A New SAGA

It has been a couple of weeks since SAGA v2 was launched and Mick and I have managed to get two games in. The rules are close enough to v1 that having played a fair for games of the original we have managed to dive in and play without too much referral to the rules. The changes have mostly been to streamline the rules and try and take out the more 'gamey' elements of play. I particularly like the changes to melee so now every figure counts no matter how many are in contact and you and you opponent take it in turns to activate abilities, this should add an extra layer of tactical play to the melee phase.
The battle boards for the factions have also been updated with the four factions we have played so far retaining the feel of the originals but with the three ( Normans, Vikings, & Anglo-Danes ) that launched with the first SAGA book feeling more nuanced. The Pagan Rus had benefited from being a later release so the makers had more experience in making interesting boards by that point.
Our first battle pitched my Pagan Rus against Mick's Normans fighting in the Breton style.

Our first v2 battle

The Rus like to get into combat and the central mechanic revolves around changing the armour of the unit to gain attack & defence dice. They do not have a lot of answers to ranged fire and are an all foot warband. The Breton style Normans rely on short range javelin fire and staying out of combat with mostly mounted troops. The old Norman battle board did not support a skirmishing style of combat but the new one has a couple of activation reaction abilities which allow cavalry to move in the enemies turn and some good shooting abilities. It also has some nice combat abilities so once the enemy has been shot up you can charge in to finish the job off.

Pagan Rus advance

In the game Mick managed to wear me down enough to claim a victory with my Rus generally performing well if they could stop the Normans from retreating out of charge range. I think the use of terrain to hinder cavalry will be something that I need to explore as all troops now only move in straight lines. Cavalry can split their move into two sections but overall they cannot go around terrain as well as they could before.

Pagan Rus Warlord shortly before he died

So as with v1 mastery of the game will rely on not only knowing all about your own battle board but also the board of your opponent, something only playing the game will bring.

Our second game was arranged as preparation for the visit of my brother and Jon from Cirencester in a couple of weeks. As I will be running the game for them I thought it wise to at least get a feel for the battle boards we will be using. They will be playing the classic matchup of Viking vs Anglo-Dane. Both of these factions have had an update but both feel very similar to the v1 version. The Vikings are still all about generating lots of attack dice and shedding fatigue and the Anglo-Danes about adding fatigue and wearing down the enemy.

Vikings on the far side

For the game I split my Rus force in half and added some Varangians I have for the Byzantines to the Anglo-Danes to represent Dane Axe wielders. This gave 6 points a side with the Vikings getting a point of Berserkers to try out. Mick took control of the Vikings and I the Anglo-Danes and the battle went very much to type with the Vikings seeking to advance into combat but being hampered by the Anglo-Danes ability to put out 4 fatigues a turn onto the enemy. The Vikings can remove fatigue but this then eats up dice that could be spent on moving or fighting.

The sides about to clash

It the end after a couple of cautious turns I took the plunge to charge into both the 4 man Berserker unit and the 8 man Hearthguard unit with my two warrior units. This had mixed result with one unit being wiped out and the other reduced to 2 men for the loss of all the Berserkers and only 1 Hearthguard.

The much reduced Ango-Danes

I had thought that this was the end but a miscalculation on the activation dice meant that Mick missed a chance to take out my Warlord and allowed me to remove his unit of Hearthguard.

The tables turned

This in turn left the Viking Warlord exposed and he proved the fighting prowess of the Warlords by inflicting many casualties but in the end died at the hand of my Warlord.

Their can be only one

Our next game will be the reverse fixture with Mick taking on the Anglo-Dane role and myself the Vikings. That should I think give a decent insight for the game when the Cirencester chaps visit and then allow Mick and I to get back to our 'main' boards.