Saga, Quick Pics Post

Vikings skirmish past the farm hoping to flank the enemy

First contact with the enemy!

Another quick pics post during a Dark Ages game with the excellent Saga rules.  This was quite the epic game as we had six full warbands on the table with loads of fun and scenario specific rules in place.  Three of the warbands were led by rival brothers, with a fourth warband belonging to the dying father.  The remaining two warbands belonged to 'outsiders' hoping to capitalize on the internal strife and chaos of the situation.  Enjoy!

Another Round of SAGA

The dark ages skirmish game SAGA made its second appearance in as many weeks. Once again we had two players per side and beefed up the forces to six points each, or twelve points per side. We followed the rules a little more closely in how to set up armies, and how to set up the game from laying out terrain as well as putting down units and the like. Andy's also blogged about our second game, just today actually.

My warlord, leading from the front...again

All four of the basic armies were represented with me playing the Normans, allied with Tom's Vikings against Andy's Welsh and Ken's Anglo-Danes. After setting up and rolling for initiative it became pretty clear that my ally was on the extreme left flank and both opposing armies were pretty much on my half of the table. I wanted to play the Normans because they're a mounted force and there was a brand new battle-board I had to familiarize myself with. Next game I'm going to try and play either Welsh or Anglo-Dane to get a feel for those as well.


It was a dense, target-rich environment as my heavy cavalry charged in, warlord leading the way. The game itself took a bit longer than last time, but we had more points on the table too. We could've shaved some of that time off fairly easily as well, so next time I expect some smooth sailing.

This was my most devastating charge of the game...looking for 3+


The middle of the table just devolved into brutal chaos, it was quite the quagmire actually. Characteristically I had my warlord in the thickest center of it. Not surprisingly, he died about halfway through the game. Maybe I should re-think the whole "lead from the front" strategy?

The late Duke Yuengling of Yorvic


Although my force was wiped out, almost to a man my ally was barely even scratched. Here his forces, which have been maneuvering and wheeling for most of the game prepare to mop up the survivors from my own efforts. Sadly, we did not see the game to completion. It was getting late and everyone was pretty amiable about what the outcome would've been. The Vikings were strong however, and fresh troops to boot; it could have gotten interesting.


Here's the force I played for the battle. Beforehand I put two of my hearthguard-level units together to form a large, elite hitting hammer. Having some foot crossbowmen in there was kind of a bonus as well. I liked the Normans quite a bit, being all mounted took some getting used to but overall, even if my warlord did die, the game was a blast. I'm rather taken with the rules so I'll be buying a copy by the end of the week. Until then, enjoy!

SAGA: Last Warlord Standing

Before I even begin to get into the newest game we added to the ranks, Gripping Beast's Saga, let me just say I am not going to be winning a lot of these games. Or at the very least my warband leader, known as the Warlord, won't be surviving too many battles. Case in point, the opening photo of this post.

Saga is the Dark Ages skirmish game that is making its rounds. The name of the game says it all, "Saga". It straddles the two worlds of semi-historical and the epic battles of legend. If you're looking for a historically correct game, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a fast, fun Dark Ages game with great rules, you've found it. If you're looking for another point of view of the same night, look here at Little Lead Heroes. Way back when a gaming buddy of ours, Brian, who has since moved away started looking into Saga as well, it's just taken me this long to get a game in!


Saga is about the heroes and the warriors they lead, so that's why my Warlord is going to be leading the charge time and time again. The gates of Valhalla only open to the bold. The rest of my warband will be tasked with two things in a battle, defeating the enemy of course and just trying to keep up with their leader. To me this is the only way to play the game!


Shown here are the Normans, who were allied with two Viking warbands for this battle. On the other side of the table were an allied group of Anglo-Danes and Welsh. Being our first intro and test game, there were some initial set up rules we overlooked but overall I don't thing they messed things up. Warbands are generated simply enough with four or six point warbands being the norm. A leader is free, each unit after that costs a point. Your units can be from small, elite groups, up to large peasant-class levy troops.

Welsh javelin-armed troops about to get trampled by Norman cavlary

Viking levy archers

The base game, $40 bucks by the way, has army info on four separate forces, plus the rules themselves. You also need some game-specific dice to go along with it, which can be pricey but there's all kinds of inventive work-arounds to that. This is where the game takes a fairly serious detour from other skirmish games.


Each force has a battle board, each of the four boards wholly different and unique to that specific army. This is where the game gets even more cool. You roll a number of dice each turn based on how many units you have on the table. Then you allocate those die rolls to your battle board. If you look at the top left of my Viking board you see "Hirdmen". If I want to activate my Hirdmen at all this turn, I need to allocate one of my die rolls and place it there.

That's the normal stuff, each force has its own flavor in the form of special abilities, like "Odin" that needs two dice to work and changes and enemy's shooting turn into a move turn instead. The other trick is you're not guaranteed these very time, obviously. So if you get two sixes and are able to charge up "Ragnarok" you may have to leave the dice there for a turn or two, which you can, but that's going to be two less dice you're able to roll the next turn.

Two warlords clash...and kill one another simultaneously


I mentioned Repple Depple's Brian in the beginning of this post and it was because of him and all of the Pig Wars enthusiasm before he moved that I painted up my Viking horde. We have played a Dark Ages game or two since he's moved off, but the Viking wargaming potential that was about to explode died with his egress. I am hopeful however that these rules, which I enjoyed immensely, will turn that ship, err, longboat around.