SAGA AoI: Saxons vs Goths

Myself and PY got together at his place for a game of SAGA, it had been almost 2 months since we last gamed so we were both looking forward to it. We decided to have an Age of Invasions game.

Goths-6 Saga Dice

Theodoric, King of the Visigoths

2 1/2 points of Warriors

2 1/2 points of Mounted Hearthguard

Saxons-6 Saga Dice

Warlord

Champion

2 1/2 points of Warriors

2 1/2 points of Hearthguard

Set-up-Chaos

Unknown Lands

Refused Flank

Under Pressure

Forced March

Carnage 

The Game

View from the Goth side of the table

Overview

Goth Mounted Hearthguard

Goth Warriors

The Saxon line from their left flank. Hearthguard placed in solid cover with the Warlord and his Champion just behind them. There is a unit of warriors further to the left and another unit of Warriors and a unit of supporting Hearthguard to their right.

PY sends his mounted Hearthguard to his left in an attempt to flank the Saxons, while he sends his 2nd unit straight across the terrain.

The Saxons send their Champion to support the centre.

The Goths send in their HG and they cause some shock on the Saxon Warriors but the Saxon HG are able to enter the fray and exhaust the mounted Goth HG. PY pulls them back.

Now the Saxons have to deal with the rapidly approaching mounted HG on their right flank.

The Saxons pull their warriors to their left while they advance their 2 units of HG to take on a unit of Goth Warriors. The Saxons are able exhaust the Goths but at the cost of 5 HG's.

What will be the next move?

The Goth Riders come in and almost wipe out a unit of Saxon Warriors, they lose one horsemen but the Saxons lose 5 men.

PY pulls them back to his front line.

We are getting near the end of the game, the Goths have lost a unit of warriors, they have lost 4 of their HG. PY decides to capture some Saxon territory so he pulls off his Warlord and Horsemen.

What will the Saxons do, the loses are almost equal.

Unfortunately no photos but the Saxons send in their Champion to attack 4 mounted Goth HG, a seemingly unequal battle but the Saxon BB is stacked. The Champion is killed but takes down 2 further HG. Not enough maybe, but the Saxon Warlord is ready for blood, he wants more severed heads....he enters the fray and kills off the remaining HG. Is it enough? Final points 14-12 in favour of the Saxons, but a draw.

So a fun game ending in a draw. I will look forward to our next game.

SAGA AoM: The Undead Legions vs the Horde

 

Myself and Luis got together at my place for a game of SAGA, it was the first meet up for us in awhile and it is always good to see Luis. We decided to have an Age of Magic game and I believe it has actually been sometime since I played this Universe. The game was also a couple of firsts for me, it was the first time I have played this warband, but more importantly it was the first time my Revenants have seen the table.They were painted many years ago.

The Undead Legions-7 Saga Dice

Necromancer-Nightmares, Precognition, Erosion

Black Knight

Monster-Behemoth

Static War Machine.

Warriors x 6

Bow-armed Warriors

The Crypt

The Horde-7 Saga Dice

Warlord

Monster-Titan

Quadruped Creatures x3

Hearthguard x2

Warriors x5

Bow-armed Levy

Sacrificial Stone

Set-up-Chaos

Rough Ground

Vanguard

Until Dusk

Target

Mostly SAGA figures, with some LoTR figures added. 

I believe around turn 3, as you can see I advanced my 10 figures warrior units in both the centre and to my left flank, at this point I had lost a unit of warriors in a melee with Luis's creatures, but it was worth it as I took out 3 Creatures. Five massacre points vs 12!

Luis's Titan, a beautiful figure.

Luis's warriors surrounding his Warlord.

I made excellent use of the Crypt with my Necromancy ability.

Not a real Catapult!

By Turn 5 it was clear to me that I was ahead on points, as I had taken out Luis's Hearthguard and his Creatures. I started to pull back my troops, Luis was able to get one final charge on Turn 6 in the upper left of the table, but I was lucky and just lost 4 warriors with 4 figures reamaining. The final score: 21 points for the Undead and 7 for the Horde.

I enjoyed the game and I found The Undead Legions very interesting to play, certainly they may favour a defensive style of play. The War Machine did not at much as the Horde have a SAGA ability that puts them in solid cover, I think they only scored 2 kills on 4 shots, might not take them again. I made no use of the Monster but I believe he might be useful once I figure out how to use it. Although, the Black Knight did nothing in the game I believe him necessary to protect the Necromancer in case he takes a hit. I made good use of the spells except Erosion but it maybe it is enemy dependent.

Thanks Luis for coming over.

Now to prepare for an AoI game with PY.

Caesar's Camp: Attack on the Hedgehog Wood

 

Myself and Graham started a new campaign this past Saturday. I am playing the Scott's and Graham the Germans. It is an interesting campaign as it tracks the exploits of the 51st Highland Division, the only British/Canadian unit seconded to the French 10th Army. As the situation worsened in early June 1940, this unit was sent in to support their French allies in an attempt to drive the 57th German Division out of their bridgehead south of the Somme River near Abbeville. This is a little unusual, as historically we usually think of British actions during this period of the war in the context of the retreat of the BEF to Dunkirk after the fall of Belgium to the Germans. With the success of Fall Gelb, the Germans were now focused on Fall Rot, the capture of Paris.

In our campaign, we see the Scots trying to stop the Germans from securing a bridgehead south of the Somme in order to begin their rush to Paris. It will be an interesting campaign as the Scots will have some French armour in support as the campaign proceeds. The 57th was a 2nd wave German division and we will see some WWI weapons with one squad in each platoon fielding MG08/15 LMG's rather than MG34's. They will have the support of some early armoured cars.

German Defenders-217th Infanterie Regiment (FM8)

2nd Wave Infantry Platoon #1

2 SL's

3 squads of 10 men, lead by a JL's, one squad with a MG08/15

Supports 8

2 barbed wire

1 minefield

Pregame Barrage

Flamethrower Team

Scottish Attackers-The Cameron Highlanders, B Company (FM9)

British EW Infantry Platoon

2 Senior Leaders

2" Mortar Team

3 sections of 11 men, lead by Junior Leaders

Supports 12

Pregame Barrage

Vickers MMG

Daimler Scout Car

Sniper

2" Mortar Team

Scenario

This is Scenario 4 from the main rulebook: A Delaying Action. It is a One off scenario and is not played twice. 

A burned out Daimler scout car, an objective in the game. If the Scots get there first, they get a free CoC dice in scenario 3, the same if the Germans capture it.

I thought we both did OK with the Patrol Phase, but I would have liked to have got a marker more to my left flank. 

The JOP's

The fixed German Defences

The Scots lay down smoke and rush a Dingo Scout Car up the road and capture the Important papers.

I used smoke to cover my approach on my left flank in an attempt to get in the woods and flank the Germans before they could get there.

Unfortunately the Germans were able to get a Flamethrower in position and destroyed the Dingo with a JL causing a drop in the Scottish FM.

I almost had my first section in the woods when Graham, of course, threw a double phase and was able to unload twice on the section before they got into cover. Causing loss of life and significant shock. Due to me not reading the campaign rules carefully ( I had not realised that this was a one off platoon for this scenario only), I withdrew in order to preserve the platoon for the next game.

So a well deserved victory for Graham in his first campaign outing using the Chain of Command ruleset. As usual, I did not read the full pamphlet carefully enough and missed that the Scots actually had 7 riflemen in their sections and as noted above, this was done off platoon. I do have a bit of time though before our next game, so hopefully will not make any further errors.

The Butcher's Bill

Germans 

CO+1

MO 0

Outlook Cheerful

The Germans get an Off table MMG if desired in scenario 3

Scots (-2 on FM rolls)

CO -2

MO-4

Outlook Retiring 

The Scots get a CoC dice to start scenario 3

As an aside; I played the same scenario with Iannick, his first CoC game, the next game and he slaughtered me. I am just not sure if I am a very good teacher or a very poor player!

Iroquois Spirit Creatures

 

Here are some more figures from Crucible Crush, I really can not say enough about the sculpts from this company. They are really some of the best I have seen.

These are some Fantasy figures (well maybe) that feature in pre-contact North American aboriginal cultures. They are really cool.

Stone Coat Giant Man

Great Horned Serpent

Naked Bear Spirit and Flying Head

Still have a packet of pre-contact native peoples to paint!

Vietnam

 

I have had a chance recently to paint up a few more Vietnam figures from Rubicon, this time some USMC.  These were a bit of a challenge as I used a painting scheme that I never should have used. It appeared to be quite simple but it really turned into a mess and I spent much more time on these figures, than I should have.

Notwithstanding, they will do well on the table in the squad actions that I will be interested in gaming. Still working my way through various rulesets but I should be able to make a decision soon. This will be my first foray into this war.

USMC

Viet Cong (painted some months ago)

I am sure the next round of figures I will paint will be easier and come out much better!