Saga tournament!

Yesterday was the day I've been waiting for  - the Saga tournament at Giga-Bites! For the past month, on and off, I have been painting and preparing my Vikings for the big day, and I finally got to take them out and give them a run.

Richard was kind enough to serve as tournament organizer (TO) for the event, and took care of figuring out the match-ups, counting up points, answering rules questions and just over all being in charge. Thanks Richard! I know it was a lot of work, but we all very much appreciate it. I don't think I am giving too much away by saying the players had a terrific time, and it was a great day of Saga-ing!

We showed up right as (or a little before) the store opened, and Richard set the day's events in motion. We had six players show up...

Skip, who came down from far northwestern Georgia, with his Normans:

Alan, also from the far northwest of the state, with his Irish:

Alan also maintains an excellent gaming blog: Sea Kings and Horse Warriors. Check it out!

Wes, who brought his 1/72 Zvezda Vikings:

Brian and his Anglo-Danes:

Sean and his Anglo-Saxon horde:

And myself, with my afore-mentioned Vikings:

The day was organized into four battles, each according to a different scenario from the rulebook. A victory was worth get you three points, a draw was worth one, nothing for a loss. Additionally, there were bonus points that could be won in each scenario for accomplishing specific objectives (such as killing the opposing warlord). And on top of that we kept track of how many victory points of enemy troops we killed in each game.

We played:

1. Clash of Arms

2. Escort

3. Sacred Ground

4. Homeland

When the smoke cleared from all the bloodshed, Alan's Irish were left standing tall. He got the overall Best General prize, scoring 11 points from three wins and a draw. He got to choose from between a store credit at Giga-Bites, or a boxed set of Pagan Rus. Since he already had the Rus, he chose the store credit.

Despite a slow start, I finished in second place overall. Brian and I each had nine points, but I edged him out slightly on victory points. I won two, drew one and lost one, earning me the Pagan Rus that Alan has passed on.

Sean's Anglo-Saxons took the prize for the best-painted army, and he was also awarded store credit.

Skip's Normans earned him the title of Best Warlord, and he took home Roland, the Frankish hero.

Wes won a Wandering Bard blister for best sportsmanship.

I know that I had a blast yesterday, and enjoyed the tournament tremendously. I am pretty sure the others did as well, and we are definitely planning on doing this again.

A very special thanks to Gripping Beast for providing prize support for the tournament!

I hope you enjoy these pictures taken throughout the day:

Congrats to all, and especially to Alan, leader of the mighty Irish! Those lucky Irish green dice really work!

In my next post, I'll give a more detailed account of the battles my Vikings fought.

'Til next time!