welsh.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in ca
Death-Dealing Devastator






It looks cool. Is it balanced well?

"When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you know why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind." -Jiddu Krishnamurti world renowned champion of peace. An Indian man who spoke at the UN Peace summit 1985.  
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Saga? Pretty well balanced.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in au
Unstoppable Bloodthirster of Khorne





Melbourne .au

I've played a couple of games using proxies. I'm still in the process of painting up a pile of Vikings (chronicled here) and at some stage I'll do a few other factions.

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

I think's there's only a couple problems with the various Saga factions. Infantry factions have a problem getting to grips with mounted factions, and earlier factions like Vikings and Anglo-Danes are a little bland compared to some of the mechanics that were introduced for later factions like Norse-Gaels and Jomsvikings.

Of course, the nice thing about Dark Ages is that most Western European warriors are fairly interchangeable.

   
Made in us
Haughty Harad Serpent Rider





Richmond, VA

Anglo-Danes are not bland! They're just stout and no-nonsense (got 12 points of 'em here...)

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Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Anglo Danes have some very nice abilities, such as Intimidation.

They may lack Impetus/Piety/et al mechanics, but as with all boards there is a synergy and mental chess game that has to occur. So, yes, simpler in some respects but not inadequate or lacking in strategic options.

In terms of Melee armies, one thing we have found is bow levy or equivalent are a good idea for almost all factions. The Norman board, and a few others force combined arms to be effective, but all armies need to consider it in some fashion.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/06/06 16:20:56


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




 infinite_array wrote:
I think's there's only a couple problems with the various Saga factions. Infantry factions have a problem getting to grips with mounted factions, and earlier factions like Vikings and Anglo-Danes are a little bland compared to some of the mechanics that were introduced for later factions like Norse-Gaels and Jomsvikings.


Most of those later factions have their own drawbacks. Jomsvikings can have their orders cancelled by the opponent. While there's a punishment mechanic for this, a clever opponent will recognize what you plan to do during the turn, and figure out the one order to cancel that will leave your force in a precarious position. One of the Dark Ages mounted factions - Franks, I think - is supposed to be almost unplayable due to the mechanics of the board.

As for mounted versus infantry factions...

If your opponent is growing too complacent while running mounted troops, and you want to give him a dose of humility while running a pure infantry force, then picking the Pagan Rus will probably do the trick. I can guarantee that your opponent will *hate* you when you use Great Winter for the first time (note that due to the unusual wording of Great Winter, there is *NO* way to avoid its effects; the usual tricks to boost movement don't apply as Great Winter simply says "You can't move more than S" without actually changing the movement values of the models on the table).
   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

 Maniac_nmt wrote:
Anglo Danes have some very nice abilities, such as Intimidation.

They may lack Impetus/Piety/et al mechanics, but as with all boards there is a synergy and mental chess game that has to occur. So, yes, simpler in some respects but not inadequate or lacking in strategic options.

In terms of Melee armies, one thing we have found is bow levy or equivalent are a good idea for almost all factions. The Norman board, and a few others force combined arms to be effective, but all armies need to consider it in some fashion.


I enjoy playing Anglo-Danes, they're my main faction. You've got some really good defensive abilities and a lot that can add fatigue tokens to the enemy, then smash them with a Hearthguard & Warlord (with dane axes) charge when they are weakened.

I've found games against Vikings seem to balance well, struggle a bit against annoying javellin throwing Welsh and bog-trotting Irish.

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Made in nz
Boom! Leman Russ Commander




New Zealand

 Maniac_nmt wrote:
How are you guys liking mounted Norman warriors? My hearthguard are of course mounted, but I use foot warriors. I've thought of a single unit of mounted warriors, but two seems chancy. The foot are slower, and cannot use battle board abilities, but are better defensively and hold positions/grind things down well.


A common misconception. The (arguably) most powerful Norman melee ability "Crush" does not require the unit to be mounted.

5000
 
   
Made in gb
Stitch Counter





The North

Indeed MarsNZ is correct. Norman infantry are able to use that ability which makes them more effective as a line-breaker or road-block.

I use a squad of them to halt enemies that get ideas about heading for my archers / crossbowmen

Thousand Sons: 3850pts / Space Marines Deathwatch 5000pts / Dark Eldar Webway Corsairs 2000pts / Scrapheap Challenged Orks 1500pts / Black Death 1500pts

Saga: (Vikings, Normans, Anglo Danes, Irish, Scots, Late Romans, Huns and Anglo Saxons), Lion Rampant, Ronin: (Bushi x2, Sohei), Frostgrave: (Enchanter, Thaumaturge, Illusionist)
 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

 Wulfmar wrote:
Indeed MarsNZ is correct. Norman infantry are able to use that ability which makes them more effective as a line-breaker or road-block.

I use a squad of them to halt enemies that get ideas about heading for my archers / crossbowmen


I'll have to reread charge again, as I swore it said mounted units. Regardless, the Normans still make good use of foot warriors precisely as you describe; a meat shield/grinder to keep the missile troops firing.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
 
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