First game of SAGA

   So this past Saturday was our monthly game day for Clear Lake Area Wargamers' Society, or whatever it is we call ourselves these days. We had a low turnout, only seven guys, but we put on two games. On one table, an interesting Early War game of FOW pitting Japanese against British. On the other table, a three-sided SAGA battle between Vikings, Irish, and Norman warbands.

   I played in the SAGA game - a first time out for that ruleset for me. I had the Vikings. Jesse had the Normans, and Buddy ran his Irish. We borrowed Jim Johnson's figures and terrain. Each of us had a six point force. Mine broke down like this:

• 1 Warlord
• 1 Hearthguard unit of Berserkers (x4)
• 2 Hearthguard units (x4)
• 1 Warrior unit (x8)
• 1 Levy unit (melee x12)
• 1 Levy unit (slings x12)

   Essentially it was a 7-round free-for-all, but Buddy's Irish ended up in the middle of the table between Jesse's Norman knights and my Viking Hearthguard and Berserkers. The winner would be determined by a point system: 2 points for champions, 1 point for every hearthguard, 1/2 for each warrior, 1/3 for each levy. I ended up with 12.83 points of dead Irishmen on my side of the table. Buddy had 13 points of Vikings and Normans on his. Of course, since he also lost a lot of points to Jesse, there wasn't much left of his 'winning' force.

   I had two units that never got involved in the game at all. Luckily, it was my Spear Levy and some Warriors. The levy was no loss, but it would have been nice to get those warriors in on the fight - it would have helped kill more Irish! My Hearthguard and Berserkers really took their toll on those Irish as it was. My slingers fired off two shots, for virtually no effect.

   In all, I had a really good time, and the game went pretty quickly, especially considering it was a first time out for both Jesse and I. The rules are pretty simple, and I like the battle card mechanic. It gives each different faction some flavor, and injects a bit of luck and strategy both - luck in the SAGA dice, strategy in the allocation of them.

   So I have dug out some old Viking figures that I just happened to have laying around, as one does, and started prepping them and cleaning them up. I don't have enough to make a warband, but it will give me a start. I'll have to get some Welsh, too.

   Please leave any helpful suggestions for vendors of 28mm figures suitable for SAGA warbands in the comments. That would be, um... helpful.

"Carthage must be destroyed."