A First Game of Saga

Having just finished a four-point SAGA warband of Anglo-Danes (my first 28mm models for about six years!), I decided on a game to break them in, against some old Rohirrim (with Gondorian support) who played with the Norman list. Pictures first though. They look better on the table, but I'm not sure how to do better given my camera and my apartment's light:

Half the Hearthguard

The other half.

The Warriors of the warband.

All the lads together.

A slightly better view?

So two armies came together in a Clash of Warlords, 4 points of Norman Hearthguard versus Anglo-Danes evenly divided between Warriors and Hearthguard – and some of them had Dane axes!

The game started slowly, both sides trying to be cunning and add to their battle boards before the inevitable clash of shieldwall and lance. The Normans advanced fastest (of course), refusing one flank for lack of activation dice.

The lines close.

With a quick flick to the back of the rulebook, the Norman Warlord called out, and with a roar of We Obey!, a unit of Hearthguard followed him in a charge against the Danish standard, and the axes surrounding it. All along the line, Norman knights crashed home, and what followed gave great glee to the ravens. Stamp combined with terrible save dice saw one unit of knights kill half the Warriors facing them, only to take 75% casualties themselves! The Warlord and his knights destroyed the Danish axemen who reaped bloody slaughter as they died, leaving only the Warlord standing. On the far flank, the Danes defended themselves superbly, bringing the Norman advance to a crashing halt.

The lines, thinned out.

There was plinking for a round, as neither side did anything in combat, and then came the final turn! On the Danish right, the men who had done so well before slaughtered the cavalry before them for the loss of three of their own, and on their left, the late-arriving Norman knights annihilated the brave Warriors who stood before them. In the centre, Warlord met Warlord, and with a full ten attack dice (thanks to some impressive Battle Boarding), the Norman master destroyed his opponent. In true epic fashion however, the Danish lord struck down his nemesis even as death clouded his eyes, leaving the battle a bloody draw.

The end of play.

Overview

That was fun – and a lot quicker than I was expecting, given that it was a first time out for the boards. A draw seemed fair, although the Victory Points came out to 13-10 in favour of the Normans, due to some last minute Warrior slaughtering.

The lucky: 5 Norman Hearthguard, 9 Danish Warriors, 1 Danish Hearthguard.

I'll definitely play this again, and have many more Gripping Beast plastic Saxons to paint up. I may do some of them as extremist 1^st millenium Christians and use the Jomsviking list with some creative name changes for the less crusader-y abilities. Why let the pagans have all the fun!?