Armenian warriors

Armenians by Perry - for my Crusader warband for Saga. Shield transfers are for Sassanids while the banner is Byzantine. I thought it suited warriors from a Christian kingdom very influenced by the East.

Byzantine cavalry for Saga

To make up the balance of my 6 point Byzantine warband for Saga here are the hearthguard Kavallroi - a double size unit of lancers and a supporting unit of archers. Lancers are Old Glory cataphracts and the archers are Foundry Late Romans. LBM buckler transfers.

Crusaders for Saga

Here we have a unit of either militia, colonists or economy mercenaries for a Crusader Saga warband where they will serve as a unit of warriors. I might also use these to fill out my Byzantine warband. Figs are by Perry with LBM transfers.

Byzantines for Saga

Last week I picked up the Saga supplement that covers the Byzantines, and this inspired me to dig out a mixed bag of Old Glory Byzantines I picked up in a lot on TMP a year or two ago. These are two units of warriors - one with bow. A feature of the Byzantine side in Saga is their ability to do combined arms things such as shooting over friendlies and supporting one unit with another located behind. I strayed from my usual colour palette here with a bold bright orange theme.

Viking Hirdmen for Saga

More of these lovely Crusader 28mm guys, I now have a 4 point warband.

Ulfednar!

I took a break from hoplites to do a few Vikings for my next Saga warband, hopefully in time for MayDay. These are Crusader 28mm, of which I am a big fan, their dark age ranges have lots of character and a very chunky feel to them. Here we have a lord and 4 Ulfednar / Berzerkers. The skins looked more ursine than lupine to me.

And here we have a bit of a swedge against some of the dinosaur herd belonging to the kids

More Celts and some Saga

I moved this unit of Warlord Celtic cavalry off the workbench this week. Nice models, very animated. Clearly not just out for a pony ride

Mark Wall and I also managed a game of Saga this afternoon, my Spaniards (played as Normans) versus his shiny new Anglo-Danes. This scenario was all about holding terrain features. I manoeveed 12 knights onto the main hill very early on to soak up VP, then as his footslogger marched forward I sprung 6 knights into 8 unarmoured warriors and managed to lose what should have been a squash! (my 15 dice hitting on 4+ lose to his 8 dice hitting on 5+...I lost 2:3!). Mark's surname should be "Shield"Wall.

Half my strike force blown, I spent the rest of the game skulking, sniping and getting picked off unit at a time. At the final reckoning, a tie VPs 54:54!

First game of SAGA

Awesome, what a great game! I'm still buzzing about it!

Kevin and I played our first game of Saga today, and it was a blast. Lots of tough decisions to make, very colourful, and fun. Everything I had hoped for, to be honest. I think this game has some real legs. What impresses me most is that it is actually innovative, it is not often that new ideas come up in games, but the board and custom dice activation mechanic here is new and really great. Adds both depth and colour to the gameplay in a way I have never seen before.

Our scenario was a Viking attack on an Anglo Danish settlement. I was the Anglo Danes, and to make a long sob story short, we got hammered. I rarely rolled above a 3, and the Vikings rolled over us like the horde of foul smelling, ruthless beasts they were. However, I think that technically speaking, I actually won the game because my Warlord (who was the last Anglo standing) would have been able to re-occupy one of the buildings at game end since the Viking forgot to track him down. But really, Kevin's vikings handed my ass to me.

Some pics, it really was superb. Kevin's awesome scenery didn't hurt much either. I am looking forward to a LOT of dark age gaming. This was the best game I have played in ages, no kidding.

 

And the newest addition to my home is a 4-foot high cat recreation center, must be nice...