On Friday both Ev and I were lucky enough to be on leave so Ev trooped up to Chez Millsy with his Scots in tow and had his first ever game(s) of SAGA. I'm conscious that we don't do nearly enough AARs on the blog due largely to most gaming being done at night and the light being poor. That being the case we took full advantage of the daytime and took a pile of photos!
Ev bought the starter set for Scots giving him a Warlord, 2 x Hearthguard and 2 x Warriors for his four points. I fielded my Anglo-Danes including a Warlord with Dane-axe, 1 x Heathguard with Dane-axes, 1 x Hearthguard and 2 x Warriors for my four points. As it was Ev's first bash we stuck with a simple Clash of Warlords scenario, fighting over my scratch built terrain.
The battle had a bit of a slow start and then really kicked in hard for a couple of turns. Both sides held the upper hand at various times with the God's fickle favour in evidence. Over time Ev's Scots wore my Anglo-Danes down and eventually triumphed.
We discovered during our second game that we over-powered Ev's special abilities on the battle board in part through lack of attention (entirely my fault!) and in part through an inconsistency regards cover on the QRS in the back of the book. More on that later in the week when I post the second set of pics.
Here are the pics and a few comments...
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| The two forces converge |
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| Anglo-Danes advancing |
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| Scots hiding in the woods |
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| Coming to blows. Note my funky custom movement stick! |
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| Village life temporarily on hold |
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| Come on, get stuck in! |
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| Now you're talking. Forces collide |
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| And both sides get hurt |
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| Canny wee Scots on the flank |
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| More mayhem |
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| Things going badly for the Anglo-Danes at the last |
Stay tuned for another SAGA AAR later in the week, plus an update on the Necromunda Cawdor on the workbench.
Cheers,
Millsy
Nice report, great looking figures and building, love its colors...
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil!
DeleteGreat looking game!!
ReplyDeleteCheers Rodger.
DeleteSAGA is a helluva system. fast-moving, well-balanced (well, at least when you read the rules right, REALLY sorry about that, Millsy...), with more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing.
ReplyDeleteThe first salutary lesson I learned from Friday's gaming session was to study your battleboard closely. The abilities will make or break your game, and some of them are fiendish indeed. Study the boards of other factions as well, if you can. I was hit by a few nasty surprises along the way, notably from "Intimidation" - the secret weapon of the Anglo-Danes, which stops you in your tracks irrespective of what you want to do!
Second lesson was to ensure that you hold some SAGA dice back for when your opponent decides to open up the giant economy-sized can of whupass on the unit whose lightning advance has now left them dangerously exposed.
I will definitely be playing this again - I wonder when Nugget will finish his Vikings...?
"I wonder when Nugget will finish his Vikings...?"
DeleteDon't we all??? ;-)
A very enjoyable read, and I love the miniatures and terrain
ReplyDeleteThanks Tomsche and welcome aboard...
DeleteLovely table, Millsy! There was a great deal of work that went into this and it really shines through. Your scratch made church, longhouse and huts are fabulous. I went back and read about the "making of" each and I'm very impressed.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the Saga camp for the same reasons you've described. It plays fast, crazy and at times, figures will pull off a heroic stand. And it's not so hard that you can't have a beer (or two!) while playing. I struggle against shooty factions like the Scots so I'm curious to read the next AAR.
Hi Monty! Yes, Millsy is quite the terrain builder.
DeleteI remarked a couple of years ago on this very blog that "the man is possessed of arcane powers and can turn two bits of string, a beer bottle top, a stick, some PVA glue and a metric cupful of sawdust into a convincing facsimile of Carnarvon Castle."
I see no reason to revise this opinion.
Cheers Monty! It's definitely been worth the effort regards the terrain and en enjoyable project as well.
DeleteMarvelous looking game - figures and terrain are top-notch. That's the way to play SAGA. Best, Dean
ReplyDeleteThanks Dean...
DeleteCracking report and fabulous looking game; great job Sir.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael. Really enjoyed the game, as much as anything because it was played with a great mate.
DeleteAwesome looking table. It's a great game. It is so re playable.
ReplyDeletecheers