This is my very first SAGA battle report. SAGA is a very different game than the ones I'm used to playing, with positioning changing several times, even within a single turn. I've tried to take enough pictures to keep up with the action, and hopefully this game will be pretty easy to follow.
If not, please let me know! The pacing of SAGA is quite different from Warmachine, and if you've got any tips for keeping the report as clear as possible, I'd be happy to hear them.
I'm playing my newly assembled Normans. At some point, I'll paint them, and at some other, probably much sooner point, I'll come up with detailed backstories and personal heraldry for the warlord and knights. Until then, the list is:
Normans
Warlord with horse (free)
8 Hearthguard with horses (2 points) - Fielded in 1 unit with a war banner
16 Warriors with horses and javelins (2 points) - Fielded in 3 units of 6, 5, and 5
8 Warriors with crossbows (1 point) - Fielded in 1 unit
12 Levy with bows (1 point) - Fielded in 1 unit
Caleb is playing his trusty Anglo-Danes, and is eager to see how they hold up in the new edition. I don't know if his warlord and huscarls have names and backstories yet. I'll have to ask.
Anglo-Danes
Warlord with heavy weapon (free)
6 Hearthguard with heavy weapons (1.5 points) - Fielded in 1 unit
6 Hearthguard (1.5 points) - Fielded in 1 unit
16 Warriors (2 points) - Fielded in 2 units of 8
12 Levy with bows (1 point) - Fielded in 1 unit
Terrain
We played the only scenario available to us for now: Clash of Warlords. I was the first player. We set up our terrain. I placed some rocky ground close to one deployment zone, Caleb placed a forest on one side of the table, I placed a marsh in about the center, then Caleb placed a ruin pretty far back in the same deployment zone as the rocky ground. I decided that was plenty of terrain, so I moved the forest a little further toward the flank. Caleb placed his final piece: a hill on the opposite flank as the woods.
Deployment
Our deployment method ended up being method C, so we'd deploy 12" into one long edge, but our units would have to start M away from each other. I chose the table side with the ruins and rocky ground. I deployed the levy in the ruins, the crossbows in the rocks, the warlord M away from the crossbows, and a unit of 5 riders out on my right flank. Caleb deployed his army: warriors on the flanks, warlord and hearthguard in the center, levy behind the forest where I couldn't start shooting them right away. Then I deployed my remaining 2 warrior units on the left flank, and the hearthguard in the back pretty close to my warlord.
Normans: Turn 1
I rolled one of each symbol, which was pretty great, and put them on Envelopment, Volley Fire, and Sergeants.
My turn was pretty straightforward. I activated the Levy with Volley Fire, and killed a hearthguard, then I rode the warlord up with Determination, and activated the 6-strong unit of warriors with We Obey. They moved up and threw javelins at the Anglo-Danish archers, but did no damage.
Then they scootled back behind the forest with the die I'd left on Sergeants.
Anglo-Danes: Turn 1
After a lot of dice manipulation, Caleb put dice down on Intimidation, Exhaustion, and Shieldwall. He used Exhaustion right away, and put a fatigue on the crossbows and two units of mounted warriors (including the one which had shot last turn). He also put a die on Great Fyrd to activate his levies.
The warlord walked up with Determination, and helped the rear unit of hearthguard up the field with We Obey. When they activated to move, I triggered Envelopment, and moved all my cavalry to better positions.
Then Caleb moved his archers into the woods (which I forgot to get a picture of, sorry!)
Normans: Turn 2
I rolled mostly helmets, but I did get a flag for Envelopment. I put a die on Volley Fire, Gallop, Knights, Sergeants, and Wounded. Then I put a die on Retreat, and another on Footmen just in case (the picture shows 2 on footmen, but I reassigned one of them after taking it).
The crossbows and archers shot at Caleb's archers, killed a couple, and added a fatigue. The hearthguard and warlord moved forward, between the rocks and the marsh. I ended up not activating my levy a second time.
Anglo-Danes: Turn 2
Caleb didn't have the dice to use Exhaustion again, but he did put dice on Shield Wall and Crush the Weak. He also loaded up his activation abilities: a die on Huscarls, 2 on Fyrd, and one on Great Fyrd.
He moved his hearthguard up, triggering a big repositioning with Envelopment, mostly to keep my knights out of charge range. The levy shot my 6-strong mounted warrior unit, reducing it to 5-strong. The Dane-axe-wielding hearthguard moved around the lake to tempt my knights into charging them, while the warriors on my right flank moved forward to get between the hearthguard and my right mounted warriors.
Normans: Turn 3
Fortune favored me with a good mix of dice. I put a die back on Gallop, then put 2 shields on Impact for a solid hearthguard charge, and my helmet and flag on Dex Aie, so my (as yet unnamed) warlord could get their sword dirty! The rest of the dice went on Sergeants.
I charged my knights into Caleb's huscarls with Impact. He used Shield Wall to raise their armor, and we fought. When the dust settled, the huscarls had been wiped out, but the knights were reduced to a single weary model.
Through the carnage rode my warlord, charging Caleb's with Dex Aie.
However, neither one could injure the other. My warlord suffered a fatigue from the combat, and Caleb's was exhausted just negating my hits. I was really hoping to finish the Anglo-Danish warlord off, but it wasn't to be. Luckily, I still had a die on Gallop, or my warlord would be in quite a pickle.
Anglo-Danes: Turn 3
Caleb left his die on Crush the Weak (in the hopes that any such were to be found among my valiant Normans), then restocked Shield Wall, used Exhaustion (targeting my warlord, the warriors near his archers and the warriors on my right flank). He also put a die on Huscarls, Fyrd, and Great Fyrd.
Then Caleb unleashed his perfidious scheme to kill my warlord by having his archers shoot at the nearby knight! Luckily, they failed to kill it, and my warlord was not exhausted. Caleb charged the warlord with his other unit of hearthguard, were unable to finish them off.
The right unit of warriors continued to advance on my ranged element.
Normans: Turn 4
I rolled another solid batch of dice. I put the two flags on Envelopment and Pursuit, the two helmets on Retreat and Volley Fire, and the shields on Knights and Sergeants.
First off, my warlord rested, and scootled back to my side of the table. Then the archers and crossbows unloaded at warriors coming at them, killing 4 between a couple activations. The right mounted warriors rested, and rode at the Anglo-Danish warriors, killing 1 more with javelins. Then they charged in with Pursuit, but Caleb closed ranks and used Crush the Weak for defense dice, and no casualties were inflicted by either side.
Anglo-Danes: Turn 4
Caleb's dice were getting pretty thin on the ground, so he ended up having to put most of them into activations. He did put another on Crush the Weak, however, which had served him quite well in the last turn. Of the rest, one went to Huscarls, two to Fyrd, and one to Great Fyrd.
The activation phase was quite simple. The much-depleted warriors pulled back. The hearthguard charged in and massacred my right mounted unit. The warlord repositioned to be near the hearthguard. The left warriors finally started marching forward, and the levy shot my depleted cavalry unit again, killing 2 more warriors.
I did use Envelopment, but only my warlord and reserve unit of cavalry were eligible to benefit.
Normans: Turn 5
I was also starting to run out of SAGA dice, and I didn't roll any flags. I put the dice I had on Volley Fire, Wounded, Superiority, and one each of Knights, Sergeants, and Footmen.
My levy shooting wiped out the depleted warriors (with a little help from Superiority), and put another fatigue on the nearby huscarls, exhausting them. The crossbows advanced and shot the huscarls, killing one.
That was mostly it. The warlord decided to play it cool behind the rocky terrain for a while and keep resting from that bloodbath earlier.
Anglo-Danes: Turn 5
Caleb gave a die to each of Huscarls, Fyrd, and Great Fyrd, kept one on Crush the Weak, and put one on Determination.
Caleb continued to pull back with the hearthguard, shot more cavalry off the table with the levy, and continued marching up the left flank with the warriors.
I... forgot to take pictures? I was sure I had done it, and Caleb kept asking me "hey, have you taken pictures?" and I was like "chill Caleb, of course I took them." But readers, I had not. Apologies, mostly to Caleb.
Normans: Turn 6
I rolled pretty decently again. The smart move would be to keep shooting at long range, and keep pulling my warlord and reserve warriors back to preserve their Slaughter Points. I did devote some dice to shooting in Sergeants and Superiority. I also charged up Knights and Dex Aie.
Who wants to play smart when you can ram your warlord full tilt at an enemy unit?
I killed another hearthguard thanks to Superiority, and smashed my warlord into Caleb's untouched warriors on the left flank (using Determination to rest, Knights to move, and Dex Aie to charge).
Caleb closed ranks... and my nameless warlord bounced off their shields. What's more, I'd needed to take a fatigue for Resilience to keep the warlord alive.
Again, I forgot to take pictures despite at least one reminder.
Anglo-Danes: Turn 6
Caleb got some good rolls with his SAGA dice, and managed to get them all on the table. He used Exhaustion on my warlord, my depleted cavalry unit, and my crossbows, then put dice on Crush the Weak, Determination, Fyrd (twice) and Great Fyrd.
The levy finished off the last mounted warrior who'd been parked in front of them since turn 1.
The warriors charged my now-exhausted warlord, and used Determination to wipe him out.
And that was it:
We tallied up the Slaughter Points, and got:
Normans: 15 Anglo-Danes: 18
Victory to the Anglo-Danes!
Post-Battle Thoughts
I deployed with a solid plan in mind: harass with the mounted warriors, shoot with the archers and crossbows, hold the knights and warlord in reserve. It's the basic game plan I outlined in my review of Norman troop options last Friday (and my review of their battle board that's coming out this Friday).
Folks, I did not stick to the plan.
I used the archers and crossbows well enough. I certainly deployed them well, and I kept them shooting at the things I needed dead all game. However, when it came to the cavalry, I kind of threw them in haphazardly and hoped for the best. I sent my knights and warlord into melee at the first opportunity, and left two units of cavalry flapping in the breeze for Caleb to crush, one of them for most of the game.
In my defense, shouting "Dex Aie!" before chucking 12 attack dice at the enemy is a lot more fun than skulking at the back of the table waiting for a weakened unit to limp into pouncing range.
Next time, I'll try to actually test my theories, and see how that works out.
I liked my list a lot, and I'll definitely try this configuration again next time. Getting to roll 7 SAGA dice off the bat is excellent, and the way I'm planning to use the cavalry, 5-6-strong doesn't seem too weak. Pursuit and Charge will be great for them any time I need more attack dice.
Caleb, by contrast, played a tight, conservative game with most of his troops. He kept the knot of hearthguard together with his warlord, and always retreated rather than put them in too much hot water. He also used his archers well, marching them into the forest where my cavalry would really struggle with them, then shooting every turn.
He did neglect his warriors to some extent, especially that left flank unit that only started activating around turn 5. This is mostly because Caleb spent a lot of his Orders phase fishing for more and better dice every turn. Noble Lineage is a great way to get the dice you want, but it can definitely be a risk. In this game, using it for rerolls burned Caleb every turn until the very end, and his activations were limited as a result.
I don't know enough about Anglo-Danes to really comment on Caleb's list. It seems like hearthguard might be worth it for them, since they have several ways to manipulate armor, and at least one ability which encourages using their warlord. It seemed good, but suffered a bit from having to deploy so spread out.
If you follow the Warmachine/Hordes blog I post in, you'll be used to pictures of my cat after battle reports, but if not, here she is!
Until next time.
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