A Crusading Clash - First Game of SAGA

A Syrian Emir prepares to lead his host to glorious victory over the Frankish invaders

Last week the Conscripts tried "SAGA: Crescent and The Cross" on the table for the first time.  I had completed a four-point warband of Crusaders back in the late winter of this year, and finished a four-point warband of Saracens to oppose them this fall.  It was time to get them on to the table for a showdown in the Holy Land, and last Thursday was the day!

Among our gaming group Byron is the only one who had any significant experience playing the unique "SAGA" rules, although he had not yet tried the "Crescent and The Cross". I was the next most-senior SAGA player - and I had tried it once, four or five years ago, with a game of Vikings vs. Saxons that my good friend Curt had hosted for me in Regina.  So safe to say that overall our group was still very new to the SAGA experience.

A view of the board at the beginning of the game - nobody wanted to touch the uneven ground in the wadi...the Saracens are on the left, and the Crusaders on the right.

And it is a unique gaming experience. SAGA fuses a basic and easy skirmishing system with an at-times-complex system of abilities and activations derived from a faction's "battle board".  Dice are rolled and allocated by players who must balance the use of the dice to activate the different elements of their warband with the use of special abilities that will help their warband succeed.  The "battle board" serves as a sort of dash board to command the warband.

Christian Knights move out...

Crossbows on the flank in cover, while stout spearmen hold the centre of the Crusader lines...

We lined up a very basic starting scenario, imagining a clash somewhere east of Jerusalem in the early 12th century. The victors would be the warband who gained more "slaughtering victory points" than the other. Sounds about right to me! Bill, Byron and Frederick played the Saracen warband, while Dallas, Mike and Dave V took up the Crusaders' cause.

Mounted archers ride forward on the Saracen flank.

While new to our group, I know SAGA is enormously popular in the gaming world, so folks reading this might chuckle that a pair of four-point warbands managed to occupy six gamers and one guy with charts. But given how new we were to the SAGA system, it worked out pretty well.  I certainly enjoyed watching the group planning discussions as the SAGA dice were rolled and decisions were made about which groups to activate, or which abilities needed to be used. Those decisions are the core of the game, and are where a lot of the fun lies.

Ghulams prepare to charge the Crusaders...

The Crusaders prepare to respond...

Bang! Lances are splintered, shields shattered etc...

The opponents opted for some careful missile fire early on, while maneuvering their Knights and Ghulams for charges to come later.  And charge they did! The Christian Knights crashed into the Ghulams on a couple of consecutive turns.  Blood spilled to the sand of the Holy Land as Knights and Ghulams fell in battle.  The Saracen horse archers, meanwhile, got the better of the Crusader crossbowmen, and the Crusader spearmen were not able to make much of an impression on the Saracen horse archers.

The forces clash! More fatigue tokens and fewer Knights are the result...

Ghulams holding the line...

The Warlord steadies his lines of Ghulams...

The Saracen players made the best of their battle board abilities, which seemed to me to be, in many cases, gambles of fate, which didn't always work out for them.  The Crusaders, for their part, tried to leverage their own powerful battle board, but found themselves restricted at times by the need to roll for "virtues" before getting access to some of the stronger capabilities.

Crossbows emerge to shower the Saracens with bolts...

But it doesn't seem to have an effect...

The Saracen spearmen stand ready, but were not required at the end of the matter...

In the end it was a narrow victory for the Saracen warband, and God was left to sort out the souls of the departed warriors...

I'm pretty sure we still screwed up some rules, but overall SAGA is a lot of fun. It is not (and does not try to be) an exacting or careful historical simulation.  It is more of a dramatic, story-driven clash. As I told the group last week, I have been wanting to play a miniatures game set in the Crusades for a long, long time, as the period is so fascinating for me. So it was a real thrill to finally see one happen! 

My terrier Spencer is exhausted from all of the gaming action, so he takes a nap on the floor :)

Hopefully we can try SAGA again in the future. In the interim, I'll try and bulk out the warbands a little bit, as six-point warbands would fill the table up a little more, and give the players some different options in terms of structuring their warband units differently (like a 12-model unit of warriors, for example).

Thanks again to everyone for coming out to play and try the new (to us) rules!

Painting Challenge Wrapped Up - Epic Warlord Titan and SAGA Warlords

The seventh edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has concluded.  In fact, in concluded, like, nearly a month ago, on March 21st...man time flies! Anyway, after a slight delay caused by real life etc. here are the concluding submissions I made to the Challenge.

SAGA Warlords

These figures were submitted as part of the final theme round - which if I recall correctly was "characters from a movie, book, TV or song" or something along those lines.  Anyway, if anyone out there has listened to "Horse Soldier" by Corb Lund, you will recall some lyrics referencing the opponents of the Crusades.  This lined up nicely with my SAGA project, so I did two warlords - one for the Crusaders and the other for the Saracens.

These are 28mm figures from the Perry's incredible First Crusade range. The shield decal on the Crusader Warlord is from LBMS. These shield decals are a total life-saver, as there is just not enough time in the world to be painting all of the shields...

Warlords for my SAGA Crusade warbands...Crusader on the left, Saracen on the right, both 28mm figures from Perry Twins' amazing range of First Crusade castings

Completed four point SAGA Crusader warband

The Crusader warlord figure finished off my four-point SAGA warband for the Crusaders.  The Saracen warlord is the first figure I have painted for that warband, and while I'm keen to get that finished, the Saracens are at the back of the priority list again for now as I try and track down some different figures, and the general waxing and waning of different painting interests. You know how it goes...

Anyway, for the second year in a row I managed to submit something for every theme round, and that worked out rather nicely!

Epic Warlord Titan - "Curtgeld"

Warlord Titan, old school style!!

In each edition of the Painting Challenge Curt will ask participants to submit a figure in line with a theme that strikes his whimsy as he organizes the proceedings.  These figures have come to be known as "Curtgeld". There was a twist this year as he asked for participants to work together - the Curtgeld had to be some kind of joint effort between at least two of the Challenge participants.

WIP photo - you can see all of the black sections and the unfinished base...that would fall to Iannick to complete!

Challenger Iannick suggested we team up for an "all-Canadian" Curtgeld. After we bounced a few ideas back and forth we settled on doing an old-school plastic Warlord Titan from the original "Adeptus Titanicus" game.  Curt loves Epic and loves the old school GW models, while both Iannick and I are big fans of the Horus Heresy, and Iannick is a recent convert to the madness that is Epic 30k.  I was pretty psyched about the project.  Fortunately I had a few of these lovely old plastic models still on their sprues in my hoard, so I dug one out and got to work on it. 

These classic models lend themselves very well to the unique challenge of sharing the painting duties on a single figure. The pseudo-medieval markings used by the Titan Legions, and the style of armour plating they wear, make a divided/reverse marking pattern possible.  It's still tricky, but possible.

I did the basic assembly, priming and metal components, and painted the purple "half" of the armour sections.  Iannick painted the other half of the armour, and finished off the ground work, completed the base (which included the old void-shield-counter wheel!) as well as the Marines on the base, which add a lovely sense of proportion to the machine.

In our hobby-ing I think we have all, at some time or another, over-painted, re-painted or heavily updated a model or figure that we either received second-hand or just wanted to re-do. In fact, as you can see elsewhere in this blog, my good friend Dallas is quite the master of that kind of project.  But jointly finishing the painting of a single figure would be really tricky, and I have to credit Iannick for the outstanding results, because he had the hard part - the finishing!  He did a great job with the bands on the leg armour, the colour and the basing. The model benefits tremendously from his smooth, careful painting style.

The photos of the finished model are so nice thanks to Iannick and his hipster light box.  He did a very helpful set of tips on miniature photography as well, so go check that out on his blog.  You will also see cool halflings, hilarious theme submissions, and more Epic 30k awesomeness, and that is just from the recent Painting Challenge. In fact, Of Marauders and Citadels is a blog you should add to your list!

Great work Iannick - this was a lot of fun!  Your painting skills are tremendous!  Thanks very, very much!

It will also be great fun to light this thing up on the table during a game of Epic sometime...

The Missing Curtgeld...

I was also collaborating with former Conscript Sean M on a Curtgeld, but Canada Post did us in, as Sean's work did not arrive at my place for completion until the day after the Challenge was finished. I have committed to Sean that I will finish it regardless, so watch this space for progress on that score - before the summer I hope. Life has kept me away from the painting table for a few weeks, but I hope to be back at it soon.

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The seventh edition of the Painting Challenge was a real blast. I had a great time in my side duel with Iannick, Jaime and Alex, particularly because I was successful! While it was a lot of fun to send a figure over to Jaime's collection last year, I had been plotting for revenge for nearly a year, so it's nice to see a plan come together!

The best part of the Challenge, however was the spirit of fun and encouragement that built between the participants, and letting your own priorities and focus be tested (and bested) by inspirational jolts which come courtesy of the other submissions.  While I did finish a lot of 30k stuff (yay!) I also ended up dusting off and painting up figures from my Warmaster Collection as well as ending up dipping into a new game and period (SAGA Crusades).   It's more than my own fiddly attention span - it's also the excellent and inspiring work of the other participants!  And while the others continue to inspire my wandering, it is also a lot of fun to see some of the settings and scales which I am so keen on spreading among other participants.  I expect next year will see even more 30k, and particularly Epic 30k, even as I'm already plotting some kind of "Hail Caesar" insanity...

A number of the very talented participants in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge will be testing their skills in the "Lead Painters' League" as well, so be sure to check that out.  If you can sort out the Lead Adventure Forum and the League's byzantine rules etc. you can even vote for them!

Painting Challenge Submission 15 - Crusader Warband Grows!

More 28mm Crusade-era figures from Perry Miniatures

My last submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge kicked off a small, four-point warband of Crusaders for the game "SAGA".  This represents a new period and set of rules for me, something I'm looking forward to playing with the group here in Winnipeg.  I'm excited to report that the painting momentum with this project has continued over the past week, and I have the balance of the warband to share with you today. I have completed the mounted knights and another group of infantry and so have nearly all of the elements required for a basic SAGA warband - my first one!

Humble crossbowmen

I tried to use a drab palette of colours on these basic but important soldiers - it was a long walk to the Holy Land, after all...

While I had some fun painting the shields on the bunch submitted last week, my shipment of transfers from LBMS finally arrived.  After experimenting with a couple of them, I see why people love them and I'm unlikely to ever go back...I'm not saying I won't paint a shield again, but wow, these transfers are super useful and very helpful, particularly the designs which my freehand skills cannot match.  I know I have disappointed some of the purists out there, but there you have it...

The stars of the show - the Knights!

While the crossbowmen are not wearing armour, and might perhaps make for better levies than warriors, I wanted some figures without chainmail in my initial warband, so for now will count them as particularly fierce or devout folks.  I have barely tried SAGA, but I expect once I get some experience with the game I will further expand this bunch to be levies, while adding some other warrior-types later.

These Perry sculpts are just magnificent.

LBMS shield transfers...once you try them, there is no going back (for me)

The miniatures are all Perry twins castings, and are a real treat to paint - just tremendous sculpts and I really enjoy them.  As before, the square basing continues - not ideal for a skirmish game, perhaps, but I already have visions (delusions?) of a larger "Hail Caesar" force taking shape, and in that world I would want to pull every available figure in, so these fellows might end up taking part in movement trays.  One day!


As an added bonus, the flags from Maverick Models also arrived so I put those on. With ancient and medieval forces, I always feel like you can never have enough flags, pennons etc.  They just seem to "make" the setting for me. Flags are just another way to show the opposing force that you are awesome and they suck, right?

A larger standard can count as a sort of main flag bearer for the SAGA warband...this one is a little small at this point to have something like that, but as I expand the warband I'll count the fellow with the large flag as a banner-bearer

I used the cloth flags from Maverick, and I let them get a bit frayed when I cut them.  I need to manage my clipping of these things a little better, but on the whole I don't mind a slightly frayed look to these particular flags and pennants.  After all, these things traveled from Europe to the Levant as part of the First Crusade - this is how I like to imagine this warband.  The flags etc. are going to look a little worn - but they still show the faith of the devout. God wills it!

Forward for God and glory!

The finished SAGA warband, guarding the Holy Land in my kitchen, awaiting a Warlord to lead it...

Of course it is always fun to include the total progress photo. In total there are two groups of "hearthguard" - four mounted knights each - and two groups of "warriors" - the eight armoured spearmen and the eight crossbowmen. In total, a four point warband - the bare basics for SAGA.  All this bunch needs now is a warlord to lead them.  Stay tuned for more on that.


My 1000 point goal for the Challenge is in sight...should be reaching that goal any moment now...

Painting Challenge Submission 14 - Something New - 28mm Crusaders

28mm Crusading troops from Perry Miniatures

The Crusades have always fascinated me, and the notion of gaming the period has captivated me for a long time. But I have avoided diving into the period for a variety of reasons over the years - the more I studied, it felt like the less I knew, and I wasn't sure where or how to get started figure wise, and the hesitation was enough to keep me avoiding it.  Some cool submissions in this edition of Painting Challenge (like Stephen S's Hospitallers), however, finally inspired me and decided to jump in.  After pondering some different scales and rules, I figured the quickest route to getting a game in would be a skirmish game.  With that in mind I thought I would start with SAGA.  For figures, I opted for the wonderful 28mm sculpts from the Perry twins.


These figures represent the beginnings of a four-point Crusader warband for SAGA. There are eight warriors and one knight (the test model).  These figures arrived on a Friday night two weeks ago and I was pretty keen to get started so I spent that night and the next day preparing and priming the figures, with paint beginning on the Sunday.  For the foot troops I used some flattened steel spears I had lying around, while the Knight retains the cast pewter lance which came with him.  I love the steel spears, and I can see why folks go for them...


While SAGA is a skirmish game, I based the figures on squares/rectangles so they could slot into movement trays to take part in games of "Hail Caesar" that I hope to do sometime well down the road.  That will be a long, long time away, but a guy can daydream, right? :) In the meantime, my focus will be to get enough stuff painted so we can try SAGA with the Thursday night gang at Dallas' place.

Some fun freehand painting on the shields - tried to do some very simple mono-coloured ones to match some more complex ones as well

Painting fellows wearing chain mail is relatively straightforward, but as I had been contemplating this project one major stumbling block in my mind has always been the shields - specifically the patterns on them.  I hoped to work around that using decals from LBMS, but my order of shield transfers had not yet arrived and I was so fired up by the surprising success of the Winnipeg Jets two weeks ago I didn't want to wait to get started, so I just did the best I could by panting freehand.  It turned out OK.  I have still have no idea what the story is with the patterns on the shields, but for now, I'm trying to "fake it till I make it."

How did this happen? The Jets racked up a rare win a couple weeks ago against the struggling Habs...good for painting movtivation, but bad for the Habs...

I find preparing the Perry castings can be a chore, but as Curt has often said to me it's worth it in the end, as these were a real joy to paint and I absolutely love the sculpts.  It's always a great feeling when a new project offers such a nice jolt.

The spears are flattened steel - this is the first time I have used them, and I see why people prefer them...

While these figures are meant to take part in games set in the Crusades, I suspect they might do for a variety of different settings where Normans were involved, from battles in Italy and Sicily to service as mercenaries for a later Byzantine force, among a few options.

The star of any Crusading setting - a Knight! Can't wait to finish more of these fellows.

This submission has eight 28mm foot figures and one mounted 28mm figure. The painting minions kindly chipped in a few extra for the hand painted shields, so I netted 54 points in total for this submission. This assortment represents about one third of the Crusader Warband and I have been working to finish the balance during this Challenge. I hope I can make a start on their Saracen opponents as well.  The Hobby Gods will it!